MORE NEWS, 10-29: SUN BEAMED DOWN BY SATELLITE; LET ME COUNT THE SPEW; GEOTHERMAL DRILLS AHEAD; DUKE & CHINA ENN PARTNER ON SUN

SUN BEAMED DOWN BY SATELLITE
Space-based solar power can help on energy needs
Nick Lampson, October 22, 2009 (Houston Chronicle)

"The United States is on a serious quest to free itself from a costly and worrisome dependence on foreign oil, and depleting supplies of domestic petroleum, coal and natural gas.

"The country is pushing forward, thanks to some timely incentives from the federal government and state agencies, and we're turning to renewable sources of energy — which will also help protect our environment…[I]nnovative approaches under way at NASA…can help shape America's energy future, improve air quality and offset greenhouse gas emissions."

Space based receiver-sender solar satellite. (click to enlarge)

"October is Energy Awareness Month, and this year's theme — A Sustainable Energy Future: Putting All the Pieces Together — is especially timely…One of our greatest resources is all around us — sunlight. Each hour, the Earth receives more energy from the sun than the world's population consumes in one year. And our star promises to shine brightly for billions of years to come.

"…NASA's wellspring of talent could help foster the creation of solar power satellites — spacecraft that circle the Earth and beam the energy they generate down to the ground for distribution as electricity…The [solar panels of the] International Space Station…generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 55 homes…While it doesn't take a rocket scientist to appreciate solar power as an environmentally friendly source of energy, it will take that level of expertise to develop a practical, economic concept to collect the sun's radiance and relay this resource to Earth."

Earth based receiving-transmitting station. (click to enlarge)

"Two years ago this month, [Space-Based Solar Power as an Opportunity for Strategic Security from] the National Security Space Office…characterized the prospect of a network of solar-power satellites as a grand opportunity to address the nation's environmental and economic concerns as well as energy security...Even though solar power has a long way to go...it is making impressive strides. With a network of solar-power satellites, we could expect accelerated growth in the nation's solar-power industry to help invigorate our economy by creating high-paying jobs.

"Since its birth in 1958, NASA has teamed with industry, academia and other federal agencies to offer the benefits from their cutting-edge research…Environmentally friendly fuel cells have powered NASA's human spacecraft since the 1960s. Now, the world's automakers are turning to fuel cells as an alternative to fossil fuels. NASA's legacy also includes work with wind turbines and biofuels…Space-based solar power, initially proposed in the late 1960s, is a concept whose time has finally come..."


LET ME COUNT THE SPEW
Calculating Emissions Is Problematic
Sindya N. Bhanoo, October 22, 2009 (NY Times)

"An accounting problem in the way some greenhouse gas emissions are calculated could critically hobble efforts to reduce them in coming years as nations move to combat global warming, scientists warn in a new report.

"The accounting irregularity even gives the impression that clearing the world’s forests, which absorb and thereby diminish heat-trapping carbon dioxide, is good for the climate…The problem boils down to this: In emission calculations, all fuel derived from plants and other organic sources — including ethanol — is generally treated as if it has no effect on carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, even though though biofuels do emit carbon dioxide when burned."

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"This might make sense if the source of the fuel were, say, a crop of corn grown on barren land specifically for use as fuel, because the crop would have absorbed carbon dioxide as it grew, offsetting what it emits when ultimately burned…But if an existing stand of forest land is cleared for fuel, its ability to absorb carbon dioxide is lost, and the net balance of the gas in the atmosphere goes up.

"An energy and climate bill passed in June by the House of Representatives, the Kyoto Protocol, drafted in 1997, and the European Union’s cap-and-trade law, in which companies trade emissions allowances, all exempt emissions from biofuels, without taking the source of the fuel into account [and encouraging the destruction of forests for biomass], said Timothy D. Searchinger, the study’s lead author and a research fellow at Princeton University…In the mid-1990s the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recognized that when forests were cleared or when plants were harvested for bioenergy, the resulting release of carbon dioxide should be counted either as land-use emissions or energy emissions, but not both."

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"To create an international standard [for use in the Kyoto agreement eventually ratified by 184 countries but not the U.S.] and avoid double-counting, the I.P.C.C. chose to classify these emissions in the land-use category…The protocol imposes no limits on land-use emissions in developing countries. So if a forest is cleared in Indonesia and ends up as biofuel in Europe, Asia does not count the land-use emissions and Europe does not report the tailpipe emissions.

"The end result is that the carbon release from bioenergy use is not counted at all…[S]everal recently published articles [call] attention to the error…[U]nder current accounting methods, a commonly cited global target of limiting carbon dioxide to 450 parts per million in the atmosphere could result in a vast expansion of bioenergy crops, displacing nearly all of the world’s natural forests by 2065…"



GEOTHERMAL DRILLS AHEAD
2 new geothermal projects planned near Fallon
October 25, 2009 (AP via San Jose Mercury News)

"The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has announced plans to conduct an environmental review of proposals to build at least two new geothermal plants in [Northern California]…

"BLM officials… intend to prepare a formal environmental impact statement for the two Salt Wells Energy projects proposed by NV Energy, Oromat Technologies and the Vulcan Power Co…The separate projects could eventually result in construction of seven 30- to 60-megawatt geothermal power plants."

There's geothermal energy is them thar hills...(click to enlarge)

"Mark Sullivan of NV Energy said the plants would serve two needs: reliability and interconnection to existing plants…Scott Kessler of Oromat Technologies said the project will cost between $80 million to $100 million. He said the nearest neighbor to the 32-foot high facility would be 1,000 feet away…"

Notice a trend? (click to enlarge)

"Under questioning from Commissioner Norm Frey, Kessler said about five people live within a half mile of the plant located 10 to 15 miles southeast of Fallon…[T]he noise from the geothermal plants are no louder than [a] normal speaking voice, and the only sound individuals may hear is a low humming sound.

"Ken Bonin of Vulcan Power said the environmental review is scheduled for the beginning of 2010. The final impact statement is scheduled to be released in December of 2010 with a record of decision coming in February 2011."


DUKE & CHINA’S ENN PARTNER ON SUN
Duke Energy and China-Based ENN Group to Build Solar Power Projects in U.S.
October 23, 2009 (PRNewswire via Reuters)

"… ENN and Duke Energy will concentrate on two types of solar photovoltaic designs: large "utility-scale" solar farms and commercial distributed generation solar projects. Distributed generation systems produce electricity close to where the energy is used, rather than at large, central power plants.

"This joint development agreement builds upon a memorandum of understanding
announced Sept. 23 at the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting at which time the companies pledged to work together to accelerate the development of low-carbon and clean energy technologies."

From ENN (click to enlarge)

[Jim Rogers, CEO, Duke Energy:] "China is investing heavily in clean energy and we can make greater progress in the U.S. by joining forces and working together…Duke Energy and ENN seek to not only accelerate the development of solar power in the U.S., but help achieve economies of scale and drive down the cost of renewable energy."

{Wang Yusuo, Chair, ENN:] "ENN and Duke Energy have very complementary strengths…We are both dedicated to the development and use of low-carbon, clean energy sources to combat the climate change crisis facing all humanity."

They have a lot of sun to work with. (click to enlarge)

"Duke Energy Generation Services (DEGS)…will team with ENN to develop, own and operate the solar projects…[This] will expand DEGS' existing investments in renewable energy - including wind and biopower - and commercial transmission. DEGS owns and operates more than 630 megawatts (MW) of wind power projects in the U.S. and plans to add another 350 MW by the end of 2010. In the biopower market, DEGS is developing wood-waste-to-electricity power plants in the U.S. through ADAGE, the company it formed in 2008 with French-based AREVA…

"ENN is committed to clean energy for China and the world…[Founded] 20 years ago, ENN… has more than 100 subsidiaries in over 80 cities across China and around the world, and employs more than 24,000 people…ENN Solar Energy is an international company that produces world-leading silicon thin film solar modules. It has also created an innovative system of integrated solar power stations…"