Acme Group is on track to get the first half of its first 10 MW solar thermal power plant in Rajasthan online at the beginning of 2010. Acme has active plans for a further 230 MW, and thinks it can really bring the cost down.
Acme says the initial plant will cost about $3.14 million per megawatt, but can reduce costs to $1.68 million per megawatt as more projects get built. That's partly because of economies of scale and lower cost for materials in India, but more because of the nation's new National Solar Mission, which establishes new feed-in tariffs and financing possibilities.
Although part of the reduction would come with economies of scale, the company founder Upadhyay attributed the rest to India’s new National Solar Mission, which lays the framework for a feed-in-tariff and low-cost funding (see India’s new climate plan aims to set 20 GW solar goal). Those measures could reduce the cost of solar thermal power in India to power to Rs 5.80 ($0.12) per kilowatt-hour by 2015,
The eSolar agreement provides Acme with an exclusive license for India to develop 1,000 MW of solar thermal projects in the next 10 years (see Solar sell-off accelerates). ESolar developed a modular, scalable solar thermal power technology that focuses thousands of mirrors on a single point to efficiently harvest the sun’s energy and reduce costs. Acme is building a 5-MW plant in Maharashtra and has signed memorandums of understanding to build a 110-MW plant in Gujarat and a 100-MW plant in Madhya Pradesh.
Acme has exclusive license for up to 1,000 MW of plants using this technology. Looks like things are beginning to look bright in power starved India?
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Live bridges
There are plenty of examples of living in harmony with nature. And there are plenty of ways to destroy nature like we do in our cities. In the forests of Meghalaya, India, the War-Khasis people have discovered a patient way of crossing the many rivers of their wet region. By guiding the roots of an abundant species of rubber tree, they were able to create a living system of bridges that are in some cases over one hundred feet long and can support the weight of 50 people.
This graceful solution came from a people who saw a problem and solved it using their surrounding environment. The roots are woven and guided in hollowed out betel nut trunks until they reach and grab onto the opposite banks. Over time these root systems become strong enough to support the daily movement of people across the rivers.
Maybe it is time we think of how we can have our roads and save the trees. Any ideas anyone?
Pedal and charge
A recent study concluded that it’s dangerous to text while driving.
What about texting while bicycling? That’s also not advised, but a device from a company called PedalPower+ will charge your Blackberry while you ride. It also will charge your iPod.
The device, similar to the old school dynamo systems used to power headlamps via the back wheel of a bike, also stores generated power in a battery and will charge with solar panels even when you’re not riding, according to a report from the Austrailian Broadcasting Corp.
Gizmag, a technology blog, explains that developers spent three years working on PedalPower+, to work out the kinks of safely regulating current to electronic devices via a spinning bike tire.
As a result, the patented technology will charge a mobile phone from flat to finish in about two hours, the company says.
Right now, the devices are only available Down Under. But the company says it’s setting up distributors in the United States and Europe.
Every little bit that diverts users away from the main grid helps. Just like the solar flowers that help charge mobiles and laptops we told you about. It is time we took school/college projects seriously and started implementing them. Perhaps it is time the main grid power is reserved for essential uses only.
What about texting while bicycling? That’s also not advised, but a device from a company called PedalPower+ will charge your Blackberry while you ride. It also will charge your iPod.
The device, similar to the old school dynamo systems used to power headlamps via the back wheel of a bike, also stores generated power in a battery and will charge with solar panels even when you’re not riding, according to a report from the Austrailian Broadcasting Corp.
Gizmag, a technology blog, explains that developers spent three years working on PedalPower+, to work out the kinks of safely regulating current to electronic devices via a spinning bike tire.
As a result, the patented technology will charge a mobile phone from flat to finish in about two hours, the company says.
Right now, the devices are only available Down Under. But the company says it’s setting up distributors in the United States and Europe.
Every little bit that diverts users away from the main grid helps. Just like the solar flowers that help charge mobiles and laptops we told you about. It is time we took school/college projects seriously and started implementing them. Perhaps it is time the main grid power is reserved for essential uses only.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Friendly cement, helpful bacteria
Green cements and low carbon cements have been on the anvil but now, a Stanford Professor has invented a new type of cement that is carbon neutral—a huge innovation for a material whose production process normally spews vast amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere.
But Novacem, a British spin-out, is attempting to make a cement that actually sequesters carbon. Low carbon cement is needed not only for buildings, but for also for binding together concrete freeway overpasses.
Novacem’s cement will actually absorb more carbon dioxide over its life cycle than it emits. Instead of using limestone; they make cement from magnesium silicates which don’t emit CO2 in manufacture but actually absorb carbon dioxide as they age.
In yet another promising find, a new desalination process will generate electricity as well as clean water, according to a team of researchers from the US and China.
The team uses a microbial fuel cell, which uses bacteria to convert wastewater into clean water and electricity, to desalinate salt water.
Instead of requiring an electrical input and high water pressure to desalinate water, the new process uses organic matter to remove 90% of salt from brackish water or seawater. Typical microbial fuel cells have two chambers – one containing wastewater or other nutrients and the other water – each fitted with an electrode. Bacteria in the wastewater consume the organic material, generating electricity in the process.
In the new process a third chamber containing seawater is added to the fuel cell in between the other chambers, separated by ion-specific membranes. When the bacteria consume the wastewater, charged ions are produced, which are separated by the membranes. Some are consumed at the electrodes – desalinating the water in the central chamber and generating a current.
Not yet a practical system, there is proof of concept, as the team says.
Bacteria are the original inhabitants of the planet, we have merely inherited the earth from them. No wonder they have a few tricks up their sleeve, which we are only beginning to understand. Bacteria is also being used to convert cellulose to biofuel.
But Novacem, a British spin-out, is attempting to make a cement that actually sequesters carbon. Low carbon cement is needed not only for buildings, but for also for binding together concrete freeway overpasses.
Novacem’s cement will actually absorb more carbon dioxide over its life cycle than it emits. Instead of using limestone; they make cement from magnesium silicates which don’t emit CO2 in manufacture but actually absorb carbon dioxide as they age.
In yet another promising find, a new desalination process will generate electricity as well as clean water, according to a team of researchers from the US and China.
The team uses a microbial fuel cell, which uses bacteria to convert wastewater into clean water and electricity, to desalinate salt water.
Instead of requiring an electrical input and high water pressure to desalinate water, the new process uses organic matter to remove 90% of salt from brackish water or seawater. Typical microbial fuel cells have two chambers – one containing wastewater or other nutrients and the other water – each fitted with an electrode. Bacteria in the wastewater consume the organic material, generating electricity in the process.
In the new process a third chamber containing seawater is added to the fuel cell in between the other chambers, separated by ion-specific membranes. When the bacteria consume the wastewater, charged ions are produced, which are separated by the membranes. Some are consumed at the electrodes – desalinating the water in the central chamber and generating a current.
Not yet a practical system, there is proof of concept, as the team says.
Bacteria are the original inhabitants of the planet, we have merely inherited the earth from them. No wonder they have a few tricks up their sleeve, which we are only beginning to understand. Bacteria is also being used to convert cellulose to biofuel.
Monday, August 10, 2009
5000 MW solar power for Gujarat
The Clinton Foundation proposes to generate about 5,000 megawatt of power is way larger than India's biggest power project of 3,260MW in Vindyachal. The biggest solar power plant planned so far is a 160MW project in Portugal.
Gujarat has decided to allocate 1,500 hectares of land in the desert and a small stretch in Santalpur in Bankaskantha district. The Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation will create infrastructure for the ambitious `Solar Park'.
Companies are queueing up for setting up plants largely due to the incentives offered in the state’s new Solar Power Policy, including exemption from electricity duty and demand cut of 50% of the installed capacity. Units that start production before December 31, 2010, can avail these concessions.
Also thrown in is a guarantee to buy power for 12 years at its production cost Rs 13 per unit for photovoltaic projects and Rs 10 per unit for thermal projects. Apart from Kutch, the Clinton Foundation is also exploring the international borders in Banaskantha and Patan districts. A joint study conducted by the foundation and Tata Energy Research Institute shows that Kutch offers the best solar radiation.
With the potential of solar energy in India, it cannot afford to ignore this technology. Incentives like the above will get more players into the arena while the buyback at production cost makes solar power attractive.
The other important aspect is that of climate change. While placing the onus of responsibility, India cannot expect to get away with zero liability for current emissions beyond 2012. It would be good to take a pointer from China, which is working to reduce emissions through a strategic relationship with the US. Encouraging renewable energy through substantial incentives is one way to achieve this.
Despite global recession and for the tenth straight year CO2 emissions keep rising. Global carbon dioxide emissions in 2008 rose 1.94 percent year-on-year to 31.5 billion metric tons, according to a Reuters report. The German renewable energy industry institute which research also has a solution: Stop trying to curb industrial activity and instead tie renewable energy investment to CO2 emissions.
IWR said that "Kyoto is not working out" -- rather than falling, emissions have climbed some 40% based on 1990 levels -- but that trying to persuade countries to slow industrial activity will only result in bickering and hostility. Instead investment in renewable energy needs to be tied to the amount of emissions a country is producing -- nations with higher CO2 emissions having to make greater investments in renewable energy.
IWR recommended that the $170.3 billion invested in renewable energy in 2008 will have to be increased to about $710 billion per year to prevent catastrophic climate change.
Gujarat has decided to allocate 1,500 hectares of land in the desert and a small stretch in Santalpur in Bankaskantha district. The Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation will create infrastructure for the ambitious `Solar Park'.
Companies are queueing up for setting up plants largely due to the incentives offered in the state’s new Solar Power Policy, including exemption from electricity duty and demand cut of 50% of the installed capacity. Units that start production before December 31, 2010, can avail these concessions.
Also thrown in is a guarantee to buy power for 12 years at its production cost Rs 13 per unit for photovoltaic projects and Rs 10 per unit for thermal projects. Apart from Kutch, the Clinton Foundation is also exploring the international borders in Banaskantha and Patan districts. A joint study conducted by the foundation and Tata Energy Research Institute shows that Kutch offers the best solar radiation.
With the potential of solar energy in India, it cannot afford to ignore this technology. Incentives like the above will get more players into the arena while the buyback at production cost makes solar power attractive.
The other important aspect is that of climate change. While placing the onus of responsibility, India cannot expect to get away with zero liability for current emissions beyond 2012. It would be good to take a pointer from China, which is working to reduce emissions through a strategic relationship with the US. Encouraging renewable energy through substantial incentives is one way to achieve this.
Despite global recession and for the tenth straight year CO2 emissions keep rising. Global carbon dioxide emissions in 2008 rose 1.94 percent year-on-year to 31.5 billion metric tons, according to a Reuters report. The German renewable energy industry institute which research also has a solution: Stop trying to curb industrial activity and instead tie renewable energy investment to CO2 emissions.
IWR said that "Kyoto is not working out" -- rather than falling, emissions have climbed some 40% based on 1990 levels -- but that trying to persuade countries to slow industrial activity will only result in bickering and hostility. Instead investment in renewable energy needs to be tied to the amount of emissions a country is producing -- nations with higher CO2 emissions having to make greater investments in renewable energy.
IWR recommended that the $170.3 billion invested in renewable energy in 2008 will have to be increased to about $710 billion per year to prevent catastrophic climate change.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Peak oil in 10 years
How long will oil last? Or, when will see it peak? A few decades? Maybe earlier, going by what IEA chief Fatih Birol says. Oil will peak in ten years, he says in an interview.
The first detailed assessment of more than 800 oil fields in the world, covering three quarters of global reserves, has found that most of the biggest fields have already peaked and that the rate of decline in oil production is now running at nearly twice the pace as calculated just two years ago.
"One day we will run out of oil, it is not today or tomorrow, but one day we will run out of oil and we have to leave oil before oil leaves us, and we have to prepare ourselves for that day," Dr Birol said. "The earlier we start, the better, because all of our economic and social system is based on oil, so to change from that will take a lot of time and a lot of money and we should take this issue very seriously," he said.
The IEA estimates that the decline in oil production in existing fields is now running at 6.7 per cent a year compared to the 3.7 per cent decline it had estimated in 2007, which it now acknowledges to be wrong.
In its first-ever assessment of the world's major oil fields, the IEA concluded that the global energy system was at a crossroads and that consumption of oil was "patently unsustainable", with expected demand far outstripping supply.
How equipped are we for a shift to other fuels?
The first detailed assessment of more than 800 oil fields in the world, covering three quarters of global reserves, has found that most of the biggest fields have already peaked and that the rate of decline in oil production is now running at nearly twice the pace as calculated just two years ago.
"One day we will run out of oil, it is not today or tomorrow, but one day we will run out of oil and we have to leave oil before oil leaves us, and we have to prepare ourselves for that day," Dr Birol said. "The earlier we start, the better, because all of our economic and social system is based on oil, so to change from that will take a lot of time and a lot of money and we should take this issue very seriously," he said.
The IEA estimates that the decline in oil production in existing fields is now running at 6.7 per cent a year compared to the 3.7 per cent decline it had estimated in 2007, which it now acknowledges to be wrong.
In its first-ever assessment of the world's major oil fields, the IEA concluded that the global energy system was at a crossroads and that consumption of oil was "patently unsustainable", with expected demand far outstripping supply.
How equipped are we for a shift to other fuels?
India's first wave power project
India may be high up there among the top greenhouse gas emitters but there are many attempts to wean away from fossil fuel dependence. In what is a first for the country, the Maharashtra Energy Development Agency (Meda) has commissioned a wave energy project in Guhagar area of Konkan region. Implemented by private company Apar Urja, the pilot project can generate 25 kW with a initial cost of Rs 40 lakh. This will soon be upgraded to generate 250 kW and then 1 MW by August 2009 after which commercial generation will be commenced.
Around 150 sites have been identified along the state coast for similar projects.
The cost of power generated according to the state ministry of non-conventional sources is Rs 1/KWh which means it si cheaper than conventional power. The technology makes it possible to harvest energy of low energy waves also by tapping both upward and horizontal thrust of waves, unlike existing plants, says the company.
The centre has announced big plans to save 10,000 MW by 2012 through energy efficiency measures. To start with, air conditioners and refrigerators will have to mandatorily exhibit efficiency labelling by next year. More appliances will be included soon.
Meanwhile, Karnataka has plans of formulating a renewable energy policy. Solar technologies in domestic, public and institutional buildings, a green cess to be used to fund more renewable energy projects, energy conservation and efficiency measures to release 1000 MW, etc have been proposed. Some aspects need more detailed structural definitions while some like processing fee and extension fee could be reduced. But overall, such moves indicate an encouraging trend in the country.
With a renewable energy law to be enacted at the centre, things are poised for a change. What do you think is the push needed to set things going for renewable energy? More laws? More incentives? More new technology? Innovative financing?
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