QUICK NEWS, October 7: NEW ENERGY NOW MATCH NAT GAS; HUGE NEW ENERGY IN U.S. WAVES AND TIDES; THE PROMISE OF ENHANCED GEOTHERMAL

NEW ENERGY NOW MATCH NAT GAS Wind energy is now as cheap as natural gas, and solar is getting close; And it's only getting cheaper.

7 October 2015 (Science Alert)

“Wind power is now comparable in price to fossil fuels, and solar is well on its way, according to [Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2015 by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which]confirms earlier predictions that renewables aren't just the best option for the environment - they’re unequivocally the smartest long-term investment you can make on energy…[I]n the second half of 2015, the global average cost of onshore wind energy will be $83 per megawatt-hour of electricity (which is down $2 from the first half of the year), and for thin film solar photovoltaics, the cost is $122 per megawatt-hour (down $7 in the past six months)…The costs as they are now, and the steady drops we’ve seen in price over the past six months alone, suggest that as the technology to eke out more and more electricity from solar and wind energy gets ever-more sophisticated, those prices can only continue to fall…” click here for more

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HUGE NEW ENERGY IN U.S. WAVES AND TIDES Riding the Waves and Tides to a Cleaner Energy Future

Joan M. Bondareff, September 29, 2015 (Marine Technology News)

“…For the first time progress is being made in the U.S. to develop offshore wind resources…But recently, progress is also being made in the development of tidal and wave energy resources closer to shore, which are known as marine hydrokinetic or MHK resources…[which] generate electricity from waves or directly from the flow of water in ocean currents, tides or inland waterways. Ocean thermal energy is also part of the MHK equation but has not been actively pursued…

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"The technically recoverable resource for electric generation from waves is approximately 1,170 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year which is almost one third of the 4,000 TWh of electricity used in the U.S. each year. Approximately 85,000 homes can be powered by 1 TWh/year…The technical resource potential for tidal generation is estimated to be 250 TWh/year…The technical resource potential for electric generation from ocean thermal resources is estimated at 576 TWh/year in U.S. coastal waters, including all 50 states...[But] companies are left largely on their own to develop, fund and promote MHK technologies with limited federal and state support…” click here for more

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THE PROMISE OF ENHANCED GEOTHERMAL Geothermal Energy: Is New Technology Resetting the Agenda?

Kennedy Maize, October 1, 2015 (Power Magazine)

“…Legendary venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, who made a pile of money in information technology and computers, is…making a wager on geothermal because…[unlike the sun and wind, geothermal energy offers round-the-clock generation…[T]he fundamental geological fact is that hot rocks are ubiquitous, although not always attractive for conventional geothermal technologies…because the easiest plays—high-pressure steam from underground turning turbine generators…—aren’t plentiful…[But] AltaRock Energy, backed by Khosla personally and through his venture capital company, Khosla Ventures…aims to use a technology that has proven revolutionary…[called enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) that drills] into the deep strata to reach hot rocks. Then the operators inject cold water at high pressure into the rock, breaking the strata apart, liberating heat, and producing plentiful hot water. The hot water, and steam, then flow up the well, where they can turn a turbine generator directly or run a binary system with a heat-transfer liquid…” click here for more

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