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Archive for May, 2011

I was in Germany a little more than a week ago and can tell you from what I saw that Germany (or, at least, Northeast Germany) is a wind turbine paradise. Wind turbines are everywhere it seems (between cities that is).

Germany is the clear wind power leader in Europe with 27,214 MW of installed wind power capacity. (Spain is second with 20,676 MW installed.)

But, even in Germany, wind power could benefit from a better transmission network. Of course, German leaders recognize that and are doing something about it — they are planning to build a wind energy superhighway.

German Wind Energy Superhighway to Connect North & South

“Germany is planning an energy superhighway from north to south to connect its growing wind energy supply with high energy demand regions. Both onshore and offshore wind energy is so far generated primarily in northern Germany, whereas energy consumption is highest in southern and western regions.”

Offshore wind power, in particular, is a high-growth focus of the country. As I reported a couple weeks ago, it is streamlining the approval of offshore wind farms now in order to help that growth along.

“With the goal of 25 GW of electricity from offshore installations by 2030, wind could replace 20 nuclear power stations. This year Germany’s KfW Banking Group is expected to initiate a special program for offshore wind, making EUR 5 billion credit available for the construction of Germany’s first ten offshore parks.” Germany’s first Baltic Sea wind farm went online earlier this month. The 48-MW wind farm — Baltic 1 — will created enough electricity for up to 50,000 homes.

A wind energy superhighway will help make good use of this wind farm and the many more that are planned, efficiently bringing the electricity produced to the locations that need it most.

Nice to see Germany continuing its renewable energy legacy. Hope we will catch up in the U.S. someday.

h/t Crisp Green

Related Stories:

1. Germany Making It Easier to Build Offshore Wind Farms
2. Obama Administration Giving U.S. Offshore Wind Industry a Boost
3. Offshore Wind Power around the World
4. Google Invests $5M in German Solar Power Plant
5. Northern Ireland, Scotland, Germany Announce Big Renewable Energy Targets
6. Wind Power is Making Electricity Cheaper (Exxon: Wind to be Cheapest Source of Electricity)
7. World Wind Power

Photo via jjay69

Disposable batteries have been called a logistical nightmare by the U.S. Army, and for good reason. With the increasing use of electronic gear, today’s foot soldier has to carry more batteries and the weight adds up. The Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency has been actively seeking a solution in the form of portable fuel cells, and now students at the Stevens Institute of Technology are working on a portable reactor that can produce hydrogen for fuel cell batteries, using ordinary ingredients commonly found at Army bases.

The Trouble with Batteries

The Defense Reduction Threat Agency (didn’t know we had one of those, did you?) has been actively pushing for alternatives to conventional batteries for a while now. The military uses at least 100 different types of batteries, which poses challenges for supply and purchasing, shipping and distribution, and disposal in accordance with any applicable environmental regulations. That’s complicated enough for base uses, and it gets even worse when you consider the batteries that troops have to carry into the field. According to the U.S. Army, on a typical 72-hour mission a soldier in Afghanistan carries 70 batteries (70 units, not 70 different kinds), accounting for about 20 percent of the weight they carry. The cost is astronomical, too — for  an infantry battalion, batteries are second in cost only to munitions.

Safer Hydrogen Production for the Military

Fuel cells run on hydrogen, and the problem for the military is that hydrogen stored in containers is highly volatile. It’s not the safest thing to have around a base in a combat area. One solution is to produce it on an as-needed basis, but the conventional means of hydrogen production is complex and somewhat risky, therefore also not suitable for use in the field. The Stevens team set out to tackle these two problems. Using a microfabrication process like those used to manufacture plasma TV sets, they designed a microreactor that uses a less risky process involving a lower temperature and pressure than is typically required. It produces hydrogen only as needed, practically eliminating the risk of creating a volatile target.

Sustainable Fuel Cells

So far, the team has produced hydrogen from methanol. The eventual goal is to develop a process that uses ordinary fuels that are typically found on military bases, such as butane or propane. The Stevens research does not address the issue of fossil fuels vs. biofuels as a feedstock, but given the rapid advances in biofuel research – to say nothing of the potential for using solar power – it is likely that the microreactor of the future will be powered by renewable energy.

Portable Fuel Cells for Everyone

Given the tendency of advances in military technology to cross over into civilian use, it’s also likely that us ordinary citizens will eventually be able to ditch batteries in favor of pocket-sized fuel cells such as one under development at Oxford University. Raytheon’s foray into wearable fuel cells for soldiers is another crossover example with plenty of civilian potential.

Related Articles:

• Is That a Fuel Cell in Your Pocket, Or Are You Just Glad to See Me?
• New Discovery: Producing Hydrogen from Natural Gas, Sans CO2 Emissions

Image: Batteries by moria

Wind power needs to be and will likely be a key source of electricity in the near future (and already is in some places). As legendary business leader Ted Turner said at the U.S. WINDPOWER conference in California yesterday, embracing renewable energy such as wind, solar, geothermal is an “even more of an obvious business decision for him today than launching eventual cable giant CNN was in 1980.” Turner stated, “I’ve never seen anything more clear as the case for wind, solar, and geothermal.”

However, Turner and several others stated the clear need to provide wind power (and other renewables) with the same policy security that fossil fuels and nuclear have received for several decades.

“They must be long-term incentives so we can plan intelligently,” Turner said.

Here’s a short video with little more from Turner (from the WINDPOWER conference) on wind and solar power:

Wind’s most important incentive, the Production Tax Credit, gets one or two year extensions repeatedly and has even been allowed to expire. This incentive and others like it need long-term, 10- and 20-year policies, at least, to ensure stability in the energy market for investors.

American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) CEO Denise Bode made this point emphatically in an interview on FOX News recently that I highlighted (video included) one month ago.

The Production Tax Credit will expire again at the end of 2012 if not extended. Hopefully, Congress can use some common sense (for a short time, at least) and extend the tax credit for a long period of time finally, along with other stable policies that make it clear the government is not just paying lip service to clean energy while handing cash to coal and oil behind its back.

Related Stories:

1. American Wind Energy Association CEO Denise Bode Takes on FOX News (on FOX News), Body Slams Them
2. U.S. Wind Energy 2010 Summary
3. World Wind Power

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that wind power is growing fast in the United States (and worldwide). Under the Bush administration, a goal of getting 20% of our electricity from wind by 2030 was set and we are currently ahead of schedule on that. However, a lot of people wonder, where are these wind turbines being made? Is this creating jobs in the U.S. or in China?

Well, clearly, if our federal government (in particular, Congress) did more to support clean energy, we would be creating more jobs in the U.S. Even without this, though, the wind industry is creating more and more jobs in the U.S. and helping to grow our economy.

Here’s a little more from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), which is hosting a major wind energy conference and exhibition in California right now, WINDPOWER 2011.

Wind power’s vast supply chain, which produces the 8,000 components making up a typical wind turbine, continues to grow deeper roots here in the U.S. Today the industry employs 75,000 people, and over 400 wind-related manufacturing plants dot the map in 43 states, from California where the industry began 30 years ago, through the Midwest which now leads wind development, to the Southeast even though its first wind farm is still on the drawing board.

In 2010 the industry reached 50 percent domestic content for U.S.-deployed turbines, and that percentage will continue to rise with stable policy signals. Fourteen more manufacturing facilities came online in 2010 to serve the industry. In addition, wind farms provide lease payments to landowners – $3,000 a year per turbine is typical – providing America’s farmers and ranchers with a stable new cash crop, as well as adding tax revenue to local communities, allowing them to build hospitals, schools, town halls, and libraries.

Yes, wind power is creating jobs in the U.S. and growing our manufacturing industry.

2011 is looking to be a great year for wind energy in the U.S., both in its continued growth and development as well as in federal policies and milestones. Again, here’s more from AWEA:

- In February, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu unveiled a coordinated strategic plan, A National Offshore Wind Strategy: Creating an Offshore Wind Industry in the United States, which pursues the deployment of 10 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2020 and 54 gigawatts by 2030. They announced $50.5 million in funding opportunities for projects that support offshore wind energy deployment.

- Also in February, the Secretary of the Interior announced the creation of high-priority Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) through the “Smart from the Start” Initiative, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) designated the leasing areas included in the Delaware and Maryland Requests for Information (RFIs) as WEAs. This announcement also designated WEAs off the coasts of New Jersey and Virginia, and outlined plans to identify additional WEAs off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island this spring.

- In March, the Secretary of the Interior and BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich announced the initiation of the process to offer the first commercial wind lease under the “Smart from the Start” Initiative off the coast of Delaware. The decision followed a determination that there was no competing interest for commercial wind energy development there at present.

- In April, BOEMRE announced a Call for Information and Nominations (Call) for wind energy development offshore of New Jersey.

- Also in April, the Secretary of the Interior announced that BOEMRE approved a Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for the long-awaited Cape Wind project, in Massachusetts. Construction of this project could begin as early as the fall.

The U.S. public loves wind energy, from every poll I’ve seen on the matter, and would love the U.S. government to do more to promote it (instead of dirty fossil fuel power sources like coal). Hopefully, we’ll pick up our game and these milestones and figures will be ancient history soon.

Related Stories:

1. Installed Wind Power Capacity per Capita (Country Comparisons)
2. Offshore Wind Future Looks Bright but Challenges & Uncertainty Remain, New Report Finds
3. Wind Power Wilts in Wisconsin, Surges in North Dakota
4. Vestas Launches New Version of Most Popular Wind Turbine, Energy Production 10-15% Higher
5. Projected Wind Power Growth (Worldwide)
6. Offshore Wind Power Market about to Boom (Report)
7. World Wind Power (Comprehensive wind power information page)

Photo via Duke Energy

At the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) WINDPOWER 2011 conference in California this week, wind energy giant Vestas unveiled a new and improved design of its most popular wind turbine. “New state-of-the-art technology is combined with proven reliability in Vestas’ new 2 MW GridStreamerTM platform,” Vestas announced.

“With the introduction of a more powerful and versatile 2 MW GridStreamerTM range, customers can deploy a modular fleet of efficient and fully grid compliant 2 MW turbines for optimal performance across all wind classes and site conditions,” Senior Vice President for the 2 MW platform, Claus Stegmann Strøeh, said.

The gearvox and large rotors have been improved and the energy production benefits are substiantial.

“At a typical IEC I site (high wind), the new V90-2.0 MW GridStreamerTM provides approximately 10 per cent more energy output than the V80-2.0 MW. On an IEC II site (medium wind), the new V100-2.0 MW GridStreamerTM produces up to 15 per cent more energy compared to a V90-1.8 MW.”

Vestas has had over 7,800 of its 2 MW wind turbines installed worldwide since 1998. Using data from these as well as data from 43,000 other wind turbines, Vestas was able to make the changes needed to create this newest model.

“The upgraded 2 MW platform is planned for global release and will initially be marketed in the North American, Northern European, and Mediterranean regions. Central Europe will follow later this year,” Vestas announced.

Read more about the new turbine here: Two upgraded 2 MW turbines launched at AWEA.

Related Stories:

1. Projected Wind Power Growth (Worldwide)
2. World’s Largest Offshore Wind Turbine to be Constructed in North Sea
3. World Wind Power

Photo via