MORE NEWS, 3-13 (NEW ENERGY MOONSHOT; R.I. SEES OFFSHORE WORK; BERKELEY SUN PLAN WORKS; MIT BATTERY BREAKTHROUGH)

NEW ENERGY MOONSHOT
Utah will spend stimulus cash on clean-energy push; Solar, wind, geothermal and biomass top the development list
Patty Henetz, March 12, 2009 (Salt Lake Tribune)

"Interior boss Ken Salazar issued his first secretarial order…a "moonshot for energy independence" that propels solar, wind, geothermal and biomass projects ahead of oil and gas development…With Salazar's declaration, the production, development and delivery of large-scale alternative-energy projects vault to the top of Interior's to-do list…

"Through an initiative of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., [Utah] has mapped its renewable zones and estimated the costs and benefits of development that appear beneficial for Utah. The state expects to funnel about $34 million from the federal stimulus package toward clean-energy projects…[Bills in the legislature]…would provide financial incentives for alternative-energy-equipment manufacturers and developers…[and] set up a mechanism to fund transmission lines to connect renewable-energy projects already producing electricity to the main grid…"

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"Salazar said that even if the Southwest's renewable zones excluded sensitive lands, enough area would remain to produce 88 percent of the West's energy needs with solar alone…Utah Clean Energy…estimated that energy savings and renewables could meet all of the state's projected energy-demand growth through 2020.

"Interior's first task will be to map…the nation's renewable-energy zones in a way that doesn't harm the environment…Another goal: Put people to work by clearing the backlog of alternative-energy-permit requests…Hundreds of applications for solar- and wind-energy permits piled up under the previous policy of speeding oil and gas development, putting the new energy economy's engineering and production employment on hold…"

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"…[DOI’s] Bureau of Land Management [estimates] Western wind-project developers could build on 20.6 million acres. More than 25 million acres could go to solar development and geothermal potential covers more than 40 million acres. Wind- and wave-energy projects are possible on both coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico…

"[T]he broad environmental impact studies the Bush administration completed for geothermal and wind development may undergo revisions to reflect the new renewable-energy focus…Interior has set up an energy and climate-change task force to measure renewable potential on public lands across the nation…"


R.I. LOOKS OFFSHORE FOR WORK
Executive: RI wind farm could create many jobs Executive: RI wind farm could create many jobs
March 12, 2009 (AP via Boston Globe)

"A top executive of a company that wants to build a $1.5 billion wind-energy farm off the coast of Rhode Island says the project could create thousands of jobs."

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"Chris Wissemann, chief operating officer of Deepwater Wind, told Governor Don Carcieri and the state Economic Policy Council that the project would create as many as 1,200 jobs to design, assemble, and install wind turbines…[T]housands of other new jobs could be created in the manufacturing of turbine parts for additional projects.

"Wissemann says his company wants to erect 106 turbines off Block Island…[T]he project is dependent on several factors, including financing and power purchase agreements with utilities that serve the state."


BERKELEY SUN PLAN WORKS
City's High Number of Solar Panels Recognized
Crystal Kay Fairrington, March 12, 2009 (Daily Californian)

"The Northern California Solar Energy Association presented its annual City Solar Award to Berkeley… for having the most solar panels installed per 1,000 residents in 2007 among large Bay Area cities…[with] more than 450 solar panels and about four panel installations per 1,000 residents…

"The panels are photovoltaic power systems that convert sunlight into electricity and allow homeowners to generate some of their energy demands on the roofs of their homes. Mayor Tom Bates said he was pleased that the city was recognized for its energy conservation efforts… "

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"Earlier this month, Berkeley became the first city to install solar panels made available in an affordable way. The Berkeley FIRST program allows property owners to pay for the panels through their property taxes for up to 20 years.

"Although the award did not recognize the Berkeley FIRST program specifically, Julie Sinai, Bates' chief of staff, said community members' support for this and other programs is an indication of their commitment to energy efficiency…[T]he city has taken various steps to encourage citizens to remain environmentally conscious. Efforts include waiving the building permit fees for residents interested in solar panel installation…

"Jodi Pincus, executive director of the Rising Sun Energy Center, which promotes renewable energy and conservation techniques, said she was not surprised that Berkeley was honored with the award…"


MIT BATTERY BREAKTHROUGH?
Re-engineered battery material could lead to rapid recharging of many devices; Beltway for electrical energy solves long-standing problem
Elizabeth A. Thomson, March 11, 2009 (MIT News)

"MIT engineers have created a kind of beltway that allows for the rapid transit of electrical energy through a well-known battery material, an advance that could usher in smaller, lighter batteries -- for cell phones and other devices -- that could recharge in seconds rather than hours.

"The work could also allow for the quick recharging of batteries in electric cars, although that particular application would be limited by the amount of power available to a homeowner through the electric grid."

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"The work, led by Gerbrand Ceder, the Richard P. Simmons Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, is reported in the March 12 issue of Nature. Because the material involved is not new -- the researchers have simply changed the way they make it -- Ceder believes the work could make it into the marketplace within two to three years.

"State-of-the-art lithium rechargeable batteries have very high energy densities -- they are good at storing large amounts of charge. The tradeoff is that they have relatively slow power rates -- they are sluggish at gaining and discharging that energy…[S]cientists have thought that the lithium ions responsible, along with electrons, for carrying charge across the battery simply move too slowly through the material…Further calculations showed that lithium ions can indeed move very quickly into the material but only through tunnels accessed from the surface…"

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"Ceder and Byoungwoo Kang, a graduate student in materials science and engineering, devised a way around the problem by creating a new surface structure that does allow the lithium ions to move quickly around the outside of the material, much like a beltway around a city. When an ion traveling along this beltway reaches a tunnel, it is instantly diverted into it…

"Using their new processing technique, the two went on to make a small battery that could be fully charged or discharged in 10 to 20 seconds (it takes six minutes to fully charge or discharge a cell made from the unprocessed material)…[F]urther tests showed that unlike other battery materials, the new material does not degrade as much when repeatedly charged and recharged. This could lead to smaller, lighter batteries, because less material is needed for the same result…"