NewEnergyNews: QUICK NEWS, December 10: THE BEST WAYS TO CONNECT WIND AND SUN; THE REMADE LEAD ACID BATTERY MARKET; LOOK FOR THE RENEWABLES LABEL

NewEnergyNews

Gleanings from the web and the world, condensed for convenience, illustrated for enlightenment, arranged for impact...

Happy Birthday to the guy who wrote this four decades ago:

"Gentlemen, he said, I don't need your organization, I've shined your shoes,

"I've moved your mountains and marked your cards but Eden is burning,

"So either get ready for elimination or else your hearts must have the courage,

For the changing of the guard."

Every day is Earth Day.

YESTERDAY

  • TTTA Thursday-A SPECIAL THING TO THINK ABOUT THIS THURSDAY
  • TTTA Thursday-ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND ELECTRIC VEHICLES
  • TTTA Thursday-COAL USE UP WITH NAT GAS PRICE
  • TTTA Thursday-A HAIRY SKYSCRAPER TO CATCH THE WIND

    • -------------------

    GET THE DAILY HEADLINES EMAIL: CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS OR SEND YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO: herman@NewEnergyNews.net

    -------------------

    THE DAY BEFORE

  • TODAY’S STUDY: CLIMATE CHANGE IN AUSTRALIA – A CASE STUDY
  • QUICK NEWS, May 22: WHAT THE U.S. CAN LEARN FROM GERMAN SOLAR SUCCESS; EARLY RESULTS SHOW WIND CAN PROTECT EAGLES; TEXAS GROWING NEW ENERGY, QUADRUPLES SUN

    • THE DAY BEFORE THE DAY BEFORE

  • TODAY’S STUDY: WHAT UTILITIES THINK
  • QUICK NEWS, May 21: U.S. EMISSIONS DROP AS ELECTRICITY OUTPUT RISES; THE SPACES BETWEEN THE WINDS; WTO RULES FOR IMPORTED SUN

    • THE DAY BEFORE THAT

  • TODAY’S STUDY: THE BEST UTILITIES FOR SUN
  • QUICK NEWS, May 20: INSURANCE COMPANIES PREPARE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE; UK’S GREEN BANK BRINGS THE BIG BUCKS; UTILITY GOES FOR BETTER SUN, WIND FORECASTS

    • AND THE DAY BEFORE THAT

  • Weekend Video: Spray On Solar
  • Weekend Video: Wind In The Rural Landscape
  • Weekend Video: What Dark Snow Means

    • THE LAST DAY UP HERE

  • FRIDAY WORLD HEADLINE-CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
  • FRIDAY WORLD HEADLINE-WHERE NEW ENERGY NEEDS TO BE
  • FRIDAY WORLD HEADLINE-KUWAIT’S POSSIBLE SOLAR
  • FRIDAY WORLD HEADLINE-WHAT INDIA WIND NEEDS

    • --------------------------

    --------------------------

    Anne B. Butterfield of Daily Camera and Huffington Post, is a biweekly contributor to NewEnergyNews

  • NEW BILLS AND NEW BIRDS in Colorado's recent session (May 20, 2013) by Anne Butterfield (Boulder Daily Camera via NewEnergyNews)

    Out with the old and in with a new. Gone are the five feet of snow from April and May - and in with this sudden summer heat. The feeder and fountain in view from this keyboard are graced with migratory birds such as Evening Grosbeak, Spotted Towhee and one Ruby-Throated hummingbird that loved on that sugar water when all fragrant things were cloaked by heavy snow. And in Denver, flown from the coop are all our state legislators from their tightly compressed legislative session. What have they gotten done?

    “This has been an extraordinary legislature,” said a seasoned Democratic fundraiser in Denver, Sallyanne Ofner by Facebook message. The range of work was wide:

    For civil unions came a meaningful redress of the wrong-headed vote of 2006 to limit marriage to one man and one woman. Now LGBT couples can commit for life and legally reap respect and due benefits.

    Firearm safety has been enhanced with popular universal background checks on purchases plus size limits on high capacity magazines.

    On behalf of rape victims, parental rights of attackers over the children they spawn have been severed, and sexual assault victims have access to a payment program for their medical needs.

    One gripping disappointment was the failure to repeal the costly and conspicuously racist death penalty in Colorado.

    Also disheartening: the failure to pass seven out of nine bills to regulate hydraulic fracturing. A notable failure was minimum fines for serious spills -- needed apparently because spills now don’t invoke the maximum fines allowed. The 30-hour spill that erupted in mid-February near Fort Collins still has not been fined, according to the Colorado Oil and Gas Association. The Governor has ordered a formal review of how fines are imposed.

    Also targeted was a ban on energy industry employees from serving on the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to regulate their own companies - failed. Lawmakers also failed to require more frequent inspections at Colorado’s tens of thousands of wells, though they did secure budgeting for 11 more inspectors and a lower spill amount threshold at which companies must report. More health and water testing around fracking areas? Also failed.

    Visiting The Camera this week, representatives from the Colorado Oil and Gas Association lamented the session as being polarized, and that legislators with no knowledge of industry surprised them with a slew of bills that COGA hadn’t seen much less collaborated on. This came off poorly as they and their 23 lobbyists certainly know that the session is compressed and filled with the slew of matters just mentioned.

    Coming this fall is still more action on fracking, in a rule making session by the Air Quality Control Commission. Judging by the Governor’s oft-stated goal to see “zero” fugitive emissions from natural gas infrastructure, let’s hope the AQCC can screw some new regulations to the sticking point.

    On the bright side for clean energy, Boulder’s own Will Toor is uniquely proud of a suite of successful bills for electric vehicles that led his agency, South West Energy Efficient Project, to launch Colorado to a leading grade of A- among six western states for EV’s. New bills included extended rebates for private purchases of EV’s and conversions of hybrids. For state and local governments to purchase EV’s, life cycle costs may now be considered as well as contracting through energy service companies to have EV’s paid for through fuel savings. PACE financing for commercial buildings and parking lots was expanded to cover charging stations. Also, apartment buildings and HOA’s will have to allow charging stations. And to address an old sore spot, a decal program will have EV owners pay a $50 tax per year for road maintenance and the construction of more public charging stations.

    We will see more charging stations – this comes with nice timing as Consumer Reports just named the Tesla Model S the best car. And as Colorado’s electric power sector cleans its emissions, the use of EV’s will leverage reductions in emissions from transportation.

    But that electric sector still has serious business leftover. Colorado has until June 7th to persuade the Governor to act on the gloriously debated SB 252 that would require rural electric providers to get 20 percent of their power from renewables. Since coal costs have about doubled over 10 years and Tri-States’ coal-rich power expenses have risen four times faster than sales, SB252 needs to pass for pocketbooks and to deal with that horrific new 400 ppm of CO2 in our atmosphere.

    Author's note: Want to support my work? Please "fan" me at Huffpost Denver, here (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-butterfield). Thanks.

    -------------------

    Anne's previous NewEnergyNews columns:

  • Lies, damned lies and politicians (October 8, 2012)
  • Colorado's Elegant Solution to Fracking (April 23, 2012)
  • Shale Gas: From Geologic Bubble to Economic Bubble (March 15, 2012)
  • Taken for granted no more (February 5, 2012)
  • The Republican clown car circus (January 6, 2012)
  • Twenty-Somethings of Colorado With Skin in the Game (November 22, 2011)
  • Occupy, Xcel, and the Mother of All Cliffs (October 31, 2011)
  • Boulder Can Own Its Power With Distributed Generation (June 7, 2011)
  • The Plunging Cost of Renewables and Boulder's Energy Future (April 19, 2011)
  • Paddling Down the River Denial (January 12, 2011)
  • The Fox (News) That Jumped the Shark (December 16, 2010)
  • Click here for an archive of Butterfield columns

    -------------------

    Some details about NewEnergyNews and the man behind the curtain: Herman K. Trabish, Agua Dulce, CA., Doctor with my hands, Writer with my head, Student of New Energy and Human Experience with my heart

    email: herman@NewEnergyNews.net

    -------------------

    Your intrepid reporter

    -------------------

      A tip of the NewEnergyNews cap to Phillip Garcia for crucial assistance in the design implementation of this site. Thanks, Phillip.

    -------------------

    Pay a visit to the HARRY BOYKOFF page at Basketball Reference, sponsored by NewEnergyNews and Oil In Their Blood.

  • ---------------

    • Monday, December 10, 2012

    QUICK NEWS, December 10: THE BEST WAYS TO CONNECT WIND AND SUN; THE REMADE LEAD ACID BATTERY MARKET; LOOK FOR THE RENEWABLES LABEL

    THE BEST WAYS TO CONNECT WIND AND SUN Wind integration best practices report underscores industry experience, knowledge

    December 7, 2012 (Wind Energy Weekly)

    “…Review of Industry Practice and Experience in the Integration of Wind and Solar Generation…[examines] a number of scenarios for various levels and combinations of penetrations of various technologies including solar and land-based and offshore wind [on the electricity grid].

    “…[It] provides [for Mid-Atlantic grid operator PJM Interconnection LLC] with a comprehensive look at the best approaches for integrating wind and solar power, based on an examination of operations and processes being implemented around the country and the world. The report covers energy scheduling, imbalances, reserves, contingency reserves, wind and solar forecasting, active power management and determining the capacity value of variable generation.”

    click to enlarge

    “…[A long list of studies have shown] that large amounts of wind power can be reliably integrated, and now a base of real-world experience is turning such assessments into reality…Countries such as Spain and Denmark, which crossed the 20 percent wind threshold several years ago, have high wind penetrations and, even in the U.S., individual states have achieved such numbers, led by Iowa (nearly 19 percent as of the end of 2011) and South Dakota (22 percent)…

    “…[T]he report looks at operational and regulatory practices (e.g., wind forecasting, scheduling, and so forth) in top wind power-penetration countries including Denmark and Spain as well…”

    THE REMADE LEAD ACID BATTERY MARKET Advanced Lead-Acid Batteries; Enhanced Flooded, Valve-Regulated, Lead-Carbon, and UltraBatteries for Motive, Transportation, and Stationary Applications: Global Market Analysis and Forecasts

    4Q 2012 (Pike Research/Navigant)

    “Conventional lead-acid batteries have a significant history in providing energy storage for a variety of end-use applications, both mobile and stationary…[Their] technical deficiencies… – namely short cycle lives and slow charging rates – have [not] thwarted their commercial success…

    “…[But] mobile and stationary applications…ranging from electrified vehicles to energy storage on the power grid, are demanding more dynamic energy storage services, which necessitates better technical performance characteristics (energy density, power density, charge acceptance) and lower lifecycle costs (improved battery cycle life). Conventional lead-acid batteries cannot provide the level of performance demanded…”

    click to enlarge

    “The increased adoption of renewable energy generation and advanced vehicle technologies, such as hybrid and stop-start vehicles, is driving innovation in the lead-based battery sector. New lead-based batteries are finding success in applications where batteries have a long history, such as vehicles, as well as new applications including grid storage for renewables integration…

    “…By 2020, Pike Research forecasts that advanced lead-acid batteries will capture roughly 25% of the global battery-based grid storage market, a small subset of the broader energy storage market. The market value for advanced lead-acid batteries in grid storage will be approximately $6.8 billion in 2020. Transportation applications, however, will still be the leading market for advanced lead-acid battery revenues…”

    LOOK FOR THE RENEWABLES LABEL Consumer Demand For Climate Solutions Leads To Expansion Of WindMade Label; Supported by UN Global Compact, WWF, GWEC and Vestas, WindMade announces development of new renewable energy label to recognize a wide variety of renewable energy sources

    4 December 2012 (WindMade)

    “…[The WindMade organisation will develop] a new consumer label for companies and products made using renewable energy. This will be backed by the UN Global Compact, WWF, Vestas Wind Systems, and the Global Wind Energy Council, the partners behind the WindMade eco-label…

    “WindMade was launched in 2011 as the first global consumer label for companies powered with wind energy. A range of major global companies including Motorola, Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank, Widex and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) have already adopted the WindMade label to demonstrate their commitment to using renewable energy in their operations…”

    “The new label in the WindMade family will recognize a wide variety of renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, and geothermal, as well as hydro power and biomass from approved certification schemes. This will offer added flexibility to companies that use multiple renewable energy technologies …A global survey of 24,000 consumers across 20 countries…shows that 92 percent of consumers believe that renewable energy is a good solution to mitigating climate change, and that if presented with a choice, most of them would prefer products made with renewable energy, even at a premium…

    “The WindMade family of labels is founded on the principles of credibility, transparency and intuitive communication, which are critical for an eco-label to capture and retain the attention of consumers…The new label will build on the technical foundations of the WindMade standard and will be applicable to organizations, buildings, events and eventually products…The WindMade organization remains committed to grow and develop its portfolio of labels to cater to the need of sustainable brands around the world…The new renewable energy label…will be launched in 2013.”

    posted by Herman K. Trabish @ 6:27 AM

    0 Comments:

    Post a Comment

    << Home