Category Archives: economics

Large Solar Facilities In China – As the green clean wars heat up

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I have included a picture here because it is a small one and the plant will not be operational until next year.

http://www.renewablesinternational.net/esolars-chinese-partner-makes-a-successful-bid-for-solar-thermal-project-in-fuxin-city/150/510/30493/

eSolar’s Chinese partner makes a successful bid for solar thermal project in Fuxin City

Just three months ago, California CSP manufacturer eSolar licesed its power tower technology to China’s Pengai Electric – the partnership has born fruit. The partnership has announced its second CSP project in northern China.

 - eSolar's Sierra SunTower in Lancaster, CA has been delivering power to the grid since mid-2009
eSolar’s Sierra SunTower in Lancaster, CA has been delivering power to the grid since mid-2009
Source: eSolar

Shandong Penglai Electric Power Equipment Manufacturing (SPEPEMC), the Chinese partner company of Pasadena power tower developer eSolar, signed a cooperation agreement in mid-March with the City of Fuxin, Liaoning Province to build the Fuxin Solar Thermal Power Project. Pengai Electric will build the plant in three phases. When complete the solar thermal power station will have a generation capacity of 300 MW. The Fuxin project is the second for Penglai Electric since the privately-owned power company signed a licensing agreement with California company eSolar last January. Under the terms of the agreement, the Chinese company comitted to building 2 GW of solar thermal power stations in China by 2021 using eSolar’s power-tower technology. The first plant slated for construction is a 92 MW CSP plant to be located at the 66-square-mile Yulin Energy Park in the Mongolian desert.

In eSolar’s power towers, flat mirrors focused on two recievers at the top of a tower heat water directly to produce steam and drive the plant’s turbine. The Chinese plants will combine the eSolar technology with biomass-fired power plants to produce electricity in poor weather conditions and after sundown.

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Go there and see. More tomorrow.

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I Love The Way Large Solar Facilities Look From The Sky – This one is kinda square

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This was proposed in 2009 so I imagine it is operational by now. I found this amazing document that I need to look at more, but it is a listing of all the large solar facilities maybe in the world? Anyway if you want to see cool photos go to the site because pictures are a pain.

http://www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/abengoa/

General Description of Project

On August 10, 2009, Abengoa Solar Inc., the sole member of Mojave Solar LLC, filed an Application For Certification (AFC) for its Abengoa Mojave Solar Project. The proposed project is a nominal 250 megawatt (MW) solar electric generating facility to be located near Harper Dry Lake in an unincorporated area of San Bernardino County. The project would be located approximately halfway between Barstow, CA and Kramer Junction, CA, and is approximately nine miles northwest of Hinkley, CA.

The project will implement well-established parabolic trough technology to solar heat a heat transfer fluid (HTF). This hot HTF will generate steam in solar steam generators, which will expand through a steam turbine generator to produce electrical power from twin, independently-operable solar fields, each feeding a 125-MW power island. The sun will provide 100 percent of the power supplied to the project through solar-thermal collectors; no supplementary fossil-based energy source (like natural gas) is proposed for electrical power production.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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OK Back To The Solar Installments Around The World – Just a brief stop Friday

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Now that we know that humans are going to be in pretty bad shape because of climate change, let’s go back to the meditation on what could have saved us if we would have started building them sooner. Large Solar Power Plants. I am not posting any pretty pictures, just the test.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39836641/ns/us_news-environment/t/worlds-largest-solar-plant-gets-us-ok/#.UA2duaCkNyU

World’s largest solar plant gets U.S. OK

$6 billion project in Calif. aims to power at least 300,000 homes

msnbc.com staff and news service reports

updated 10/25/2010 6:07:03 PM ET

WASHINGTON — Calling it a major milestone, the Obama administration on Monday approved what investors say will be the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant and one that more than doubles all of U.S. solar output and can power at least 300,000 homes.

The project in the Mojave Desert near Blythe, Calif., is the sixth solar venture authorized on federal lands within the last month. All are in desert areas.

“The Blythe Solar Power Project is a major milestone in our nation’s renewable energy economy and shows that the United States intends to compete and lead in the technologies of the future,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in announcing the approval.

Construction on the $6 billion plant is expected to start by the end of 2010, with production starting in 2013. Developer Solar Millennium, a company based in Germany, says the plant will generate 1,066 construction jobs and 295 permanent jobs.

The project had run into opposition by some environmentalists due to wildlife concerns.

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Go there see the pictures and read. More tomorrow.

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Nuclear Power – On time and under cost

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Yah right. That is so laughable. Even after they announced that they were going to try to bring 5 nuclear plants on line there were no commercial backers and so the price went up before they even started. It has been all downhill since then.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/news-guide-building-nuclear-power-plants-16750327#.T_2tBZGkNyU

News Guide: Nuclear Industry Facing Cost Pressures

By The Associated Press
July 10, 2012 (AP)

Q: How many nuclear plants are under construction in the U.S.?

A: Three. Two nuclear reactors are being built at Plant Vogtle in eastern Georgia. Two more reactors are under construction at Plant Summer in central South Carolina. A fifth reactor mothballed in 1985 is being finished at Plant Watts Bar in Tennessee.

Q: How often are nuclear plants built?

A: The last nuclear plant built in the United States was the existing reactor finished at Watts Bar in 1996.

Q: How much does a nuclear plant cost?

A: Billions of dollars. Nuclear plants are among the most complicated and expensive infrastructure projects in the world. The plants require incredible amounts of design and engineering work and must be built to exacting safety standards. Federal inspectors can require that parts of the plant be ripped out and replaced if they don’t meet muster. The plants require huge amounts of metal, concrete, cables and wires. Building two Westinghouse Electric Co. AP1000 reactors at Plant Vogtle is supposed to cost roughly $14 billion, though the final expenses could be more.

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Go there and read the rest. More tomorrow.

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How Many Ways Can You Get Aternative Energy Wrong – Americans will always think of something

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Got no more to say than the title. This is some really dumb stuff.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204012004577072470158115782.html

The Cellulosic Ethanol Debacle

Congress mandated purchase of 250 million gallons in 2011. Actual production: 6.6 million.

‘We’ll fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn but from wood chips and stalks or switch grass. Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years.”

—George W. Bush, 2006 State of the Union address

Years before the Obama Administration dumped $70 billion into solar and wind energy and battery operated cars, and long before anyone heard of Solyndra, President Bush launched his own version of a green energy revolution. The future he saw was biofuels. In addition to showering billions of dollars on corn ethanol, Mr. Bush assured the nation that by 2012 cars and trucks could be powered by cellulosic fuels from switch grass and other plant life.

To launch this wonder-fuel industry, the feds under Mr. Bush and President Obama have pumped at least $1.5 billion of grants and loan subsidies to fledgling producers. Mr. Bush signed an energy bill in 2007 that established a tax credit of $1.01 per gallon produced.

Most important, the Nancy Pelosi Congress passed and Mr. Bush signed a law imposing mandates on oil companies to blend cellulosic fuel into conventional gasoline. This guaranteed producers a market. In 2010 the mandate was 100 million barrels, rising to 250 million in 2011 and 500 million in 2012. By the end of this decade the requirements leap to 10.5 billion gallons a year.

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Go there and read as long as you can bare it. More tomorrow.

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Oil Stocks By Mike Nadel – Good advice from a good guy

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I do not normally boost someone else’s net contributions just because I think the author is cool. Had he not written about oil stocks I probably wouldn’t either, but it is the summer. Because I was getting alittle burnt out on all the serious blogging I have done for 5 years, I gave myself permission to post whatever I wanted too and boringly I have stuck to energy conservation, the residential market and all things environmental. So today is a really “what the hell” kinda day. Enjoy.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/708101-time-to-slide-into-oil-stocks

Time To Slide Into Oil Stocks

??By Mike Nadel

The last time I filled my car’s tank, I paid less than $3 a gallon. As my wife will attest, I was more than a little giddy. “Two-ninety-seven!?!? You gotta be kidding me!!! This is incredible!!!” Hey, we all have to find life’s little thrills wherever we can, right?

The price of crude oil, the source of gasoline, is determined by numerous factors: supply and demand, the Middle East unrest, natural and unnatural disasters, Wall Street speculators, economies in the U.S., Europe and emerging markets, etc.

Crude oil reached $110 per barrel on February 24 and was still over $100 per barrel two months later. It has been on a fairly steady decline since, hitting $80 per barrel on June 22 – its lowest level in two years – before rebounding into the mid-80s. So what’s next?

I certainly am no oil-price-trend expert… and even if I were, I wouldn’t listen to myself. Wasn’t it just a few months ago that alleged experts were predicting $5 gas by Memorial Day and maybe even $6 by the Fourth of July? Still, when it comes to forecasting oil prices, “Up” usually is a reasonable guess – especially after it has been down.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Solar Power In The Mohave Desert – What a great use of a resource

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It doesn’t hurt that they got an environmental award as well. This the way it should be done.

http://www.brightsourceenergy.com/the-ivanpah-solar-project-named-2012-energy-project-of-the-year

The Ivanpah Solar Project Named 2012 Energy Project of the Year

April 24, 2012

Project recognized for its innovative approach, job creation and scale of clean energy production

(LOS ANGELES, Calif.) April 24, 2012 – NRG Energy, Google, BrightSource Energy and EPC partner Bechtel announced that the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (Ivanpah SEGS) received the 2012 Energy Project of the Year Award by the USC CMAA Green Symposium. Ivanpah SEGS in California’s Mojave Desert is currently the world’s largest concentrating solar power (CSP) plant under construction. When completed, it will nearly double the amount of solar thermal electricity produced in the US.

“The sheer magnitude of the Ivanpah project is reinforcing California’s position as the leader of renewable energy in the United States,” said Caroline Fletcher, USC Green Symposium Co-Chair. “The project has demonstrated an innovative approach to partnerships and is significantly contributing to job creation in the region. We’re very pleased to honor this important project with our 2012 Energy Project of the Year Award.”

“Ivanpah is a flagship project, widely recognized for its environmentally-responsible design, and lauded for its role in helping to grow Southern California’s High Desert economy,” said Joe Desmond, SVP of Government Relations and Communications, BrightSource Energy. “We look forward to completing this important solar power facility and help California meet its economic and clean energy goals.”

“We are pleased to be a part of this award-winning project. The innovation applied to the engineering and construction of Ivanpah will help advance the renewable energy industry and make solar energy a viable option for more people,” said Jim Ivany, president of renewable power at Bechtel.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Finally A Plausible Tidal Energy Program – If it is not Scottish it is rubbish

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I skip the light fandango.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-06/15/scottish-undersea-turbines

Technology

Largest tidal arrays in the world to be built in Scotland

15 June 12

Scotland will see the world’s largest tidal arrays constructed off its coast, as the first large-scale rollout of tidal energy generation.

A trial with one 30m turbine, the HS1000, anchored to the ocean floor in a fast-flowing channel near the Orkney Islands, raised one megawatt of electricity — enough to power around 500 homes. Now, Scottish Power is planning on building two farms of turbines off the Scottish coast.

The project at the Sound of Islay should hopefully generate 10MW, and then the later project off Duncansby Head (the most northeasterly point of Scotland) should generate around 95MW. While individual turbines have been trialled across the world, the arrays will be the largest of their kind, with local communities having their power provided by renewable tidal sources.

The turbines — built by Andritz Hydro Hammerfest, a Norwegian firm — represent a tricky engineering challenge. Considerations for wild plants and fish means that the blades can’t move too fast, and the turbines must be located in areas where there is a reliably fast current travelling at at least 2.5m/s (such as the Sound of Islay, a narrow passage between the Scottish mainland and the island of Jura).

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Coal Is Going Down Down Down – It couldn’t happen to a nicer industry

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Lets see they lie, cheat and steal. But they also pollute the heck out of the environment and they get people killed. I am going to miss these guys.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/story/2012-06-12/coal-to-gas-project-denied/55557114/1

U.S. coal use falling fast as utilities switch to gas

By Jonathan Fahey, Associated Press

NEW YORK – America is shoveling coal to the sidelines.

The fuel that powered the U.S. from the industrial revolution into the iPhone era is being pushed aside as utilities switch to cleaner and cheaper alternatives.

The share of U.S. electricity that comes from coal is forecast to fall below 40% for the year, its lowest level since World War II. Four years ago, it was 50%. By the end of this decade, it is likely to be near 30%.

“The peak has passed,” says Jone-Lin Wang, head of Global Power for the energy research firm IHS CERA.

Utilities are aggressively ditching coal in favor of natural gas, which has become cheaper as supplies grow. Natural gas has other advantages over coal: It produces far fewer emissions of toxic chemicals and gases that contribute to climate change, key attributes as tougher environmental rules go into effect.

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Go there and laugh, I mean read. More tomorrow.

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Rocky Mountain Flats Sucked Then – And it still sucks now

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All they did really was put out the fires and bury the remains. It sits there moldering to this day. They cleaned up the first 3 ft. of soil and tore down the buldings. The buildings and other materials were shipped to New Mexico and Nevada for storage. See first, the history of Rocky Flats:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Flats_Plant

The Rocky Flats Plant was a United States nuclear weapons production facility near Denver, Colorado that operated from 1952 to 1992. It was under the control of the United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) until 1977, when it was replaced by the Department of Energy (DOE).

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Then see her book:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/28/books/book-review-full-body-burden-by-kristen-iversen.html?_r=0

Publication Date: June 5, 2012

Full Body Burden is a haunting work of narrative nonfiction about a young woman, Kristen Iversen, growing up in a small Colorado town close to Rocky Flats, a secret nuclear weapons plant once designated “the most contaminated site in America.” It’s the story of a childhood and adolescence in the shadow of the Cold War, in a landscape at once startlingly beautiful and–unknown to those who lived there–tainted with invisible yet deadly particles of plutonium.

It’s also a book about the destructive power of secrets–both family and government. Her father’s hidden liquor bottles, the strange cancers in children in the neighborhood, the truth about what was made at Rocky Flats (cleaning supplies, her mother guessed)–best not to inquire too deeply into any of it.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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