Peak Oil – Another Perspective

Posted on December 20, 2007 by Doug Nicodemus

While most environmentals and us that have done energy issues for along time have the perspective that the Oil, Natural Gas, and the Coal Companies are the problem. That is they want to keep burning as much as they can and that the only thing that will stop them is the severe results of Global Warming. There is another perspective that says that we are running out of those resources, in particular Oil, and that we are barely adding alternatives fast enough to offset our shortfalls in standard energy sources. Before I talk about the Bali agreements I thought I should give them their due.

http://www.peakoil.com/

http://www.fcnp.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2255&Itemid=35

Falls ChurchNews – Press ONLINE

The Peak Oil Crisis: Issues

Written by Tom Whipple

Thursday, 20 December 2007

As 2007 winds down, it is good time to review some of the major issues that those of us following the peak oil story are watching closely.

Depletion vs. Production is, of course, the heart of the peak oil story. Every year production from the world’s existing oil fields declines by several million barrels a day. Every year new sources of liquid fuel, new oil fields, more natural gas liquids, ethanol etc., must be found to replace the losses and hopefully to satisfy increasing demand. For the last two years, new supplies have been roughly balancing declines so there has been little growth in world production. Some day soon depletion will get ahead of new sources of oil and other liquid fuels for such an extended period that it will be obvious to all that peak oil has arrived.

The prospects for an economic recession or worse increased markedly during the past six months. In recent weeks, oil prices have been moving up and down rather vigorously on economic news — interest rates, subprime losses, government bailouts, etc. — rather than on traditional oil market concerns such as stockpiles and geopolitical threats to production. Many believe that the recent $25 a barrel jump in oil prices was largely the result of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts taken in hopes of forestalling an economic setback.

Should serious economic difficulties arise from the current mortgage/liquidity problem, then a significant drop in worldwide demand for oil is likely. If a reduction in demand for oil were to continue for many months or years, then it is likely that world oil production will never grow much beyond current levels. By the time demand was restored, geologic and economic constraints on production would prevent production from ever again reaching current highs.

So much of the world’s oil production comes from around the Persian Gulf that nearly everything that happens in the region bears watching for possible impact on oil exports. The machinations of Kurds, Iraqis, Iranians, terrorists, mullahs, and numerous small states, tribes, sects and clans all could be important to the uninterrupted flow of oil to the industrialized world.

As the world’s biggest exporter and the only one that may have some spare capacity to increase production, the Saudis are worthy of special attention. Not only are there questions about the ability of the Kingdom’s oil fields to sustain or increase production over the next few years, but concerns also are arising over Riyadh’s domestic consumption of its own oil production which is increasing rapidly. Expectations that the Saudis alone will fulfill the world’s rapidly increasing demand for oil, even at $100+, will never happen.

The rapid rise in oil prices in recent years has resulted in a wave of nationalism on the part of producing countries. Contracts with international oil companies that were written back in the days of $10 or $20 dollar a barrel oil are falling by the wayside as producing nations are demanding an ever increasing share of the profits. In the past year Russia and Venezuela have essentially taken back “their oil” from the foreigners and Nigeria and Kazakhstan are on the verge of doing the same.

From a peak oil perspective, it does not matter if governments or international companies take most of the profit, but as the internationals’ role declines, so does investment and the availability of technical know-how. As oil becomes increasingly difficult to extract from non-conventional sources, partnering with ideological soul mates such as Venezuela and Belarus to help produce oil is unlikely to result in increasing production.

With a population of 1.3 billion and an annual growth rate in excess of 11 percent, the course of China’s economy plays a key role in the peak oil story. Beijing is now a major importer of oil and products. For several years now, the Chinese have been making a major effort to secure long-term bi-lateral contracts with oil producers and have had numerous successes. It is only a matter of time before China’s demand leads to shortages in the developed world.

Given the close balance of the supply and demand for oil, the world’s importing countries are in constant threat of a sudden interruption to oil supplies. A hurricane, coup, earthquake, terrorist attack, assassination, bird flu or something we have not imagined could easily stop the steady supply of oil to the world’s fuel tanks. Although there are reserves, depending on the nature of the interruption, these could only be sufficient for a few days before serious disruptions occur. There are numerous chokepoints in the Persian Gulf where an interruption of more than a few days would cause serious grief around the world.

Nearly 40 percent or 5.3 million of the 13.6 million barrels of oil and products that the U.S. imports each day comes from Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela. We are going to have a little problem shortly because these sources of oil are going to dry up. Mexico’s biggest field is collapsing so that within ten years they will be out of the oil exporting business. For political reasons, Venezuela is doing its best to sell its oil to anybody but the U.S. and is off to a good start. If Hugo Chavez hangs in there as president for another five years the 1.4 million barrels a day we are currently getting is likely to be a lot less.

To many, Canada is America’s greatest hope to continue happy motoring for a while longer. They look longingly at those billions of barrels of “oil” trapped in the Alberta tar sands and assume that it will soon be flowing south in whatever amounts we desire. This is unlikely to happen for extracting “oil” from Alberta is turning the place into one of the greatest environmental disasters on earth. While production from the Alberta sands will likely continue for centuries, it will never reach the level to replace even a fraction of the 13 million barrels of imports the U.S. requires each day. It will not be long before the Canadian people start thinking about their grandchildren and exports will slow.

Bali Protocols Passed – More on that later.

Posted on December 18, 2007 by Doug Nicodemus

I will have comments on the passage of the Bali Protocols but I have 2 posts that have been laying around for awhile. I want to get them off the shelf while I can. The Bush administration made sure that nothing will happen on their watch because the negotiations will take 2 years. 2 years we may not have!

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/85/i31/8531notw4.html

Latest News

July 30, 2007: Volume 85, Number 31; p. 15

Silicon cells

Solar Energy Advances

New technology should lead to increased supplies

Marc Reisch

AS THE WORLD increasingly looks to solar power as a new source of energy, technology advances and new cooperation agreements among photovoltaic industry leaders promise to increase the supply, processibility, and cost-efficiency of silicon-based solar energy cells.

Using new technology, Wacker Chemie plans to build a solar-grade granular polysilicon production facility at its site in Burghausen, Germany. The 650-metric-ton-per-year plant should come on-line at the end of 2008 and will manufacture the polysilicon used to make solar wafers in a continuous fluidized-bed process.

New process yields easier route to polysilicon for solar cells.

The firm first announced two years ago that it had developed the process as an alternative to the batch production procedure now more widely used to make polysilicon for both semiconductors and solar cells. The starting material, trichlorosilane, is the same for both batch and continuous processes.

In the batch process, trichlorosilane is deposited at high temperature on a starter rod, where it decomposes to polysilicon. Workers then remove the rods from the reactor, transfer them to crushing machines that create manageable polysilicon pieces, and run the pieces through an acid-etching step to remove contamination introduced during crushing. The continuous process eliminates the rod removal, crushing, and etching steps.

Taking its advances in solar polysilicon a step further, Wacker also says it is in talks with Schott Solar, a German maker of photovoltaic components, to set up a 50-50 joint venture to make silicon ingots and solar wafers, precursors for the production of solar cells. The two hope to conclude discussions and start up production later this year.

Separately, Germany’s Q-Cells, which claims to be the world’s second-largest maker of silicon solar cells, has increased its stake in a smaller U.S. silicon cell maker, Solaria, from 12% to 33%. Q-Cells acquired its increased stake in the Silicon Valley-based firm as part of a $50 million investment it made together with two financial investors and Moser Baer, an Indian maker of photovoltaics.

Along with the investment, Q-Cells committed to supplying Solaria with enough cells to generate 1.35 gigawatts of power over the next 10 years. Using its “cell multiplication technology,” Solaria will double the output of cells it obtains by slicing them into thin strips and reassembling them to double the surface area they cover. The technology includes packaging the cells under an optical concentrator to focus more sunlight on them.

DuPont is also doing its part to improve solar-cell efficiency. The firm will manage prototype development and testing of a solar cell designed by the University of Delaware that has the potential to be 30% more efficient than existing solar cells. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded a DuPont/University of Delaware consortium $12 million to advance solar-panel development, but it could award as much as $100 million over the three-year life of the project.

An Inconvenient Truth Wins In Court – New Party Wackos Lose Again

Posted on December 13, 2007 by Doug Nicodemus

Al Gore wins again. The British Court has ruled that the science does support the “broad claims” of An Inconvenient Truth. There goes another one of Rush Limbaugh’s notorious lies. So much for the “11 massive flaws” in Al Gore’s arguements. Still should it be shown in public schools? I have my doubts which I will express tomorrow. But for now I’ll just bask in the glow…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/oct/11/climatechange?gusrc=rss&feed=8

Gore’s climate film has scientific errors – judge

· Court rules documentary can be shown in schools
· Presentation is ‘broadly accurate’ but lacks balance

- David Adam, environment correspondent
- The Guardian,
- Thursday October 11 2007

Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, was yesterday criticised by a high court judge who highlighted what he said were “nine scientific errors” in the film.

Mr Justice Barton yesterday said that while the film was “broadly accurate” in its presentation of climate change, he identified nine significant errors in the film, some of which, he said, had arisen in “the context of alarmism and exaggeration” to support the former US vice-president’s views on climate change.

The film was broadly welcomed by environmental campaigners and scientists on its release last year, and while they did point out that it contained mistakes, these were relatively small and did not detract from the film’s central message – that global warming was a real problem and humans had the technology to do something about it.

The judge made his remarks when assessing a case brought by Stewart Dimmock, a Kent school governor and a member of a political group, the New party, who is opposed to a government plan to show the film in secondary schools.

The judge ruled that the film can still be shown in schools, as part of a climate change resources pack, but only if it is accompanied by fresh guidance notes to balance Mr Gore’s “one-sided” views. The “apocalyptic vision” presented in the film was not an impartial analysis of the science of climate change, he said.

The judge also said it might be necessary for the Department of Children, Schools and Families to make clear to teachers some of Mr Gore’s views were not supported or promoted by the government, and there was “a view to the contrary”.

He said he had viewed the film and described it as “powerful, dramatically presented and highly professionally produced”, built around the “charismatic presence” of Mr Gore, “whose crusade it now is to persuade the world of the dangers of climate change”.

The mistakes identified mainly deal with the predicted impacts of climate change, and include Mr Gore’s claims that a sea-level rise of up to 20ft would be caused by melting in either west Antarctica or Greenland “in the near future”.

The judge said: “This is distinctly alarmist and part of Mr Gore’s ‘wake-up call’.” He accepted that melting of the ice would release this amount of water – “but only after, and over, millennia.”

Despite his finding of significant errors, Mr Justice Barton said many of the claims made by the film were supported by the weight of scientific evidence and he identified four main hypotheses, each of which is very well supported “by research published in respected, peer-reviewed journals and accords with the latest conclusions of the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change].”

The nine points: fact or fallacy?

· The film claimed that low-lying inhabited Pacific atolls “are being inundated because of anthropogenic global warming” – but there was no evidence of any evacuation occurring

· It spoke of global warming “shutting down the ocean conveyor” – the process by which the gulf stream is carried over the north Atlantic to western Europe. The judge said that, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it was “very unlikely” that the conveyor would shut down in the future, though it might slow down

· Mr Gore had also claimed – by ridiculing the opposite view – that two graphs, one plotting a rise in C02 and the other the rise in temperature over a period of 650,000 years, showed “an exact fit”. The judge said although scientists agreed there was a connection, “the two graphs do not establish what Mr Gore asserts”

· Mr Gore said the disappearance of snow on Mt Kilimanjaro was expressly attributable to human-induced climate change. The judge said the consensus was that that could not be established

· The drying up of Lake Chad was used as an example of global warming. The judge said: “It is apparently considered to be more likely to result from … population increase, over-grazing and regional climate variability”

· Mr Gore ascribed Hurricane Katrina to global warming, but there was “insufficient evidence to show that”

· Mr Gore also referred to a study showing that polar bears were being found that had drowned “swimming long distances to find the ice”. The judge said: “The only scientific study that either side before me can find is one which indicates that four polar bears have recently been found drowned because of a storm”

· The film said that coral reefs all over the world were bleaching because of global warming and other factors. The judge said separating the impacts of stresses due to climate change from other stresses, such as over-fishing, and pollution, was difficult

· The film said a sea-level rise of up to 20ft would be caused by melting of either west Antarctica or Greenland in the near future; the judge ruled that this was “distinctly alarmist”

· This article was amended on Friday October 12 2007. A panel in the article above listing the significant errors found by a high court judge in Al Gore’s documentary on global warming was labelled The nine points, but contained only eight. The point we omitted was that the film said a sea-level rise of up to 20ft would be caused by melting of either west Antarctica or Greenland in the near future; the judge ruled that this was “distinctly alarmist”. The missing point has been added.

Another Compressed Air Car – There is hope in the air

Posted on December 11, 2007 by Doug Nicodemus

>I never did document whether there was a downside to the MDI compressed air car or other valid press articles on the car that could give some balance to the company stuff I first posted. I thought I had found one on a blog about cars. It was titled:

Addict 3 D

www

Online

Car Fueled by Air Not as Cool as Inventor Thought

But everytime I try that link something weird happens. Still while on the search page I saw the article below in CNN and thought I would post it. If the French, the Indians, and the Koreans think it will work it must have some merit. I want one bad.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/03/30/spark.air.car/

/spark.air.car/

Car that runs on compressed air

Monday, April 11, 2005 Posted: 1032 GMT (1832 HKT)

story.phev.jpg

The pneumatic electrical hybrid vehicle (PHEV) runs on compressed air.

• Green cars starting to take root

• London’s big red buses go green

• Vegetables offer oil alternative

• The car that can read road signs

• Smart helmet for motorcyclists

• Energine Corporation Web site

• Reader response to this story

QUICKVOTE

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VIEW RESULTS

ON CNNI TV

Click here for Spark show times on CNN International.

SPARK

Find out how tech is changing our lives Click here

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Send your views to spark@cnn.com or read what others have to say.

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or Create your own

(CNN) — A Korean company has created a car engine that runs on air.

The engine, which powers a pneumatic-hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), works alongside an electric motor to create the power source.

The system eliminates the need for fuel, making the PHEV pollution-free.

Cheol-Seung Cho, of Energine Corporation, told CNN the system is controlled by a computer inside the car, which instructs the compressed-air engine and electric motor what to do.

The compressed air drives the pistons, which turn the vehicle’s wheels.

The air is compressed using a small motor, powered by a 48-volt battery, which powers both the air compressor and the electric motor.

Once compressed, the air is stored in a tank, Cho said.

“The compressed air is used when the car needs a lot of energy, such as for starting up the car and acceleration. The electric motor comes to life once the car has gained normal cruising speed.”

He said the system was relatively simple to manufacture and could be easily adapted to any conventional engine system.

“You could say our car has two hearts pumping. That is, we have separate motors running at different times, both at the time when they can perform most efficiently.”

Cho also said the system could reduce the cost of vehicle production by about 20 percent, because there was no need to build a cooling system, fuel tank, spark plugs or silencers.

Cho hoped to see PHEVs on streets in the near future.

Peter Kemp, editor of “Petroleum Intelligence Weekly,” told CNN that one of the biggest challenges for the invention was persuading the general public to embrace it.

“For this invention to take off, you’d need to get the backing of a major manufacturer. The major manufacturers that are looking at hybrid motors at the moment are looking at fuel cells — battery with a gasoline diesel combination,” he said.

Kemp said Toyota, which has released a hybrid car, had sold about 150,000 of the environmentally friendly model worldwide.

“But that is over several years. There is a lot of demand for that car but that is the only one that is really available and nobody knows whether Toyota is making any money out of it.”

Urgent Alert..Like this will catch us up with Europe Japan and Australia..But everyone is certainly up in arms so..

Posted on December 7, 2007 by Doug Nicodemus

URGENT ACTION ALERT!!

Call your Senators Friday for a Strong Energy Bill!

Dear Diane,

Our threatened climate and your children, born and unborn, need you to take action NOW, right now, sometime Friday, December 7th! The word from Capitol Hill is that the U.S. Senate may vote on the energy bill by as early as Friday evening.

You can call your U.S. Senators at 202-224-3121 or look up their direct phone number here .

You can use this sample script: “Hello, I’m ___________, and I’m calling to urge that Senator ________ oppose efforts to prevent the energy bill from coming to the Senate floor for a vote and support the use of our tax dollars for renewable energy, not subsidies for fossil fuels. For the good of our economy, our pocketbooks and the environment, we want the House energy bill to be passed now.”

This afternoon the House of Representatives passed a good energy bill by a 235-181 vote. Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, described it this way:

“It is a bill of firsts: the first increase in fuel economy standards in more than three decades, the first national requirement for renewable energy…and the first energy bill to provide billions for clean energy instead of shoveling subsidies to Big Oil and other polluters. Instead of a pork-laden monstrosity tailored to the needs of the dirty energy industry, this bill will give us clean electricity, greener cars, provide billions for clean energy instead of Big Oil’s bottom line, strengthen our economy, make us more secure, and begin to address the challenge of global warming. It is a tremendous achievement for the Congress, but more importantly, it is a victory for the hardworking American families who are now suffering as a result of decades of failed energy policies.”

As you may know, I’ve been on a climate emergency fast since September 4th. Today is my 94th day without solid foods. The focus of this fast from day one has been to help stimulate grassroots pressure on Congress to get them to pass the strongest possible climate legislation. And it is happening!

But there’s a big hurdle, and that’s the planned filibuster by Senator Inhofe, dirty energy advocate and global warming denier number one. To get over that hurdle, we need 60 U.S. Senators willing to stand up for the right thing, willing to vote the right way, willing to follow their conscience and not bend to the demands of the dirty energy lobby.

Tomorrow needs to be a day the U.S. Senate never forgets. Their phones need to be ringing off the hook, hearing from all of us. Senators and presidential candidates Clinton, Obama, Biden and Dodd need to be in D.C. to vote — no excuses on an issue this important! Republican and Democratic Senators need to stand up for the Earth!

You can call your U.S. Senators at 202-224-3121 or look up their direct phone number at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm .

And please send this alert out widely to others who might be responsive.

Let’s make history this week! It’s time to act!

For future generations,

Ted Glick, coordinator, U.S. Climate Emergency Council

P.S. You can go to our website, http://www.climateemergency.org, for more information about the energy

The Energy Bill May Pass..Ok so everyone is real excited and the internet is a vibrating so I put this up but TGI(WB)F shall not be ignored!

Posted on December 7, 2007 by Doug Nicodemus

Insider Tagline White

Dear Doug,By just picking up your phone, you could help combat global warming and diversify America’s energy supply.This week, Ray LaHood will vote on whether to put America on the path toward a clean energy future. All the pieces are in place: A national renewable electricity standard means consumers across the country would save more than $13 billion on their energy bills by 2020. Raising fuel economy standards will save American consumers $25 billion at the pump, create 170,800 new jobs in America, and cut U.S. global warming pollution from passenger vehicles 21 percent by 2030.

Harnessing energy from clean, renewable resources and making cars that go farther on a gallon of gas would create jobs, save consumers money, and significantly reduce global warming pollution. Congress must pass strong final legislation now!

Your Representative’s vote is key to determining whether or not we will take this crucial step.

Our Call Center makes it painless for you to call your Representative’s office and ask that your elected member of Congress cast a vote that will put us on the path toward a clean energy future. Call now!

Thank you for your help in putting America on the path towards a clean energy future!

Sincerely,

Greg Haegele
Director of Conservation

Last Piece On Germany – There are always nay sayers.

Posted on December 6, 2007 by Doug Nicodemus

For those of you who want a diferent take on burning things up and energy generation besides the usual global warming debate (its happening, no its not, yes it is, no its not).

http://www.energyandcapital.com/aqx_p/3062

Its a chance to sign up for a newsletter that believes that we are running out of energy sources fast and that an energy crash is near…

In the mean time Germany is talking about cutting its carbon emissions by 40% and phasing out its Nukes! Were America only this good.

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45020/story.htm

Coal to Make Germany Miss CO2 Target – Green Group

GERMANY: October 26, 2007

BERLIN – Germany has no chance of achieving its reduced CO2 emissions’ targets if it keeps building coal-burning power plants, an environmental group said on Thursday.

Deutsche Umwelthilfe studied the impact of new plants on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government’s CO2 targets and said it should either abandon the new plants or scrap plans to cut CO2 emissions by 40 percent between 1990 and 2020.

The government’s 40-percent goal will definitely not be reachable if Germany continues to build coal-burning power plants,” the group’s managing director, Rainer Baake, said

“Building new coal-burning plants is not compatible with any serious climate protection policy.”

German utilities are building or have plans to build 26 coal-burning plants. Some will take over from older, less efficient plants, but many will replace nuclear plants

Germany needs the extra coal power to compensate for the loss of nuclear power, which now accounts for 30 percent of energy production. Nuclear power is being phased out by 2020.

And guess what? US Corporations are Investing in German Technology. George Bush has sold this country to the dogs.

Posted on December 5, 2007 by Doug Nicodemus

The Week in Germany: Business, Technology and the Environment

July 20, 2007

Silicon Saxony: Germany at the Cutting-Edge Crossroads of the PV and Semiconductor Industries

Innovative semiconductor technologies and applications are being developed in Germany, where they are now increasingly also tapping into the immense potential offered by photovoltaic (PV) applications, the driving force behind the country’s booming solar power sector.

This was the topic at Invest in Germany’s executive luncheon “Made in Germany – the Growing Success Story for Next-Generation Solar and Semiconductor Companies” on Tuesday (July 17) in San Francisco, which concluded a two-day conference attended by 140 executives from both industries.

At this “Semicon West 2007” event, representatives of leading companies including Qimonda, AMD, Applied Materials, and Signet Solar discussed Germany as a location for high-tech investments and groundbreaking cooperation between the PV and semiconductor industries.

A semiconductor is usually created by silicon for commercial use. Semiconductor devices, electronic components made of semiconductor materials, are essential in modern electrical devices, from computers to cellular phones to digital audio players. A DRAM (dynamic RAM) is the most commonly used semiconductor memory product.

Dynamic technology hot spot

Munich-based Qimonda AG, the top 3 DRAM manufacturer worldwide, operates its largest semiconductor development center in Dresden. “We are located in ‘Silicon Saxony’ – one of the most dynamic technology hot spots in the world,” said Frank Prein, managing director of Qimonda Dresden.

Another leading semiconductor investor in Germany is AMD. The California-based company sees its presence in Germany, notably in Dresden, as essential to its global market success.

“With over $5 billion total investment in Dresden to date, AMD continues to utilize the excellent skill base in the region to develop and optimize next-generation microprocessor solutions,” said William Haerle, vice president for worldwide government relations at AMD.

Solid communication and cooperation structures among equipment makers, materials suppliers and chip makers are distinctive characteristics of the semiconductor industry. Such key relationships across the semiconductor value chain could also benefit PV cell and module makers by enhancing technical standards and production, which would in turn lead to lower prices and boost demand for solar power.

“The synergies between these two industries are increasing, providing promising business opportunities. In this respect, Germany plays a key role as the European leader in both semiconductor and PV technology,” said Claus Habermeier, senior manager at Invest in Germany’s Palo Alto office.

Highest density of PV producers worldwide

According to Winfried Hoffmann, chief technology officer of the Solar Business Group at Applied Materials, rapid growth of the solar energy market in Germany has created an enormous market potential for international semiconductor firms.

“Germany has the largest density of PV producers worldwide. Between 2007 and 2008 another 15 PV companies are planned with investments of about €1 billion in all steps of the value chain,” said Hoffmann.

The success of the PV industry is still strongly linked to existing government support programs. Equipment manufacturers with experience in both the semiconductor and the PV industry could offer PV producers the most effective technology to become competitive under market conditions.

“In the long run integrated manufacturing of thin wafers and subsequent cell and laminate making is probably the most effective route. With this technology cell efficiency gains of up to 24 percent – or even more for Si wafer technology by introducing nanomanufacturing technologies – could become a reality by 2020,” said Hoffmann.

American companies cooperate in Dresden

In Germany, two leading California companies, Applied Materials and Signet Solar, are demonstrating how cooperation between both industries can work: Signet Solar’s first low-cost silicon thin-film PV module plant in Dresden will use Applied Material’s technology.

“Signet Solar combines decades of semiconductor experience from Silicon Valley and Silicon Saxony to accelerate the adoption of PV thin-film silicon technology,” says Gunter Ziegenbalg, managing director of Signet Solar GmbH. “We are aiming for grid parity with solar modules made in Saxony within five years.”

Invest in Germany is the official investment promotion agency of Germany. Its mandate is to assist and advise international companies about investment opportunities in Germany. (Invest in Germany/TWIG)

Links:

Invest in Germany

The German-Indian-Silicon-Valley Solar Solution
(TWIG, Readings, July 20, 2007)

A Huge Success: Federal Environment Minister Presents Progress Report on Renewable Energy Sources Act (TWIG, July 13, 2007)

Cloudy Germany a Powerhouse in Solar Energy (TWIG, May 11, 2007)

Free Trade? Germany Does Meaningful Investment Instead.

Posted on December 4, 2007 by Doug Nicodemus

Not only does Germany invest in energy efficiency at home and export those products, they invest in them abroad as well. What does the US invest in? War. What does the US export? Jobs and Poverty.

Post on Facebook Bookmark on Delicious Digg this Article

From: Paula Leighton, Science and Development Network
Published October 22, 2007 02:09 PM

Germany Supporting Chilean

Renewable Energy Efforts

Solar Power Demand to Soar in Coming Years
Developing Nations Ripe for Wind, Solar Energy, U.N. Says
Academies: We must address energy imbalance
Ontario Plans Renewable Energy for 100,000 Homes

Santigo, Chile – The German government has pledged up to US$126 million to fund Chilean research into renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The Chilean minister of energy, Marcelo Tokman, announced the agreement during an official visit to Berlin, Germany, this month (10 October).

A spokesperson for Chile’s National Commission of Energy told SciDev.Net that the German government will donate US$11.5 million and lend up to US$114.5 million.

During the visit, Tokman also formally accepted an invitation for Chile to become one of the founder countries of the new International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

IRENA — an initiative led by Germany — aims to promote the use of renewable energy sources such as solar energy, wind power, regenerative biomass, wave and tidal power worldwide.

It will also support national energy planning, research centres and technology transfer, especially from industrialised nations to developing countries.

“The invitation to become a member of this agency is a recognition of the work the government is doing to boost sustainable energy development in Chile by promoting non-conventional renewable energies and energy efficiency,” said Tokman in a press release.

Chile is currently carrying out research into geothermal, solar and wind energy, especially in remote areas of the country. Most research and projects receive state subsides.

Chile’s first wind power park looks set to become part of the Chilean interconnected energy system by the end of this year.

Chile is exploring renewable energy such as solar powerChile’s National Commission of Energy says the country can expect wind power capacity to increase from 2 megawatts to over 100 megawatts by 2010.

A bill on renewable energies — waiting to be approved by the Chilean parliament — aims to increase renewable energy from its current level of 2.4 per cent to eight per cent of total energy production by 2020.

Germans Think of the Future, Americans Think in the Past

Posted on December 3, 2007 by Doug Nicodemus

I forgot all about transparency and the web on Thursday. I write very few of these blogs myself. I take them from other sources, because there is so much written about energy and the environment, I have very little to add. I have written my own posts like the ones on Asimov, but they are not even 1% of the total posts. So to that end I always try to cite my sources and very openly post the sources web site here. Well Thurday I did a lousy job. I want to do more on German Energy Advancement but before I do I used this service to find that article:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1525/is_n1_v80/ai_16111823/pg_7

and the article was from the Sierra Club magazine:

http://www.sierraclub.org/

For this I apologize. Also none of the articles links work…from now on I will try to be a better linker or at least delink what I can not support. This article is from:

IGNITING IDEAS

The High-Tech Strategy for Germany

http://www.hightech-strategie.de/en/201.php#top

Environmental Technologies –

Clear Water, Clean

Air, Fertile Soil

In contrast to the 1970s and 1980s when centre stage was given to aftercare environmental engineering – such as filter systems to keep air and water clean – environmental protection considerations are today increasingly being taken into account during the development phase. With this approach, natural resources are to be used efficiently and harmful effects on the environment are to be minimised throughout a product’s entire lifecycle.

At the same time, new environmental technologies offer economic benefits. Organic solvents pollute ground water and air, have to be separated and recovered – frequently with considerable energy input – and are also questionable in terms of occupational safety. Such solvents could, for example, be replaced in the future by supercritical fluids which – thanks to their easy-to-modify state of aggregation – are much easier to separate.The German environmental engineering sector – which includes the waste and water management industries and parts of the mechanical engineering and plant manufacturing field – employs some 1.5 million people today. At international level, German firms are particularly successful in the air pollution control, noise abatement and recycling fields.With its national sustainability strategy, the German government aims to reduce the air pollution load by 70 percent by the year 2010, double German industry’s energy efficiency and resource efficiency by the year 2020 and reduce land development from currently 100 hectares a day to 30 hectares a day. The German government has committed itself to reducing the emission levels of the six greenhouse gases cited in the Kyoto Protocol by 21 percent over 1990 levels by the period 2008 through 2012.These national sustainability goals cannot be achieved without cleaner and more efficient technology. German industry should therefore be helped with identifying and developing new R&D findings with environmental protection potential and applying them immediately in the domestic market. The German government aims to tap the global market for the German environmental engineering industry and to adapt technologies and know-how to local conditions in threshold and developing countries.

Progressively develop environmental technology for the domestic market

Economic and ecological targets can often be met simultaneously when a product’s entire life cycle is taken into account during the planning and production processes. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research funds collaborative projects in the manufacturing sector with a view to linking new research approaches with problems in actual practice.

Innovative environmental protection technologies such as self-healing surfaces and waste-free processes are a focus of surface technology and spill over into many sectors – from car manufacturing to the construction sector and furniture industry all the way to the shipbuilding industry. Surface technology has not however had a joint R&D platform because the field has a wealth of user industries and is therefore highly fragmented. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is therefore planning a comprehensive research initiative for this area.

Bionics use nature as a source of inspiration for technology. In order to make it easier to translate creative ideas into products, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research is planning a new research campaign aimed at supporting work to develop such ideas to the stage where they are functioning demonstration models or production-ready prototypes.

The Ministry’s Research for Sustainability funding programme supports and funds the development of new environmental protection technologies.

Pilot projects create trust in the reliability of new technologies

In contrast to years past, when the focus of funding was on the retrofitting of systems and on downstream purification processes (so-called end-of-pipe technologies), financial assistance today is provided primarily for first use of new integrated environmental protection technologies, with priority being given to SMEs. The Environmental Innovation Programme of the Federal Ministry of Research and Development funds these industrial-scale pilot projects. These activities, which receive flanking technical support from the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), establish the prerequisites necessary for defining technical standards and establishing legally binding emission ceilings.

Use Germany’s strong domestic market as a springboard for tapping the global market

Sustainability in trade and industry is not just a German aim – it is also a European aim. For this reason, Germany has joined up with Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain in the ERA-NET Sustainable Enterprise (SUSPRISE) project to co-ordinate its national research activities aimed at fostering sustainable enterprises.

Export credit guarantees granted by the federal government (Hermes guaranties) are an important instrument for spurring foreign trade, including in the environmental technology field. The OECD member states agreed in 2005 to extend the maximum permissible terms for export credits for renewable energy and for water and waste-water projects to 15 years. With the new aval guarantee that was launched in 2006, the German government will cover a share of the third-party risk borne by the guarantor. This will substantially improve liquidity, particularly for small and medium-sized exporters. The Federal Environment Agency’s Internet portal at www.cleaner-production.de offers extensive information about the capabilities of German environmental technologies and services.

Protect the global water supply

Many threshold and developing countries suffer from an inadequate supply of drinking water and – particularly in megacities – from waste-water problems that can scarcely be handled. The development and sustainability goals adopted by the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 include halving the proportion of the global population that has no access to safe drinking water or adequate sanitation services by the year 2015. This goal is a pressing humanitarian task. The development of the requisite water and waste-water infrastructure however also constitutes an enormous investment market.

The German government is supporting the development of an integrated water resource management (IWRM) system in numerous partner countries, particularly in the Middle East and Africa.

In addition to its development policy projects in this field – Germany is one of the world’s largest donors in the water sector – the Federal Ministry of Education and Research also funds the continued development of IWRM methods and approaches.

German and regional partners from research institutes, government agencies, engineering offices and the water industry participate in these projects.

The International Postgraduate Studies in Water Technologies fellowship programme has been set up to train German and foreign water specialists who, as future decision-makers in their home countries, could help develop the know-how urgently needed there. The networking this will generate between participants could facilitate the German water industry’s access to the growing water markets in threshold and developing countries.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development will offer funding for ten years for a Water Decade office at the University of the United Nations in Bonn as a step to support collaborative international research activities.