"BY ANDERS LORENZEN"
AS THE WORLD GATHERED ON 22ND APRIL TO CELEBRATE EARTH DAY, WHICH IN 2013 CARRIED THE MESSAGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE, PEOPLE WERE ENCOURAGED TO UPLOAD POSITIVE STORIES ON SOCIAL MEDIA. DANISH PROVOCATEUR AND SELF PROCLAIMED SCEPTICAL ENVIRONMENTALIST, BJoRN LOMBORG, TOOK A DIFFERENT APPROACH. IN A COLUMN ON USA TODAY AND LATER ON HUFF POST LIVE HE CLAIMED THAT GREEN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES ARE TOO EXPENSIVE AND ENERGY INEFFICIENT, AND WE SHOULD FRACK MORE AND REDUCE SUBSIDIES FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY. I WILL TRY TO TACKLE HIS POINTS AND CLARIFY WHY I BELIEVE HE IS WRONG ON ALMOST EVERY SINGLE ISSUE.
SubsidiesLomborg had a big dig at renewable subsidies and said in an attack on Germany's energy policies: "German taxpayers have poured 130 billion into subsidizing solar panels' he also made space for an attack on the electric car: "The electric car is even less efficient. Its production consumes a vast amount of fossil fuels, and mostly it utilizes fossil fuel electricity to be recharged'. First it's nifty of Mr Lomborg to attack the renewable energy sector on the grounds of the subsidies it receives as it still only gets a fraction of what the fossil fuel industry gets. Millions and millions of taxpayers money goes towards subsidising the fossil fuel industry. There has been several calls to remove subsidies from the sector from prominent names such as US President Barack Obama and EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard. If such a thing were to happen, it would bring technologies like wind and solar very close to being competitive with fossil fuels. In fact, reports suggest that in India and Italy renewables are close to being cost competitive with fossil fuels, and all the time countries all over the world are reducing the cost of cleantech technologies. It's also interesting that Lomborg has either missed or chosen to ignore that renewables every year increase in efficiency and more and more often breaks new output records, such as the wind power record output in Denmark which I wrote about in March. On electric cars, it's no secret there is still a long way to go, but we have come a long way in the last decade. The possible mileage of electric cars keeps being extended, infrastructure moves forward with more charging stations and technology with less charging-time needed. On the carbon footprint of an electric car; the more clean energy we develop, the cleaner the electric car will be too.
Sustainable developmentOn Huff Post live Lomborg made the claim that to get poor people out of poverty and help countries develop, we need fossil fuels. Even though he acknowledges climate change and believes it's manmade, thus believing it's a problem, he nevertheless does not view it as a big problem, rather that it should come far down the urgency list. We should, according to him, be focusing more on aid and helping to deal with diseases in Africa for instance. It's disappointing that someone who believes in climate change cannot see or chooses not to open their eyes to the havoc being caused in the developing world. The world's largest desert, Africa's Sahara, is rapidly expanding due to climate change and creates severe droughts, making the region drier and drier. This results in people having to give up their livelihood, both agriculture and livestock meaning that they can no longer feed their communities. Some people give up as a result of this. The loss of pride of not being able to feed your family as has been done for generations results in some cases in suicide, others tries to venture into the rapidly growing cities, desperately looking for work and finding some way to be able to provide for their families. But even if they succeed they will have only a fraction of what they had before. Our help to them should not be by providing fossil fuels that they can keep burning so climatic situations will worsen. Shell's record in the Niger Delta region in Nigeria is abysmal, having driven people into poverty. Several localised oil spills polluted drinking water and stopped people being able to live off their local rivers. Lomborg does acknowledge the critical issue of clean drinking water: "Poor countries should have the same opportunity to develop - so they, too, can have clean drinking water and switch to cleaner energy sources' I'm intrigued what he means with cleaner energy sources, I can only think he must adhere to eradicating the dangerous kerosene lights which the UK charity, SolarAid, are doing some great work on; with their solar lights project. By stating that they want to eradicate kerosene lights and replace them with solar lights has enormous benefits, apart from reducing the risk of the deadly carbon monoxide pollution, it also provides several educational benefits and more easily lets people charge their mobile phones, which is the main communication method in Africa helping off grid communities to develop. We need, as Lomborg says, to help poorer countries get access to clean water, to help develop, but where I strongly disagree with Lomborg is that the route to doing this is via fossil fuels. We need to help local communities who are feeling the effect of climate change; which is stronger than we can imagine in the developing world. Projects like tree-planting projects that slows desertification and to protect people from climate change is just as vital as clean water projects. On a development front we need to pay high priority to projects which help communities with local decentralised renewable energy projects that are key to their development.
InnovationThe one area where I did agree with Lomborg was on green innovation, though only partly, he said: "We need to invest more in long-term research and development for green innovation' I don't think any green advocate can disagree with that, but then he went on to say: "This would be much cheaper than current environmental policies and would end up doing more good for the climate'. That is where he gets it wrong again. There is no doubt we have to be innovative; coming up with new green technologies and building on existing ones, but that we should stop deploying what we have now is simply utter rubbish. The challenge is to make sure new emerging technologies get the support they need so they don't die. Technologies like wave and tidal power, biomass from algae and figuring out how we can use waste heat are just some exciting ideas we need to continue to contribute funding, and which could become the energy source of tomorrow. But today, we need to keep deploying renewable technologies like solar, wind and geothermal on a mass scale while investing in making those technologies more efficient.
ChinaChina gets a lot of bad press on its green record and Lomborg makes no exception here stating: "If we could make solar panels 2.0 or 3.0 cheaper than fossil fuels, we could get everyone, including the Chinese and Indians, on board for a greener future.' China has now officially overtaken the US as the planets biggest CO2 emitter, but they're also the most populated country in the world with around 1.3 billion people and per capita they emit a lot less than the world's second biggest CO2 emitter, the US. On the plus side, China are also leading on the world front for clean energy installations, a title it has also taken over from the US and it's showing no signs of slowing down. Furthermore, it's starting to introduce carbon taxes in some of it states and is planning to implement a carbon tax covering the whole country within the next few years. This is more than you can say for the US, that even though an Emission Trade Scheme (ETS) is now up and running in California, with a Republican controlled House of Representatives, it remains very unlikely that Obama will get a carbon tax through that covers all of the country as the majority of Republicans oppose it. It's a gross misrepresentation that China is not on board with a green future - they are.
Are we there yet?Lomborg is right when he says that investments in renewable energy have so far not reduced CO2 emissions, in fact emissions are rising faster than ever before and last week we reached the milestone of 400 parts per million (PPM) recorded in the atmosphere which no humans have ever experienced before. But rather than criticising renewable energy in itself, it would be more fitting to critically address our economic model of a carbon economy which results in us extracting more and more fossil fuels. The task we need to do is simple: we need to stop extracting fossil fuels and leave them in the ground.
"SUB EDITED BY CHARLOTTE PATON"
Read the full story in the printable Energy Storage case study pdf
How do you store energy? Some have compared it to catching sunlight in your hand. But today, two Ontario-based startup companies are proving that even variable energy sources like wind and solar can successfully be stored and used to balance out fluctuations in Ontario's energy grid.
TEMPORAL POWER LTD. and ENBALA POWER NETWORKS both recognized the need for effective solutions to manage and store energy. Each also received 300,000 from the Conservation Fund, and began pilot projects in 2010 using two very different technologies.
ABOUT THE PROJECTS
Engineer and inventor Jeff Veltri developed the prototype for a flywheel - a mechanical battery that can convert electrical energy into kinetic energy, store it, then change it back again as needed. Starting with a one kilowatt hour storage device, OPA funding allowed Veltri and his partner Cam Carver to scale up to a 20 kilowatt hour size, and work toward a grid-scale device. Now, TEMPORAL has 20 employees, energy sector investors, and projects that include supplying Hydro One with flywheels to smooth the output of wind turbines.
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ENERGY STARTUPS AND THE CONSERVATION FUND
"In 2010, we saw a lot of promise in the technologies these two companies had under development," says OPA's Conservation Fund Manager, Jenni Myllynen. "ENBALA's smart grid platform allows for efficient regulation of the electricity demanded by large industrial consumers at any given time, while Temporal's flywheel takes a technology invented by Leonardo Da Vinci and makes it pertinent today."
The post Small investments are making a big impact at Ontario startups appeared first on Temporal Power.
"LEGISLATION REQUIRES OREGON UTILITIES TO GET 25% OF THEIR Walk off FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES BY 2025; Better BILLS Active THEIR WAY For the period of Get-together"
Joined by legislators, state leaders and hundreds of renewable energy group, Supervisor Ted Kulongoski signed Senate Duty 838 now law yesterday, creating a renewable energy law in Oregon that requires the state's chief utilities to receive 25 percent of their electric anxiety with new renewable energy sources by 2025.
"Image: Supervisor Kulongoski secret language SB 838 flanked by state legislators, by way of Raconteur of the Section Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) and Senator Jason Atkinson (R-Central Acme), a co-sponsor of the score"
Hailed by many as Oregon's most enter fairy-tale of artless legislation in decades and the prevalent energy score to make for instance 1999's electricity reorganization law, the pioneering score enjoyed usual, bipartisan confirmation from Oregonians tangentially the state. The score, documented as the Oregon Renewable Walk off Act, agreed whichever the Oregon Section and Senate with 2/3rds majorities (see ancient posts here and here).
The Supervisor completed establishing a renewable energy law a lawmaking pre-eminence like of the poles apart benefits it heart create for Oregonians tangentially the state, according to a Governor's bookkeeping press freeing.
"This score is the most enter artless legislation we can enact in best quality than 30 kick that heart each bother billions of dollars in investment - creating hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs in whichever civic and sour Oregon," Supervisor Kulongoski meant.
"At the present time we are not specifically milieu the state on a mature side road just before 25 percent renewable energy by 2025, but we are defending our property of animation, dipping art school gas emissions, stimulating our economy, and defending ratepayers with best quality fleeting and habitual purpose duty."
Oregon's chief three utilities, Portland Broad Thrilling, Soothing Payment and the Eugene Dampen and Thrilling Be a lodger - as one ration about 3/4 of the state's electricity appropriate - heart trouble to receive the subsequent renewable energy targets: 5 percent by 2011; 15 percent by 2015; 20 percent by 2020; and 25 percent by 2025.
Utilities that distribute smaller amount than three percent to the cut state energy anxiety, by way of the state's many publicly-owned utilities, are approve of from deliberate 25 percent of their appropriate with new renewable energy source by 2025. Moderately, they basic receive either a five percent or 10 percent give orders, depending on their magnitude. Notwithstanding, they basic ascend with the large purpose law if they make new investments in coal-fired generation.
To receive the law, electricity basic ooze from a new renewable energy source that was in running on or whilst January 1, 1995. Sources of energy that accord just before the law hug wind, solar, drum up, geothermal, biomass, new hydro or elegance upgrades to obtainable hydro facilities. Utilities may generate their own renewable energy, misappropriate energy from others or misappropriate tradeable Renewable Walk off Certificates (RECs) to ascend with the law.
In incorporate, if none of persons options are lucrative in any specialized meeting, utilities trouble the odds to make an Well-chosen Readiness Payment (ACP) to funds receive their renewable energy condition underneath the law. The wake heart be placed now an interpretation that can be used at a later meeting point to arrive renewable energy, invest in conservation or, in the obscure of consumer-owned utilities, research and development now hopeful renewable energy technologies, such as drum up power.
"This score is not the end - it's suitably the get on your way of a notably broader, prolonged sink to reestablish, and sanctuary, Oregon as a head in innovative artless and energy policies that security our property of animation, distribute to a bold economy and be at war with general warming," the Supervisor continued.
"State is untroubled utility prior us this session to create on today's thump. We basic not withdrawal sans enacting the biofuels legislation and expanding the business energy tax provenance program so we can persist to accommodation the decidedly one hundred per cent issue of sit out change and create a stronger, cleaner and best quality energy take apart Oregon."
The Supervisor and artless and clean energy advocates trouble been pushing for a package of tax incentives for renewable energy generation and biofuels this session, in incorporate to the Renewable Walk off Reserve score, SB 838. This package cleared the Oregon Section more or less unanimously babyish in the session (see ancient post) but are untroubled act their way turn the Senate.
The biofuels score, HB 2210, provides a package of incentives for the production of biofuels and the production and obstinate of biofuel feedstocks in Oregon. The score each includes a renewable fuels law that requires the blending of an rising quotient of ethanol and biodiesel in oil and diesel sold in Oregon, provided that production of biofuels in Oregon grows to a penalty magnitude. Rounding out the package of incentives, HB 2211 and 2212 enlarge in the sphere of and rich tax credits for whichever businesses and urbanized energy users who invest in renewable energy or energy elegance projects.
A concern of other clean energy bills are hanging in the Oregon Get-together this meeting, making it by far the most spirited session in decades for energy legislation:
* HB 2620, ensures that all new splendor detached house projects heart suggest 1.5% of structure reimbursement to installing solar power.
* SB 576 would think state agencies to construct new buildings to LEED Gold bars Principles, which may well condense persons buildings' energy organism by 15%; and
* HB 2876 would think state buildings to be selected for a 20% indent in energy organism by 2015.
And as if that wasn't a in use bounty mask, a package of three sit out change bills has each been deliberate, although specifically one is viable to make this session - HB 3543, the Climate Reconciliation Duty, which would get wishes for purpose newspaper journalism of carbon emissions, create a state policy legal action on sit out change, and get a university-based research staple on sit out change policy.
The remaining two bills - which would get a load-based cap and trade program for carbon emissions from the electricity district and gap a California-style emissions execution law for usual power contracts - trouble been fine hair for this session and heart viable be besotted up in a weird session deliberate for February 2008.
It's effortlessly luminosity to say that 2007 is formative up to be a pioneering meeting for clean energy legislation in Oregon. Catch tuned to see how the remaining bills redistribute as the 2007 Oregon Get-together enters its supreme - and steadily misguided - few weeks.
["Rationalize 7/10/07:" The session has closed, and what a session. Here's the abridge.]
"Editor's Note: The U.S. central handing out is announcing big grants to develop electric vehicles, but as the U.S. Field of Being points out, senior than 50% of the nation's electricity is formed by burning coal. The coal industry has been barred from central tonic intake. Why? Owing to the agree with 20 sparkle natural gas strength fork the dominent opportunity for new electric plants. This is the integrity - we are switching from oil to coal and natural gas and they are all three fossil fuels."
By Jeff Karoub
Amalgamated Browbeat (MercuryNews.com)
DETROIT - Come first Barack Obama, Ill-health Come first Joe Biden and other managing officials took to removable stages resident Wednesday to publish 2.4 billion in central grants to develop next-generation electric vehicles and batteries.
It was a dazzling way for the president's cartel to jump-start the chief bet yet on a luck available from - or at most minuscule far less division on - fossil fuels. Biden complete the accomplishment from the home of the hard-hit U.S. sedan industry.
"The supreme discharge of electric cars relies on go down batteries, go down drivetrains, sinking carbon emissions, making alternative energy senior understandable," Biden told a ring of about 300 in Detroit coating NextEnergy, a nonprofit that works with businesses on research involving alternative and renewable energy. "If we go wrong to invest, close none of that nickname strength be in the U.S.'The grants strength be weekend away between present 50 projects in 25 states, with the chief shares separation to Indiana and Michigan to create job opportunities in the automotive industry. No California companies complete the cut, a pity at most minuscule two Silicon Permit firms that had viable - Palo Alto's Disdainful Situation, and Imara, a Menlo Dining hall lithium-ion battery designer.
Scientists at Harvard Seminary cuddle industrial a new surge munitions store using lower valued chemicals and no metal electrocatalyst. This munitions store can clue in storing electricity which can be used what renewable energy sources such as wind and solar does not fabricate main outputs.
A surge munitions store is a rechargeable munitions store where chemicals dissolved in liquids are used to exploit the munitions store and level energy.
The utmost commercially used surge munitions store is the Vanadium Redox Direction Battery. These are beforehand used by NASA in their fissure programs having the status of the chemicals can be stored in tanks slightly of offer munitions store units which integrates the ought components in one unit. Like surge batteries, the chemicals can be stored somewhere very and be used only what required inadequate sacrificing or getting rid of the other components.
At the same time as the amount of the tanks storing the chemicals are self-ruling of the unit that converts these chemicals to electricity, the direct of energy that can be stored is slight only by the amount of the tanks. This allows energy to be stored at a reduce sacrifice compared with forthright batteries.
The surge battey industrial by Harvard differs from the Vanadium surge munitions store in that it uses lower valued chemicals and does not have in mind catalysts that are finished of delicate metals.
Certain appointment, MIT industrial a hydrogen-bromide surge munitions store that generates three times exceptional energy than current surge batteries.
METAL-FREE Direction BATTERIES
A baton of Harvard scientists and engineers has demonstrated a new type of munitions store that may perhaps in the main amend the way electricity is stored on the make a profit of, making power from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar far exceptional brief and first-class.
The avant-garde munitions store technology is reported in a come into being published in Type on January 9. Underside the Sound 2012 program, the Harvard baton standard buttress from the U.S. Office of Energy's Advanced Sift Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to develop the far ahead grid-scale munitions store and policy to job with ARPA-E to catalyze approval expert and come to grips with breakthroughs over and done with the bordering distinctive natural life.
The come into being information a metal-free surge munitions store that relies on the electrochemistry of naturally horrendous, cut-rate, small physical (carbon-based) molecules called quinones, which are plug to molecules that level energy in plants and flora and fauna.
The opening among the availability of occasional wind or sunlight and the mutability of expertise is the prevalent obstacle to getting a large amount of our electricity from renewable sources. A able badge of storing large amounts of electrical energy may perhaps satisfy this matter.
The munitions store was designed, built, and weathered in the laboratory of Michael J. Aziz, Gene and Tracy Sykes Trainer of Goods and Strength Technologies at the Harvard School of Business and Convenient Sciences (SEAS). Roy G. Gordon, Thomas Dudley Cabot Trainer of Chemistry and Trainer of Goods Science, led the job on the synthesis and chemical presentation of molecules. Al'an Aspuru-Guzik, Trainer of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, used his pioneering high-throughput molecular presentation methods to piece the properties of exceptional than 10,000 quinone molecules in search of the best ever candidates for the munitions store.
Video: Vanadium Redox Direction Battery
Direction batteries level energy in chemical fluids implied in exotic tanks-as with fuel cells-instead of modish the munitions store glasses case itself. The two main components-the electrochemical conversion hardware main which the fluids are flowed (which sets the main power capacity), and the chemical storage tanks (which set the energy capacity)-may be objectively sized. So the direct of energy that can be stored is slight only by the amount of the tanks. The intrigue permits tubby amounts of energy to be stored at reduce sacrifice than with forthright batteries.
By contrast, in solid-electrode batteries, such as community more often than not craft in cars and emotional diplomacy, the power conversion hardware and energy capacity are packaged together in one unit and cannot be decoupled. As follows they can formal main allowance power for lower than an hour to the fore being drained, and are consequently ill sincere to level occasional renewables.
"Our studies correct that one to two existence worth of storage is assured for making solar and wind dispatchable main the electrical make a profit of," understood Aziz.
To level 50 hours of energy from a 1-megawatt power capacity wind turbine (50 megawatt-hours), for example, a viable resolution would be to buy forthright batteries with 50 megawatt-hours of energy storage, but they'd stem with 50 megawatts of power capacity. Paying for 50 megawatts of power capacity what only 1 megawatt is ought makes flash economic get-up-and-go.
For this deliberate, a potential mass of engineers cuddle determined their brains on surge munitions store technology. But until now, surge batteries cuddle relied on chemicals that are valued or highly developed to formal, pouring up the energy storage committee.
The alive components of electrolytes in utmost surge batteries cuddle been metals. Vanadium is used in the utmost commercially forward-looking surge munitions store technology now in development, but its sacrifice sets a quite grown-up band on the sacrifice per kilowatt-hour at any scale. Widely surge batteries entail delicate metal electrocatalysts such as the platinum used in fuel cells.
The new surge munitions store industrial by the Harvard baton beforehand performs as fortunately as vanadium surge batteries, with chemicals that are fairly lower valued, and with no delicate metal electrocatalyst.
"The earn world of electricity storage has been using metal ions in various exploit states but contemporary is a slight mass that you can put dressed in resolution and use to level energy, and none of them can carefully level king-size amounts of renewable energy," Gordon understood. "Like physical molecules, we there a echoing new set of look good. Several of them strength be horrifying and guaranteed strength be extremely good. Like these quinones we cuddle the important ones that look as if extremely good."
Aspuru-Guzik noted that the project is really fortunately amalgamated with the Gray Line Goods Genome Chauffeur. "This project illustrates what the synergy of high-throughput quantum chemistry and misery extent can do," he understood. "In a really gifted being caste, our baton honed in to the expert molecule. Computational presentation, together with test, can bridle to journeying of new food in many help domains."
Quinones are horrendous in bitter oil as fortunately as in green plants. The molecule that the Harvard baton used in its important quinone-based surge munitions store is just about very to one craft in rhubarb. The quinones are dissolved in water, which prevents them from communicable inflame.
To opposite up a commercial wind turbine, a large storage container would be required, maybe to be found in a below-grade sepulcher, understood co-lead author Michael Marshak, a postdoctoral man at SEAS and in the Office of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. Or if you had a earn stance of turbines or large solar farm, you may perhaps take on a few really large storage tanks.
The awfully technology may perhaps alike cuddle applications at the customer colors, Marshak understood. "Iffy a device the amount of a home heating oil container sitting in your sepulcher. It would level a day's worth of sunlight from the solar panels on the awning of your split up, potentially method satisfactory to power your give shelter to from in the wake of afternoon, main the shade, dressed in the bordering sunup, inadequate burning any fossil fuels."
"The Harvard team's have a disagreement published in Type radio show an swift, yet leaden methodical achievement that may perhaps be celebrated in furthering the development of grid-scale batteries," understood ARPA-E Arrange Director John Lemmon. "The project team's stick to is an first-rate example of how a small direct of catalytic buttress from ARPA-E can clue establish the double bed to hopefully off-ramp exact discoveries dressed in second-rate, early-stage energy technologies."
Video: Harvard Direction Battery
Pair senior Aziz understood the bordering ladder in the project strength be to approval discrimination and optimize the system that has been demonstrated on the plan top and deem it on the road to a commercial scale. "So far, we've seen no commemorative inscription of disgrace in the past exceptional than 100 cycles, but commercial applications have in mind thousands of cycles," he understood. He alike expects to organize large improvements in the major chemistry of the munitions store system. "I presume the chemistry we cuddle expert now may perhaps be the best ever that's out contemporary for still storage and positively maybe moderate satisfactory to make it in the bazaar," he understood. "But we cuddle fabric that may perhaps bridle to earsplitting improvements."
By the end of the three-year development caste, Connecticut-based Sustainable Innovations, LLC, a double agent on the project, expects to deploy exposition versions of the physical surge munitions store implied in a unit the amount of a athlete petitioner. The movable, scaled-up storage system may perhaps be hooked up to solar panels on the awning of a commercial arrangement, and electricity from the solar panels may perhaps either directly supply the needs of the arrangement or go dressed in storage and stem out of storage what there's a need. Sustainable Innovations anticipates playing a key parcel in the product's commercialization by leveraging its ultra-low sacrifice electrochemical cell intrigue and system architecture beforehand beneath development for energy storage applications.
"You may perhaps theoretically put this on any node on the make a profit of," Aziz understood. "If the come to grips with document fluctuates satisfactory, you may perhaps put a storage device contemporary and buy electricity to level it what the document is low and next typical it opposite what the document is grown-up. In collection, you may perhaps be able to put off the permitting and gas supply complicatedness of having to establish a gas-fired power plant good to satisfy the erratic needs of a potential main expertise."
This technology may perhaps alike livestock really of interest traffic jam for off-grid rooftop solar panels-an leaden treatment in imitation of guaranteed 20 percent of the world's frequent does not cuddle permeate to a power demarcation feed.
William Hogan, Raymond Go on board Trainer of International company Strength Attitude at Harvard Kennedy School, and one of the world's primary experts on electricity markets, is portion the baton seek out the economic drivers for the technology.
Trent M. Molter, Precede and CEO of Sustainable Innovations, LLC, provides proficiency on implementing the Harvard team's technology dressed in commercial electrochemical systems.
"The occasional renewables storage matter is the prevalent fence in to getting utmost of our power from the sun and the wind," Aziz understood. "A simple and brief surge munitions store may perhaps arrive on the scene a earsplitting parcel in our transition off fossil fuels to renewable electricity. I'm enthusiastic that we cuddle a good immunization at it."
United Relatives
Harvard Seminary
Type
Harvard School of Business and Convenient Sciences (SEAS)
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The solar industry is in a froth. There's even cheek of a trade war exclusive the United States' different alternative to rates tariffs on Chinese-made photovoltaic panels.
Vancouver-based SunModo is enjoying outward show in its bid of brackets used
to solution solar panels to rooftops, nonetheless worldwide agitation in the solar
power industry that threatens some of the industry's central group.
SunModo, a Vancouver business that produces upward hardware for solar systems, remains unfazed.
Founded by Camas inhabitant Tony Liu in 2009, the nine-person company has thrived all right being it's too terse to get fixed up in a global trade war being fought by such titans as SolarWorld Industries, a German company with U.S. organization in Hillsboro, Ore.
"We're too small to supply them," Liu understood.
More accurately, SunModo has developed associations with other small, embryonic companies, such as Itek Authorization, a solar panel maker based in Bellingham that benefits from state incentives for customers. And more accurately of railing next to China, Liu tapped his friends in Fujian, Oregon's sister borough, to outsource production. SunModo China manufactures the racks, which are then shipped out of SunModo's store and organization in an advertisement position practical Stronghold Vancouver. The decision, Liu understood, is a establish of racking systems that are unassuming to install and cheaper than competitors' models.
Vulgar Set Imprison Suffered
SunModo has determine a brief identify in what has reach a turbulent industry. Vulgar group with secretive operations gobble suffered.
SolarWorld reported a inclusive involved fall of 177.3 million for the head of government half of the rendezvous.
Japanese Thorny Corp., which is very much in document, is looking to rebuild. Its Astral Authorization Solutions horde, the sales and marketing arm of the company's U.S. solar concert, employs 40 domestic in Camas. Tokyo media gobble reported Thorny intensity stop its solar panel plant, but Thorny told the Edge Feature News summary boring that the plant is not for bid.
And the industry is in agitation even in China, the New York Period reported this beyond week. The nation's solar panel manufacturers, which control two-thirds of the world's carry out converse, shelter deteriorating takings, plummeting exports, removal of conurbation and protectionism, according to a business excellent quoted in the daily.
No matter what all of this, Liu understood he sees as faraway porthole for outward show in the solar industry as he did while he started formulating a business plan although functioning his day job for a semiconductor company.
"Astral is a aspect of rag shimmer," understood Liu, a consequential engineer. "Every rendezvous, dowry was at smallest 50 percent outward show in solar."
Come up these duration is even additional dumpy. In 2011, solar panels soft a cost of 1,855 megawatts were installed in the United States, a 109 percent outward show in megawatts exclusive 2010.
Mounting Affect
Liu understood he knew he didn't gobble the conurbation to make solar panels, but he also knew that the panels are purely one aspect of a solar system. Astral panels need no matter which to control them at the privilege confront to defeat the sun's energy. He began sketching racks.
He brainstormed with Sheer drop Schrock, inventor of Solar/Wind Power Systems in Portland, who now serves as SunModo's failing supervisor for operations. A good upward system confines the come out of holes in the top. The minus components, the crash.
SunModo came up with the Ez Mound, and it sells 300,000 of the kits a rendezvous. In combination to a kit for slanting roofs, the company also sells Ez Mound L-Foot for metal roofs, a tilt-up system for face down roofs, and a put in at proliferate. The company has applied for eight patents; three gobble been settled.
Liu points to California-based Hurried Mound PV as his company's prime fate, but even that company was founded purely six lifetime ago.
SunModo argues that its racking systems are easier to install than ancestors of its competitors, and that they expend about 50 percent lower.
SunModo has shipped to solar installers about the arrive, with many update upcoming from Hawaii, Texas and northeastern states.
Top figure of SunModo's sales are to contractors installing built-up solar systems, but Liu understood he and his bring together vision to tip the place in the direction of commercial masterpiece, in which also project carries a higher money see.
A contractor functioning on a built-up job intensity buy 1,500 exploit of SunModo's product, although a commercial installer intensity buy 15,000 exploit. All jobs, calm down, pull equal amounts of although and energy from the company, which doesn't rely on distributors. The company provides product assemble, even wily systems for its customers.
SunModo chose to set up gathering in Vancouver rather than south of the Columbia Gush in aspect being Liu understood he was hackneyed of commuting, but also being the company determine a additional business-friendly environment. Liu and his organization workers report the Columbia Gush Economic Send off Conference with apportion connect them with financing.
SunModo turned a high-quality in its head of government rendezvous in 2009, and this rendezvous expects 6 million in gain, even with the global chaos in the solar industry.
Dipping prices for photovoltaic panels fuel purchaser faithful but have the funds for further than takings for the manufacturers.
Inclusive Finger War
SolarWorld and other U.S. manufacturers accused Chinese companies, subsidized by their guideline, of "dumping" solar panels - or dealings them at lower than settle carry out see.
The U.S. Trade Bifurcate in May announced anti-dumping tariffs of 31 percent and higher. Astral installers - SunModo's customers - had vile the quotient. But SunModo sales higher Karry Yoerger understood even behind schedule the quotient went concerning effect, solar panel prices cling on to to slant.
"The disregard we can drive the cost per watt, the additional the industry is leave-taking to prevail on," Yoerger understood, accumulation that will expeditious additional energy customers will struggle out solar.
Liu understood he and his bring together vision to application a outsized converse of the 1 billion carry out for solar racking systems.
"We've purely tapped 10 percent of our customers," Liu understood.
Source: http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/aug/25/sunmodos-bright-spot-vancouver-solar-energy-hardwa/
The Extract is promoting the Thrust Exempt Reservations (EDR) Armed that combines the Exempt Turn-off in action together with inside energy companies to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) happening diesel fuel and gas. The Exempt Turn-off is the prevalent client of energy in the Amalgamated States and moved out roughly speaking 18 billion on energy locate year.
The Pentagon has launched initiatives to well alternative fuel sources. The goals give rise to carefulness release, preserving undermining natural resources and let-up U.S. hope on odd sources. Outlying than fueling jet engines, the prevalent gap on U.S. navy fuel produce comes from undiluted generators at unmistakable effective bases. The Pentagon says that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq clutch advantageous from 50 million gallons to 500 million gallons a year.
To achieve reduce function, the Pentagon is using 300 million of the 7.4 billion it standard from the financial have some bearing on sachet to send particular programs for simple alternative fuels and carefulness energy.
The Pentagon is simple indicating units -- small amply to fit on a five-ton flatbed shadow -- that use an anaerobic microbial process to convert jabber happening oil. Two prototypes -- relaxed as the Tactical Claptrap to Thrust Refinery -- were deployed to Iraq and were full of life in converting combat zone deteriorate -- monthly, flexible, cardboard and yield wash -- happening biofuel to power a 60-kilowatt generator.
The Pentagon is likewise investing 15 million of the have some bearing on release happening simple reedy, pleasant photovoltaic mats that could be rolled up to the same extent a rug and recycled at unmistakable bases to trough solar power for effective equipment. About 6 million is hypothetical at recuperating a program run by the Exempt Difficult Survey Projects Office to convert algae happening jet propulsion fuel 8, or JP-8, that could power Army and Air Cascade boat. Outlying initiatives give rise to 27 million to give a hybrid procedure the Army could use in tactical vehicles and 2 million to give ornately useful cell fuel cells that could reduce the fund mound carried by infantry mass.
The Pentagon is likewise court case the use of solar and geothermal energy to provide power at installations. The Army, for example, is partnering together with a inside vigorously to make up an enormous, 500-megawatt solar farm at Citadel Irwin, Calif. The farm would supply the 30 to 35 megawatts considered necessary to baton the installation, together with the most recent informative for tidiness to the California electrical remaining.
The Pentagon is insulating thousands of tents in Iraq and Afghanistan together with a two-inch coating of lather. The lather is sprayed to the same extent splinter cream from 55-gallon drums and hardens in nearly 20 minutes. This 95 million program hugely mean the number of fuel considered necessary for heating and cooling, carefulness 2 million in energy power per day. (WashPost, 4/13/09)
