QUICK NEWS, 12-13: KEY NEW ENERGY VOTE DUE IN SENATE; PHENOMENOL WIND IN CHINA; “CLEAN” COAL -> TOXIC WATER; CLOUD COMPUTING IS EFFICIENT

KEY NEW ENERGY VOTE DUE IN SENATE
US Senate bill includes clean energy grant renewal
Ayesha Rascoe (w/Richard Cowan and David Gregorio), December 10, 2010 (Reuters)

"The compromise tax package unveiled by Senate Democrats…includes a one-year extension of a popular renewable energy grant program, which supporters say is vital for the clean energy sector.

"The potential extension of the program, which allows solar, wind and other renewable companies to receive cash grants in lieu of tax credits, was cheered by green energy groups…"

Click thru to the American Wind Energy Association issues website and register an opinion in the Senate

"Renewable energy companies say the cash grant program makes financing for projects easier and cheaper, especially in a weak economy where it's harder to find investors who need to offset taxable income with tax credits…Still, the Senate's provision is less than the two-year extension clean energy groups had called for.

"The Senate is set to hold a test vote on the tax package on Monday. If passed in the chamber, the it would still need approval in the House of Representatives…"

Click thru to the Solar Energy Industries Association government affairs website and register an opinion in the Senate

"Some clean energy groups are hoping that the House may pass a version of the bill with a lengthier extension of the renewable energy program…More than 80 House Democrats signed a letter this week in support of including a two-year extension of the renewable program in any upcoming tax legislation.

"Wind energy supporters have warned that there would be 20,000 layoffs in the sector within the next three months without the renewal of the program, which was initially created in the economic stimulus law…The solar industry is also depending on an extension of the energy grant program, which backers have said could create 27,000 new solar jobs next year…"


PHENOMENOL WIND IN CHINA
China To Add 15-20 GW Wind Power Capacity Annually In Next Decade – Association
Wan Xu, Decembwer 6, 2010 (Dow Jones Newswires via Nasdaq)

"China is expected to add 15-20 gigawatts of wind-power generating capacity annually during the next decade, the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association said…

"The country will likely have 40 GW of installed wind power capacity by the end of this year, up 60% from 25 GW at end-2009, the association said…"

click thru to the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association

"However, China's wind-power capacity only accounts for less than 3% of its total power-generating capacity, and wind power production only accounts for around 2% of its total electricity output, it said.

"The country's wind power sector still has much room for development, the association added."


“CLEAN” COAL -> TOXIC WATER
Study Charts How Underground CO2 Can Leach Metals into Water; Study is the first to observe, for at least a year, the effects of a CO2 leak on groundwater
Catherine M. Cooney, December 7, 2010 (Solve Climate News)

"…[N]ew research indicates that if CO2 stored deep underground were to leak in even small amounts, it could cause metals to be released in shallow groundwater aquifers at concentrations that would pose a health risk.

"…[In Potential Impacts of Leakage from Deep CO2 Geosequestration…]…samples of sand and rock taken from four freshwater aquifers located around the country that overlie potential carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) sites…[showed] that tiny amounts of CO2 drove up levels of metals including manganese, cobalt, nickel, and iron in the water tenfold or more in some places. Some of these metals moved into the water quickly, within one week or two. They also observed potentially dangerous uranium and barium steadily moving into the water over the entire year-long experiment…"

Vulnerable groundwater (from the study - click to enlarge)

"The technology for capturing and storing CO2 emissions from coal plants and industrial facilities is not yet commercially available. Still, the Obama Administration and other governments consider capturing carbon dioxide and sequestering it underground a vital technology that will allow the world to continue using coal as fuel while reducing the impacts of climate change. This new study sheds further light on how fresh water contamination from the technology could potentially occur…

"When the CO2 buried deep underground escapes into groundwater, it forms carbonic acid, a chemical reaction very similar to the process that occurs when the oceans absorb CO2. But the problems created by the carbonic acid in groundwater are quite different from the reactions that occur in the ocean…[A]tmospheric CO2 is causing ocean acidification that is harming corals, shellfish, lobsters, and other marine animals at the bottom of the sea. The increased acidity caused by CO2 dissolved in water underground can cause metals to leach out of surrounding sand and rock."

Areas of study (click to enlarge)

"Borrowed from agencies such as the US Geological Survey, the sediment used in the study was from 17 locations within four project sites…[O]bservations of the leaking CO2 [will help] develop [sequestration site] selection criteria, based on the metal contamination seen in the water, to help owners and operators choose CCS sites that are less likely to contaminate nearby freshwater aquifers…[The research] also identified four geochemical markers to help monitor sites and discover when CO2 has leaked and caused metals to move into the groundwater…

"…[T]he research is unique because of its length: it is the first to observe, for at least a year, the effects of a CO2 leak on groundwater…Scientists have already conducted short-term experiments of two-weeks to one month and found that CO2 in very small amounts can escape along rock faults and old petroleum wells into near-by groundwater and release harmful metals such as arsenic and uranium into the water…Other researchers are trying to determine how a very large leak might affect the subsurface environment, while the Department of Energy (DOE) and private investors are beginning studies of potential groundwater contamination in the field…"


CLOUD COMPUTING IS EFFICIENT
Cloud Computing Energy Efficiency; Strategic and Tactical Assessment of Energy Savings and Carbon Emissions Reduction Opportunities for Data Centers Utilizing SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS
Bruce Daley and Clint Wheelock, 4Q 2010 (Pike Research)

"The market for cloud computing services has continued to expand despite a general decline in economic activity in most of the world…Pike Research expects the growth in cloud computing revenue…between now and 2015…[to have] a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.8%, with the market increasing from $46.0 billion in 2009 to $210.3 billion by 2015.

"…Thanks to massive investments in new data center technologies, computing clouds in general and public clouds in particular are able to achieve industry-leading rates of efficiency. Simply put, clouds are better utilized and less expensive to operate than traditional data centers…Pike Research’s analysis indicates that only the very largest of organizations – both commercial and governmental – will have the capital and expertise to achieve a similar level of efficiency at a comparable cost. As a result…[M]uch of the work done today in internal data centers will be outsourced to the cloud by 2020."

click to enlarge

"…[S]uppliers of servers, network equipment, disk drives, and cooling and power equipment will all increasingly design their products to suit [cloud] needs. One of the most important of these is to improve operating margins by making better use of electricity. Many of the products designed specifically to optimize clouds are only now entering the market…[T]hese products will enhance the energy efficiency of all data centers.

"…[A]s data centers become more efficient, we expect them to use less energy and produce less carbon emissions…By 2020, Pike Research forecasts that data center contributions to GHG emissions will decline from 109.7 MTCO2e in 2010 to 79.5 MTCO2e – an improvement of 27%. This level of emissions is also 38% lower in 2015 than a business as usual (BAU) scenario in which data centers maintain their current rates of energy consumption and carbon emissions output."

click to enlarge

"…Pike Research’s cloud computing adoption forecast scenario finds that data center energy expenditures will be $16.0 billion annually by 2015, a 62% reduction from the BAU scenario figure of $25.9 billion.

"Cloud computing can play a pivotal role in moving towards a sustainable future. For competitive reasons cloud providers are making their data centers as energy efficient as possible…A new generation of hardware, software, and business processes has the potential to leverage the enormous scale of the cloud and make computing even more energy efficient than we predict – if they become more widely adopted. Few, if any, clean technologies offer to impact GHG production with so little disruption of business."