MORE NEWS, 6-9 (UK BEATS KYOTO GOALS TWICE OVER; MICH CARMAKERS RETOOL TO MAKE WIND; SUN STORED IN MOLTEN SALTS)

UK BEATS KYOTO GOALS TWICE OVER
New data confirms UK will double Kyoto emission targets; Government hails 23 per cent cut in emissions since 1990 as evidence "there is an alternative" to a high carbon society
James Murray, 5 June 2009 (Business Green)

"The UK will today mark World Environment Day with the release of new data showing the country is on track to deliver emission cuts that are almost double its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.

"According to a new UN report, UK greenhouse gas emissions are expected to be 23 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010, far exceeding its official target of a 12.5 per cent reduction in emissions."

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"Climate change minister Joan Ruddock insisted that while there was plenty of work still to be done, the cuts delivered so far provided evidence that economies could continue to grow while delivering rapid cuts in carbon emissions…

"However, the news is likely to receive a muted welcome from green groups, who have repeatedly argued the UK's reduction in emissions over the last 20 years are more the result of the shift in the energy mix away from gas and towards coal, rather than any government policies…"

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"A spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change countered that there was evidence action taken by government and businesses had contributed to the cuts in emissions…

"The data was released as the government announced it is to launch a new web site designed to provide people with information on the Copenhagen negotiations to agree a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. It said the new site would provide information on the UK's negotiating position, and links to petitions urging world governments to reach a meaningful agreement at UN talks at the end of this year…"


MICH CARMAKERS RETOOL TO MAKE WIND
Michigan makes push for wind-turbine component manufacturing
June 8, 2009 (American Machinist)

"… Michigan has begun the process of reemphasizing its manufacturing base with a focus beyond the automotive sector…[T]wo local companies are in the process of launching a wind-turbine component manufacturing venture that could advance the industry’s technology.

"…MAG Industrial Automation Systems L.L.C. and Dowding Machining Inc…[aim to design and manufacture] machine tools that would produce wind-turbine components at a reduced time and cost, along with producing wind turbine blades made from carbon fiber."

Time for the UAW to give the Sierra Club a call? (click to enlarge)

"…MAG Industrial and Dowding Machining are seeking to be among the first to apply highly sophisticated automotive-style manufacturing processes and advanced materials to wind-turbine components manufacturing…

"One of the chief challenges is to secure financing, which is highly problematic in this economy…[A]bout $135 million is needed to fund a plant that is equipped with specially designed machine tooling."


SUN STORED IN MOLTEN SALTS
Molten salt is "secret sauce" of new solar energy technology
Peter Pae, June 8, 2009 (LA Times via Seattle Times)

"…[A] storied rocket maker and a renewable-energy company are hoping to take what [was] learned [a] the long-closed desert facility to build a much larger plant that could power 100,000 homes — all from a mix of sun, salt and rocket science once believed too futuristic to succeed…

"… SolarReserve has licensed the technology, developed by engineers at Rocketdyne…[Its] molten salt technology is considered one of the more unusual and — to some energy analysts — one of the more promising [concepts] in the latest rush to build clean electricity generation…[SolarReserve] is financing and marketing the project…is working on agreements with several utilities to buy [its] electricity…[and] hopes to have announcements in a few months that could help jump-start construction…likely on private land in the Southwest…"

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"The company last fall secured $140 million in venture capital…The plant could begin operating by 2012 or early 2013. It would use an array of 15,000 heliostats, or large tilting mirrors about 25 feet wide, to direct sunlight to a solar collector atop a 600-foot-tall tower — somewhat like a lighthouse in reverse.

"The mirrors would heat up molten salt flowing through the receiver to more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to turn water into powerful steam in a device called a heat exchanger. The steam…would drive a turbine to create electricity…The molten salt, once cooled, would be pumped back through the solar collector to restart the process…"

A solar power tower. (click to enlarge)

"…[S]ome environmentalists have criticized solar-thermal plants for requiring vast tracts of land…[and] precious water for generating steam and for cooling the turbines…[T]he SolarReserve plant would take up about two square miles. Transmission lines also would be needed to transport the power…With dozens of solar, wind and geothermal projects planned for California's deserts, some fear this unique habitat will be destroyed…SolarReserve officials said its plant would use one-tenth the amount of water required by a conventional plant and that mirrors will be "benign" to the environment…

"…The technology, with the exception of using salt, is similar to those that Rocketdyne engineers developed for the nation's more notable space programs…[E]ngineers who came up with the SolarReserve technology also developed the power system for the international space station, the rocket engine for the space shuttle and the propulsion system for the Apollo lunar module…United Technologies bought the Rocketdyne unit from Boeing…It didn't know about the solar project until after the acquisition…The solar-thermal technology actually was proved workable more than a decade ago…[but abandoned] when the cost of natural gas fell to one-tenth of what it is today."