MORE NEWS, 11-17: UK BIZ WANTS PEAK OIL REVIEW; OBAMA ENERGY DEPT BOOSTS ALGAE BIOFUELS; SOLAR SHINGLE NAMED BEST INVENTION; EXOTIC PIEZO BREAKTHROUGH

UK BIZ WANTS PEAK OIL REVIEW
Energy security body calls for 'urgent' review of impact of oil shortages; Virgin, Stagecoach and Yahoo among firms calling for measures to address economic dislocation from a sudden rise in oil prices
Terry Macallister, 15 November 2009 (UK Guardian)

"An industry organisation that includes Virgin and Yahoo has called on the government to "urgently" reassess its dismissive view about the potential threat and impact of oil shortages.

"The call from the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security comes after revelations in the Guardian that there is dissent inside the International Energy Agency (IEA) about how soon the world may run out of supplies…[A] petition to Number 10 [called on] Gordon Brown to take up the issue…The Wicks Review into energy issues…on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change, gave scant regard to peak oil issues…"

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"Other members of the taskforce include Scottish and Southern Energy, Stagecoach, the transport group, and Arup, the civil engineering consultancy. Work already undertaken by the taskforce…suggests that more needs to be done to prepare for the potential economic dislocation from a sudden huge rise in crude prices.

"The IEA has dismissed as "groundless" the claims of whistleblowers that political pressure from the US is affecting the way in which future oil reserves and production figures are presented and analysed…[because] more than 200 oil experts have reviewed their numbers, leaving no scope for partisan views."

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"…Swedish academics [recently] unveiled their latest assessments of the numbers and came to even more gloomy assumptions. …The Peak of the Oil Age [from Uppsala University] estimated that by 2030 the world would be able to rely on only 75m barrels of oil a day, compared with the 105m forecast by the IEA…[and argued that the peak of world oil production] might have already been reached.

"…[The petition asks UK Prime Minister] Gordon Brown to take action in response to a recent report by the UK Energy Research Council, which talks of a "significant risk" of oil peaking before 2020…and the 2005 Hirsch Report in the US, which has highlighted the decades-long timespan needed to transform oil-based infrastructure…And while BP and others have said that there is plenty of oil for the next four decades, John Hess, the founder and chairman of the Hess Corporation, the US oil company, told a conference in London last month that a "devastating oil crisis" loomed on the horizon…"


OBAMA ENERGY DEPT BOOSTS ALGAE BIOFUELS
DOE to accelerate algae-based biofuel development
Anna Austin, November 11, 2009 (Biomass Magazine)

"Valerie Sarisky-Reed of the U.S. DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy talked about the direction the DOE is taking to accelerate the development of algae-based biofuels…She said the agency intends to develop advanced biofuels—hydrocarbons and other high-density fuels that can be drop in replacements diesel and gasoline—in a more accelerated fashion than cellulosic ethanol…"

[Valerie Sarisky-Reed, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, DOE:] “We learned a lot over the past 20 years, and we believe we can apply that to a faster deployment phase…This is now becoming a priority fuel we need to consider, and that’s why we’re moving into the advanced biofuels arena… It’s an extremely diverse feedstock that comes from several kingdoms—this broad scope of diversity is something that we’d like to tap into and capture… If we can harness that type of productivity, and do so in a sustainable fashion, we can look at this in a different scenario.”

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"Algae has the potential to fit in [DOE’s] advanced biofuels scenario and has been a topic of great attention over the past couple of years…Sarisky-Reed highlighted the high productivity of algae and it’s massive presence in the ocean, pointing out that if each algal cell were lined end to end there would be enough algae to reach the moon and back 15 billion times…[A] troublesome algal bloom near the Olympic Stadium in China yielded more than 3 million tons of biomass in a three-month period…In the Billion-Ton Study that the DOE released in 2005, it was determined the U.S. has 1.3 billion tons of sustainably available biomass…"

[Sarisky-Reed:] “We could produce about 60 billion tons of cellulosic ethanol…or one-third of what we anticipate we will need in our transportation sector. That’s not insignificant, but algae weren’t even taken into consideration [in the 2005 study], and if we have this type of productivity, we can see liquid transportation fuels, from domestic sources, produce almost 100 percent (of fuel needed in U.S.)…[so we need to] give it the research it deserves…”

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"In regard to algae’s relevance to advanced biofuels, Reed said many people are aware of high-oil producing algae and its potential to far outweigh terrestrial crop productivity. To assess the current state of algae technology and determine the next steps toward commercialization of algal biofuel processes, the DOE is developing the National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap, which will be ready for publication in late December…

"…[M]ajor areas in algae that should be focused on are basic algal biology, cultivation and production, integration and scale up, sustainability and economic analysis…The DOE released a solicitation through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 where $35 million was dedicated to advanced biofuels and $50 million to algal biofuels…On the advanced biofuels scale, Reed said the DOE is hoping to accelerate development of hydrocarbons to a five-year time frame to pilot scale demonstration. [For algae, it could be 10 years]…"


SOLAR SHINGLE NAMED BEST INVENTION
Dow ™ Powerhouse ™ Solar Shingle Named a Best Invention of 2009 by TIME Magazine
November 16, 2009 (Dow Chemical via PR Newswire)

"The Dow Chemical Company's Dow ™ Powerhouse ™ Solar Shingle, the revolutionary flexible photovoltaic solar cell packaged in the form of a roofing shingle that can be easily integrated with standard asphalt shingle materials, has been named one of "The 50 Best Inventions of 2009" by TIME magazine…

"The Dow ™ Powerhouse ™ Solar Shingle integrates low-cost, thin-film CIGS photovoltaic cells into a proprietary roofing shingle design, which represents a multi-functional solar energy generating roofing product. The innovative product design reduces installation costs because conventional roofing shingles and solar generating shingles are installed simultaneously by roofing contractors - no specialized skills or knowledge of solar array installations are required."

From hgtvpro via YouTube

"Additionally, Dow and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) recently announced the signing of a multi-year research collaboration…aimed at developing the next generation of ultra low cost, high efficiency photovoltaic materials…Based on earth abundant elements, these new PV materials should further reduce the cost of Dow's building integrated photovoltaic line…"

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"The Dow ™ Powerhouse ™ Solar Shingle systems are expected to be available in limited quantities by mid-2010 and projected to be more widely available in 2011, putting the power of solar electricity generation directly and conveniently in the hands of homeowners…

"…[Dow] delivers a broad range of products and services to customers in approximately 160 countries, connecting chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help provide everything from fresh water, food and pharmaceuticals to paints, packaging and personal care products. In 2008, Dow had annual sales of $57.4 billion and employed approximately 46,000 people worldwide…"


EXOTIC PIEZO BREAKTHROUGH
'Exotic Behavior' Shines a Light on Piezoelectricity
Tina Casey, November 15, 2009 (CleanTechnica via Reuters)

"A team of researchers from UC Berkeley and the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley Lab have discovered a new lead-free material that produces an electrical current when exposed to stress. The phenomenon, called piezoelectricity, sounds exotic but it could some day become as common as backyard grills.

"Piezoelectricity is a sustainable way to generate energy. It works by applying pressure or stress to certain crystalline materials, including certain ceramics and even bone, so it's a green alternative to burning fossil fuels. Up to now, though, the most popular piezoelectric materials contain lead, a notorious neurotoxin. The discovery of a lead-free material could open the door to a piezoelectric energy future in which people generate significant amounts of electricity just by moving through the civic infrastructure, from highways to flooring and revolving doors…"

schematic of piezoelectric energy. (click to enlarge)

"Piezoelectricity actually is as common as…[p]ush-button grill starters…pushbutton cigarette lighters…[m]icrophones and quartz watches…Piezoelectricity also has numerous medical and engineering applications…However, the severe health risks associated with lead in the environment make it clear that a more widespread application of lead-based piezoelectric materials is not a sustainable path…"

Shoe manufacturers want to capture the energy with shoes. Sound a Kramer scheme? (click to enlarge)

"By removing the lead hazard, the Berkeley discovery could prompt the use of piezoelectric materials not only in infrastructure and buildings, but also in common consumer products that are exposed to stress, such as shoes or even T-shirts…[T]hin films of bismuth ferrite, an inorganic crystalline material associated with magnetic-electric phenomena, produce a piezoelectric effect when subjected to large amounts of properly focused strain.

"…Putting strain on the films causes the "exotic behavior" described by one researcher, in which the planes…move relative to each other and then revert to their former position when the strain is relaxed. The researchers also note that in principle bismuth ferrite is just one among other crystalline lead-free materials that could be used…"