MORE NEWS, 6-2 (GEORGIA TESTS 7 KINDS OF SOLAR PANELS; EFFICIENCY SOFTWARE, THE LOW FRUIT; JETS TO FLY BIOFUELS BY 2011)

GEORGIA TESTS 7 KINDS OF SOLAR PANELS
Georgia Power Launches Solar Research Project
June 1, 2009 (PR Newswire via Yahoo Finance)

"Georgia Power…[and corporate parent Southern Company will] launch a rooftop solar demonstration program aimed at increasing the use of renewable energy in Georgia…[by] installing seven different commercially viable photovoltaic (PV) panels on [the Georgia Power corporate headquarters] roof to test which solar technologies perform best with Georgia's weather patterns and climate.

"The project, funded by Southern Company and Georgia Power, will generate cost and performance data of leading solar technologies and will assist customers interested in purchasing photovoltaic panels for their own homes or businesses. The project will collect data from the panels for a minimum of one year."

Different kinds of rooftop solar suit different kinds of roofs in different kinds of places. What will work in Georgia? (click to enlarge)

"Energy generated by the PV panels will partially offset the electricity needs of Georgia Power's corporate headquarters. Each test technology will be capable of producing approximately four kilowatts. Four of the solar technologies have been installed, while the remaining technologies will be implemented as they become available…

"Georgia Power designed and constructed its corporate headquarters in the 1980s with energy efficiency in mind…"

Different kinds of rooftop solar suit different kinds of roofs in different kinds of places. What will work in Georgia? (click to enlarge)

"The company also recently expanded its Green Energy program to include a premium option that allows customers to purchase renewable energy - 2 percent of which is solar - at a cost of $4.50 per 100-kilowatt-hour block. This solar research project will augment Georgia Power's existing renewable energy strategy.

"The company plans to make the solar demonstration production data available to the public via an interactive kiosk that will be set up in the lobby of the corporate headquarters…[with] real-time information…along with Web data. Georgia Power will work with an independent consultant to evaluate the performance of each technology and may consider expanding the project at the end of the evaluation stage…"


EFFICIENCY SOFTWARE, THE LOW FRUIT
'Clean-tech' start-ups are pushing the green button; Hara, which launches today, is the latest IT effort to help firms and the planet through software to manage water and energy use.
Dan Fost, June 1, 2009 (LA Times)

"Amit Chatterjee worked for three Silicon Valley start-ups and software company SAP...[H]e became convinced that there was a way to use software…to help companies track and manage their use of energy, water and other resources,,,[and got a $6-million investment from] the valley's most prominent venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers…[for] his latest start-up, Hara, which…helps [companies] plan ways to mitigate their environmental effects.

"Hara's arrival, after operating quietly for the last year and a half, shows how the tech wizards behind many Internet companies are now hard at work building digital solutions to save water, money, energy and maybe even the planet. Kleiner Perkins managing partner Ted Schlein, a Hara board member, calls it 'the greening of IT,' saying that large corporations are ready to use information technology to make their businesses more eco-friendly because it's the right thing to do and it can save them money."

Efficiency is known in the New Energy world as the low hanging fruit because so much saving can be cheaply and easily harvested. (click to enlarge)

"Venture capitalists, big companies including Cisco Systems Inc. and General Electric Co. and private equity firms have been pumping money into a variety of green IT initiatives…A major push includes an effort to make the nation's power grid "smarter" by using sensors and networking technology so companies can track their electricity use.

"These initiatives look at the demand side -- figuring out how people are using energy -- rather than the supply side, such as solar power, to replace the type of energy being generated…"

Efficiency is known in the New Energy world as the low hanging fruit because so much saving can be cheaply and easily harvested. (click to enlarge)

"For the last few years, venture capitalists have poured money into so-called clean-tech companies, which use technology to solve environmental problems, at a much faster rate than traditional technology. The field appears particularly poised for growth as the Obama administration begins to pump stimulus dollars into green energy initiatives, and as governments around the world consider making companies pay for the amount of carbon they generate…

"…[Investment] has dropped in the last two quarters as the turmoil in the financial markets has made investors reluctant to sink large sums into [New Energy] projects that could take years to pay off…But software firms can be started for far less…Solar panels could be a hard sell if the return on investment is still years away, but a software system that helps a company become more energy efficient may pay for itself a lot sooner…"


JETS TO FLY BIOFUELS BY 2011
Plant-derived fuels could be certified for flights within a year, says Boeing exec
Katie Howel, May 29, 2009 (NY Times)

"Jet fuels derived from algae, camelina and jatropha -- plants that pack an energy punch, are not eaten as food and do not displace food crops -- could be approved and replacing petroleum fuels in commercial flights as early as next year, a Boeing executive said…

"Bill Glover, managing director of environmental strategy for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, which is leading an effort to develop, test and certify alternative jet fuels, said the technology is ready. Now, it is just a matter of growing enough non-food feedstock plants and refining enough of their oil."

The many possibilities of Jatropha. (click to enlarge)

"In the past year and a half, commercial airlines have flown four successful test flights using a variety of biofuel-jet fuel blends. Boeing was involved in all four flights, including a Virgin Atlantic flight using a coconut- and babassu-derived biofuel blend; an Air New Zealand flight using a jatropha-derived biofuel blend; a Continental Airlines flight using a blend of algae- and jatropha-derived biofuel; and a Japan Airlines flight using an algae-, jatropha- and camelina-derived biofuel blend…

"Not only has the industry proved the technical capability, but it also has shown that biofuels can improve overall fuel efficiency…Information like that likely will help the industry get second-generation biofuels certified as drop-in replacements for jet fuel…"

Algae is the best bet in the long run. (click to enlarge)

"Next month, a coalition headed by Boeing will release a full report on all the test flights. And after that, the international standards board that approves fuels and chemicals could certify plant-derived biofuels as jet A-1 fuel within a year, Glover said…Once the fuels are approved as jet A-1, they can immediately be used as drop-in replacements…Glover and other executives said they think the approval process will be smooth…And the certification does not have to be feedstock-dependent…

"Some feedstocks show more promise than others…[A]lgae is eight to 10 years away from production, whereas camelina is ready now…[T]he United States has the potential to produce about 1 billion gallons of camelina oil a year…That is only a drop in the bucket compared with the 65 billion gallons of fuel the aviation industry uses worldwide each year, but it is a start…And it shows that the industry is starting to scale up. Last month, Sapphire Energy, an algae biofuel company that participated in the Continental test flight, said it would be producing 1 million gallons of diesel and jet fuel a year by 2011…Any aviation-biofuel solution is going to involve a wide variety of feedstocks, the executives said…"