The Obama administration just announced a handout of $2 billion to build solar panels.  The development of this type of energy is politically sexy. Jobs are created to build and maintain the panels, which scream eco-friendly every time they appear on camera.

No one is criticizing the initiative, but it overlooks a power source boasting far greater reliability and intensity than both solar and wind power.  Arguably, it produces NO carbon footprint. You could even say it creates a negative carbon footprint.

The source is recycled energy.  Instead of burning a fuel to create energy, it takes energy that we are otherwise throwing away and converting that into something usable. It captures heat that otherwise disappears into thin air and turns the heat into power.

You see, with the exception of solar panels, all electricity is generated by turning a turbine in a circle.  Windmills and Hydroelectric plants do that with the force of nature.  Coal burning and nuclear power plants do that by boiling water and forcing the steam through the turbine.

At the ArcelorMittal steel plant, in East Chicago, Indiana, a company called Primary Energy mounted giant boilers on top of the big ovens used for the production of steel.  The steam created by those boilers spins the turbine enough to save ArcelorMittal $100 Million per year on its electricity bill.

Thomas Casten, the Chairman of Recycled Energy Development says, “What they’ve done at this plant produces about twice the amount of clean energy as all of the solar collectors in the US since the dawn of the industry.”

Since the power is generated using heat that would be created anyway, you can make the argument for zero carbon footprint.  In fact, since ArcelorMittal uses the power it generates, it borrows less from the grid.  Less coal needs to be burned at the power plant creating an argument for a negative carbon footprint while still voraciously gobbling up megawatts.

No one is against the concept of recycled energy. In fact, using Illinois for an example: the language in the state’s renewable energy portfolio standard seems to prompt it, calling for the exploitation of wind, solar, biodiesel and “other alternative sources of environmentally friendly energy.” But big steel mills with towering smoke stacks don’t say I love nature in a photograph as well as a field of wind turbines.  The politicians and policy makers never jumped on recycled energy.  Mark Pruitt with the Illinois Power Agency says, “There have been a lot of advances in wind and solar. I think the recycled energy approach is something that has been passed over.”

So when you drive past a big steel mill, glass plant or silicon factory, think of how much energy is just being tossed up into the sky.  Across the nation, Casten estimates it at $4-6 hundred billion. “We are the Saudi Arabia of Waste heat.” He says, “You can either use it or lose it.”

Technorati Tags: electricity deregulation, green energy, solar panels

But, a summit at Bismarck State College today is reminding people that our state also has a lot of renewable energy potential.

Speakers at the renewable energy summit say the country needs to invest in all forms of domestic energy, rather than depending on foreign oil.

There`s wind, biodiesel, solar, and of course, our traditional sources like oil and coal. Former NATO supreme allied commander Europe, Gen. Wesley Clark (Ret.), says we need them all here in America instead of shipping $300 billion a year overseas — for the sake of our national security.

“That`s more than the cost of the health bill, more than the cost of the way in Iraq, plus the war in Afghanistan. That`s all the research and development in the United States. That`s your kids` education,” said Clark, Growth Energy co-chairman.

Clark says our nation`s entrepreneurs have the know-how to develop renewable energy that will break the dependence on foreign oil. But, the investment can`t be done unless there`s demand for it, and he says that has to come through policy from the federal government, like tax incentives and mandates.

Clark asked, “Why can`t we have a vision that says, `We`re moving to a new, more sophisticated energy policy that strengthens America`s domestic energy production and reduces what we`re importing from abroad,`?”

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., says Congress is working on a national energy policy that he says needs to focus on getting North Dakota`s energy to the rest of country.

“We already produce far more than we need,” explained Dorgan. “We need the conveyance. We need the pipelines to move product out of here. We`re working on that now and we need a modern transmission system that moves what we can produce here to the parts of the country that need it.”

Dorgan says this kind of policy will allow us to look back and say North Dakota played a major role in advancing the country`s energy industry through both traditional, and renewable sources.

Dorgan says he believes legislation will make it to the Senate floor for debate by the end of the summer.

Technorati Tags: electricity deregulation, green energy, North Dakota, renewable energy

Technorati Tags: Graetzel cells, green energy, photonics, photovoltaic solar plant, solar power

The state already has more solar energy per capita than any other, but with its small population that hasn’t meant much to solar developers and manufacturers.

Enter the state Office of Energy.

It announced this evening plans to contract with solar photovoltaic installers and developers in the state to build solar installations — including panel-covered parking shades — at several state buildings across Nevada.

The office is preparing a request for proposals that should be ready for developers and installers by the end of the month.

It is seeking proposals for projects at 15 specific sites, including nine in Clark County, as well as proposals for Department of Corrections sites.

Among the proposed projects are solar panel-covered parking shades at the Grant Sawyer building in Las Vegas, the Henderson, Flamingo Road and Decatur Boulevard Department of Motor Vehicle buildings, and shaded parking structures and removable solar installations on vacant land between Charleston and Oakey boulevards.

“We will lead by example and make use of clean solar power for state buildings,” Gov. Jim Gibbons said in a statement. “We will save taxpayers millions of dollars in utility costs.”

The new solar installations are to be paid for out of money set aside to pay electricity bills on state buildings.

The state is expecting the proposals to include contract details by which the state will pay the installer back the costs of components and installation through a set per kilowatt hour fee. With the cost of solar panels dropping over the past few years, the state expects the fee proposed by the installers to be less than the cost of buying electricity during the day from NV Energy.

The endeavor is inspired by a recently completed project at the state National Guard facility, which was overseen by state Energy Director Jim Groth.

By Stephanie Tavares

Las Vegas Sun

Technorati Tags: green energy, Las Vegas, photovoltaic solar plant, solar power

Ohio House and Senate agree on new tax policy for power projects.

COLUMBUS — Negotiators for the Ohio House and Senate on Thursday, June 3, appeared to reach agreement on tax breaks aimed at bringing “green energy” projects to Ohio as the legislature worked to finish up and recess for the summer.

Also, the House approved a bill to overhaul how telephone companies are regulated and the Senate was expected to concur with the House version.

The Ohio Telecommunications Association and Communications Workers of America supported the bill but consumer groups said it would wipe out consumer protections and bring higher monthly bills.

Landline customers with bundled services will no longer have protections, such as an automatic month of credit if their phone is out for more than 72 hours or the guarantee that their service will be reconnected within 24 hours of paying a bill, said Marty Berkowitz, spokesman for the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel.

The bill also allows phone companies to hike basic service fees by up to $15 a year, he said.

Behind the scenes, Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, worked to find votes for a constitutional amendment to replace Ohio’s system for drawing new state legislative districts with a plan geared to creating fairer and more politically competitive districts.

In other action, the Democratic-controlled House approved legislation aimed at highlighting the wealth of GOP gubernatorial candidate John Kasich, legislation that is expected to die in the GOP-controlled Senate.

The “green energy” tax breaks represented a rare bipartisan cooperation as partisan bickering heated up with the approach of the November elections.

Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland was poised to sign the legislation, said Amanda Wurst, Strickland’s spokeswoman.

The House Ways and Means Committee voted 12-5 on a modified version of Senate Bill 232, sponsored by Sen. Chris Widener, R-Springfield, and already approved by the Senate. The House and Senate were expected to approve the new bill later Thursday.

Widener said it could create up to 1,000 jobs.

One proposed wind farm is in Champaign County.

Under the legislation, projects that qualify would pay annual fees based on how much energy they generate instead of property taxes, both real and tangible.

Revenue from the taxes goes to school districts and local governments and a coalition representing these groups objected to the bill.

A statement from the coalition, which includes the Ohio School Boards Association and the Ohio Township Association, said it “falls woefully short in replacing losses in local tax revenues for schools and local governments.”

Widener has said the new system is necessary for Ohio to catch up with other states in attracting renewable energy projects that generate electricity from sources such as wind and solar power.

Ohio’s current effective tax rate is up to eight times higher than neighboring states, the Ohio Wind Energy Association has said. Also, the legislation will help the state comply with the energy bill passed in 2008 that requires 12.5 percent of Ohio’s electric energy to be generated by renewable sources 2025, Widener has said.

County approval would be required for companies to receive the tax breaks and counties could increase the per megawatt fee to $9,000. Otherwise, the top fee would be $8,000, depending on the project.

By William Hershey and Laura A. Bischoff

Dayton Daily News

Technorati Tags: geothermal, green energy, Ohio Wind Energy Association, photovoltaic, solar energy, wind energy

Technorati Tags: Clean Energy Fund, Connecticut Energy and Technology Authority, Connecticut Fund for the Environment, Department of Public Utility Control, Environment Connecticut, green energy, photovoltaic solar plant, solar power

Construction is ongoing at the Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Indiantown recently. 

INDIANTOWN — Florida Power & Light Co.’s newest solar-energy plant will have enough mirrors to cover 80 football fields. But those mirrors will focus sunlight onto surfaces that add up to slightly less than the area of a single football field.

That concentration of solar power will generate temperatures of more than 700 degrees — hot enough to make electricity for 11,000 homes.

The Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center here will rank as the world’s second-largest solar plant when it begins pumping out as many as 75 megawatts of electricity late this year. It will also be the only system of its kind in the world.

Conventional wisdom holds that solar plants using mirrors — which generate heat that produces steam that, in turn, spins an electrical generator — aren’t worth the effort in Florida because of the regularity of afternoon rain clouds much of the year. So far, all of the solar plants built in the state convert sunlight directly into electricity using photovoltaic panels, which produce a charge, if only a reduced one, even on cloudy days,

But FPL is building its “thermal” solar plant on a campus near Lake Okeechobee that already has 13 generators fueled by oil and natural gas. Steam from the solar plant will be combined with steam produced with the heat exhaust from four natural-gas plants to spin an existing generator — an approach not taken before. FPL thinks that makes thermal more feasible, because the utility won’t have to spend millions of dollars building a generator for the solar plant.

The project costs about $420 million, which will add about 16 cents a month to the average FPL residential customer’s bill.

FPL also owns the world’s biggest solar plant, a thermal unit in California’s Mojave Desert that is four times the size of the Martin County project. The Florida plant is based largely on the technology of the 30-year-old Mojave system, though it has been given far stronger pylons, frames and mirrors to withstand hurricane winds of up to 130 mph.

John Gnecco, FPL project development director, said dropping one of the California plant’s glass mirrors could lead to much bad luck, because it would shatter. But the Martin County solar mirrors, though also made of glass, bounce unscathed when they hit the ground.

To demonstrate, Gnecco laid one of the curved mirrors on a gravel parking lot recently and jumped on it repeatedly, causing it to flex trampoline-like. The special mirrors were made in Spain, one of the few countries where FPL could find a suitable manufacturer with kilns large enough to temper the 56-by-67-inch pieces of glass.

The thermal unit’s mirrors are also highly reflective — much more than a typical bathroom mirror — and there are a lot of them: more than 190,000.

Workers are installing the mirrors in aluminum frames to create long, linear dishes. The more than 6,800 frames each contain 28 mirrors and will be arranged in parallel rows that are linked together for a total length of about 50 miles.

Each frame also holds a tube a few feet in front of the mirrors. The tube contains a synthetic, oil-like fluid that costs $15 a gallon and is designed for heating to 740 degrees. The hot fluid flows through a separate component that acts something like a boiler to create steam.

The tubes are made of stainless steel and painted black but encased in the airless vacuum of a glass tube. Birds can land on the glass tubing and not be roasted, Gnecco said.

Nearly 150 miles of pipe and related plumbing, some as much as 30 inches in diameter, will hold 1.2 million gallons of the synthetic fluid.

The relatively costly project is likely to fuel the debate among state lawmakers about the risks and rewards of government incentives and mandates for solar-power development. FPL and other power companies — including Central Florida’s two other major utilities, Progress Energy and Orlando Utilities Commission — have been experimenting with solar in response to growing government concern about climate change triggered, in part, by relatively cheap power plants that burn coal and natural gas.

One thing utility engineers hope to solve once the Martin County plant is operating is the problem posed by partly cloudy days, when some of the plant’s mirrors will be reflecting full sunlight but others will be shaded. Plant engineers don’t want alternating pulses of cooler and hotter steam arriving at an electrical generator that runs most efficiently, and with the least wear and tear, when operating conditions are kept constant.

But they’ll have plenty of time to figure that out: Gnecco said the Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center is likely to be operating for the next 50 years.

Kevin Spear can be reached at kspear@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5062.

Technorati Tags: Florida Power & Light, green energy, photovoltaic solar plant, solar power, thermal mirrors, thermal solar plant

The deal with First Reserve comes as the price of manufacturing photovoltaic cells has dropped sharply in the past 18 months, making new projects much more affordable. At the same time, a growing number of governments around the world are requiring utilities to generate more power from renewable sources — helping to kick up demand for solar.

Rhone Resch, president and chief executive of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said the deal could be a harbinger of what’s to come in the industry.

“The biggest challenge we have faced in recent years is project financing,” Resch said. “This starts to free up capital and allow the industry to begin to scale up.”

With 350 projects built or underway, SunEdison is already one of the world’s largest developers of solar energy projects. The company has a healthy backlog of plants going through the permitting process and waiting for funding.

SunEdison specializes in developing projects in areas near existing portions of the electrical grid in order to avoid large transmission costs. Its plants range from big, utility-scale operations to smaller rooftop systems feeding power to everything from Kohl’s retail stores to Montgomery County school buildings. Any excess is typically sold back to utilities.

SunEdison employs about 100 people at its Beltsville offices. Last November, the company was bought by MEMC, a St. Peters, Mo.,-based manufacturer that sells silicon wafers to the semiconductor and solar industries.

“Our model has not changed,” said SunEdison President Carlos Domenech. The joint venture “serves as an accelerator.”

SunEdison and First Reserve have agreed to put $167 million into their new venture, which they say should be enough to attract additional debt financing to fund as much as $825 million in new projects. First Reserve may raise an additional $150 million of equity, which can be leveraged to bring the total amount of projects funded to $1.5 billion, the companies said.

“We’re looking for a way to invest in solar projects and a way to do it on an economical scale,” said Mark Florian, managing director of First Reserve Energy Infrastructure.

First Reserve has $20 billion under management and invests exclusively in energy projects. It has offices in Houston, London and Greenwich, Conn.

Demand for solar power is projected to grow. At least 24 states have adopted rules requiring utilities to generate power from renewable sources, and federal climate legislation contemplates a national standard. Maryland and D.C. have adopted portfolio standards, as they are known, and Virginia has established nonbinding goals, according to an Energy Department summary.

In addition, the federal government has adopted tax credits, grants and loan guarantee programs to create incentives for new solar projects.

The cost of manufacturing solar cells has fallen 40 percent in less than two years, which many attribute in part to a decision by several countries to curb incentives. Spain, in particular, moved to cap the size of its market, shrinking the opportunities there by roughly 75 percent, Resch said. Many manufacturers that ramped up production in anticipation of new orders suddenly found themselves with a glut of supply.

By Dan Beyers

Washington Post

Technorati Tags: First reserve, green energy, photovoltaic solar plant, Solar Energy Industries Association, solar power, SunEdison

Photovoltaic solar panels, solar thermal panels and solar shingles stole the show in displays all across the Green Festival. The human rights organization Global Exchange and Green America, a national environmental group respectively, jointly sponsored the show. .

But how does sustainable energy really work for a home, how much does it cost and is it really practical for middle class Americans? I went in search of all these answers right in my own backyard – at Navy Pier.

Before even attending the event I learned that I could ride my bike to it and be admitted free. I pedaled my retro 3-speed bicycle down the Lake Shore Drive Trail and watched hundreds of people sun bathing on the beach, enjoying the beautiful weather. It dawned on me that I was headed indoors to learn about all of the energy available outdoors.

How much will it cost?

A typical photovoltaic home solar power system runs about $30,000 to install said Matt Lacognata, an employee at Earth, Wind and Solar Energy, LLC. in Chicago

Lacognata was very quick to point out that the federal government gives a 30 percent tax credit and the state of Illinois also has a 30 percent tax rebate, when funds are available So that $30,000 bill could plummet to approximately $12,000 according to Lacognata.

This type of array “will decrease your energy bill by about 25 percent for the next 50 to 60 years,” said Joe Gordon, a renewable energy specialist for Solar Service, Inc., in Niles. 

Doesn’t sound too bad right? Well it actually gets better.

What happens to excess power that is generated?

“The (electric) meter spins backwards when you generate excess power,” said George Raman, a project manager at Good Electric, Inc., in Chicago. He said he is being trained to install both commercial and residential photovoltaic solar systems.

At the end of each year, utility companies pay homeowners who send excess electricity back into the power grid.

How long do solar panels or wind turbines last?

Depending on the brand and type of photovoltaic panel, the life span is anywhere between 30 to 60 years. “We really think this is a lifetime product,” said Joe Gordon.

Wind turbines, mostly made of aluminum, will last between 20 and 30 years according to Lacognata.

Although the costly bill comes up front, these systems easily pay for themselves in roughly a decade. The remaining electricity generated during the life of the system is all money that’s saved on utility bills.

What’s the maintenance for the system?

Photovoltaic solar panels are virtually maintenance free, said Raman. An occasional hosing off of panels if they get dusty or dirty is all that’s required. 

“They are covered with tempered glass, which is stronger than the windshield of a car, hail bounces off of them,” said Gordon.

Even if panels get covered with snow in the winter, the slope of the panels allows for the snow to slide off on its own once the sun comes out.  

The practicality and benefits of green energy are growing in popularity as technologies improve and costs decline. “The technology for wind and solar and all green energy gets better and better everyday and every year,” said James Faber, the editorial and production director of Mindful Metropolis, a Chicago-based independent monthly magazine.

The Green Festival is just one way for companies and organizations to show off their new technology and inform Chicagoans about the impact of sustainable energy.

“There are a lot of different ways that you can adapt green energy technology nowadays that just weren’t practical years ago,” said Faber. “We are definitely moving in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go.”

by Brad Thompson

Technorati Tags: environment, green america, green energy, green festival, Photovoltaic solar panels, photovoltaic solar plant, solar power, solar shingles, solar thermal panels

The visit is part of a broader push by the White House to promote alternative forms of energy. But in the wake of the massive Gulf oil spill, some observers say Obama is missing an opportunity for even stronger action.

The Solyndra company in Fremont, Calif., was one of the early beneficiaries of Obama’s support for green energy. Last year, the federal government guaranteed a $500 million loan for the company that, White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein said, is allowing Solyndra to build a new solar cell factory employing 3,000 construction workers and creating 1,000 permanent jobs.

“But what’s happening at Solyndra isn’t just about new jobs today. It’s about new industries tomorrow,” Bernstein said. “What’s more, these new industries are in the business of clean, renewable energy, thus invoking environmental benefits while reducing our dependence on foreign imports of fossil fuels.”

Alternatives In Focus

The administration wants to do more to encourage alternative forms of energy, including solar, wind and nuclear power. It has asked Congress to expedite funding for additional loan guarantees.

Obama also called last week for higher fuel economy standards for cars and trucks of the future. He said it’s important to stretch every gallon of oil as far as it can go.

“The disaster in the Gulf only underscores that even as we pursue domestic production to reduce our reliance on imported oil, our long-term security depends on the development of alternative sources of fuel and new transportation technologies,” Obama said.

But the president acknowledged it would take more than higher fuel economy standards to make the U.S. a leader in green energy. He repeated his pledge to work with Congress to pass a broad energy and climate bill.

Political adviser David Axelrod said on MSNBC this week that effort could get a lift from the oil spill.

“I would like to think that this will increase the sense of urgency in Congress because it underscores the value in developing alternative sources of energy,” Axelrod said. “So I hope that it will give added impetus. We’re going to press very hard.”

Approach Criticized

But some have questioned whether the administration is pressing hard enough.

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman accused the president of a “Bush-level failure of imagination.” He wrote that just as President Bush squandered an opportunity to remake energy policy with a gasoline tax after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Obama is failing to capitalize on the April 20 oil spill that continues to pour oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Energy expert Michael Levi of the Council on Foreign Relations says that may be going too far.

“[Sept. 11] made terrorism and the Middle East No. 1 on every American’s agenda,” he said. “The oil spill has not made oil and energy No. 1 on every American’s agenda this time. And that gives the president a much more difficult situation to work with.”

Levi says passing a big energy bill isn’t like financial regulation, where the administration successfully channeled public anger with Wall Street into new legislation. Although the public is angry at BP, he says, that won’t necessarily translate into support for, say, a new carbon tax.

“It simply is not intuitively clear to anyone in this country why you need to do something that addresses coal power plants and that changes electricity rates because of an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico,” Levi said.

Obama said last week he’s encouraged by the efforts of Democratic Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) to craft an energy and climate bill. But the lone Republican who had been working on that effort, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), withdrew his support.

The president had hoped to win some GOP backing for an energy bill by including an expansion of offshore oil drilling. But with claims about the safety of deep-water drilling now discredited, that bargaining chip is very much in doubt.

by Scott Horsley

NPR.org

Technorati Tags: green energy, Obama, photovoltaic, renewable energy, solar energy, Solyndra company