Canadian and provincial governments could spend $2.4 billion to build a large scale solar photovoltaic manufacturing plant and then give it away for free and still earn a profit in the long run, according to a financial analysis conducted by the Queen's University Applied Sustainability Research Group in Kingston, Canada.
Queen's University Mechanical Engineering Professor Joshua Pearce conducted the study - to be published in the August edition of the academic journal Energy Policy - to find out if it makes economic sense for governments to support solar cell manufacturing in Canada.
He was surprised to discover the answer is an overwhelming yes even in extreme situations and feels governments should be aggressively supporting this industry to take advantage of the financial opportunity.
"This study uses hard financial numbers. Everything we did is transparent and all our equations are in the study," says Professor Pearce. "The benefits of encouraging solar manufacturing in Canada are clear and massively outweigh the costs."
The report looked at six different scenarios: everything from building a plant and giving it away or selling it to more traditional and less costly loan guarantees or tax holidays for a private sector company to construct the plant.
In all the scenarios, both federal and provincial governments enjoyed positive cash flows in less than 12 years and in many of the scenarios both governments earned well over an eight per cent return on investments ranging from hundreds of millions to $2.4 billion.
The revenues for the governments of nearly $500 million a year, were determined from taxation (personal, corporate and sales), sales of panels, and saved health, environmental and economic costs associated with offsetting coal-fired electricity.
Queen's started the study last summer, before the Ontario government announced a $7-billion power production and manufacturing deal with Samsung in January. Some criticized the deal but Professor Pearce says Canadians are the winners.
"Canada will really make out if Samsung comes through with what they said they are going to do. We gave them a little bit of incentive and Samsung will give us a lot of jobs, less pollution, and a long term substantial source of revenue. We are absolutely winning on this deal - there is no question," Professor Pearce says.
"The market is much larger than the Samsung deal. The question now is how to bring even more photovoltaic manufacturers to the province."
The Energy Policy report, co-authored by Queen's student Kadra Branker, studied the financial impact in Ontario but Professor Pearce says the numbers can apply to all provinces in Canada.
Source - Solar Daily
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Google blows $39m into wind power
Google has added another string to its bow: wind farms
The internet search giant, which has expanded into mobile phones and maps of world, the ocean and the stars, has invested $39m (£25.6m) in two North Dakota wind farms.
It is Google's first direct investment in a large-scale green energy project. The company said the windfarms, developed by NextEra Energy Resources, will generate enough electricity to power 55,000 homes.
The move is a shift in strategy for Google, which previously sought to invest in renewable energy via start-ups.
Rick Needham, Google's green business operations manager, said: "To reach a clean energy future, we need three things: effective policy, innovative technology and smart capital. Through our philanthropic arm Google.org, we've been pushing for energy policies that strengthen the innovation pipeline, and we've been dedicating resources to developing new technologies, including making investments in early-stage renewable energy companies such as eSolar and AltaRock."
He said bigger projects such as the windfarms will help "accelerate the deployment of the latest clean energy technology while providing attractive returns to Google and more capital for developers to build additional projects".
Google is one of the world's largest users of electricity via its data centres, which house millions of servers.
Earlier this year Google began trials of its own high speed fibre broadband network in the US.
Source - Telegraph
The internet search giant, which has expanded into mobile phones and maps of world, the ocean and the stars, has invested $39m (£25.6m) in two North Dakota wind farms.
It is Google's first direct investment in a large-scale green energy project. The company said the windfarms, developed by NextEra Energy Resources, will generate enough electricity to power 55,000 homes.
The move is a shift in strategy for Google, which previously sought to invest in renewable energy via start-ups.
Rick Needham, Google's green business operations manager, said: "To reach a clean energy future, we need three things: effective policy, innovative technology and smart capital. Through our philanthropic arm Google.org, we've been pushing for energy policies that strengthen the innovation pipeline, and we've been dedicating resources to developing new technologies, including making investments in early-stage renewable energy companies such as eSolar and AltaRock."
He said bigger projects such as the windfarms will help "accelerate the deployment of the latest clean energy technology while providing attractive returns to Google and more capital for developers to build additional projects".
Google is one of the world's largest users of electricity via its data centres, which house millions of servers.
Earlier this year Google began trials of its own high speed fibre broadband network in the US.
Source - Telegraph
Solar Paint – a dream?
NextGen is a start up company which is developing new product in the solar industry field which could become a a small revolution in the solar industry.
NextGen Solar has announced that it has raised half of the $1 million it needs to bring its “solar paint” to customers.
The NextGen solar paint is a liquid material that forms webs of nanoscale solar cells when it dries and it can be painted onto practically any surface. Developed by the Argonne National Laboratory, the solar paint beats out thin-film PV cells in efficiency because it captures more wavelengths of light.
The company is working with ambitious clean tech investors, hoping to get the prototype out of the lab and onto roofs, windows and walls soon. A commerical breakthrough of this type of clean energy technology – one that is cheap and efficient enough to go up against coal – could make a big impact.
NextGen is claiming the efficiency for at least 25%, and possibly as much as 40% at a third of the cost.
Source - EcoGeek
NextGen Solar has announced that it has raised half of the $1 million it needs to bring its “solar paint” to customers.
The NextGen solar paint is a liquid material that forms webs of nanoscale solar cells when it dries and it can be painted onto practically any surface. Developed by the Argonne National Laboratory, the solar paint beats out thin-film PV cells in efficiency because it captures more wavelengths of light.
The company is working with ambitious clean tech investors, hoping to get the prototype out of the lab and onto roofs, windows and walls soon. A commerical breakthrough of this type of clean energy technology – one that is cheap and efficient enough to go up against coal – could make a big impact.
NextGen is claiming the efficiency for at least 25%, and possibly as much as 40% at a third of the cost.
Source - EcoGeek
German solar energy real estate investments being offered in UK
There is an increase in interest among property investors for German solar energy investments as a feed-in tariff cut approaches, it is claimed.
Germany is one of the world leaders in solar energy but a cut off up to 16% is expected for most solar photovoltaic installations from 1st July 2010, significantly reducing the incentive for investment.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) panel manufacturers have been inundated with orders not only from domestic homeowners but also from businesses and investment groups with larger roof spaces and qualified installers have been working around the clock to fit the panels in time.
‘With the 1st July deadline fast approaching we are sourcing additional roof space in order to meet the serious demand for solar energy investments in Germany. Investors know that plugging in by this date will maximise their returns over the next 20 years,’ explained Steven Worboys, managing director of Experience International who is marketing solar energy investments in Germany in the UK for the first time.
Feed-in tariffs (FIT) was first introduced into Germany in 1990 and required utilities to connect renewable energy generators to the grid and buy the electricity produced at a rate of 65 to 90% of the average tariff charged per unit to end-users. The model has been so successful in supporting the development of the renewable energy industry that is has been replicated all over the world, including the UK.
However, some 20 years later, the German government has decided that the feed-in tariff, currently at 32 to 43 eurocents/kWh, is over-subsidizing the renewable energy industry and costing the consumer too much so the FIT rate is to be reduced. The fall of up to a third in the production of solar panels and growth in cheaper imports, especially from China, has also influenced the decision.
By their very design FITs are intended to reduce over time and the cut is not unexpected, even if the double-digit nature is deemed somewhat severe by some. ‘The feed-in tariff has been integral in turning Germany into the largest and most successful solar energy producer in the world. It has installed 9 GW of PV capacity with government targets for 66 GW by 2030. The industry has a turnover of some €1.7 billion per annum, employs 20,000 people and analysts predict that solar energy can provide 25% of the nation’s electricity by 2050, said Warboys.
With such marked progress to date and new government targets for renewable energy production being made, the imminent cut in FITs is certainly not the end of Germany’s solar success story, he believes. ‘There remains a window of opportunity for investors to see returns of €21,501 net income in year one and 17% net ROI for years one to 20. Investment is from €50,000 and 90% non-recourse finance is available,’ he added.
Source - Property Wire
Germany is one of the world leaders in solar energy but a cut off up to 16% is expected for most solar photovoltaic installations from 1st July 2010, significantly reducing the incentive for investment.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) panel manufacturers have been inundated with orders not only from domestic homeowners but also from businesses and investment groups with larger roof spaces and qualified installers have been working around the clock to fit the panels in time.
‘With the 1st July deadline fast approaching we are sourcing additional roof space in order to meet the serious demand for solar energy investments in Germany. Investors know that plugging in by this date will maximise their returns over the next 20 years,’ explained Steven Worboys, managing director of Experience International who is marketing solar energy investments in Germany in the UK for the first time.
Feed-in tariffs (FIT) was first introduced into Germany in 1990 and required utilities to connect renewable energy generators to the grid and buy the electricity produced at a rate of 65 to 90% of the average tariff charged per unit to end-users. The model has been so successful in supporting the development of the renewable energy industry that is has been replicated all over the world, including the UK.
However, some 20 years later, the German government has decided that the feed-in tariff, currently at 32 to 43 eurocents/kWh, is over-subsidizing the renewable energy industry and costing the consumer too much so the FIT rate is to be reduced. The fall of up to a third in the production of solar panels and growth in cheaper imports, especially from China, has also influenced the decision.
By their very design FITs are intended to reduce over time and the cut is not unexpected, even if the double-digit nature is deemed somewhat severe by some. ‘The feed-in tariff has been integral in turning Germany into the largest and most successful solar energy producer in the world. It has installed 9 GW of PV capacity with government targets for 66 GW by 2030. The industry has a turnover of some €1.7 billion per annum, employs 20,000 people and analysts predict that solar energy can provide 25% of the nation’s electricity by 2050, said Warboys.
With such marked progress to date and new government targets for renewable energy production being made, the imminent cut in FITs is certainly not the end of Germany’s solar success story, he believes. ‘There remains a window of opportunity for investors to see returns of €21,501 net income in year one and 17% net ROI for years one to 20. Investment is from €50,000 and 90% non-recourse finance is available,’ he added.
Source - Property Wire
Dutch SolarNow program wins EU award for renewable energy
Today the Dutch Rural Energy Foundation received the prestigious EU Sustainable Energy Award 2010 for its SolarNow program from EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger.
Rural Energy Foundation facilitated during the past three years access to solar energy to 330.000 off-grid Africans. Access to energy is an important condition for development. People save a considerable amount of oil, batteries and candles, while their productivity increases and children can do homework after sunset.
The foundation is praised because of the high cost-effectiveness and sustainability of its approach. The costs related to providing access to solar energy to an off-grid African are only EUR 4.
Most rural households in Africa largely depend on kerosene lamps. Besides poor quality of light, this is expensive and polluting. Most people have not heard of solar energy; there are hardly any shops selling and servicing solar home systems in rural areas.
The SolarNow program supports local entrepreneurs to start a business in solar energy household solutions. The program thus far supported 200 entrepreneurs in nine sub-Saharan African countries.
In addition, the program organizes awareness campaigns to promote the use of solar energy. Finally, as many households do not have the cash available to meet the upfront investment, SolarNow facilitates access to end-user credit schemes.
Director Willem Nolens reacts enthusiastically: "Great that the EU recognizes that small-scale renewable energy solutions in Africa are more efficient than large-scale infrastructural energy projects.
Africa faces an attractive opportunity to leapfrog the carbon-intensive development path that industrialized countries followed". The Foundation receives financial support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Source - Rural Energy
Rural Energy Foundation facilitated during the past three years access to solar energy to 330.000 off-grid Africans. Access to energy is an important condition for development. People save a considerable amount of oil, batteries and candles, while their productivity increases and children can do homework after sunset.
The foundation is praised because of the high cost-effectiveness and sustainability of its approach. The costs related to providing access to solar energy to an off-grid African are only EUR 4.
Most rural households in Africa largely depend on kerosene lamps. Besides poor quality of light, this is expensive and polluting. Most people have not heard of solar energy; there are hardly any shops selling and servicing solar home systems in rural areas.
The SolarNow program supports local entrepreneurs to start a business in solar energy household solutions. The program thus far supported 200 entrepreneurs in nine sub-Saharan African countries.
In addition, the program organizes awareness campaigns to promote the use of solar energy. Finally, as many households do not have the cash available to meet the upfront investment, SolarNow facilitates access to end-user credit schemes.
Director Willem Nolens reacts enthusiastically: "Great that the EU recognizes that small-scale renewable energy solutions in Africa are more efficient than large-scale infrastructural energy projects.
Africa faces an attractive opportunity to leapfrog the carbon-intensive development path that industrialized countries followed". The Foundation receives financial support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Source - Rural Energy
Half Of Moroccan Territory To Be Powered By Solar Energy
This makes perfect sense given the fact that the North African Kingdom receives more than three thousand hours of dependable sunshine on a yearly basis. Nine centuries of unremitting sunlight have drenched this Kingdom of Morocco with all of its ancient charm and intrigue.
Morocco has plans to invest nine billion dollars in advance to construct two gigawatts of solar power, dispersed between five solar power facilities within ten years.
Two Gigawatts or [Two Thousand Megawatts] is plenty to provide for forty percent of the country’s electricity requirements for thirty two million inhabitants, who by the sounds of it, utilize very little energy in general. For instance, in California in 2008, they needed to add three thousand megawatts of power – primarily in the form of wind energy production. Nevertheless, it was supplying but a small fraction of the states actual energy requirement.
In Morocco, their five solar power facilities will be constructed successively, the initial plant slated for construction beginning in 2015. It will start saving Moroccans money straight away since it will reduce the need for foreign fossil fuel imports from adjacent oil producing nations.
It is inspirational to see the country’s politicians get behind the solar power initiative stating how they desire to see a “green footprint in the sands of time” and even more astounding was the ability to garner the majority of ballots in the Kingdom’s parliament that will give it the necessary push to get it off the ground.
No Right Wing Media Pundits Here!
The Moroccan Minister of Finance has said that the solar project will be an obviously significant point regarding the vital requirement of government to step up to the climate change question and he says this is simply their initial effort as a country. He adds that Morocco is placing a priority on environmental safeguards in every foreseeable project.
The Moroccan Minister of Energy also is staunchly behind the solar power progress. She emphasized that though it is a formidable plan it is a realistic endeavor and that guarantees are in place for all financial and technological resources for the project to be a winning venture.
The government of Morocco is putting into place all of the necessary financial resources as it collaborates with the World Bank, the European Commission as well as Desertec to realize their vision of a future with lean solar energy at the forefront.
One can only wish that our own western governments – specifically North American – could be so simply persuaded to leave their own green footprints in the sands of time. Domestic reliance on fossil fuel is so great that making any significant inroads toward a renewable energy future is more of a transparent gesture at this time than a determined energy policy promoting green renewable energy advances.
Granted, countries such as Morocco have less of a power commitment than most western democracies do and they have their predictable climate going for them. However, until political will is transformed across the aisle, green energy initiatives will continue to be patronizing at best.
Source - Renewable Power News
Morocco has plans to invest nine billion dollars in advance to construct two gigawatts of solar power, dispersed between five solar power facilities within ten years.
Two Gigawatts or [Two Thousand Megawatts] is plenty to provide for forty percent of the country’s electricity requirements for thirty two million inhabitants, who by the sounds of it, utilize very little energy in general. For instance, in California in 2008, they needed to add three thousand megawatts of power – primarily in the form of wind energy production. Nevertheless, it was supplying but a small fraction of the states actual energy requirement.
In Morocco, their five solar power facilities will be constructed successively, the initial plant slated for construction beginning in 2015. It will start saving Moroccans money straight away since it will reduce the need for foreign fossil fuel imports from adjacent oil producing nations.
It is inspirational to see the country’s politicians get behind the solar power initiative stating how they desire to see a “green footprint in the sands of time” and even more astounding was the ability to garner the majority of ballots in the Kingdom’s parliament that will give it the necessary push to get it off the ground.
No Right Wing Media Pundits Here!
The Moroccan Minister of Finance has said that the solar project will be an obviously significant point regarding the vital requirement of government to step up to the climate change question and he says this is simply their initial effort as a country. He adds that Morocco is placing a priority on environmental safeguards in every foreseeable project.
The Moroccan Minister of Energy also is staunchly behind the solar power progress. She emphasized that though it is a formidable plan it is a realistic endeavor and that guarantees are in place for all financial and technological resources for the project to be a winning venture.
The government of Morocco is putting into place all of the necessary financial resources as it collaborates with the World Bank, the European Commission as well as Desertec to realize their vision of a future with lean solar energy at the forefront.
One can only wish that our own western governments – specifically North American – could be so simply persuaded to leave their own green footprints in the sands of time. Domestic reliance on fossil fuel is so great that making any significant inroads toward a renewable energy future is more of a transparent gesture at this time than a determined energy policy promoting green renewable energy advances.
Granted, countries such as Morocco have less of a power commitment than most western democracies do and they have their predictable climate going for them. However, until political will is transformed across the aisle, green energy initiatives will continue to be patronizing at best.
Source - Renewable Power News
Frogs, Foam and Fuel: Solar Energy Converted to Sugars
For decades, farmers have been trying to find ways to get more energy out of the sun. In natural photosynthesis, plants take in solar energy and carbon dioxide and then convert it to oxygen and sugars. The oxygen is released to the air and the sugars are dispersed throughout the plant -- like that sweet corn we look for in the summer. Unfortunately, the allocation of light energy into products we use is not as efficient as we would like. Now engineering researchers at the University of Cincinnati are doing something about that.
The researchers are finding ways to take energy from the sun and carbon from the air to create new forms of biofuels, thanks to a semi-tropical frog species. Their results have just been published online in Nano Letters.
Research Assistant Professor David Wendell, student Jacob Todd and College of Engineering and Applied Science Dean Carlo Montemagno co-authored the paper, based on research in Montemagno's lab in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Their work focused on making a new artificial photosynthetic material which uses plant, bacterial, frog and fungal enzymes, trapped within a foam housing, to produce sugars from sunlight and carbon dioxide.
Foam was chosen because it can effectively concentrate the reactants but allow very good light and air penetration. The design was based on the foam nests of a semi-tropical frog called the Tungara frog, which creates very long-lived foams for its developing tadpoles.
"The advantage for our system compared to plants and algae is that all of the captured solar energy is converted to sugars, whereas these organisms must divert a great deal of energy to other functions to maintain life and reproduce," says Wendell. "Our foam also uses no soil, so food production would not be interrupted, and it can be used in highly enriched carbon dioxide environments, like the exhaust from coal-burning power plants, unlike many natural photosynthetic systems."
He adds, "In natural plant systems, too much carbon dioxide shuts down photosynthesis, but ours does not have this limitation due to the bacterial-based photo-capture strategy."
There are many benefits to being able to create a plant-like foam.
"You can convert the sugars into many different things, including ethanol and other biofuels," Wendell explains. "And it removes carbon dioxide from the air, but maintains current arable land for food production."
"This new technology establishes an economical way of harnessing the physiology of living systems by creating a new generation of functional materials that intrinsically incorporates life processes into its structure," says Dean Montemagno. "Specifically in this work it presents a new pathway of harvesting solar energy to produce either oil or food with efficiencies that exceed other biosolar production methodologies. More broadly it establishes a mechanism for incorporating the functionality found in living systems into systems that we engineer and build."
The next step for the team will be to try to make the technology feasible for large-scale applications like carbon capture at coal-burning power plants.
"This involves developing a strategy to extract both the lipid shell of the algae (used for biodiesel) and the cytoplasmic contents (the guts), and reusing these proteins in the foam," says Wendell. "We are also looking into other short carbon molecules we can make by altering the enzyme cocktail in the foam."
Montemagno adds, "It is a significant step in delivering the promise of nanotechnology."
Source - Science Daily
The researchers are finding ways to take energy from the sun and carbon from the air to create new forms of biofuels, thanks to a semi-tropical frog species. Their results have just been published online in Nano Letters.
Research Assistant Professor David Wendell, student Jacob Todd and College of Engineering and Applied Science Dean Carlo Montemagno co-authored the paper, based on research in Montemagno's lab in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Their work focused on making a new artificial photosynthetic material which uses plant, bacterial, frog and fungal enzymes, trapped within a foam housing, to produce sugars from sunlight and carbon dioxide.
Foam was chosen because it can effectively concentrate the reactants but allow very good light and air penetration. The design was based on the foam nests of a semi-tropical frog called the Tungara frog, which creates very long-lived foams for its developing tadpoles.
"The advantage for our system compared to plants and algae is that all of the captured solar energy is converted to sugars, whereas these organisms must divert a great deal of energy to other functions to maintain life and reproduce," says Wendell. "Our foam also uses no soil, so food production would not be interrupted, and it can be used in highly enriched carbon dioxide environments, like the exhaust from coal-burning power plants, unlike many natural photosynthetic systems."
He adds, "In natural plant systems, too much carbon dioxide shuts down photosynthesis, but ours does not have this limitation due to the bacterial-based photo-capture strategy."
There are many benefits to being able to create a plant-like foam.
"You can convert the sugars into many different things, including ethanol and other biofuels," Wendell explains. "And it removes carbon dioxide from the air, but maintains current arable land for food production."
"This new technology establishes an economical way of harnessing the physiology of living systems by creating a new generation of functional materials that intrinsically incorporates life processes into its structure," says Dean Montemagno. "Specifically in this work it presents a new pathway of harvesting solar energy to produce either oil or food with efficiencies that exceed other biosolar production methodologies. More broadly it establishes a mechanism for incorporating the functionality found in living systems into systems that we engineer and build."
The next step for the team will be to try to make the technology feasible for large-scale applications like carbon capture at coal-burning power plants.
"This involves developing a strategy to extract both the lipid shell of the algae (used for biodiesel) and the cytoplasmic contents (the guts), and reusing these proteins in the foam," says Wendell. "We are also looking into other short carbon molecules we can make by altering the enzyme cocktail in the foam."
Montemagno adds, "It is a significant step in delivering the promise of nanotechnology."
Source - Science Daily
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