EU sees solar power imported from Sahara in 5 yrs

2010 Jun 21: ALGIERS (Reuters) - Europe will import its first solar-generated electricity from North Africa within the next five years, European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said in an interview on Sunday. The European Union is backing projects to turn the plentiful sunlight in the Sahara desert into electricity for power-hungry Europe, a scheme it hopes will help meet its target of deriving 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources in 2020.
"I think some models starting in the next 5 years will bring some hundreds of megawatts to the European market," Oettinger told Reuters after a meeting with energy ministers from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
He said those initial volumes would come from small pilot projects, but the amount of electricity would go up into the thousands of megawatts as projects including the 400 billion euro Desertec solar scheme come on stream.
"Desertec as a whole is a vision for the next 20 to 40 years with investment of hundreds of billions of euros," said Oettinger. "To integrate a bigger percentage of renewables, solar and wind, needs time."



Read more:  http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE65K02F20100621?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

Want to help with Global-Warming? Please visit http://www.whiteearth.org
Want to read more about Global-Warming? Please visit http://www.christopherbeau.com
Please become a fan of the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarthorg/119367692642 and http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarth/165767310764
Become a friend on Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/christopherbeau
Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/christopherbeau
Become a follower of this blog
When you buy art on http://www.artsymphony.com 100% of your investment goes to sponsor WhiteEarth

Report Outlines New Vision For Solar Power

2010 Mar 9

A new report from Environment Minnesota outlines a vision for 10 percent of the United States' total energy to be generated by solar power by 2030.

The report describes how solar energy can repower America's homes, businesses and industries through a wide variety of solar technologies and tools.

From laundromats to universities and homes to cars, solar energy has the ability to enhance energy security and reduce pollution, according to the report.

The report outlines a few examples of how solar energy is already being used to reduce business' costs and pollution. Included in the examples are Walmart's use of skylights in some stores, which has reduced the need for electric lighting by 15 to 20 percent.

The Boston Red Sox have also adapted solar water heating to reduce dependency on natural gas for water heating for their laundry facilities. 


Read more:  http://wcco.com/local/report.solar.power.2.1548289.html

Want to help with Global-Warming? Please visit http://www.whiteearth.org
Want to read more about Global-Warming? Please visit http://www.christopherbeau.com
Please become a fan of the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarthorg/119367692642 and http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarth/165767310764
Become a friend on Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/christopherbeau
Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/christopherbeau
Become a follower of this blog
When you buy art on http://www.artsymphony.com 100% of your investment goes to sponsor WhiteEarth

Posted by Christopher Beau at 3:44 PM

Riyadh stakes step toward solar power

2010 Feb 12

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Saudi Arabia announced plans to expand its use of solar energy by building the kingdom's first solar-powered water desalination plant.
The program launched by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology aims to couple green-energy technology with a stable water supply for the future of Saudi Arabia.
Turki bin Saud bin Mohammad, vice president of research at KACST, said the program will save the kingdom money while moving forward with a plan to advance solar energy projects in the country.
"The solar energy program will reduce the cost of producing desalinated water and of generating power for use in the kingdom, an oil-dependent nation, which has launched a national energy efficiency program," he said.

Read more:  http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/02/12/Riyadh-stakes-step-toward-solar-power/UPI-87821265988097/

Want to help with Global-Warming? Please visit http://www.whiteearth.org
Want to read more about Global-Warming? Please visit http://www.christopherbeau.com
Please become a fan of the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarthorg/119367692642 and http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarth/165767310764
Become a friend on Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/christopherbeau
Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/christopherbeau
Become a follower of this blog
When you buy art on http://www.artsymphony.com 100% of your investment goes to sponsor WhiteEarth

Group urges Texas to promote more solar power use

2010 Feb 10

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas – With a surplus of both land and sunshine, Texas could easily be the nation's leader in solar power generation but needs more help from state leaders, advocates said Wednesday.
A coalition of environmentalists, politicians and more than 80 businesses held events around the state to release a letter urging Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Public Utility Commission to take more action promoting solar power use.
The group noted that Texas, which produces and refines a huge portion of the nation's oil, already is home to many companies in the solar business as well as plenty of high-tech and energy industry expertise. So they say there's no reason only 0.01 percent of the state's power should come from the sun.
"We're here today to call on Governor Perry to use his authority to make Texas go solar," Environment Texas spokesman Sriram Madhusoodanan said at a 5,000-square-foot home in suburban Dallas that produces its own solar energy. "Right now is really the time for Texas to take the lead, to lead the world."
Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle said the governor supports all sorts of alternative energy in Texas, which leads the nation in wind energy production. Three major solar projects are scheduled to begin this year, others are in development and 11 utility companies are already offering rebates for solar energy systems, she said.
"Texas is the very picture of a state aggressively seeking its future in alternative energy through incentives and innovation, not mandates and overreaching regulation," Castle said.
Energy supply is a huge concern in Texas. The state is growing so fast that an estimated 2.2 million single-family homes are expected to be built between 2010 and 2030. Texas also has chronically dirty air, caused in part by numerous coal-fired power plants.
The PUC is considering a rule requiring electric companies to obtain 500 megawatts of electricity from solar energy and other emerging renewable technologies by the year 2015. That's about the size of one coal-fired power plant.
The solar group, called the Go Solar Texas Coalition, wants the rule passed quickly and wants Perry to increase those numbers dramatically. It thinks Texas should push for 1,000 solar megawatts by 2015 and 5,000 by 2025.
 
Read more:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100210/ap_on_bi_ge/tx_solar_power_texas

Want to help with Global-Warming? Please visit http://www.whiteearth.org
Want to read more about Global-Warming? Please visit http://www.christopherbeau.com
Please become a fan of the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarthorg/119367692642 and http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarth/165767310764
Become a friend on Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/christopherbeau
Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/christopherbeau
Become a follower of this blog
When you buy art on http://www.artsymphony.com 100% of your investment goes to sponsor WhiteEarth

L.A. takes a shine to another Owens Valley product: sun

2010 Feb 2

The Department of Water and Power wants to transform the area into one of the largest producers of solar energy in America.

Reporting from Lone Pine - First it was silver ore that streamed to Los Angeles from the rim of the Owens Valley, then the water from the valley floor.

Now, L.A. has come back for the sunshine.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the agency responsible for turning Owens Lake into a dusty salt flat and snatching up nearly every acre from Lone Pine to Bishop, has its sights on transforming the Owens Valley into one of largest sources of solar power in America.

Interim DWP Chief S. David Freeman says the valley on the dry side of the Sierra Nevada is blessed with the "best sun in the country." He envisions a gigantic solar array that could cover 80 square miles of dry lake bed and nearby flatlands, a sea of photovoltaic cells roughly the size of Cleveland that would generate up to 10% of all the power produced in California while simultaneously calming the region's fierce dust storms.

Owens Valley residents crowded into a Methodist church recently to hear Freeman's pitch. Though intrigued by the idea of turning the scarred earth at Owens Lake into a source of clean energy and local jobs, many still chafed at L.A.'s near feudal reign over the valley.

"Given our history with them, there's skepticism," said Mark Bagley of the Owens Valley Committee and Sierra Club, which took successful legal action to force the DWP to restore the Lower Owens River. "But it's promising if it's done right, the right way."

The fast-moving project has become essential to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's promise to end the city's use of coal-fired power by 2020, a course he vowed would be "irreversible" by the time he leaves office in three years.

Villaraigosa also wants to use the lucrative contracts for the solar array as leverage to bring renewable-energy companies and new manufacturing jobs to Los Angeles.

Read more:  http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-owens-solar2-2010feb02,0,2677831.story
  
Want to help with Global-Warming? Please visit http://www.whiteearth.org

Please become a fan of the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarthorg/119367692642 and http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarth/165767310764

Become a friend on Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/christopherbeau

Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/christopherbeau

Become a follower of this blog

When you buy art on http://www.artsymphony.com 100% of your investment goes to sponsor WhiteEarth

Posted by Christopher Beau at 3:44 PM

Why Geothermal Power Deserves More Hype

2010 Feb 5


Here at CalFinder Solar, we focus mainly on residential solar power, and for good reason. Solar energy is chock-full of benefits for homes, humanity and the earth as a whole, and will definitely play a primary role in the coming transition to renewable power. But the issue of intermittency, a significant disadvantage for solar power and a greener electric grid, can be solved immediately using geothermal power.



Yet most of the hype surrounding renewable energy goes to solar and wind power. To focus too heavily on these excellent but intermittent resources would be a major mistake, especially when a valuable, baseload power source is waiting in the wings. Geothermal energy deserves more hype in the race to clean up our skies, hype which I plan to give it right now.

Geothermal Potential

Within roughly six miles of the earth’s crust there is 50,000 times more geothermal energy than exists in all the oil and gas reserves in the world. So, the geothermal conundrum is not a matter of available resources – it’s a matter of getting to it. Geothermal energy works best in areas with high seismic activity, which aids in breaking up the super-heated layer of rock and allows heated water and steam to travel toward the surface. Many of these areas are already using a good amount of that energy. California houses some 40 geothermal plants, accounting for 5 percent of the state’s energy needs. Iceland, which has some of the best geothermal potential in the world, already gets more than 90 percent of its energy from geothermal power.
Yet geothermal power is available everywhere. So called “milder” resources are prevalent throughout the United States, and new technologies like Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) are drilling deeper than ever before. Like solar and wind power, geothermal power stands on the brink of greatness, yet seems to get less attention.
This is especially worrisome because many energy companies and politicians are looking to “clean coal” and nuclear energy to solve the 24/7 power problems of mainstream renewables. They see these questionable alternatives as our only chance to clean our energy grid in the short term, rather than waiting for renewable technologies to advance.

Geothermal Investment

That’s not to say there hasn’t been a recent trend towards geothermal, despite the hype that solar and wind projects receive. A joint report by MIT and the Department of Energy estimate that more than 100 gigawatts of geothermal power could be produced by 2050. In response, the feds and private investors, including $10 million from Google, have begun investing more heavily. Some $800 million was invested in geothermal energy projects in 2009. The Department of the Interior opened up 190 million acres of public land to geothermal projects, a move that alone could triple geothermal output by 2015 at least.

Geothermal Growth

According to the Geothermal Energy Association, more than 3,152 megawatts of geothermal power are online now, nearly 83 percent of which comes out of California. Other Western states, including Nevada, Oregon, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Hawaii, Wyoming and Alaska, are using but a pittance of their geothermal potential. Hawaii, for example, with all its seismic and volcanic activity, houses just one completed geothermal power plant.
 
Read more:  http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/geothermal/why-geothermal-power-deserves-more-hype/
  
Want to help with Global-Warming? Please visit http://www.whiteearth.org

Please become a fan of the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarthorg/119367692642 and http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarth/165767310764

Become a friend on Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/christopherbeau

Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/christopherbeau

Become a follower of this blog

When you buy art on http://www.artsymphony.com 100% of your investment goes to sponsor WhiteEarth

India can be solar power leader: PM

2010 Jan 11


NEW DELHI (AFP) – Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid out ambitious plans to make his country a global leader in solar power on Monday as he launched a government initiative to boost use of the technology.
Solar can help secure India's energy independence and tackle climate change, Singh said, as well as offering new opportunities for industry in a country with a crippling shortage of power.
The National Solar Mission, launched Monday, could "establish India as a global leader in solar energy" in the areas of power generation and technology production, Singh told business leaders and government officials.
"The rapid spread of solar lighting systems, solar water pumps and other solar power-based rural applications can change the face of our rural energy sector," he said.
The Solar Mission has the goal of increasing solar energy capacity exponentially to reach 20,000 megawatts for the year 2022, reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
That amount would provide enough power for 20 million homes, with each receiving one kilowatt of power.
Government figures show approximately 80,000 impoverished Indian villages have no access to grid electricity.
India currently produces just under nine megawatts of solar power, data from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) showed in October.
The prime minister said India boasted some of the world's greatest science and techology minds and they had revolutionised atomic energy, space and information technology.
"I am convinced that solar energy can be the next scientific and industrial frontier in India," he said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100111/sc_afp/indiaenergyalternativesolar
 
Want to help with Global-Warming? Please visit http://www.whiteearth.org

Please become a fan of the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarthorg/119367692642 and http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarth/165767310764

Become a friend on Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/christopherbeau

Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/christopherbeau

Become a follower of this blog

When you buy art on http://www.artsymphony.com 100% of your investment goes to sponsor WhiteEarth

Maryland’s Largest Single Rooftop Solar Power Installation Unveiled at Staples Fulfillment Center in Hanover

2010 Jan 6

The 1.01 Megawatt Solar System Provides Power Equal to that Used by More Than 100 Homes Annually

HANOVER, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS), the world's largest office products company and SunEdison, North America’s largest solar energy services provider and a subsidiary of MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR), hosted a dedication ceremony today to unveil the largest single rooftop solar power installation in Maryland at Staples’ 200,200 square foot fulfillment center in Hanover. The 1.01 megawatt solar installation covers nearly 175,000 square feet of roof space, larger than three football fields.

The environmental savings associated with the system will offset more than 43 million pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) over 20 years, equivalent to removing CO2 produced by more than 4,200 automobiles driving 12,000 miles per year. The zero-emission, silent photovoltaic system will generate approximately 1.2 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per year, and 21 million kWh during the initial 20 years of the project. The solar installation was financed, built and maintained under a power purchase agreement (PPA) with SunEdison. Under the PPA, Staples will purchase the electricity produced for the term of the contract.
“The solar power system installed at our Hanover fulfillment center is the latest example of Staples’ ongoing commitment to environmental leadership,” said Mark Buckley, vice president of environmental affairs for Staples. “Through our relationship with solar services provider SunEdison, we are able to purchase solar energy from our rooftop at a rate below or equal to the cost of electricity from the grid. This reduces our operating costs while freeing up more electricity during peak times for use by local homes and businesses.”
“We are proud to be a long time partner of Staples in providing economical solar solutions to meet their energy needs and commitment to the environment,” said Carlos Domenech, President of SunEdison. “SunEdison continues to be an industry leader by combining cutting edge technologies with our unique project finance capabilities to enable large-scale development of solar.”

Read more: http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100106006651&newsLang=en
 
Want to help with Global-Warming? Please visit http://www.whiteearth.org

Please become a fan of the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarthorg/119367692642 and http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarth/165767310764

Become a friend on Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/christopherbeau

Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/christopherbeau

Become a follower of this blog

When you buy art on http://www.artsymphony.com 100% of your investment goes to sponsor WhiteEarth

Are Engines the Future of Solar Power? Stirling engines might be the best way to harvest the power provided by the sun

2009 Dec 30


Nearly 200 years after their invention, and decades after first being proposed as a method of harnessing solar energy, 60 sun-powered Stirling engines are about to begin generating electricity outside Phoenix, Ariz., for the first time. Such engines, which harness heat to expand a gas and drive pistons, are not used widely today other than in pacemakers and long-distance robotic spacecraft.
The 1.5 megawatt (MW) demonstration site, known as Maricopa Solar, is set to begin operations early January 2010, with units provided by the Arizona-based Stirling Energy Systems (SES). While 1.5 MW is only a fraction of the power that may be generated at sites SES has contracted to develop in California and Texas, spokesperson Janette Coates says this is a necessary first step in the technology’s commercialization. “It’s important for our industry to see—and our partners and investors—that we can take a small-scale plant and get it operational before we break ground on larger ones,” she says.
That's because Stirling heat engines have a reputation for being a bit impractical. First invented by Robert Stirling in 1816, the engines use a heat source to warm gas, which expands and is pushed into another chamber. When the gas cools and contracts, it flows back. The expansion and contraction pushes a piston, which in turn produces electricity.
In 1996, SES bought solar Stirling design and engineering patents from companies such as McDonnell-Douglas and Boeing. SES then partnered with Sandia National Laboratories, and over the next decade tweaked and refined the technology. In the SES SunCatcher, a circle of curved mirrors, resembling an upturned satellite dish, tracks the sun on two axes and reflects the sun’s heat onto a single focus point, the power conversion unit (PCU). The PCU contains four cylinders, in which hydrogen gas expands and contracts to move pistons.

Read more: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=are-engines-the-future-of-solar-power

Want to help with Global-Warming? Please visit http://www.whiteearth.org

Please become a fan of the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarthorg/119367692642 and http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarth/165767310764

Become a friend on Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/christopherbeau

Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/christopherbeau

Become a follower of this blog

When you buy art on http://www.artsymphony.com 100% of your investment goes to sponsor WhiteEarth