Alternative Energy / Renewable Energy

• How Renewable Energy will Benefit from US Natural Gas Exports

  U.S.-based industries and utilities that consume a lot of natural gas have been trying to figure out just how to respond to proposals in Congress to allow expanded natural gas exports, a move that could significantly raise the price of one of their chief inputs.But, there is one segment of U.S. industry that ought to be cheering for such an outcome--though I doubt that its leaders will be offering their support in anything above a whisper. The renewable energy industry would benefit from higher natural gas prices--and higher coal prices, for that matter--since, as these fuels for electric power plants…

• Fuel Efficiency Boosted by New HydraGen Technology

  Canadian-based dynaCERT Inc. is making gains with its flagship product, the HydraGen, to boost fuel efficiency for the heavy truck industry. HydraGen is an advance patent-pending electrolysis system that uses distilled water as a fuel additive combined with a potassium hydroxide electrolyte to produce clean gas for injection into a truck’s engine. The technology could enhance vehicle performance and lead to greater fuel efficiency for the heavy tractor-trailer industry. Essentially, it’s a hydrogen “gas-on-demand” system that feeds the produced gas into a special conditioning system that then separates out any moisture and sends dry gas to the output lines and…

• Nevada Renewable Energy – Good or Bad?

  Say what you will, the energy matrix driving the U.S. economy is in flux, if for no other reason than the increasing volumes of natural gas and oil produced by U.S. hydraulic fracturing efforts are beginning to have a significant impact on the U.S. economy.While the issue of “fracking” excites legions of both proponents and detractors, the common ground that both share is a commitment to lessen America’s dependency on foreign energy exports.That said, the energy produced by fracking is a continuation of U.S. dependency on traditional fossils fuels.Another element, still largely marginalized in the mix, is renewable energy, and…

• Another EV Bites the Dust

  Why is Fisker Automotive’s Karma both a Failed EV and a Negative Fate?Called the “Solyndra of Electric car companies” by Bill Vlasic of the New York Times, Fisker Automotive is just the latest in long line of investments by the U.S. government into questionable technologies and companies. Fisker’s jagged history is best summarized in “47 depressing facts about Fisker’s epic electric car failure,” that appeared today in the Washington Examiner. Among these facts, the article points out:•    In 2009, the untested Fisker Company secured loan guarantees from the Obama administration totaling $529 million, more than the company had initially requested.…

• Energy Storage: The Final Barrier to Wind and Solar’s Success

  Perhaps the biggest shortcoming of solar and wind power is their intermittency. In locations like Hawaii, where I live, wind and solar power are already competitive on price. My fossil-fuel supplied electricity typically costs above 40 cents a kilowatt-hour, and wind and solar power can compete with that. But since they can’t supply power that is available on demand (firm power) they must be backed up by power sources that can provide power when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.This scenario could change dramatically if cost-effective energy storage solutions were developed. I consider this to be the…

• Verizon Prepares for $100m Renewable Energy Investment

  Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) will spend $100 million to green up its facilities with solar panels and fuel cells, putting it in the big leagues with clean energy followers like Google and Yahoo. The announcement, on Tuesday, will benefit California-based solar panel developer SunPower Corp. (SPWR), which will supply and install solar panels in over a dozen Verizon facilities across five US states. The clean energy spending spree will also benefit Oregon-based fuel cell maker ClearEdge Power, which will supply and install hydrogen fuel cells at Verizon facilities in California, New Jersey and New York. Related article: Could MLP’s be…

• First Commercial Scale OTEC Plant to be Built in China

  Lockheed Martin has announced that it is working with Reignwood Group to develop an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) pilot power plant off the coast of southern China.  Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion is now a commercial product.  It’s the easiest access geothermal/solar energy available.Lockheed Martin OTEC Process Block Diagram. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin.Ocean thermal uses the ocean’s natural thermal gradient to generate power.  Where there is warm surface water and cold deep water, the temperature difference can be leveraged to drive a steam cycle that turns a turbine and produces power. Warm surface seawater passes through a heat exchanger, vaporizing…

• Giant Concrete Spheres: New Form of Energy Storage for Offshore Wind Farms

  Wind power has great potential, and researchers have even estimated that offshore, floating wind farms could provide as more than 20% of the world’s energy needs in the future. The main problem that dogs wind energy is the fact that when the wind doesn’t blow, no electricity is produced, and intermittent energy is of little use to a grid.Various forms of energy storage have been researched by different groups around the world. Ideas such as giant flywheels, carbon neutral gas, giant batteries made from gravel and argon gas, and pumped hydro energy storage systems, have all been tested to some…

• Could MLP’s be Embraced by the Renewable Energy Sector

  MLPs may be the answer to clean energy’s investment woes; the ripple effects of the EU’s carbon trading shenanigans spread; bad news for hybrids as car owners sue Ford for false fuel efficiency claims; and Syria—yes, Syria—has offshore potential that is highly prospective and entirely unexplored…Could the master-limited partnership (MLP) be the next thing embraced by the renewable energy sector? Very possibly. The oil and gas industry appears to be supporting the idea of allowing renewable energy companies to organized as MLPs as a way of detoxing them from federal subsidies. What this would do essentially is give renewable energy…

• LEDs Ready to Replace Incandescent Bulbs after Efficiency Secret is Discovered

  LEDs have a mysterious drop in the light produced called “droop” when a higher current is applied.  That limits the amount of lumens an LED can make thus holding the technology down as a viable replacement for incandescent bulbs for all-purpose commercial and residential lighting.The situation could change now that the cause of LED efficiency droop has been explained.  Researchers at University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) led by James Speck and Claude Weisbuch of the Center for Energy Efficient Materials at UCSB, an Energy Frontier Research Center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy in collaboration with colleagues at…