Biodiesel Report

The Biodiesel Report blog is a well-known blog in the biodiesel and alternative energy domains, partly because it was one of the earlier blogs in the field of biodiesel to arrive on the scene.

The very updation frequency could have been higher - especially given the lovely pics and the useful and detailed articles that are posted in the blog.

The major categories in which postings are made are: Biodiesel, Biodiesel Car, Motorcycle & Trucks, Biodiesel Companies, Biodiesel Conversions, Biodiesel Engine, Biodiesel Kit, Biodiesel Legislation, Biodiesel Production...

Some of its posts will delight those who look for the rare-to-find news items - such as the one on Earthrace Biodiesel Powered Trimaran

Biodiesel Report

Labels: biodiesel, biofuels, blog-reviews

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Biodiesel Blog

News and information about Biodiesel & alternative fuels.

A prominent blog for the energy and biodiesel domain, the Biodiesel Blog has been active since Feb 2004.

Though the posts are not very frequent, the content of each post is quite useful. The posts have a focus on what is happening in the biodiesel domain across the globe. It also comprises a useful and long blog roll.

The Biodiesel Blog

Labels: biodiesel, biofuels, blog-reviews

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World Energy Use Projected to Grow 57 Percent between 2004 and 2030

Press Release
Press Contact: Barbara Drazga, Energy Business Reports
Tel: 800-304-0345
www.energybusinessreports.com

Phoenix, AZ –May 21, 2007 – World marketed energy consumption is projected to grow by 57 percent between 2004 and 2030, according to the reference case projection from the International Energy Outlook 2007 (IEO2007) released today by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The IEO2007 shows the most rapid growth in energy demand for nations outside the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) especially in non-OECD Asia, where strong projected economic growth drives the increase in energy use.

Global energy demand grows despite the relatively high world oil and natural gas prices in the reference case. However, rising oil prices dampen growth in demand for petroleum and other liquids fuels after 2015 and, as a result, reducing their share of overall energy use from 38 percent in 2004 to a projected 34 percent in 2030. In contrast, the energy shares of natural gas, coal, and renewable energy sources are expected to grow over this period. Liquids consumption is still expected to grow strongly, however, reaching 118 million barrels per day in 2030. The United States, China, and India together account for nearly half of the projected growth in world liquids use.

To meet the increment in world liquids demand in the IEO2007 reference case, supply in 2030 is projected to be 35 million barrels oil equivalent per day higher than the 2004 level of 83 million barrels per day. Conventional resources account for about 27 million barrels per day of this increase, with a projected 21 million barrels per day increase in production by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and a 6 million barrels per day increase in non-OPEC countries. Production from unconventional resources (including biofuels, coal-to-liquids, and gas-to-liquids) increases by nearly 8 million barrels per day and accounts for 9 percent of total world liquids supply in 2030.

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Via: Bioconversion Blog

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DOE releases feasability study for Illinois Coal to Liquid Plant

Via: Auto Blog Green

May 22nd 2007

The Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory has completed a feasibility study for a proposed Coal to Liquid fuel production facility in Illinois. The proposal would include a plant that would convert coal into fuel along with electrical power that would go back into the grid. The input would be high-sulfur bituminous coal which would be gasified and the gas converted to liquids by the Fischer-Tropsch method. The output would include diesel. This diesel will need to additional additives before it could be used. The other output products will be be naptha, which can be used as a chemical feedstock.

The study projected the $3.65 billion plant would have a 20% annual return on investment...

[Source: NETL]

Labels: coal, fossil-fuels, research

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Philippines Government Posts P2.3-billion Savings from Better Energy Management

May 22nd, 2007

The combined initiatives of the private sector and government to efficiently manage energy consumption resulted in a hefty P2.3-billion cost savings for Philippines.

The implementation of the government energy management program for both the power and oil sectors resulted in P613.86-million worth of savings...

The Philippine businesses’ energy efficiency index, as compared to their global counterparts, was seen faring well. It surpassed the achievements of Brazil, China, Malaysia, Germany, Turkey, Poland, Hong Kong, Mexico and India.

The set of incentives being offered by international institutions and nongovernment organizations also serve as stimulus for government and private sector entities to practice energy efficiency and conservation initiatives.

Read the full post from here @ ASEAN Energy News Service

Labels: conservation, efficiency

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Ocean Power Technologies - Taking a Closer Look

This blog post @ AEI takes a look at Ocean Power Technologies. The company, for its projects in Hawaii, New Jersey and Spain, have highly deployed power technology. One PowerBuoy produces 40kw and only in Hawaii and Spain will these wave "farms" will reach over 1 megawatt - this for a technology that is supposedly scaleable to hundreds of megawatts...

However, the post goes on to say there are good things about the PowerBuoy technology - it is modular, and add to it the fact that wave power is more predicatable than other intermittant renewable technologies based on wind or solar. In terms of costs, wave energy could cost more than wind energy but with economies of scale, within 3-5 years the costs could be the same for both...

Read the full post from here @ Alternative Energy Investor

Labels: wave

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With green energy, big is better

May 12 2007

Wind, solar and other renewable-energy technologies, once considered more appropriate for single homes or small communities in the US, are reaching levels of scale and centralising that were formerly the province of coal- and gas-fired plants and nuclear reactors.

When it comes to alternative ways of generating power in the US, big may be better.

The companies that are building or dreaming up large projects argue that there are economies of scale to be gained, says this interesting report.

Read more from this report @ Business Times, Malaysia

Labels: renewable

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Lithium batteries ready for the 3rd Gen. Prius

Toyota's lithium batteries ready to go - May 11, 2007

The biggest issue regarding the third iteration of Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive has been the lithium-ion batteries, and how soon those batteries could be available...
A Toyota executive recently announced today that Toyota's lithium-ion battery, under development with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., was technically ready to be mounted on hybrid cars "any time"...

Read the full report from here @ Hybrid Car Blog

Labels: batteries, electric-cars, hybrids, inventions

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Mitsubishi to establish new company to manufacture Lithium-ion batteries

Tuesday, 08 May 2007

GS Yuasa Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation have begun collaboration on establishing a joint venture company to manufacture large capacity and high performance Lithium-ion batteries that can be used in electric vehicles (EV). The three partners aim to complete the details and set up the new company sometime within half a year.

Application of Large Lithium-ion batteries is expected to increase dramatically across a wide variety of industries, including automobiles. Construction of systems that can quickly meet these market needs has become a vital issue.

Read the full report from here @ Green Vehicle News

Labels: batteries, hybrids

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Hybrids: Don't buy the hype

Sure, hybrids save gas but they won't save you money. There are smarter ways to go, says By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN/Money staff writer

With gasoline prices at a high, you might think it makes a lot of sense that hybrid cars are hot sellers.

They may make a social statement you're interested in, but if you want to save money because of rising gas prices, you're heading down the wrong road by buying hybrid autos, at least for now, says this report.

This kind of gets me thinking about the prices of various alternative energy sources right now...and in almost every case, the prices are higher than what we get from conventional sources and fossil fuels.

For instance, in the case of hybrids, I understand that they don’t save much at highway speeds, and many Americans commute at highways speeds. The capital costs on hybrids are higher as well. And it is not just with hybrids...I live in a hot (not sexy, but 105 degree F hot) city in India, and may be I can simply capture all the sun's heat and convert into electricity...maybe, but solar panels aren't cheap. Geothermal perhaps, way too costly.

You go across the spectrum, and analyse other alt energy sources - wind energy, wave energy, biofuels, all these cost relatively more right now...

Now don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, just stating a fact. This does not unduly worry me though, the prices are higher but not unaffordable, which in itself is great...when you consider that we are just on the threshold of exploring new sources of energy, I am optimistic the prices will fall quickly, and all the time, the prices of fossil fuels will be rising...

Back to hybrids. A further search on the cost of ownership of hybrids landed me on an interesting post on hybrids which said, "The Time for Hybrid has Come". The author cites an Edmunds.com report which gives the following reason why the hybrids are more economical now:

1. Now is the time when the prices and expenses on hybrid vehicles are at its lowest because there is now more supply than demand.
2. Incentives are now being offered on most of the popular hybrid vehicles.
3. Tax credits would be way lower especially later in the spring.
4. Gas prices are going up again.

So, perhaps right now hybrids might be more attractive than what they could be a couple of months lower, especially if gas prices go down again (optimistic thinking, I admit), but we need a far more stable price differential than that. Overall, I am not sure the time for hybrids has come, but perhaps what that day is not far into the future.

If I write a similar post perhaps a couple of year later the title in all probability will be, "Of course Hybrids save you money".

Read the full post here @ Hybrid Cars News

Labels: autos, costs, hybrids

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The anti nuclear industry is beating an old drum about fuel storage accountability

Friday, April 27, 2007 @ Atomic Insights

The post discusses the case of three nuclear plants that reported that they could not successfully account for 100% of the fuel material that had passed through their plant. The author however feels that this issue is justg an old political drum being beaten.

Read the full story and the author's response here @ Atomic Insights

Labels: nuclear

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Recent Advances Demonstrate Why Nuclear Will Win

Recently, engineers have announced some relatively simple changes that will increase the safety and efficiency of nuclear plants.

For example, a group at MIT have found that by making Uranium fuel pellets hollow, like tubes it's possible to increase the fuel efficiency by 50%, says this post @ iNuclear.

One minor change, and we get a 50% pop. That's an incredible increase, compared to what is possible in other alt energy sources. This is an perfect example of why nuclear power is the long-term winner of the energy race, argues this post

Labels: nuclear

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Specious Arguments Used by Opponents of Nuclear Energy

The author speaks about the pseduo-scientific arguments used by some of those opposed to nuclear energy. According to these anti-nuclear advocates, "Nuclear fission is apparently bad because splitting atoms is in conflict with all Life because it is destruction not construction".

Of course this is all utter trash; if someone is opposed to nuclear energy (or for that matter opposed to anything), he or she should be able to put forward objective and pertinent arguments. In the case of nuclear energy, both in public forums and sometimes even in scientific forums, what we hear are random thoughts from folks who are scared of the unknown.

As the author says in the post, what is wrong with splitting? "Natural radioactive decay, the kind of decay, which fuelled the primordial vents from where life first sprang, is the destruction of atoms. Metabolism is the destruction of all sorts of molecules."

Fair enough...

Read the rest of the post from here @ Freedom for Fission

Labels: nuclear

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About the So-called Dangerous Chemicals in Biodiesel Production

I keep hearing about some folks being a bit afraid of biodiesel production because they have heard that dangerous chemicals are used in its production. Is this really true?

Not much. If one were to say biodiesel production needs to be done in a safe manner, that is fine. But it is not the same as saying production is dangerous.

This is what the author of this post @ Triangle Biofuels says as well.

The author goes on provide details about the basic ingredients used to make biodiesel (vegetable oils / Animal Fats, an alcohol such as Methanol/Ethanol & a catalyst, such as Sodium Hydroxide or Potassium Hydroxide).

For those who wish to get a quick backgrounder on biodiesel production, a useful post to have a look at

Labels: biodiesel

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Former Miller Brewing Site Converting to Ethanol Plant

May 8, 2007

Pall-times.com reports that a former Miller Brewing Company site is being converted into a 114MMgy ethanol facility in New York. Northeast Biofuels plans to use local corn for 25% of their needs. The new plant should indirectly produce about 1,500 jobs.

Via this post @ Biodiesel Investing

Labels: biofuels, ethanol

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Molecular visualization of the bioconversion process

The tools available for the hunt for renewable energy are very 21st Century. New tools include robotics, mass spectrometers, laser imagers, and data collection and analysis devices. As a result, communications can be digital and more visual than ever before, speeding questions and understanding at warp speed around the globe.

The Society of Industrial Microbiology convened their 29th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals in Denver recently which was hosted by the federally-financed National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). One of the highlights of the symposium was a tour that included visits to its biochemical and thermochemical labs and pilot plants for converting an array of feedstock into sugars and ethanol.

One stop was in a research area where high tech imaging devices are employed to analyze cell and molecular structures involved in the bioconversion process. Data collected from such imaging devices can be used to build accurate models and animations to aid understanding. This post from Bioconversion blog provides more details on these high-tech imaging devices and the impact they will have...

Labels: biofuels, research, technology

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DHL investigates the use of biodiesel for its fleet in the UK

11 May 2007

A UK division of the international DHL logistics group, DHL Exel Supply Chain, has started to investigate the possibility of operating its delivery vehicles using 100% biodiesel.

DHL has undertaken this project in partnership with JD Wetherspoon and Argent Energy UK, a producer of biodiesel. The project will involve recycling and re-processing cooking oil...

Test runs on an initial trial vehicle will begin end of May to prove the feasibility and assess maintenance and operational requirements...

Read the full report from here @ Biofuel Review

Labels: transportation

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Hydro Power Invention - No Reservoirs Required

April 11th, 2007 - Alternative Energy Info

A new hydro power technology is being developed by Sarfraz Ahmad Khan of Pakistan. In theory these hydro plants would not require a reservoir and would have a minimal impact on the environment. They could be run side-by-side in rows and would be much cheaper to build, operate and maintain. Sarfraz has high hopes that his ideas could revolutionize hydro power in his country and across the globe. He is currently seeking expert confirmation of his ideas; this article provides a brief summary of his ideas along with some of the 3D images he has created. You can help him by leaving your comments at the bottom of the page, or by joining the discussion that inspired this article.

Read more from this page @ Alternative Energy Info

Labels: hydro-power, hydroelectricity, inventions, research

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Vertical Axis Windmill Invention

April 26th, 2007 - Alternative Energy Info

Toronto Inventor Tom J. Gilmour recently published his conceptual designs for what he is calling Tom’s Whirligig. Patent applications have been made, and Tom hopes to reserve all rights and worldwide patents for his design. Tom believes his windmill plans to be the most complex ever devised. While he is not yet sure of the workability of this concept, he is optimistic about its feasibility and hopes to soon find the time to build a working model.

This new design is based around a continuously rotating carousel, which houses eight symmetrical airfoils. The entire carousel is mounted on a fixed vertical shaft. A top mounted central weather vane keeps the cam shaft pointed at the wind.

Read more from this report @ Alternative Energy Info

Labels: inventions, research, wind

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Hybrid Hydrogen-Carbon Process - A New Biofuel Breakthrough?
March 14, 2007
By Rene O'Deay

A new process of creating biofuels could lead to the US becoming an exporter of oil, instead of an importer, according to Purdue University Scientists.

The new process is called H2CAR for "hybrid hydrogen-carbon process." This process (H2CAR) can be used to provide a sustainable fuel supply to meet the needs of the entire U.S. transportation sector...

H2CAR will enable us to use our current fuel delivery system and internal combustion engines. The method can also be used to produce liquid gas from coal without the production of CO2, eliminating the need for carbon dioxide sequestering.

Read the full post from here @ Alternative Energy Products

Labels: inventions

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Environment Friendly Solar Water Fountains

Do you have a spot in your yard, patio, or porch where you could place a beautiful fountain that adds to your relaxation and the landscape of your property? Environmentally friendly solar water fountains run free of charge, courtesy of the sun of course! There is no tricky electrical system, or wiring that you need to run, just a solar panel, pump, and the fountain.

Read more from this post and see a nice illustration @ Energy Refuge

Labels: environment, solar

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Energy, the Next Boom Industry

The changes in the energy industry will create huge opportunities for new technology, says the author of this post @ Alt Energy Technology.

The energy business is about to change in a big way, and its growth could dwarf the changes in the Internet and telecom businesses. Similar to what happened to the IT & Telecom businesses starting a decade ago, we can start to see the changes happening in the energy industry now. The incumbent oil companies and other energy companies like the way it is, the oil companies and will react the same way and protect their core businesses at all costs, as did the big telecom companies. By the time the large telecom companies started reacting to the changes seriously, it was too late. The same could happen to the large energy companies, feels the author.

Alternative energy has the potential of making the Internet/Telecom boom look like pocket change. Energy is a trillion dollar market and growing and any company that gets a piece of that action will do extremely well.

Read the full post from here @ Alt Energy Technology blog

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Brief Analysis of Climate Change Report

May 07, 2007

Here’s a brief analysis of and comments on the recent IPCC working group report on Mitigation of Climate Change released from Bangkok, Thailand as it relates to alternative energy. The summary is provided on the following sections:

1. Energy Efficient & Net Zero Energy Buildings
2. Alternative Energy = Energy Security
3. Transport Policy & Fossil Fuels Subsidies
4. Research and Development + Technology Transfer

Read the full summary from here @ Alternative Energy Blog

Original working group report here (PDF)

Labels: climate-change, environment, research

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Turning Black Coal Green - Zero Emissions Coal Plants

February 02, 2007

Sooty coal hardly seem like the future of energy, but that’s exactly what the U.S. Department of Energy predicts. Coal’s growing dominance need not spell doom for the environment, according to an executive at American Electric Power (AEP), a large American utility company which is building the first near-zero-emission coal plant by 2012. The 275-megawatt facility will serve as the model for a new generation of high-tech coal facilities, it is hoped

Source of article: AltEng post

Labels: climate-change, coal, environment, fossil-fuels

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Want an eco-friendly holiday? Get on your bike!

Guilt free, environment-friendly holidays are becoming all the rage. There's nothing that would make the blog author (Gareth Kane) than cruising along a country lane in the sunshine scaring the wits out of the local wildlife. Since however, he would not be able to make a biking expedition this year, he feels he should at least introduce some others to it, and here are some of his suggestions:

1. Follow a formal route.
2. Get cycle fit.
3. Eat a good breakfast.
4. Buy waterproof panniers.
5. Get up early in the morning.
6. Have fun

Read more on each of his above suggestions at this post @ Eco Living

Labels: environment, transportation

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Greener Computing

Not only is a staggering amount of energy required to power everything, but with each passing day more and more e-waste is produced. As important as the issue is, the IT industry (and related technological sectors) doesn’t seem to get nearly the same amount of coverage as many of the other environmental offenders such as the oil industry, feels the author of this post.

Thankfully, more focus is now being placed on the environmental impact of the computing industry, and more and more companies are making an effort to lessen their impact.

The author also informs us about a note he received announcing the the launch of a new website: GreenerComputing.

Read more on this post here @ EcoSherpa

Labels: environment, technology

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SeaWater Greenhouse - Water for Agriculture in Arid Areas

The Seawater Greenhouse is a new development that offers sustainable solution to the problem of providing water for agriculture in arid, coastal regions. The process uses seawater to cool and humidify the air that ventilates the greenhouse and sunlight to distil fresh water from seawater.

Read more from this Ecosutra posting

Labels: agriculture, environment, water

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A Green Tax for ‘Binge’ Flyers

May 9th, 2007 post @ Eco Chick

Recently, the publisher of a guidebook series - of all books - said people fly too much! Reason? Mark Ellingham, the founder of the Rough Guides, railed in an interview recently against the travel development he refers to as “binge flying” – hopping a flight for a quick weekend in a distant locale. To counter this trend, he calls for a £100 (~ $ 210) green tax on all flights from Britain to Europe and Africa and a £250 (~ $520) green tax to flights elsewhere.

Does this make sense - rational and emotional? The author feels while emotionally this might not be acceptable ("oops, the price just doubled between Germany & USA!"), from an economic and rational standpoint, it could make the environment a lot cleaner.

Read more from this interesting post @ Eco Chick

Labels: environment, transportation

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Plasma process converts garbage into clean energy

February 23rd, 2007

With an eco-friendly technology called Plasma Gasification, one can produce clean energy which in turn powers the process, along with commercially useful byproducts.

Recently a company has developed this interesting device that can handle pretty much any type of waste put into it and turn it into a clean source of energy.

This process creates two byproducts; one is a synthetic gas composed mostly of hydrogen and carbon monoxide which can be converted into a clean fuel. The second byproduct is a form of vitrified glass that can be used as inert fill for construction in roads, building blocks or other uses.

The process produces enough synthetic gas to power the unit, as well as a surplus which could be sold directly or used to generate excess electricity, providing an additional source of revenue for the facility.

Read more from this post @ Green Geek

Labels: environment, inventions, waste

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Twirling Tower Could Power Itself, Ten Others

By Hank Green - 13 May 2007

An architect has designed a wind-powered rotating skyscraper. While the technical details of the wind-power system are not fully known, the architect, David Fisher, claims that the tower could power itself and ten other similar sized buildings. Though the claim appears unbelievable, if it is even able to produce just it's own energy, it would be a significant achievement.

The architect has proposed that towers be built in a new way, basically by stacking platters on a central concrete core. This will allow for two unique and awesome features. First, a wind turbine between every floor (see image above) and, second, rotating floors.

Read more from this post @ EcoGeek

Labels: green-buildings, inventions, wind

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A Future for Carbon Finance

via TheCleanSlateReport, Tue 20 Mar 2007

The recent announcement of the World Bank’s 10th carbon fund – the Carbon Fund for Europe (CFE) – provided much needed long-term stability to the carbon project finance market. Specifically, up to 40 percent of the CFE’s investment in a project may be allocated to carbon credits generated by a project after 2012, when the present Kyoto regulatory regime will expire.

The support for the post-2012 carbon trading regime is particularly reassuring. For the thousands of carbon projects now under development around the globe, this announcement has opened up new financing opportunities. While they still face a more difficult financing environment as 2012 approaches, with market uncertainty lessened, it is expected that more private equity will flow to carbon finance, says this post @ EcoFinance

Read more from the report about what the future for carbon finance could look like.

Labels: environment

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One of the Largest Solar Power Plants in Portugal

Apr 04, 2007

Near the city of Lisbon, Portugal is one of the world's largest solar power plants. Presntly in the process of starting up, the power plant places Portugal in the lead on solar-electric generation.

The 11 Megawatt power plant was built by Berkeley based Powerlight, and financed by GE Energy Financial Services.

Read more from this brief post from I Want Clean Air

Labels: solar

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New System to Transform Restaurant Grease into Renewable Energy

May 2007

Wastewater sludge and grease from restaurant kitchens are a nuisance for the environment, as they release methane during decomposition. An energy firm in California has come up with an innovative system that will be transforming wastewater sludge from its local restaurants into clean energy. Chevron Energy Solutions, a Chevron subsidiary is providing the assistance for engineering and constructing the environment-friendly system at the City of Rialto’s wastewater treatment facility.

The new system is also claimed to considerably increase municipal revenues and decrease the city’s energy costs - apart from decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Via Eco Friend post

Labels: environment, greenhouse-gases, waste

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Fertilising the Oceans - Thin Soup and a Thin Story

2 May 2007 @ Real Climate

A firm called planktos.com is getting a lot of attention for their bid to create a carbon offset product based on fertilizing the ocean.

In certain parts of the ocean, surface waters already contain most of the ingredients for a plankton bloom; all they lack is trace amounts of iron. For each 1 atom of iron added in such a place, phytoplankton take up 50,000 atoms of carbon. What could be better?

Phytoplankton biomass does not last forever, any more than tree biomass does. The trick therefore is to get the carbon to sink out of the surface ocean into the depths, generally in the forms of snot and poop. Once it reaches a depth of a kilometer or so, it can decompose to CO2 again but the water will be isolated from the atmosphere for decades, maybe centuries.

Sounds like a great idea? May be yes, may be not...read the detailed post here @ Real Climate to know more

Labels: climate-change, ocean, research

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Toyota to be 100% hybrid by 2020?

A short TreeHugger post informs about a Toyota executive saying that the company has seen some success in reducing the cost of the electrical components used in it's hybrid powertrains, and that Toyota ultimately aims by 2020 to have all Toyotas to be hybrid.

Not sure if this is just the company's ambition or a strategy...

Read the original TreeHugger post from here

Labels: autos, costs, hybrids

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James Lovelock, the Gaia Hypothesis Theorist Foresees Crises

We are on the edge of the greatest die-off, and will lucky if 20% of us survive what is coming. We should be scared stiff, feels James Lovelock.

Lovelock, famous for the Gaia Hypotheses which maintains that life on Earth regulates its environment keeping it in a remarkable state of balance, not unlike the way a body regulates its own metabolism, now believes that human activities have set off reactions that will knock the biosphere out of it's present balance into one with substantially higher temperatures. The melting of permafrost above the arctic circle will release huge quantities of methane and carbon dioxide, while melting ice reduces the surface albedo and causes less sunlight to be reflected back into space, he feels.

Read more about this and the author's analysis of Lovelock's hypothesis from this post @ Green Future

Labels: climate-change, environment

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New York's Green Agenda - Mayor Plans Energy Conservation Regulations

April 24, 2007

New NY gov Eliot Spitzer is calling for conservation. He's proposing a combination of legislation and regulations to get the state to consume less energy by 2015. Although the details haven't been revealed, the NY Times reported that these will include stricter energy standards for appliances, and upping the ante for energy efficiency on (so-called) green buildings. There's also talk about building & installing renewable energy generation facilities.

The reasoning for this is simple - by using less energy the state will save money.

Read more about the plans of NY governor @ this post @ It's the Environment, Stupid

Labels: conservation, environment

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455,000 MW of Wind Power by 2016?

The Danish wind power market analysis firm BTM Consult ApS (BTM) released its latest annual market report in late March. Although the press release on the report notes considerable uncertainty in projections beyond 2011, it also states that its projection would lead to total global cumulative installed wind generating capacity of 455,000 MW by 2016. If that amount of wind capacity were installed in the U.S., it could be expected to generate roughly 1.3 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year (my estimate), or 25% or more of total U.S. electricity supply.

Read more info about this report from here @ Rising Wind

Labels: wind

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Spain's wind energy generation reaches new high, exceeding all other forms

Spain's wind energy generators this week (Apr 20, 2007) reached an all-time high in electricity production, exceeding power generated by all other means...On a specific point in time this week, wind power generation rose to contribute 27 percent of the country's total power requirement - at that moment wind power contributed 8,375 mega watts to the nation's power consumption of 31,033, nuclear power - 6,797 mega watts and coal-fired electric generation - 5,081

Source: IHT

Labels: wind

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Why is VAWT (Vertical Access Wind Turbine) Struggling?

This blog post @ WindBiz refers to an article in The Economist's Technology Quarterly which has picked up on recent developments in Vertical Access Wind Turbine (VAWT) designs, offering a glimpse at a company that sells equipments, one TMA Global Wind Energy Systems of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Dwelling on the Economist story, the author asks: why has VAWT technology struggled to make it to the mass, industrial scale market, since it's been affirmed time and again as a more reliable and cost-effective design than the current upright tri-bladers (Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine -HAWT)?

The author feels there two broad technical and commercial reasons why VAWT has struggled. One is technical: VAWTs are low to the ground and don't capture the high winds like the 60-80m hub heights of HAWTs. Reason two is commercial: the same old story of technical innovators whose marketing story hasn't been well-banked, well-communicated, nor well-timed....

Read the WindBiz post for more of this discussion

Labels: wind

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Turbines Could Pose Threat To Birds And Bats

Written on May 10, 2007

Wsls.com reports that a government study shows that the rotating blades on wind turbines could pose a threat to bats, night-migrating songbirds, and some hunting birds. The threat is more pronounced in coastal areas. Scientists recommend further studies on the matter.

Source: Wind Energy Investing

Labels: research, technology, wind

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Peak Oil is not About Running Out of Oil!

May 10, 2007

If you hear someone saying the peak oil theory is wrong and that the world is not about to run out of oil, tell him that he is wrong in his understanding that peak oil is about our running out of oil.

This post at Oil Be Seeing You details on the same issue:

"...No one in the peak oil movement, unless they too are new to the movement and do not yet understand, ever says, or ever would say, that peak oil means the end of oil, means we are running out of oil. Most in the peak oil camp, in fact, believe we will never consume all of the oil there is, for a wide variety of reasons. In general only about thirty percent of the oil in a reserve is recoverable so there is always going to be oil left over in a field after the last well has been shut down."

The post goes on to explain what indeed is peak oil:

"Peak oil is about a global society and global economy that have become hopelessly dependent on an ever-increasing supply of cheap, high-grade oil, increasingly dependent also on natural gas and coal, the other main fossil fuels. It is about the impact on that global society and global economy when the supply of oil can no longer be increased, when the demand for oil exceeds what the world's oil fields can produce..."

Useful post for those who want to have a clear and detailed understanding of the Peak Oil term.

Read the full post here @ Oil be Seeing You

Labels: fossil-fuels, peak-oil

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Waste to Energy - Burning Turkey Feces

April 15, 2007

A revolutionary plant in USA is turning 270 tons of poultry waste into 300 barrels of crude oil every day. That would be cause for wild celebration in many circles if not for some problems. First, the plant is losing money, and second, some residents of the town that once welcomed it now pretty much hate it. It turns out that process of cooking turkey waste and other waste gives off - not surprisingly - a horrible stench.

Solution? The owner is considering a deal to build a plant in Ireland, where costs would be considerably less, and where a recent news article predicted a plant should be operating by next year.

Source: Peak E

Labels: animal-waste, waste

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Agrichar for Better CO2 Sequestration & to Reduce Global Warming?

May 07, 2007

The first meeting of the International Agrichar Initiative convened about 100 scientists, policymakers, farmers and investors with the goal of birthing an entire new industry to produce a biofuel that goes beyond carbon neutral and is actually carbon negative.

Agrichar is the term not for the biomass fuel, but for what is left over after the energy is removed: a charcoal-based soil amendment. In simple terms, the agrichar process takes dry biomass of any kind and bakes it in a kiln to produce charcoal. The process is called pyrolysis. Various gases and bio-oils are driven off the material and collected to use in heat or power generation. The charcoal is buried in the ground, sequestering the carbon that the growing plants had pulled out of the atmosphere. The end result is increased soil fertility and an energy source with negative carbon emissions.

Interesting, read the full story from here @ Truthout

Via: Madison Peak Oil Group post

Labels: climate-change, environment, inventions

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Coal’s Future in Doubt - Could Peak in 15 Years?

May 2007

A recent newsletter article by GPM consisted of a summary of the conclusions of a recent study by the Energy Watch Group (EWG) on future global coal supplies. That study found that global coal production could peak in as few as 15 years. This rather surprising conclusion was based on a careful analysis of recent reserves revisions for several nations.

The EWG report has enormous implications for climate change, global energy, and particularly for future electricity supply and steel production in the US and China. Until now, virtually everyone in the fields of energy policy and energy analysis had assumed that the world’s coal endowment was so enormous that no limits would be encountered anytime this century. The EWG’s conclusions turn this assumption on its head.

Read more from this post by Richard Heinberg @ Global Public Media

Labels: coal, fossil-fuels

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Brazil, Ethanol & the New Great Game

April 13, 2007

With Chinese, Japanese, Indian, American, and European delegations crisscrossing Brazil to size up the country’s potential as a supplier of strategic materials, specifically ethanol, it is hard not to draw an analogy with the fight for hegemony that took place in Asia between Tsarist Russia and the British Empire, in the nineteenth & early twentieth centuries, says this interesting piece.

Over the last month, France’s Louis Dreyfus bought all the sugar and ethanol refineries belonging to the Tavares de Melo Group, becoming the second-largest producer of ethanol in Brazil....

So what's in store for Brazil and its ethanol? Read this post @ Etha Blog for more inputs

Labels: ethanol

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Building-Integrated Wind Turbines
January 26, 2007

Blue Green Pacific is a renewable energy company that's working towards making microwind energy generation ubiqitous in the urban environment.

As an intial step, they've installed a small Windside turbine on a San Francisco residence. This is the first residental wind turbine installed in the city.

The heavily monitored, seashell shaped turbine is nearly silent, aesthetically unobtrusive, and does well in turbulent, shifty wind environments...

Read the full post from here @ Green Volts

Labels: micro-wind-projects, wind

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Cut Your Energy Bill in Half, or How I Saved Over $500 this Winter

The author of this blog reports that he saved an astonishing 500+ $ previous bills, by following these "secrets":

1. Replaced all lights with CFLs - Every one. The light is the same. They hardly burn out.
2. Better management of phantom loads (things that are “on” even when “off”, for instance anything with a remote control, a clock, cell phone chargers, printers, monitors, etc.)
3. Switching to natural gas appliances
4. Buying Energy Star appliances - As you replace your old appliances, pay a little bit more for ones with the “Energy Star” label. They are more efficient and save more money in the run.
5. Buy a window air conditioner, instead of central AC
6. Efficient management of the refrigerator, such as turn off the ice maker at suitable times.

Read the full post from here @ Solar Kismet

Labels: conservation, costs, electricity

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Thin Solar Films as Sun Power Alternative

Many of the photo-voltaic technologies are dependent on semiconductor crystalline silicon type materials, and these are relatively costly for mass production.

However, there is a possibility that thin solar film option will make major breakthroughs in a couple of years. The cost of these thin solar films by then will have decreased to a more affordable level, hopes this post.

That said however, the present economic aspect of producing them would not allow most European solar companies into focusing on this new solar technology, feels the author of the post.

Read more from this blog post @ My Solar Panel blog

Labels: solar

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Higher Air conditioner efficiency using solar power

You may have probably heard of Solar Air Conditioner. It can produce cooling effect by absorbing heat from Sunlight. Normally, these types of ACs are absorption type refrigeration systems using Ammonia cycle, salt and vapor pressure stuff. But these are still limited to research labs with few commercial applications.

In this post the author talks about using electricity (from solar) to get some extra points of efficiency from your existing AC.

Interesting post, read more from here @ A Sun Energy World

Labels: efficiency, inventions, research, solar

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Energy Alternatives Competing For Funding

Advocates of various sources of alternative energy are beginning to point out the competition's warts. Everyone wants to use the energy crisis as leverage to support his or her solution.

But with limited government research and development money for ways to replace oil, any technology's gain is a loss for the others. So the criticism is flying in all directions.

Read more about the type of criticism each energy alternative is receiving, from this blog post @ Solar Sandiego

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Turning oil refineries into biorefineries: EU launches BIOCOUP project

May 08, 2007, Biopact

Adapting existing mineral oil refineries for use as biorefineries is the goal of an ambitious new EU funded project called BIOCOUP.

BIOCOUP is supported by the European Commission through the Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, under the theme 'Sustainable development, global change and ecosystems'. Its aim is to develop a chain of process steps, which would allow biomass feedstocks to be co-fed to a conventional oil refinery. Energy and oxygenated chemicals will be co-produced as well as bio-liquids. The overall innovation derives from the integration of bio-feedstock procurement with existing industries (energy, pulp and paper, food) and processing of upgraded biomass forms in existing mineral oil refineries.

Read more from this post @ Biopact

Labels: biodiesel, biofuels

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Locate Biodiesel Near You! NearBio Biodiesel Locator Service

29 November 2006, source: Biodiesel Report

It’s easy to run biodiesel when you’re driving in familair territory but what happens when you take an extended trip and you would rather not run a non-biofuel? NearBio is a free service to help you find biodiesel when your tank is getting low.

NearBio updates their database of biodiesel filling stations every day. You’ll get a list of stations near your location, driving instructions to find them and GPS coordinates, too.

Read the full report from Biodiesel Report

Labels: biodiesel

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Interesting discussion at this Biodiesel America page on Cleaning Up Coal & The Future of Coal

"
Hi JohnO,
I plan to look back at coal ten years from now the way I look at my old IBM 286 – dead technology. After we transform America to green energy making trillions of dollars of new industries in the process, we will reverse climate change – probably by making some kind of carbon dense briquettes (similar to coal) and putting them back in the ground. Right where they belong. JT

JohnO Writes:
Joshua: my parents forwarded this to me. I especially like his statement
"we've run out of backyards".

This brings to mind the question - what is the most concentrated form of
carbon that we might be able to sequester? Too bad glycerol doesn't
contain any significant carbon - we could sequester it, solving the
disposal problem. I could see raw veg oil as a potential carbon trap,
squeezing it out of beans and seed (and palm nuts) only to be pumped
into the ground to make room in the atmosphere for coal smoke. I'm
afraid to run the figures to see if that makes economic sense. Yikes!
Luckily I don't have the figures readily available, so I'll keep my head
in the sand a little longer. Sigh.
Cheers,
JohnO
"

Read the full discussion and the rest of the opinions here @ Biodiesel America

Labels: coal, fossil-fuels

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Plans for Jatropha Biodiesel in India

Quoting from a post I saw at Biodiesel Blog:

"...in certain parts of the world, governments and some corporations consider the jatropha plant, common in hot climates, one of the most promising sources of biodiesel. The plant can grow in wastelands, and it yields more than four times as much fuel per hectare as soybean, and more than ten times that of corn. But the commercial-scale cultivation of jatropha, which has not previously been grown as a crop, raises several significant challenges."

..."So far, the project has signed up 5,000 farmers representing 1,000 hectares of land. The goal is to have 8,000 hectares under cultivation by March 2008, and Adholeya says that the success of the first crops has drawn interest from many more farmers....Eventually, it aims to produce 90 million liters of biodiesel annually."

Source: Biodiesel Blog

Labels: biodiesel, jatropha

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Energy-Efficient Homes Using Solar Panels & Hydrogen

Came across an interesting news post @ CBS News on a pioneering energy efficient home. Well, it isn't for the common me and you yet ( at the half a million price tag that the infrastructure costs), but the report says such a thing could be affordable soon.

The report is about Mike Strizki, who lives in a 3,500 square foot home in New Jersey - powered by "Solar Hydrogen" energy.

When the sun comes up, his solar panels soak it up. Whatever isn't used is converted into hydrogen gas, which gets turned into electricity once the sun goes down. The system is enough to power his entire home and produces no emissions. His utility bills are zero.

As mentioned above, what Mike is using today cannot be used by you and me at the prohibitive price tag, but the future may be a little closer than you think. Strizki's working on mass-producing his home energy system, which would bring the cost down to around $60,000.

Read the entire report from here @ KWCH

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