Electric Car Charging Stations Network
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010
Electric cars are not going to be popular unless they can be charged with a minimum of ease at charging stations. That means setting up a network of charging stations just like existing network of fuel pumps. So far, nobody seems to have taken a lead in creating such a network, including governments.
It is in this context that the eVgo initiative NRG Energy becomes significant. Under the initiative, the company is building the first privately funded, comprehensive electric vehicle ecosystem. There will be two types of charging stations:
* Freedom stations that will have Level 2 and DC chargers available 24/7 and
* Convenience stations hosted by retailers with Level 2 chargers available during their working hours
The company’s goal statement says: “Our goal is to provide complete range confidence across the metropolitan areas where eVgo operates. That means placing charging stations at the city center and at locations extending outward along major thoroughfares and at strategic destination points. In Houston, for example, charging stations are near the city center, at 25 miles out in all directions, and at points in between.”
Single family homes can have home charging docks. The company is now inviting the public to suggest retail and multifamily community locations for the eVgo stations, and planning to invest $10 million in expanding the network to cover the whole of Houston. Ironically, $10 million is not likely to be adequate for setting up more than two conventional fuel stations.
Tags: electric vehicles, ev charging stations, fossil fuels
Posted in business, clean technology, energy distribution, environment | No Comments »
Water for Saudi Arabia through Solar Power and Nanotech
Tuesday, November 16th, 2010
Saudi Arabia meets its water requirements through desalination of sea water. The desalination is done using an 80-year old oil-powered technology. The desalinated water is pumped through 4157 kilometers of pipelines and employs 29 pumping stations and 168 reservoirs.
The oil needed to generate the electricity for operating this huge setup is considerable and tends to deplete the country’s oil reserves. To eliminate this problem, Saudi Arabia wants to employ concentrated solar power to replace oil-powered desalination.
Another innovation visualized is the use of nanotech membranes in the desalination process. Researchers at California University in the U.S. have designed nanoparticles to create a membrane that does not clog easily. Using such membranes for water purification can cut energy use significantly.
Saudi Arabia is setting up facilities at the country’s universities for nanotech research. It wants to develop the technology for petrochemical and desalination industries in particular. In fact, the country has already launched its first nanotech company for producing nano-membranes for these industries.
Saudi Arabia hopes to develop skilled nanotech researchers locally so that the country need not depend on foreign technology for its two key requirements, petrochemicals for revenue generation and desalinated water for it survival.
Read about the developments at the Green Prophet Website.
Tags: nano-membrane, saudi universities, solar power
Posted in energy efficiency, environment, nanotechnology | 2 Comments »
Half the Energy Needs of Europe from the Oceans?
Saturday, October 30th, 2010
The Marine Board Vision Document, Marine Renewable Energy sees Europe sourcing 50% of its electricity needs from renewable ocean energy, through offshore wind, wave and tidal energy. Such a scenario will have and impact not only on the quality of environment through reducing carbon dioxide emissions and other result but also on energy security, economic and technological development and jobs creation in Europe.
The vision document was presented at the Eurocean 2010 Conference at Ostend during October. The conference sought to highlight the role of the seas and oceans in the earth and climate system and as an important source of wealth and job creation for Europe.
Issues such as sustainable seafood harvest, opportunities from marine biotechnology, blue energy, marine transport, human health, environmental and conservationist challenges such as climate change and marine biodiversity, and governance issues such as maritime spatial planning and importance of international cooperation make the oceans and marine research key focus areas.
Among other things, the conference highlighted the need for clear identification of economic and social benefits arising from marine research and communication of research outputs in a useful and usable format.
Marine Board Position Paper Marine Biotechnology: A New Vision and Strategy for Europe was also presented at the conference. Developments in genomics have created new research possibilities and priorities, for example.
Read about the conference at Afloat, Ireland’s sailing and boating magazine.
Tags: marine biotechnology, oceans, renewable energy
Posted in biotechnology, energy generation, environment, marine life research, renewable energy | No Comments »
Electric Vehicles: Why they are Superior
Sunday, October 24th, 2010
The energy needed by Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) in our cars comes from fossil fuels, which are not only getting exhausted but are also causing harm to the environment through their emissions. Electricity, on the other hand, can be generated from many sources, including sustainable sources such as sunlight, wind and ocean tides. Vehicles that are powered by electricity are thus superior in terms of sustainability to ICE powered vehicles.
Electric vehicles cover a wide range of vehicles that use electric motors (rather than ICEs) for propulsion. The range includes not only cars and trucks but everything from smaller material handling vehicles through trains to spacecraft. Actually, it is only the cars and trucks that are still dominated by ICE power.
Electric vehicles have also the added benefit of converting the energy used in braking to electricity for further use.
Nations are trying to develop economic and convenient electric cars that can perform as well as ICE vehicles. Electric cars are non-polluting and can also free us from dependence on the depleting petroleum resources. As supply of fossil fuels decline, its price can shoot up, as we have already experienced.
An Electric Vehicles Market Research Report analyzes the market for electric vehicles segmented into Battery Powered Electric Vehicles (BPEVs), Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs). It includes a historic analysis of electric vehicles market and forecasts to 2015.
Tags: electric car, electric vehicles, energy, renewable energy
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Cloud Computing: The Green Alternative
Monday, October 18th, 2010
Visualize this scenario: You develop search engine software and install it on your system. The software sends out robot spider programs that crawl the Web and the data they bring back is stored on the system’s disks. An indexer program then analyzes the data and creates an index that is also stored on the disks. You use this index to do all your Web searches.
In addition to creating an infrastructure of computers, software, storage media and networks, you have also hired the programmers to develop and maintain the software, system administrators to administer the huge infrastructure and other required support staff.
The same scenario is repeated in all companies that need to search the Web for information, meaning that there are millions of such setups, each of them consuming huge amounts of energy and also creating huge amounts of e-waste, not to mention competing for the hard to find skilled programmers and system administrators.
Ridiculous scenario, you might comment. Why should all these companies develop and run their own search engines when they can simply access Google, Bing or Yahoo!
That is cloud computing for you. You use a service from an Internet (cloud) provider instead of setting up the whole infrastructure yourself.
Even when the service is not free, i.e. you have to pay for using the service, the total cost is likely to be dramatically less if you obtain the service from such a provider who serves a large number of customers requiring that service. The provider has dedicated (and constantly updated) infrastructure and staff for providing the service. And you pay only for what you use, which will be negligibly lower than what you will spend if you organize the service in-house.
And our planet earth will benefit because energy consumption and e-waste generation is far less.
Read about issues raised by cloud computing at Connecticut Law Tribune Website.
Tags: cloud computing, e-waste, energy savings, global warming, information technology
Posted in cloud computing, environment, information technology | 1 Comment »
Renewable Chemicals: Boon or Bane?
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
Renewable chemicals are produced from agricultural feedstock such as grain and cellulose, i.e. renewable raw materials. Refining these bio products can produce a range of products. Polymers, bio-fuels, green solvents and fibers are examples.
In Brazil, Dow Chemicals has set up a plant to produce ethylene and polyethylene from sugarcane. Bio-plastics made from agricultural feedstock is considered carbon neutral as the carbon dioxide is absorbed while growing the sugarcane to offset the carbon released during the production process and during the final decomposition process. Petroleum based plastics, on the other hand, leave a large carbon footprint, and also contribute to waste accumulation unless they have been treated to be biodegradable.
Production of renewable plastics from agricultural feedstock typically involves processes such as fermentation, dehydration and polymerization. Presently, the renewable chemicals market is dominated by alcohol. Renewable polymers production is the sector that is expected to grow fastest in the immediate future.
Food packaging made with biodegradable plastics made from renewable sources can, in addition to reducing carbon emissions, make municipal waste more manageable. Presently, these have become somewhat unmanageable as even a small quantity of non-biodegradable plastic in the landfills makes it unacceptable for composting.
On the other hand, renewable chemicals using corn and soybean can reduce the availability of food and lead to higher food prices.
Tags: biodegradable plastics, bioplastics, biotechnology, carbon emissions, renewable chemicals
Posted in biotechnology, clean technology, environment | No Comments »
Fuel Cells: Significance and Markets
Monday, September 13th, 2010
Fuel cells can theoretically provide energy for everything from running a power plant to running your computer. And they provide it with high efficiency, low emissions and quietly, with the byproducts being heat and water, not carbon dioxide. It is no wonder that governments, businesses and academic institutions are working towards producing this green source of energy.
In essence, a fuel cell combines hydrogen and oxygen to make water, and generates electricity in the process. And unlike a battery, the chemicals needed for a fuel cell, viz. hydrogen and oxygen, do not get exhausted all that easily. What this means is that the fuel cell is not likely to go dead, unlike the battery.
Fuel cell technologies come in different varieties such as PEMFC, SOFC, AFC, MCFC, PAFC and DMFC. Some are more suited for one purpose while others are best in other contexts, such as transportation systems, large power plants and stationary power generators.
Honda’s concept car based on fuel cells has a reported energy efficiency of 60 percent, i.e. 60 percent of the energy that goes in comes out in the form of moving the car. Compare this to the 20 percent efficiency of the fossil fuel burning car, where most of the energy is wasted as heat and for powering incidentals.
Though a battery-powered electric car has an efficiency of 72 percent, the battery has to be charged using AC power, which has a low efficiency, and the charging process itself causes some loss of efficiency. Compared to the 60 percent overall efficiency of the fuel cell, the net battery efficiency is just 26 percent.(See How Fuel Cells Work).
The research report Fuel Cell Technologies Worldwide provides insights into the end user markets for fuel cells and also the various technologies used for making fuel cells.
Tags: energy efficiency, fuel cell technology, green energy, nanotechnology
Posted in business, clean technology, energy efficiency, energy generation, environment, innovation, nanomaterials, renewable energy | No Comments »
Energy Efficient Cars: A Focus Area in China
Thursday, September 9th, 2010
With its emission reduction commitments, China is exploring different ways to enhance energy efficiency. Recently, the government had ordered the shutting down of energy inefficient factories. The latest news report is that China is now working on new energy vehicles and energy efficient automobiles, with the prospect of 200 million autos on the roads by 2020.
Wang Fuchang, deputy director-general of the equipment industry with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), stated the goal thus: “In the coming 10 years, China should attach great importance to the research and development of core technologies in green vehicles, aiming for a global lead in this field by 2020.”
In pursuit of the goal, China plans to increase the market share of electric vehicles, both pure and plug-in, and also to enhance the competitiveness of energy-efficient automakers and parts producers. According to ministry spokesperson, China now has a head start “in transitioning from research and development to industrialization in the electric vehicle sector.”
In cooperation with MIIT, the ministry is mapping out industry standards and regulations for new energy vehicles, especially electric vehicles.
According to Chen Bin, director of Industry Coordination for the National Development and Reform Commission, China might be faced with an overcapacity in the automobile industry.
Read the full report at People Daily.
Tags: electric cars, emission reduction, energy efficiency, energy efficient vehicles
Posted in business, clean technology, energy efficiency, environment | No Comments »
Challenge to develop the next Generation Power Grid
Thursday, July 15th, 2010
General Electric, in partnership with venture capital firms Emerald Technology Ventures, Foundation Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and RockPort Capital have announced a $200 million innovation challenge. The challenge asks technologists, entrepreneurs and startups to share their best ideas for an electric power grid that will meet the needs of the 21st century. The challenge, announced on July 13, 2010, is named as “GE ecomagination Challenge: Powering the Grid.”
The challenge, open immediately at Ecomagination Website is reportedly one of the largest of challenges ever announced.
The goals are to find ways to reduce the carbon footprint during electricity generation, optimize the flow of energy through distribution systems to minimize power losses and use energy more efficiently through better designed buildings and in other ways.
GE is already offering digital energy grids and wants to make it a comprehensive one by working with ideas generated globally. By accelerating the development of a cleaner, more efficient and economically viable grid through collaboration, GE hopes to “jump-start new ideas and deploy them on a scale that will modernize the electrical grid around the world.”
The fund of $200 million will be invested globally into promising startups and ideas. GE will also help the entrants in other ways. Read the news release at MarketWatch.
Tags: cleaner energy generation, digital electricity grids, energy efficiency, power transmission losses
Posted in business, clean technology, energy distribution, energy efficiency, energy generation, environment, information technology, innovation | 1 Comment »
Energy Innovation: The Next Focus Area for the USA?
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
The members of American Energy Innovation Council (AEIC) include top business leaders such as Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft; Norm Augustine, former Chairman of Lockheed Martin; Ursula Burns, chairman and chief executive of Xerox; John Doerr, partner at Kleiner Perkins; Chad Holliday, chairman of Bank of America and former CEO of DuPont; Jeff Immelt, chief executive of GE; and Tim Solso, chairman and chief executive of Cummins. These leaders have first hand experience of what innovation can do to the country and the world. And they think that the next focus area for US innovation should be in the area of low-cost and clean energy.
AEIC has now produced a report titled “A Business Plan for America’s Energy Future.” The recommendations of the plan include:
- Create a Congressionally mandated Energy Strategy Board charged with (1) developing and monitoring a National Energy Plan for Congress and the executive branch, and (2) oversight of a New Energy Challenge Program.
- Increase investment in clean energy research to more than three times the present amount to $16 billion, to change the present scenario of all the best energy innovations, such as fuel cells, energy storage technologies and wind technologies occurring outside the US.
- …
Read the news release at PR Newswire
Tags: clean energy, energy, energy generation, energy innovation, energy storage
Posted in energy generation, energy storage, environment | 1 Comment »
