The Great Lakes of Canada and the U.S. boast growing interest in developing offshore wind farms on their waters. Smaller waves and the absence of corrosive saltwater make the Great Lakes an attractive alternative to ocean developments along the East Coast. Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario are the largest string of freshwater bodies in the world, and the area could support its own offshore industry of manufacturing plants for turbines, installation boats and thousands of windmill parts where traditional industries are dying.
Michigan State University recently released a report concluding that Michigan’s offshore potential is 20 times that of its onshore wind capacity. The University says winds over lakes Michigan, Superior and Huron could spin up to 99,000 turbines and generate as much as 322,000 MW.
Likewise, Cleveland has conducted a feasibility study related to a proposed farm with two to 20 turbines on Lake Erie. The emphasis there is on manufacturing jobs created by erecting such a farm. Ohio wants to supply forests of turbines throughout the lakes with parts and service.
In Toronto, Trillium Power Energy Corp. is planning a wind farm for Lake Ontario, with about 140 turbines able to generate 700 megawatts (MW) of electricity – enough to power 200,000 homes. A shortage of barges is a barrier to entry, so Trillium plans to build its own installation barge. John Kourtoff, Trillium’s president and CEO, said construction could begin in two years.
New York City is currently one of the most light-polluted cities, according to the International Dark-Sky Association (Photo: Flickr)
Motion sensors, dimmers, lighting timers and more efficient lighting are New York City’s latest answer to rising energy costs and concerns about climate change. New York City is currently one of the country’s most light-polluted cities, according to the International Dark-Sky Association, but that may be changing soon. The New York State Assembly passed legislation in June requiring that new outdoor lighting have shields that reduce glare and waste. City Councilman Alan J. Gerson has introduced a variety of similar measures, and the first of the proposals could be taken up as early as this month.
The commercial and residential sectors have been taking action as well, with companies like Incisive Media and The Associated Press using strategies such as dividing floors into zones for overhead lighting so that not all of the space has to be lit or dark at a given time. Similarly, landlords have found that implementing more energy efficient technologies in their buildings is a selling point with tenants, especially those that pay their own electricity bills, and many tenants are installing more efficient lights themselves. Additionally, the cost of efficient lighting technology - motion sensors, timers, LEDs, halogens, and compact fluorescent bulbs - is falling, and in some cases, it now only takes two years to recoup the investment. Of particular help are rebates from state agencies and utilities aiming to reduce consumption in order to relieve stress on the electric grid and avoid construction of expensive power plants.
Other cities have been looking at the issue of waste in lighting as well. San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin recently proposed a law that would force businesses in the city’s downtown skyscrapers to turn off unnecessary lights at night.
Typical solar panels reflect sunlight and do not absorb all colors (Photo: Flickr)
Researchers at Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute recently developed an innovative new coating for solar cells that absorbs more than 96 percent of available sunlight, compared to uncoated panels which typically absorb around 67 percent. The material works by absorbing light from every angle, capturing sunlight regardless of the sun’s position in the sky. This not only improves efficiency but also obviates the need for expensive mechanization used to rotate panels. Additionally, current technology requires solar panels to be installed only on south facing roofs or areas which receive copious direct sunlight, whereas the new coating could change all this.
A nanoengineered technology, the coating is made up of seven extremely thin layers of porous material stacked in a way that enhances the anti-reflective properties of the layer below, trapping light from all angles. The coating also absorbs light across a broader color spectrum than regular panels. Physics professor Shawn-Yu Lin explains, “If you look at a solar panel, it looks a bit bluish, telling you not all of the blue color is being absorbed. It should look totally dark.”
By increasing the efficiency of existing solar panels, the coating offers a potential way to save money and boost electricity generation without investing in an all-new system. Once developed, the new coating could be applied to almost any photovoltaic material and researchers anticipate that the product could be on the market within the next 2 to 3 years.
The U.S. Forest Service has enrolled its Rutland headquarters in the nation’s first manure-based farm-to-consumer energy program, Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS) Cow Power. The program has about 4,000 customers and will fund farm-producers who supply renewable energy, other renewable products, or incentives to help more farms get into the energy business. The Cow Power process works to capture methane, which is 72 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, and turn it into energy. Manure and other agricultural waste are held in a sealed concrete tank at the same temperature as a cow’s stomach, (101 degrees), while bacteria digest the volatile components, creating methane and killing pathogens and weed seeds. The methane then fuels a generator, putting this powerful greenhouse gas to good use.
The funds will be paid through a four cent per kilowatt hour premium, and customers can choose to receive all, half, or a quarter of their electricity through Cow Power. The Forest Service has elected to receive 25% of their electricity through cow power, costing them $2,100 more for electricity per year, a bold statement which the Forest Service hopes will encourage renewable energy development. The money goes to participating farm-producers to purchase renewable energy credits when enough farm energy isn’t available, or to the CVPS Renewable Development Fund. Farm-producers are also paid 95% of the market price for all of the energy sold to CVPS.
“Energy Efficiency, Innovation and Job Creation in California,” a report by David Roland-Holst
Energy efficiency efforts in California over the past thirty years have created or saved 1.5 million jobs and added $45 billion to payrolls in the state, according to a report from David Roland-Holst of the Center for Energy, Resources and Economic Sustainability at the University of California, Berkeley.
The report, called “Energy Efficiency, Innovation and Job Creation in California,” said that if California improves energy efficiency by one percent per year and meets proposed cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, it will create 403,000 jobs by 2020 and increase the state’s gross product by $76 billion. California aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
According to Roland-Holst, when people save money on utility bills and gasoline, it frees up money for buying other things. Money spent locally on hairdressers or at restaurants goes further to spur the economy than spending money on energy, which is less labor-intensive and often sends money out of state and out of the country, said Roland-Holst.
Roland-Holst based his findings on household spending on electricity since the 1970s. California’s efficiency policies have cut per capita electricity use in the state 40% below the U.S. national average, the report said.
Google recently filed a patent for a “water-based data center” that uses the ocean to provide power and cooling. The patent confirms Google’s development of a container-based data center, and Google says the data center containers could be stacked two or more high, so that each data barge could hold “12 or more” containers. The patent documents describe a cooling system based on sea-powered pumps and seawater-to-freshwater heat exchangers.
A sketch from Google’s patent application for a floating data center.
(Photo: Google)
The floating data centers would be located 3 to 7 miles from shore, in 50 to 70 meters of water. If successful, this approach could be used to build 40 megawatt data centers that don’t require real estate, aren’t subject to property taxes and may not be subject to the same laws as data centers on land. Google said it would use signaling mechanisms such as strobing lights, flags, and horns to alert ships of the location of its data centers. In contrast, Google’s competitor, IDS (International Data Security), plans to build up to 50 data centers on de-commissioned cargo ships moored at piers in major cities.
The Google design incorporates the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter units, which use the motion of ocean surface waves to create electricity and can be combined to form “wave farms.” Diagrams included with Google’s patent application indicate the company plans to combine 40 or more Pelamis units to produce 40 megawatts of power.
Google previously was granted a patent for a portable data center inside a shipping container, which the company began developing in 2003, well before competitors began unveiling products based on the “data center in a box” concept.
Google has also announced earlier this year that it would partner with five other companies in building an undersea communications cable across the Pacific to provide high-speed connectivity to new Google data centers in Asia.
Reminder: Applications for the 6th Annual Flex Your Power Awards Due October 17!
Businesses, organizations and public agencies across California are taking steps to save energy and reduce operating costs, and we think this hard work deserves recognition. Flex Your Power is seeking applications for our 6th Annual Flex Your Power Awards to highlight the achievements of California’s energy efficiency and peak demand response leaders. Award winners will be highlighted in a special online advertising campaign, recognized at Flex Your Power’s annual awards ceremony, showcased on our website, featured in e-Newswire, and considered for inclusion in our best practices guides. Learn more about the awards and submit your application online by visiting our awards page. Applications are due October 17, 2008.
Video: Cline Cellars Eliminates Electricity Bill With Efficiency and Rooftop Solar System
On a recent visit to the Sonoma wine country, my wife and I visited Cline Cellars, along Highway 121, in the Carneros Valley. We’ve gone back because they make great, affordable wines, but, to be honest, even if that weren’t the case, I’d return to show off Cline’s sustainability measures to visiting family and friends.
Cline is at the vanguard of an ever-growing contingent of California wineries that have installed solar. In fact, as we’ve written about in e-Newswire, California’s wineries are adding solar power at a rate estimated to be more than 40 times faster than California businesses in general. They’ve done so to hedge against rising electricity bills and to reduce their carbon footprints, yes, but many of them also realize that, if they don’t act, climate change threatens their very existence.
At Cline, they’ve covered the roof of their 50,000-sq.-ft warehouse with a 411-kilowatt solar electric system. Installed in 2005 by SolarCraft, the system eliminates Cline’s annual electricity bill. The winery expects to be cash positive on their solar investment in just a few years (they estimate a 5- to 6-year payback).
Cline Cellars’ 411-kW rooftop PV installation supplies 100% of the winery’s annual electricity use (Photo: Justin Gerdes)
Prudently, Cline was careful to reduce its electricity demand before installing solar panels. SolarCraft assessed Cline’s consumption and then advised the winery to install energy-efficient lighting throughout its warehouse and fermentation buildings.
In between the rooftop solar panels and the barrels of zinfandel and syrah aging below in the warehouse sits an insulated urethane foam roof that reduces summer cooling costs by up to 30%. The foam roof works remarkably well. Stepping into the warehouse on a 98-degree July day, my wife and I were wrapped in a blanket of cool air. Responding to a question from our tour group, the guide assured us that the AC wasn’t on.
Here’s a short video produced by RenewableEnergyWorld.com in which Todd Miklos with Advanced Energy, a partner with SolarCraft on the solar project, talk’s about Cline’s decision to go solar:
Posted by Justin Gerdes at 4:32pm on 09/19/08. Email story
Video: New Solar Cell Uses Nanoattenas to Capture Infrared Light and Generate Electricity
INL researcher Steven Novack holds a plastic sheet of nanoantenna arrays (Photo: Idaho National Laboratory)
Dr. Steven Novack of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), along with partners at Microcontinuum Inc. and Patrick Pinhero of the University of Missouri, are developing a way to collect energy from the sun using an infrared antenna — a spiral structure a few nanometers across (as wide as 1/25th the diameter of a human hair). The new technology could potentially cost pennies a yard, be stamped by the billion on flexible materials such as plastic sheets (see picture at right), shaped to coat anything from cars to portable electronic devices and still draw energy after the sun has set.
Traditional solar cells capture visible and ultraviolet light to knock electrons free from atoms, allowing the electrons to form a useful direct current. Infrared radiation causes electrons to vibrate, acting as an alternating current. If Novack and the other researchers can develop nanorectifiers small enough to convert the alternating current to direct current — technology that is several years away, Novack says — then a cheaper, more efficient alternative to traditional solar cells would be at hand.
Because infrared radiation is emitted by hot objects other than the sun — power plants, buildings, computers and other electronic gadgets — nanoattenas could be used as cooling tool, absorbing infrared rays and then re-emitting them. The nanoattenas could, therefore, save energy by obviating the need for an external power source to cool buildings or computers, and by capturing waste heat from a coal-fired power plant.
Here’s a short INL video that describes Novack’s nanoattena arrays breakthrough:
LED-Based Lighting System Promises to Slash Greenhouse Energy Bills
A Danish researcher has developed an LED-based lighting system that could sharply reduce greenhouse electricity bills (Photo: Idaho Office of Energy Resources)
Nearly 300 growers sell cut flowers and foliage in California. To protect their plants from extreme cold, many of the growers shelter flowers indoors, in greenhouses that cover 38 million square feet in the state, mostly along the coast.
In a dispatch from Copenhagen, where he was attending the Copenmind conference, Greentech Media’s Michael Kanellos, recently profiled a new LED-based lighting system that could drastically cut the power consumption in greenhouses.
The system, the work of John Erland Ostergaard, a professor at the University of Southern Denmark, uses microcontrollers to adjust the amount of red and blue light — the part of the light spectrum that plants need to grow optimally. The amount of red and blue light is tweaked according to time of day, weather, plant species and time of the year. The technology could allow plants to grow faster in the winter, as it simulates summertime conditions.
Not only should the technology help boost productivity, according to Ostergaard greenhouses can use the LEDs to cut lighting electricity consumption by 80% or more. For example, in his study, the LEDs consumed only 71 watts, compared with a typical grow light, which would have consumed 510 watts — an 86% savings.
The large energy savings stem, in part, from the fact that the LEDs put out only the light necessary for growth. Ordinary grow lights put out a broad spectrum of light, much of which is not used by the plant.
Posted by Stacey Meinzen at 4:20pm on 09/11/08. Email story
