QUICK NEWS, 10-19: CHARGE FOR THE BEV REVOLUTION; CLOSER LOOK AT GOOGLE OCEAN WIRES; WHOLE NEW WIND TURBINE DESIGN; COAL AND SOLAR TOGETHER?

CHARGE FOR THE BEV REVOLUTION
Ready or Not, Electric Cars Roll Into Showrooms
Kathryn Glass, October 18, 2010 (Fox Business)

"…After years of anticipation, the electric revolution is about to begin, with both Nissan and General Motors rolling out plug-in, electric vehicles before the end of the year, and Ford, Toyota and others automakers announcing their own electric cars are on the way in 2011…[W]hile there is a growing receptiveness among consumers to the idea of battery-powered personal transit, the creation of infrastructure, namely a network of charging stations, to support these vehicles is a challenge…

"Nissan and other auto manufacturers began working with community leaders in cities to develop a smooth permit and inspection processes for the installation of home-charging systems for these vehicles…[and] with urban leaders to determine logical locations for public and at-work charging stations…[C]ities and towns across the nation…[are getting] their communities electric-vehicle ready. As early-adopters begin to take to the streets with their new electric cars, it will be interesting to see how quickly the infrastructure can catch up and accommodate them."

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"The infrastructure starts at home. The current expectation by the vehicle manufacturers is for 80% of charging to be done at home, with the remainder occurring in public or while at the workplace…Since charging an electric car can take hours, overnight charging at home currently makes the most sense…[R]apid-charging…can fill a totally dead battery in under 30 minutes…

"Range anxiety, as its been dubbed, or the fear that the electric battery would die and leave passengers stranded without a charge, is what manufacturers hope to eliminate. The Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid model vehicle’s answer to range-anxiety comes in the form of an internal-combustion engine, which switches on after the vehicle’s 40 miles of range on electric power runs out. Nissan’s LEAF is all-electric, using no gasoline and can go up to 100 miles when fully charged. When the battery runs out, it must be recharged for up to 8 hours for a full-charge on a home-charger…"

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"…[R]apid chargers, which will be the electric vehicle’s equivalent to a filling station…are on the way. AeroVironment, a Monrovia, Calif.-based company which is partnering with Nissan to produce and install the Leaf’s home-charging systems said it has some fast-chargers in the works…ECOtality, a San Francisco-based firm, is also working to build a network of fast-charging stations…[I]t plans to start putting equipment into the ground in the last quarter of this year, and will have 15,000 ECOtality chargers in place by the end of the second quarter next year.

"ECOtality’s chargers can charge a LEAF in 26 minutes from zero, and the company estimates the average charge will take somewhere between 15 and 17 minutes, since most drivers won’t need to be charging an empty battery. The company also anticipates public charging to take off with a kind of viral appeal…[T]he company has already agreed to install charging systems in Best Buy’s parking lots as the retailer tries to attract early electric car adopters, a coveted demographic, and will install fast-chargers at BP and ARCO locations…[T]he Obama administration has set a goal for the installation of 20,000 charging stations nationwide by 2012…"


CLOSER LOOK AT GOOGLE OCEAN WIRES
Will Google Wind Power Project Harm Wildlife? Depends on Location; Google and Other Partners to Invest in Offshore Wind Power Project
Ron Scherer, October 17, 2010 (Christian Science Monitor via ABC News)

"Before Google or any other groups invest in undersea transmission lines to bring wind power to the mid-Atlantic coast area, they…[should know] the National Audubon Society… supports the concept of clean wind energy [but is concerned with]…what impact wind generators could have on migrating birds in the fall. Also, Audubon would not like to see turbines built where the undersea canyons come close to land, because that is where seabirds such as puffins and Wilson's storm petrels gorge on small fish…

"…Google and some partners have agreed to invest in a proposed $5 billion 'backbone' transmission line that would bring wind-generated power to a significant portion of the mid-Atlantic coast, from Virginia to New York, by 2020…The mid-Atlantic venture would position wind turbines at least 12 to 15 miles offshore, which means they would not be easily visible from land…[I]t could move as much as 6,000 megawatts. That's enough energy to supply 1.9 million to 4.5 million households depending on the season…[and] be equivalent to five nuclear power plants, says the company proposing to build the transmission line, Trans-Elect Development in Maryland…"

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"Initially, Trans-Elect has three investors to fund the development work: Marubeni, a Japanese conglomerate, which will fund 15 percent of the project; and Good Energies (an investor in clean energy) and Google, with 37.5 percent each. Trans-Elect is forming a new company, Atlantic Grid Development, which will put up 10 percent.

"…[B]efore any wind farms get built, Audubon would like to see at least one full year of intensive study of bird life where the large turbines would be built. For most birds, the over-water migration takes place mainly in the fall…[Studies] can examine Doppler radar images and record birds at night…In good weather, most of the birds would be too high to run into the generators. But during fog or storms…they are forced to fly lower…"

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"…[Projects should not be built] near Hudson Canyon or some of the other places where seabirds congregate. Gulls, terns, puffins, and other birds often fly offshore to eat the small fish that are chased to the surface by predator fish, such as tuna…

"…Fishermen's Energy in Cape May, N.J., has recently started some environmental monitoring [looking at whales, dolphins, turtles] for a pilot wind project supplying 20 megawatts 2.8 miles off Atlantic City…Last week, a barge took core samples to determine the characteristics of the bottom for anchoring wind turbines in the sea, which is about 40 feet deep…[Many more studies are expected]…"


WHOLE NEW WIND TURBINE DESIGN
World's First Single Tower Multi-Set Vertical Axis Turbine From YATU to be Used and Marketed by Welwind Energy International
October 18, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via MarketWatch)

"Welwind Energy International Corp…announces GUANGDONG YATU INDUSTRY INVESTMENT CO., LTD's ("GYII") vertical axis turbine…[GYII] manufactured its first [horizontal axis] 750KW wind turbine in 2007 for Welwind…[It] spent an additional six years in working with international research and development institutions and internationally renowned experts to successfully design a single tower vertical axis turbine with two x 2MW stacked generators totalling 4MW.

"…GYII's own R & D Institution has studied many factors that would produce higher efficiency output for wind turbines. Historically, vertical axis turbines have been used only in residential projects or small scale personal wind projects. Advancements over the years have had many within the industry considering developing vertical axis turbines for large scale wind projects…Vertical axis turbines are powered by wind coming from all 360 degrees, and even…from top to bottom or bottom to top. Because of this versatility, vertical axis wind turbines are thought to be additionally ideal for installations where wind conditions are not consistent…"

schematic of the vertical axis concept (click to enlarge)

"GYII has focused on vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) instead of horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT)…[because] tall towers and blades up to 45 meters long are difficult to transport - transportation can now amount to 20% of equipment costs…tall HAWTs are difficult to install, needing very tall and expensive cranes and skilled operators…massive tower construction is required to support the heavy blades, gearbox, and generator…

"…[Also,] downwind variants suffer from fatigue and structural failure caused by turbulence when a blade passes through the tower's wind shadow…HAWTs require an additional yaw control mechanism to turn the blades and nacelle toward the wind…in order to minimize fatigue loads due to wake turbulence, wind turbines are usually sited a distance of 5 rotor diameters away from each other…"

artist's concept of a utility-scale vertical axis turbine (click to enlarge)

"GYII's new vertical axis turbine addresses all of these challenges…Through its studies [of VAWT efficiency], it has come to the conclusion that [due to] the impact of the Earth's surface…[and] the role of the sun's magnetic field lines…a turbine's design must look at more than just 'blades meeting wind' to be exceptionally efficient…The science and technology behind [the GYII] ground-breaking vertical axis turbine will put wind energy and power output far ahead of any turbine on the market.

"Multiple intellectual property rights have been incorporated into the design of GYII's turbines and are protected through 33 patents…The successful development of the single-tower multi-set vertical turbine is a significant breakthrough in the development of wind power generation technologies. The Company is now looking at the research and development of a similar vertical axis high-power turbine with a 2 times 5MW wind generating system…The overall increase in energy produced by the vertical axis turbines…increases the company's projected revenues for each of its wind farm projects by 2 to 5 times…"


COAL AND SOLAR TOGETHER?
CSP bridging technology: Is the timing right for solar augmentation?
Bob Moser, 27 September 2010 (CSP Today)

"While demand for concentrated solar power augmentation of coal-fired plants is picking up, analysts and manufacturers say customers won't pull the trigger until costs come down…[T]here is about 10 GW of potential CSP currently on the drawing board and in some level of development…concentrated in five states in the American Southwest…[O]f the projects that could be completed within the next few years, all are stand-alone CSP plants.

"Heavy industry and power plants in the US have so far only considered CSP steam production to reduce their emissions if they've been mandated by the state to do so - primarily because augmenting fossil fuel-powered plants still isn't economically attractive…AREVA Solar has received a number of inquiries into CSP for emissions reduction from heavy industry in the US, but without mandates the bottom line is still far from competitive…"

schematic of a coal plant augmented by a parabolic trough solar power plant (click to enlarge)

"Working examples of CSP augmentation are few and far between. Only one coal-fired plant currently has CSP up and running…Xcel Energy's Cameo Generating Station in Colorado has [since July] had a 1 MW parabolic trough solar field running…[but will operate only] for six months as a tie-in to the plant's feedwater system before the coal plant is decommissioned at year's end. Xcel Energy hasn't stated what it plans to do with the CSP equipment…

"Cameo Station in Colorado is a very short-term test to prove the concept…But last week’s announcement by GDF SUEZ and Solar Power Group of their plans to develop a 5 MW thermal CSP plant to supply superheated steam to the 150 MW Mejillones coal-fired plant in Northern Chile indicates that demand for CSP augmentation is growing…Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association will augment its 245 MW coal-fired Escalante generating station in Prewitt, N.M., and NV Energy its 1102 MW gas-powered Lenzie facility near Las Vegas…[Both are] still settling on utility sponsorships…"

schematic of a natural gas plant augmented by a parabolic trough solar power plant (click to enlarge)

"Areva Solar's 3-MWe Liddell Solar Thermal Station in Australia has been operating a solar/coal-fired power augmentation since 2008. The company is adding 44 MW in solar thermal to the existing 750 MW Kogan Creek Power Station in Australia…[With mandates] there are significant savings in choosing CSP add-ons…An existing power plant or heavy industry has costly and time-consuming hurdles like transmission, power blocks, plant permits and manpower already in place. The capital, infrastructure, and O&M savings make CSP augmentation favorable.

"There are a number of greenfield power plants around the world that are being built as hybrids with CSP solar fields, with several in North Africa and the Middle East. The benefit of designing a CSP hybrid plant from scratch is that equipment can be tailored to accept a higher percentage of solar power…A key factor for CSP augmentation to work with existing power plants is the availability of land…Many new conventional power combined-cycle plants outside of the United States being built now are trying to adapt design to allow solar steam additions…"