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Category: Research

Vestas, QinetiQ test "stealth" wind turbine blades

October 23rd, 2009 | Posted in Wind

The 45m Stealth blade was tested at North Pickering

In Norfolk, over the past week, testing has been going on to see if a "stealth" turbine blade is invisible to radar.

Vestas is the manufacturer of this 45m blade, which was installed on Tuesday for a week of testing, by QinetiQ, a defense company. The testing is taking place in North Pickering near Swaffham, at a wind farm owned by Enertrag UK.

In the past, MOD facilities had objections to wind farms, because the blades show up on radar screens from time to time, when moving quickly, and they are hard to differentiate from small planes. Though this has not been an obstacle in the creation of wind farms, manager of projects at Enertrag UK, David Linley, says that these types of problems can lead to a "montage of complaints" which could hinder the formation of further wind farms.

QinetiQ has worked toward combating any possible problems like this with the development of Radar-Absorbing Mater (RAM), a material that can be added to the structure of the turbine blade. One of the composite's glass cloth layers can be replaced with the material, which can then absorb more than 99% of incidental radar.

The idea is simply being explored at this point by Vestas and QinetiQ, but there are hopes to present some more conclusive findings next week at the BWEA conference.

[Via: NewEnergyFocus]

New research shows potential for solving wind farm radar detection problems

October 21st, 2009 | Posted in Wind

New research has just been announced, that will hopefully provide a solution for the problem caused by offshore wind farms with radar detection. About GBP 5.15 million is being invested into this research, as announced by the UK's energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband. Of the total sum GBP 1.6 million will come from wind companies, about GBP 2 million from the Crown Estate, while the remaining GBP 1.55 million will be provided by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

As seen before in the case of Germany, where the German military has put on hold numerous wind power projects due to interference with radar detection, the same problem is troubling the UK wind power sector. Wind turbines cause interference with radar detection which is a major problem for aviation, both civilian and military. This has caused some 5 GW of lined up projects in the UK to be put on hold by National Air Traffic Services (NATS), until the problem is resolved. Additionally, another 5.5 GW of wind power capacity has also been stopped in early stages of development.

New research will include NATS involvement, in order to produce a result that will resolve the radar interference issue, and present valuable information for a new approach in wind farm planning in the future. The research is to be concluded in April 2011.

Wind turbines show up on a meteorological radar, and give false data for forecasts in the US. (Image: NOAA)

NHA: Hydropower offers an incredible opportunity

October 17th, 2009 | Posted in Hydro

According to a recent NHA study, the U.S. hydropower industry is ready to lead the country in the creation of 700,000 jobs by 2025, adding 60,000 MW of renewable energy to the nation's electric grid. In other words, that's enough to serve 17 million households – the equivalent of all the homes in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago combined.

Today, the U.S. hydropower industry has 100,000 MW of installed capacity, employing approximately 300,000 people and these numbers could be significantly increased with the adoption of latest technologies, new policies and so on. In that sense, NHA calls on Congressional leaders to:

Enact a national RES that recognizes and supports hydropower
Support long-term tax incentives that give hydro parity with other renewables
Accelerate licensing for pumped storage and small hydro
Expand federal R&D funding for hydropower technologies

NHA's Church Ciocci commented: "Hydropower must play a critical role in our national energy, environmental, and economic policy. On behalf of NHA and the hydropower industry, I'd like to thank Governor Rendell for his vision and leadership on this issue and Voith Hydro for hosting this event. NHA stands ready to work with all policymakers who pursue development of America's critical hydropower resources."

Americans agree on the importance of solar energy

October 13th, 2009 | Posted in Solar

SEIA

Regardless of political orientation, an overwhelming number of Americans is in favor of funding solar energy, and this support for solar has been consistent over the past year. Kelton Research, an independent polling firm conducted this nationally representative survey and the findings were reported in the 2009 SCHOTT Solar Barometer.

The development and use of solar energy is held important by nearly 92 percent of Americans, who were asked the same questions in the June 2008 SCHOTT Solar Barometer. This support for solar has not changed since then — in 2008 the results were at 94 percent, with the difference still falling into the margin of error for both polls.

Solar energy supporters do not belong to any single political party: 89 percent of Republicans, 94 percent of Democrats and 93 percent of Independents agree on the fact that it is important for the United States to develop and implement this type of power.

Another sentiment that has remained the same since June 2008 is that Americans in general (77%) feel that the development of solar power and other renewable energy resources needs to be a major priority and financially supported by the federal government.

When asked which energy source they would support if they were President, 43 percent of Americans would choose to fund solar power over other sources like wind (17%), natural gas (12%) and nuclear (10%).

Siemens collaborates with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia

October 7th, 2009 | Posted in General

Siemens in Saudi Arabia

Siemens announced the collaboration agreement with the new King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. The German company is a founding member of the KAUST Industrial Collaboration Program (KICP) which aims to intensify cooperation with industry on a regional and a global scale, focusing on renewable energy, environmental technologies, and material and biosciences.

KAUST will serve as Siemens' important partner in Saudi Arabia where the company has been represented for more than 75 years and currently has over 1,800 employees.

Commenting on the agreement, Siemens' CTO and CEO of the Healthcare Sector, Prof. Hermann Requardt, said: "The KAUST covers precisely the topics that help us in the development of sustainable solutions for our green technologies."

2010 air pollutant limits not expected to be met by several EU countries

October 6th, 2009 | Posted in General

Air pollutant limits set under the EU National Emission Ceilings Directive (NEC Directive) for 2010 are expected to be met by only 14 states. Legally-binding emissions ceilings are anticipated to be missed by a small group of Member States.

Pollutant-specific and legally-binding emission ceilings were set by the NEC Directive that had to be met by 2010. The latest reporting round for Member States and the EU as a whole are presented in the NEC Directive status report from the European Environment Agency. The directive covers four pollutants: sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) and ammonia (NH3). Both the environment and human health are affected by these pollutants as they contribute to forming ozone and particulate matter, which lead to acidification and eutrophication.

Three emission ceilings are only expected to be missed by Spain – for NOx, NMVOC and NH3. Due to the fact that the economy has taken a downturn, even if additional action was taken to reduce these pollutants, the ceilings still wouldn't be reached.

Two of four emission ceilings are anticipated to be missed by three member states (France, Germany and the Netherlands). Many member states are having difficulty with dealing with one of the four ceilings – NOx. Nearly 12 member states are estimating that they will miss this ceiling.

Member states like the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany are only emitting slightly more NOx than their ceilings. While other Member States like Ireland, Austria and Belgium are missing their ceilings by as much as 60%. Additional measures are expected to be implemented by several member states to reduce the number projected to exceed their ceilings.

Even with these changes taking place, five member states (Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland and Spain) will not be meeting their ceilings. However ceilings are generally being met and they are making good progress.

[Via: EEA]

IMEC and BP Solar demonstrate 18% conversion on Mono2 silicon

October 6th, 2009 | Posted in Solar

bpsolar imec

IMEC and BP Solar announced a successful demonstration of 18% conversion efficiency for BP Solar's latest development – the Mono2 silicon. Combining IMEC's advanced processing techniques and BP Solar's high quality low-cost substrates, the two companies demonstrated good potential from the Mono2 to become the new base material for low-cost high efficiency solar cells.

The new Mono2 production process show a promising new wafer platform for solar cells with potential to become an alternative for more expensive silicon substrates. The resulting product combines low defect densities and high conversion efficiencies with costs comparable to those of traditional multicrystalline substrates. Mono2 production includes a proprietary process developed by IMEC, which results in single crystal bricks and wafers achieving preferred crystallographic orientations – this is the feature that allows improved solar cell efficiencies. The 18% conversion efficiency has been achieved with solar cells much thinner than industry standard products.

BP Solar is going to be one of the companies that will try to leverage the new production technology for more efficient solar cells.

DoE introduces new collaboration aimed at using waste energy from oil drilling

October 5th, 2009 | Posted in Geothermal

rmotc US Department of Energy announced a new collaboration effort aimed at generating electricity from geothermal sources stemming from oil drilling operations. DoE's Office of Fossil Energy (FE) will merge efforts and research resources of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's (EERE) Geothermal Technologies Program and try to demonstrate how low temperature geothermal power generation systems, using co-produced water from oilfield operations at FE's Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center (RMOTC), can be used to produce clean electricity.

EERE will provide the funds for the purchase of geothermal electricity produced by an Ormat Technologies unit. RMOTC will server as an optimal test facility for geothermal technologies.

The new system will use wasted water into an energy resource. How? The used water is hot, carrying significant heat energy, that would otherwise be discarded. For every barrel of oil, about ten barrels of heated waste water are created. The generated electricity will be used to power oilfield installations and equipment, making them self-sustainable in terms of power consumption, and make their operation cleaner (a bit ironic). All the operational and performance data will be collected and made available to the public, emphasizing the significance of co-produced water as an energy source.

Possible increase in solar energy use at 25-30% per year

October 4th, 2009 | Posted in Solar

solar panel At the opening of the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC), one of the topics discussed was the possibility that annual growth for solar could increase by 25-30% per year, according to European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) President – Wilfrid Hoffman.

This growth in solar can only be achieved if the solar industry works hard on increasing volumes, according to Hoffman.

But if the solar industry wants to see penetration of over 6%, their efforts alone will not be enough. Large amounts of solar can only become viable if Europe implements smart grids and energy storage. The feed-in tariffs also play an important role.

Hoffman said that it is very had to define and "it's not a specific number," when he was asked about when solar would reach grid-parity. It all depends on the regions looked at and whether or not peak or off peak power prices are being looked at. In fact, in several places the solar industry has reached grid parity, suggested Hoffman. However, he feels that it is not the time to cut off feed-in tariffs and that they will need to remain in place for some time.

Relying on the German market alone should be avoided, added Joachim Nick-Lepin at the German Federal Environmental Ministry – France, Italy and Greece are also taking positive steps in the solar power industry.

[Via: RenewableEnergyFocus]

Global biofuels growth to double by 2015

October 4th, 2009 | Posted in Biomass

Global use of biofuels is excepted to more than double from 2009 to 2015, according to a new global analysis released by Hart's Global Biofuels Center. Leading the expansion is the United States with a growth of total biofuels use of more than 35%. Brazil will also grow domestically (30%), and more than double export volume. Indonesia and Malaysia will more than double production of palm oil biodiesel, while Germany will remain the largest producer of biofuels in Europe.

Major new contributors to the growth of global biofuels between now and 2015 will include countries like Indonesia, France, China, India, Thailand, Colombia, Malaysia, Philippines and Argentina. First generation ethanol, palm oil biodiesel and rapeseed biodiesel from Europe continue to be the dominant biofuels produced. Hart argues that out of the approximately 170 next-generation biofuels projects around the world that are in some stage of development (operational, under construction or proposed), only 30% of those are actually expected to be operating during the study timeframe.