BIG ENERGY STORIES OF 2007, 2008 & 2009

2007 was a good year for them. 2008 will be better. (click to enlarge)

The Year in Energy; Advanced biofuels, more-efficient vehicles, and solar power top the most notable energy stories of 2007
Kevin Bullis, December 27, 2007 (Technology Review)

WHO
Kevin Bullis, writing for MIT’s Technology Review

WHAT
Bullis and MIT pick five topics as the year’s most significant: biofuels, solar panel technology, carbon dioxide capture, transmission and electric vehicles.

WHEN
2007, especially as it might apply to 2008 but maybe not ‘til 2009.

Cost per kilowatt-hour is getting more competitive all the time. (click to enlarge)

WHERE
Only in places where humans require energy.

WHY
- As demonstrated in the recent energy bill, biofuels finally begin to supplant the scam of corn ethanol in public understanding and policy. A multiplicity of biomass sources from animal dung to algae offer a variety of possibilities to beat the numbers and produce fuel with more energy value than is used in producing it.

Look for lots of news on biofuels. (click to enlarge)

- Solar panel costs keep threatening to go down. Plants are getting bigger, scaling down price. The silicon shortage is almost at an end. Thin film is getting more efficient. Quantum dots, carbon nanotubes and buckyballs are almost ready and the dream of paint-on solar energy is just beyond the horizon. (But the breakthrough right now is in finding a way to finance plain old home photovoltaic and industrial-sized solar thermal installations.
- Carbon capture is everybody’s dream, from D.C. to Bali. But nobody can prove it will work and recently some big players have abandoned it as too costly. Some researchers are working on ways to turn carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and make a fuel in the process. But the big talk is after-capture sequestration, another unproven dream.
- All New Energies require new transmission. The authorities in D.C. are still dragging their feet but some entrepreneurs are seizing the opportunity to fill the gap.
- The intermittent New Energies (solar and wind) require storage but there are solar thermal projects that would store the energy as steam and there are wind storage experiments that would store the energy as compressed air. Nothing is yet proven.
- GM is on the verge of tearing the auto market wide open by marketing a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. They say it will be in showrooms by 2009. Toyota says they may have one by 2010. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs are pushing the envelope. Call it vehicles on the verge of a total breakthrough.

It was only a book in 2007. It will likely begin to hit showrooms in 2009. 2008 is the turning point. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
From ELECTRIC VEHICLES ARE GOOD FOR YOUR WORLD:
- Paul Scott, co-founder, Plug-In America, said, “Get all your cars on the grid, then clean up the grid!”
- Forbes Bagatelle-Black, engineer and author, wrote, “If we start switching our cars to grid power right now, then they will benefit directly from advancements and improvements in renewable power generation. As fossil fuels become scarcer and more expensive, power plants using alternative energy sources will fuel an increasing percentage of our grid power demand. If we are using EVs as this transition occurs, we can keep driving along without having to rebuild our transportation infrastructure. When fossil fuels run out completely, we will be ready!”