MORE NEWS, 6-17 (HIGH WINDS OFFER PROMISE; STILL SEEKING SUN’S PROMISE; FEDS PROMISE GOVS NEW ENERGY)

HIGH WINDS OFFER PROMISE
Is the Sky the Limit for Wind Power?
June 15, 2009 (Carnegie Institution for Science)

"In the future, will wind power tapped by high-flying kites light up New York? A new study by scientists at the Carnegie Institution and California State University identifies New York as a prime location for exploiting high-altitude winds, which globally contain enough energy to meet world demand 100 times over. The researchers found that the regions best suited for harvesting this energy match with population centers in the eastern U.S. and East Asia, but fluctuating wind strength still presents a challenge for exploiting this energy source on a large scale."

KiteGen. (click to enlarge)

"Using 28 years of data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction and the Department of Energy, Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology and Cristina Archer of California State University, Chico, compiled the first-ever global survey of wind energy available at high altitudes in the atmosphere. The researchers assessed potential for wind power in terms of “wind power density,” which takes into account both wind speed and air density at different altitudes…

"Jet streams are meandering belts of fast winds at altitudes between 20 and 50,000 feet that shift seasonally, but otherwise are persistent features in the atmosphere. Jet stream winds are generally steadier and 10 times faster than winds near the ground, making them a potentially vast and dependable source of energy. Several technological schemes have been proposed to harvest this energy, including tethered, kite-like wind turbines that would be lofted to the altitude of the jet streams. Up to 40 megawatts of electricity could be generated by current designs and transmitted to the ground via the tether…"

A Flying Electric Generator from Sky Windpower. (click to enlarge)

"Included in the analysis were assessments of high altitude wind energy for the world’s five largest cities: Tokyo, New York, Sao Paulo, Seoul, and Mexico City…Tokyo and Seoul also have high wind power density because they are both affected by the East Asian jet stream. Mexico City and Sao Paulo are located at tropical latitudes, so they are rarely affected by the polar jet streams and just occasionally by the weaker sub-tropical jets. As a result they have lower wind power densities than the other three cities…"


STILL SEEKING SUN’S PROMISE
The Johnny Appleseed of solar power; Meet Neville Williams, a Maryland man who says he has an easier time installing solar in Africa and Asia than he does in the United States
Robynne Boyd, June 16, 2009 (Mother Nature Network)

"This is a tale about a modest man, a flaming ball of plasma and a quest. The man is Neville Williams, the ball of gas is the sun, and the quest was bringing light and power to people in the developing world.

"… It was 1979, and after churning out stories as a war correspondent in Vietnam…Williams turned his energies toward energy. He had just been hired as a consultant for the freshly minted U.S. Department of Energy, and it was there he learned about an adolescent technology that would grip his imagination for the next 25 years — solar power…President Jimmy Carter was pushing solar in light of soaring oil prices and the 1973 Arab oil embargo…[and] installed solar panels on the roof of the White House West Wing…But at $90 per watt — compared with coal at only a few cents per watt — there was little interest…"

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"Twelve years later, after serving as Greenpeace's national media director during a time when the organization began blowing the whistle on climate change…Williams was on a vacation in Zimbabwe [when he got the idea]…

"Williams' plan was radical in its simplicity. He used money donated to his nonprofit organization, the Solar Electric Light Fund, to install solar panels in rural villages. Over time, the families would pay back the cost of the panels along with a small amount of interest to create a sense of ownership and responsibility. Then Williams would move on to the next village."

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"…Williams has [installed more than 100,000 solar electric systems in developing countries like India, Africa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam and] created two more companies: the Solar Electric Light Company, which provides solar energy in India, and Standard Solar, a U.S.-based company that installs residential solar systems in Washington, D.C., and Virginia…

"…[I]n the not-so-distant future solar electricity will cost the same as conventional electricity production. And if the predictions are correct, about 20 percent of U.S. households will have solar panels in the next 20 to 25 years…Williams' own home runs off of 100-percent wind energy since it lacks enough sunlight, a fact that he believes demonstrates the need for renewable energy to be tailored to its specific environment. Still, he believes that today is solar's day in the sun. And like in his quest to help bring light and power to people in the developing world, Williams will probably be indefatigable in ushering in solar energy into the States, 'one roof at a time.'"


FEDS PROMISE GOVS NEW ENERGY
Officials vow support for renewable energy in West
Mike Stark, June 15, 2009 (AP)

"Cabinet leaders in the Obama administration promised…to help Western states develop a robust system for delivering renewable energy.

"…[T]he West has vast untapped potential for harnessing wind, the sun and geothermal energy to create electricity…[Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said at the annual meeting of the Western Governors' Association. But transmission has] long been the concern of Western governors eager to develop renewable energy projects but frustrated by limitations in the transmission system and sluggish bureaucracies…"

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"…Salazar and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack vowed to make renewable energy a priority and find ways to streamline permitting…Salazar said four Western states — Arizona, California, Nevada and Wyoming — will get federal renewable energy planning offices to help make sure projects don't get stalled."

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"…A report released [by the Western Governors’ Association] — which represents the governors of 19 Western states and American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands — identified 54 areas with renewable energy potential across the Western U.S. and Canada…Delivering the kinds of power loads those areas might generate will require an upgrade in the existing transmission system and the likely need for creating new transmission corridors.

"Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the United States has fallen behind places such as China in the capacity of transmission lines…[He] announced $80 million in federal stimulus money to develop the next generation of high-voltage transmission networks."