Bloom Energy - An indepth look

Bloom Energy produces Bloom Boxes, which use fuel cell technology to convert methane and oxygen from air into electricity and carbon dioxide. They have gotten a lot of good press about being environmentally friendly, green energy, etc. However, when one looks at the numbers, there is considerable doubt cast about the validity of those claims. From the Institute for Energy Research (IER) comes this analysis, The Bloom is Off Bloom Energy

Bloom Boxes are being produced in Delaware, and the company is being aided by major subsidies funded in part by higher utility bills, the appropriateness of which is now being challenged in the court.

US Gov Takes Concrete Steps to Expand Renewable Energy

Secretary Sally Jewell outlines on This Week at Interior an upcoming offering of offshore leases to develop wind energy which could supply electricity to 1 million homes. She also highlights some western US developments of solar and geothermal renewable energy which can supply energy needs of 200,000 homes. The video is certainly worth the 3+ minutes it takes. (Note: the renewable energy segment comes after a 1 min segment on recreational fishing, and before a segment about healthy foods to be served in National Parks).

For more details on the offshore wind farm lease, see Renewable Energy News.

Going Green for Our Health.... and Our Grandchildren's Future

 Lettuce and parsley in Fintel garden, May 2013, Bill Fintel photo

Salads grown locally. They make sense, and they are happening. The more greens we eat, and the less beef we eat, the better off we and our planet will be, and also the better off will be our grandchildren.

It is really very simple math. We can be very healthy eating a plant based diet...in fact much more healthy than eating a lot of plant fed animals. And we improve upon the energy conversion efficiency of taking in directly the solar energy processed by plants, instead of allowing it to pass through a second inefficient energy converting process of the cow or the chicken or pig, etc.

So who is making this all the more possible in the busy northeast? Bright Farms!

But you too can also grow and consume your own greens, or you can buy from a local organic gardener, like Hattie's Garden, and she also sells starter organic vegetable plants.

 Pirat Butterhead lettuce from Hattie, a Fintel favorite, Bill Fintel photo

World Energy Production Details - Germany

What you will not find much of on this blog is what you can find everywhere else in the news as well. So this link to a Mark Lynas post I think you will find unique, and I hope you agree with me, it contains some very interesting nuggets of information about energy production in Germany, such as:

Solar continued its enormous growth rate between 2011 and 2012. Production rose from 19.3TWh (terawatt-hours) in 2011 to 27.6TWh in 2012, representing an impressive increase of 47.7%. In terms of total electricity generation, solar’s percentage rose from 3.2% in 2011 to 4.6% in 2012. This is an extraordinary achievement by any standard.

Because gas prices remain high in Europe relative to coal, gas is being forced out of the electricity market – and with widespread opposition to fracking, there is little prospect of cheapear gas (as in the US) for the forseeable future.

An excellent summary, but for just one country. Now do it for 200+ countries in the World, integrate all that data, and use it to plan the future of world energy production. A daunting task!!!!

Energy for Development: Lessons from energy-poor communities around the world

Curt Davis and Solar Cooker

This presentation will provide an overview of effective solar cookers, biogas digesters and improved cookstoves as well as alternative energy options for electricity that have proven effective for off-grid living around the world. It will also include photos and explanations from Curts' travels in addition to several short high-quality video clips of successful international projects.

Curt Davis is an international development professional and current graduate student at the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Delaware. Curt has lived off the grid for over 2 years as a Peace Corps volunteer serving in rural Paraguay and has interned with a small non-governmental organization (NGO) in the Indian Himalayas. While earning a master's degree in Sustainable International Development at Brandeis University, Curt built relationships with NGOs in Latin America, Asia and Africa that are committed to providing reliable sustainable energy, empowering local stakeholders while at the same time providing positive externalities, such as the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

While in India Curt devoted his research to the development of alternative energy options to the traditional three-stone fire used commonly throughout energy-poor regions of the world. It was through these experiences that he became familiar with solar cookers and biogas digesters used for cooking.

Wind Turbines Can Be Beautiful

New concept, but certainly very eye opening, are the winning photos from a new Wind Turbine photography contest REV/MODO.com:

"Who knew wind turbines could be so beautiful? With the right eye, these tall workhorses look more like pieces of art than components of renewable energy technology. The Global Wind Day “Wind in Mind” photo competition was launched in May 2012 by the European Wind Energy Association and over 50 partner organizations. They received a startling 2,300 entries, but the competition jury–made up of professional photographers and art directors–managed to pick six winners based on geographic location." (see top link for the 5 winning photos)

Osmotic Power

This video is about a prototype osmotic power plant in Norway. The principal is basically the opposite of a reverse osmosis desalination plant. In the power plant, fresh water from a river and salt water from the ocean are placed on either side of an osmotic membrane in a pressure vessel. The fresh water diffuses through the membrane creating high pressure on the salt water side equivalent to a head of water about 120 ft high. This pressurized water is released through a nozzle creating a jet of water used to drive a water turbine and coupled generator. Improved membrane technology is what is renewing interest in this unique approach to carbon-free power generation.

The original lead was from a recent article in Renewable Energy World.

ITER - Thermonuclear Fusion

Image from the Belgian portal to ITER

We talked a bit about fusion energy production in our last Osher class, so I felt it worthwhile to refresh my knowledge of where this stands. The title link is to a page on the ITER site which has a very good summary of fusion research to date, and an outlook for the future.

If you like what you read on the linked page, please browse the site more fully. It is amazing technology and an easy to navigate site! There are also several other approaches to controlled nuclear fusion which I will review in the future, but ITER is the biggest, most researched, and most funded approach.

Note: ITER was originally an acronym for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. Now ITER is just ITER, but for Latin lovers, it can also be The Journey.

Prospects for Cancun, and a proposed plan

From the linked Wall Street Journal editorial by Bjorn Lomborg:
"Attendees in Cancun will be singing the same tune that they did last year: Nations must commit themselves to drastic, immediate carbon cuts. This ignores both economic reality and 20 years of experience that tell us that this policy choice is incredibly expensive, utterly ineffective and ultimately politically unsellable.

.................World-wide public spending on research and development for clean energy technologies is a paltry $2 billion a year. Increasing this to $100 billion a year could be a game-changer. Not only would it be almost twice as cheap as the $180 billion a year cost of fully implementing Kyoto, but the effect of this kind of spending would be hundreds of times greater. But this should not be our only response to global warming. We should also invest considerably more in adaptation to global warming's effects, and research geo-engineering technologies as a potential backstop."

Delaware: 30% Renewable by 2029

From DelawareOnline: "Gov. Jack Markell on Wednesday proposed a 10-year extension of a Delaware law that requires utilities to buy electric power from renewable sources, seeking to spur green manufacturing and help residents afford small-scale solar installations.

Under the proposal, every electric utility in the state would need to buy 30 percent of its electricity from renewable sources such as solar or wind power by 2029. That's an increase from current law, which requires 20 percent by 2019."

Searching Fin Bliz Climate Blog

Just a quick note to point out that you can now scroll to the bottom of this page and search any of the 'Labels', such as sea level, IPCC, etc. The search will bring up all past posts with that label. Also added is a quick comments check box below each post, which obviously now (2/26) are empty, but you can go back and add your input, and if you make some entries, we will use that to perhaps design a fall SDALL climate/green energy course.  Bill

The Bloom Box: breakthrough or hype?

This sounds like an amazing breakthrough in generating electricity. It is a new fuel cell technology that can convert most hydrocarbons to electricity, and in a way that generates much fewer emissions than current power generation from fossil fuels. And, when the fuel is methane from human activities, the net benefit is even greater. The Bloom Box's other major advantage is that in negates the need for elaborate power distribution grids, because the Boxes can be located locally where the electricity is needed.

Don't believe all this? I too was very skeptical, but watch the video produced by 60 Minutes (at bottom of link), and note who some of the first customers are: FedEx, Google, eBay, Walmart, all with sizable Bloom Box installations.

Thanks to Keith Kiernan for pointing this technology out. It will be fun to track how it advances, and if GE jumps in as forecast. I also really wonder what is in the "magic ink" used on the cell surfaces.

Renewable Energy Technology (RETECH) 2010

One topic at this conference, held Feb 3-5, was national competitiveness. The US position in terms of green energy scale-up did not stand out favorably.

" 'We're still pretty good at invention or discovery but in terms of deployment, we're losing ground. In fact, you could say we suck,' said Mike Davis, the assistant director for energy and environment at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, during a session on national lab research. 'Our ability to throw sand in the gears in terms of development in this country is just phenomenal. We've perfected it.'....

Germany and Spain have become the two largest markets for solar because (their) energy policies ensure that project developers can get a premium price for renewable power, an approach many U.S. investors and entrepreneurs say is more simple and predictable than the U.S. system."