Storage Solutions for Alternative Energy

One obstacle that is holding back adoption to renewables is the lack of any efficient means of storing this energy. However, some highly innovative solutions might be able to help solve the issue of preserving alternative energy for long-term use.

Dubai Is Building the World's Largest Concentrated Solar Power Plant

George Dvorsky for Gizmodo:  They like to do things big in Dubai, including a newly-approved concentrated solar power project that will generate 1,000 megawatts of power by 2020—and a whopping 5,000 megawatts by 2030. The Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) has announced the launch of the world’s largest concentrated solar power (CSP) project. Located on a single site within the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the plant will consist of five facilities. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed either in late 2020 or 2021, at which time it’s expected to generate 1,000 MW of power. By 2030, this plant could be churning out five times that amount—enough to raise the emirate’s total power output by 25 percent. By comparison the Ivanpah CSP in California (which is currently the world’s largest) generates about 392 MW of power. Morocco’s Ouarzazate solar power plant will provide about 580 MW of power once it’s complete in 2020.   Cont'd...

Southern States Lead Growth in Biomass Electricity Generation

Several states, especially those in the South Census region, have increased their electricity generation from biomass.

The Pantex Renewable Energy Project (PREP)

The wind farm is playing a key role in helping Pantex achieve President Obamas directive that the federal government lead the way in clean energy and energy efficiency, with his Administrations goal for the federal government to get 20% of its electricity from renewable resources by 2020.

Construction of the largest land-based wind turbine ever built in the United States.

“Reaching New Heights” uses a combination of time-lapse footage, aerial photography and behind-the-scenes action shots to document the steps involved in building MidAmerican Energy’s first concrete wind turbine tower, located at the company’s Adams wind farm in Adams County, Iowa. At 379 feet from ground to hub, the concrete turbine is more than 100 feet taller than its neighboring turbines constructed with steel towers.

Australia's Carnegie Wave Energy Project Sets World Record

Joshua S Hill for CleanTechnica:  Australia’s Carnegie Wave Energy Project has set a new world record after completing 14,000 cumulative operating hours, the highest ever recorded. The news was announced by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) this week, which provided $13.1 million in funding. The $40 million project uses CETO wave energy technology, and was the world’s first array of wave power generators to be connected to an electricity grid. For the past 12 months, the CETO 5 project has used an array of three offshore wave power generators to provide electricity and potable desalinated water to Australia’s largest naval base, HMAS Stirling, on Garden Island in Western Australia. “ARENA is proud to help local companies, like [Carnegie Wave Energy Limited], develop new renewable energy solutions that have the potential to change the way the world generates electricity,” said ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht. “We do this by providing Australian innovators with the support they need during the critical RD&D period, when patient funding is essential.”   Cont'd...

Middle Schoolers Dream Big with Their Solar and Battery Powered Cars

The race, sponsored by the Energy Department, its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, Jeffco Public Schools, and Dakota Ridge High School, is designed to boost interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.

Moving off-the-grid and into a micro-house in the Southern Adirondacks.

New York State resident Matt Holleran refuses to be one of the many Americans paying one third of their income on housing. For that reason, hes moving off-the-grid and into his very own micro-house in the Southern Adirondacks.

The Importance of Removing Contaminants From Biogas

The cleaning or purification of Biogas involves a complex mix of filtration and separation technologies but even the most basic of installations can benefit from the advantages of clean, dry gas.

Offshore Wind Arrives in U.S. Waters

By Daniel Cusick, ClimateWire for Scientific American:  The first offshore wind farm in the United States is set to begin delivering power to Rhode Island’s electricity grid by year’s end, a milestone that could help reshape energy markets from New England to South Florida, experts say. But for U.S. offshore wind power to achieve its full potential, as much as 4 gigawatts of capacity, it will need a major influx of capital and know-how, much of which will come from Europe, where the technology has a 25-year performance record and now accounts for 11 GW of generation capacity on the continent. Representatives of top U.S. and European wind firms—including executives of Deepwater Wind, the firm building the 30-megawatt Block Island Wind Farm off Rhode Island—told industry peers gathered on the Gulf Coast last week that the industry should act now to establish the technical, logistical and policy frameworks to build more offshore wind farms in the United States.   Cont'd...

PJM's New Rules Skew Against Clean Energy; Silver Lining in a Lower Forecast

At a time when countries around the world have committed to cutting climate-warming pollution, our nations largest electric grid operator is increasing reliance on fossil-fueled power to meet future electricity demand.

Energy Storage: It's About the Software

Carl Weinschenk for EnergyManagerToday:  Renewable initiatives rely on the ability to save the generated energy for a rainy - or windless - day. It follows that the software driving the pivotal task of managing the energy storage system is of paramount importance, says Gabe Schwartz, the Director of Marketing for Stem, which describes itself as an intelligent storage company that combines hardware and software storage platforms. The core storage technology itself is important, of course. But the linchpin - the secret sauce - is the way in which that energy is handled once it is generated. "It is not a solar panel…where if the sun is shining you are in good shape," Schwartz said. "It must shift use from one time to another knowing exactly when most valuable time to do that is and have the ability to act quickly when those opportunities present themselves both to the customer and the grid." The market for storage - and the software that drives it - is growing.  Cont'd...

Nanomaterials could double efficiency of solar cells by converting waste heat into usable energy

Devin Coldewey for TechCrunch:  An experimental solar cell created by MIT researchers could massively increase the amount of power generated by a given area of panels, while simultaneously reducing the amount of waste heat. Even better, it sounds super cool when scientists talk about it: “with our own unoptimized geometry, we in fact could break the Shockley-Queisser limit.” The Shockley-Queisser limit, which is definitely not made up, is the theoretical maximum efficiency of a solar cell, and it’s somewhere around 32 percent for the most common silicon-based ones. You can get around this by various tricks like stacking cells, but the better option, according to David Bierman, a doctoral student on the team (and who is quoted above), will be thermophotovoltaics — whereby sunlight is turned into heat and then re-emitted as light better suited for the cell to absorb.  Cont'd...

Is Kinetic Energy the Future?

Kinetic energy is power that is gained from motion, and this motion can involve vehicles, individuals, and any other object.

Choosing Your Own Energy Provider

When customers can make choices in the energy market with their own dollars, the end result is that they are not only more aware of the market, but also able to direct future investment in energy infrastructure.

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