SOLAR serdar -FREE ENERGY

July 3, 2009

SOLAR serdar
FREE ENERGY

Uređaj bez pokretnih dijelova,bešuman,gotovo nepokvarljiv,otporan na sve vremenske uvjete,
postavljen na krovu Vaše kuće-idealan da ga zaboravite.
Ipak,to je ozbiljan dobavljač topline za grijanje potrošne tople vode ili kao pomoć ostalim
oblicima kućnog grijanja.

SOLAR serdar
solarserdar@gmail.com

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Obama Administration Launches New Energy Efficiency Efforts

July 2, 2009

Obama Administration Announces New Energy Efficiency Efforts from U.S. Department of Energy on Vimeo.

06/29/09

President Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu announce several actions that will promote energy efficiency and save Americans billions of dollars per year. The announcement includes major changes to energy conservation standards for lighting, as well as $346 million from the Recovery Act that will accelerate the development and use of energy efficient technologies in commercial and residential buildings. These improvements will create jobs and help decrease carbon pollution.

Transcript: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-on-Energy/

Obama Administration Launches New Energy Efficiency Efforts
Will save billions for consumers, business while helping to create new jobs and strengthen American competitiveness

WASHINGTON - Building on the action by the U.S. House of Representatives in passing historic legislation that will pave the way for the transition to a clean energy economy, President Barack Obama and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced aggressive actions to promote energy efficiency and save American consumers billions of dollars per year. Today’s announcement underscores how the clean energy revolution not only makes environmental sense, but it also makes economic sense - creating jobs and saving money.

“One of the fastest, easiest, and cheapest ways to make our economy stronger and cleaner is to make our economy more energy efficient,” said President Obama. “That’s why we made energy efficiency investments a focal point of the Recovery Act. And that’s why today’s announcements are so important. By bringing more energy efficient technologies to American homes and businesses, we won’t just significantly reduce our energy demand; we’ll put more money back in the pockets of hardworking Americans.”

“When it comes to saving money and growing our economy, energy efficiency isn’t just low hanging fruit; it’s fruit lying on the ground,” said Secretary Chu. “The most prosperous, competitive economies of the 21st century will be those that use energy efficiently. It’s time for America to lead the way.”

More Energy Efficient Lighting

Today’s announcement includes major changes to energy conservation standards for numerous household and commercial lamps and lighting equipment. Seven percent of all energy consumed in the U.S. is for lighting.

The final rule has numerous benefits, including:

* Avoiding the emission of up to 594 million tons of CO2 from 2012 through 2042 - roughly equivalent to removing 166 million cars from the road for a year;
* Saving consumers $1 to $4 billion annually from 2012 through 2042;
* Saving enough electricity from 2012 through 2042 to power every home in the U.S. for up to 10 months;
* Eliminating the need for up to 7.3 gigawatts of new generating capacity by 2042 - equivalent to as many as 14 500MW coal-fired power plants;
* Decreasing the electricity used in GSFLs by 15%, saving consumers up to $8.66 per lamp over its lifetime; decreasing electricity used by IRLs by 25%, saving consumers $7.95 per lamp over its lifetime.

In February 2009, President Obama tasked the Department of Energy with quickening the pace of energy conservation standards for appliances, while continuing to meet legal and statutory deadlines. Today’s announcement - which takes effect in 2012 - focuses on General Service Fluorescent Lamps (GSFL), which are commonly found in residential and commercial buildings, and Incandescent Reflector Lamps (IRL), which are commonly used in recessed and track lighting. These fluorescent and incandescent lamps represent approximately 38 and 7 percent of total lighting energy use respectively.

The final rule, as issued by the Secretary of Energy on June 26, 2009, can be viewed and downloaded from the Office Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s website.

Building Efficiency Initiative

President Obama and Secretary Chu today announced a $346 million investment from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to expand and accelerate the development, deployment, and use of energy efficient technologies in all major types of commercial buildings as well as new and existing homes.

Residential and commercial buildings consume 40 percent of the energy and represent 40 percent of the carbon emissions in the United States. Building efficiency represents one of the easiest, most immediate and most cost effective ways to reduce carbon emissions while creating new jobs. With the application of new and existing technologies, buildings can be made up to 80 percent more efficient or even become “net zero” energy buildings with the incorporation of on-site renewable generation.

Today’s buildings consume more energy than any other sector of the U.S. economy, including transportation and industry. In addition, almost three-quarters of our nation’s 81 million buildings were built before 1979. Some were designed and constructed for limited service, and many will eventually require either significant retrofits or replacement.

Innovations in energy-efficient building envelopes, equipment, lighting, daylighting, and windows, in conjunction with advances in passive solar, photovoltaic, fuel cells, advanced sensors and controls and combined heating, cooling, and power, have the potential to dramatically transform today’s buildings. These technologies-coupled with a whole building design approach that optimizes the interactions among building systems and components-will enable tomorrow’s buildings to use considerably less energy, while also helping to reduce emissions and increase energy security.

This funding includes:

Advanced Building Systems Research ($100 million)
These projects will address research focused on the systems design, integration, and control of both new and existing buildings. Buildings need to be designed, built, operated, and maintained as an integrated system in order to achieve the potential of energy efficient and eventually net zero-energy buildings. These projects will move beyond component-only driven research and address the interactions in buildings as a whole, in order to progress development of integrated, high performance buildings and achieve net zero- energy buildings.

Residential Buildings Development and Deployment ($70 million)
Expanded work in Residential Buildings will increase homeowner energy savings by supporting energy efficient retrofits and new homes while raising consumer awareness of the benefits of increased health, safety, and durability of energy efficiency. The projects will provide technical support to train workers and create jobs, developing a new workforce equipped to improve the Nation’s homes and will permit a major initiative to provide builders with technical assistance and training through states, utilities, and existing programs to increase the market share of new homes achieving substantial whole house energy savings. To address existing homes, DOE will work with municipalities with a variety of housing types and vintages as well as subdivisions with similar housing stock to encourage a large number of energy efficiency retrofits.

Commercial Buildings Initiative ($53.5 million)
These Recovery Act funds will be used to accelerate and expand partnerships with major companies that design, build, own, manage, or operate large fleets of buildings and that commit to achieving exemplary energy performance. This funding will be used to expand the number of these partnerships from 23 to about 75 through a competitive process beginning in September, 2009.

Buildings and Appliance Market Transformation ($72.5 million)
In order to achieve energy savings, and ultimately lead to zero energy buildings, the marketplace must be conditioned to accept the necessary advanced technologies and activities and ensure that the current technologies are performing as intended via current energy efficiency standards. Key activities include expanding ENERGY STAR to accelerate development of energy efficient products and expand the ENERGY STAR brand into new areas; preparing the design, construction, and enforcement community to implement commercial building energy codes that require a 30 percent improvement in energy efficiency over the 2004 code in 2010; and accelerating and expanding DOE’s Appliance Standards program to evaluate innovative technologies and develop new test procedures that are more representative of today’s energy use and equipment.

Solid State Lighting Research and Development ($50 million)
The objective of the solid state lighting activities is to advance state-of-the-art solid-state lighting (SSL) technology and to move those advancements more rapidly to market through a coordinated development of advanced manufacturing techniques. This project will both aid in the development and reduce the first cost of high performance lighting products. Continuing advances can accelerate progress towards creating a U.S.-led market for high efficiency light sources that save more energy, reduce costs, and have less environmental impact than other conventional light sources.

Read more information on these and other Funding Opportunities under the Recovery Act.

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US Joins International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

July 1, 2009

US Joins International Renewable Energy Agency

Abu Dhabi Selected as Headquarters

July 1, 2009 – Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt – The United States today joined 130 other countries as members of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in an Assembly meeting held here in the seaside resort of Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula.

Ambassador Reno Harnish, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment and Science, signed for the U.S. government. He said: “The United States is extremely pleased to join IRENA. President Obama is committed to renewable energy to mitigate climate change, ensure energy security, create green jobs and lead a green recovery. Joining IRENA allows us to cooperate with 130 other nations to speed market adoption of renewable energy around the world.”

U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton immediately issued a statement in Washington supporting IRENA an pledging the support of the Obama Administration.

The U.S. was also represented by the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) as official non-government Observer to the meeting in Sharm El Sheikh. “We have advocated for IRENA and U.S. participation for many years, and are very pleased to see all of this coming together,” said ACORE President Michael Eckhart. “IRENA offers an opportunity for the U.S. to re-engage the global community on renewable energy, to learn from international experience, and to provide new leadership.”

The first major agenda topic of the Assembly meeting was selection of a headquarters site from among three bids from Masdar City, Abu Dhabi; Bonn, Germany; and Vienna, Austria.

There was a heavy sense of drama in the air as the old guard of renewable energy were unhappy–if not outraged–at the idea of IRENA being headquartered in an oil rich country, also feeling that Germany had earned the right to host the new agency it had sponsored and given birth to. The pragmatists and new players who came to Sharm El Sheikh represented their respective countries in the UN mode of intergovernmental agencies, judging questions in their own self interest. One could see the battle of “for renewable energy” versus “for my country” taking place in the previous evening’s reception and throughout the day of the Assembly.

The U.S. had made it known that it favored Abu Dhabi as this fit into larger geopolitical goals and initiatives. Conversely, ACORE was lobbying hard for Bonn on the principle that Bonn is considered the “home” of renewable energy since the Bonn Renewables 2004 conference, and again for the founding meeting of IRENA in January 2009, and because Germany had earned the right to host IRENA since it had sponsored IRENA’s development and birth.

Wolfgang Palz, retired long-time head of renewable energy for the European Commission said: “I have seen such meetings for over 35 years and I have never seen anything like this. It is amazing to see this playing out in front of us instead of in the background before the meeting.”

There was a confrontation over the rules, as the Preparatory Commission came into the meeting directing that the Official Observers would be ordered out of the meeting during the voting. The Arab League was reported to have submitted a verbal objection, and ACORE submitted a written objection to the Chair. The Chair ruled to change the schedule, allowing the speeches and other process to continue for the afternoon, pushing voting back to a special session in the evening. Observers were then allowed to stay for the afternoon’s proceedings.

When the time came for consideration of the selection of the headquarters site, each of the proposing cities gave presentations on their bids including videos and testimonials by important people.

Vienna focused on being an international city with many existing international institutions there.

Abu Dhabi gave a powerful presentation about their plans for Masdar City and the IRENA headquarters, offering a package worth $136 million over the first six years. This included a magnificent $22 million IRENA headquarters building that will be “energy positive” due to a massive solar PV roof – rent free for life – plus $3 million/year for facility operations, plus $50 million fund for renewable energy projects in the developing countries, plus scholarships and a host of other features.

Bonn gave an uplifting presentation on its livable city, its heritage as the home of renewable energy for many years, and its offer of a new building in the government center along the Rhine River, plus $2 million/year is support over and above it membership dues which will be about $8 million in 2010. Then in closing Environment Minister Gabriel concluded by saying that he saw each bid differently – that Bonn offered “sex appeal,” Abu Dhabi offered power and money, and Vienna offered intelligence. And in his view, maybe IRENA would benefit from all three, stunning the delegates as they perceived his comments as an offer of a compromise outcome.

The Assembly then went to break, where conversations were at a fever pitch about what was going to happen. Would there be a three-way headquarters? Would Abu Dhabi push to a vote? Would it be a dual headquarters between Bonn and Abu Dhabi? There was talk about the implications of Copenhagen having dropped out of the running two weeks before and how this might have affected things. There was also the beginning of talk about a compromise solution for the election of Director General, yet to come later in the day.

Following the break, the Chair announced that a vote would not be taken, that a compromise deal had been reached whereby Abu Dhabi would be selected as the headquarters city, while Bonn would be given the site of an IRENA Center for Science and Technology, and Vienna would be given the site of an IRENA Office of Institutional Liaison.

The Chair announced: “There being no objection, the resolution is passed by consensus.” But then the Representative of South Korea intervened, saying that he was authorized by his government to vote for a headquarters city but not to agree to a consensus compromise, which thus negated the consensus solution. The Assembly was held in suspense for over an hour and a half while the Chairman and Korean delegates conferred, after which the Chair announced that the consensus would be split into two parts – the approval of Abu Dhabi as the IRENA headquarters, and a separate approval of the operations in Bonn and Vienna, and this satisfied the needs of all members. The Chairman called again for a consensus solution in two parts, and hearing no objection, ruled that the solution was approved.

Delegates talked for hours about the implications of the solution. Would the renewable energy community support Abu Dhabi as their headquarters? Would the allowance of two other Centers in Bonn and Vienna open the door to more regional and special-purpose centers? ACORE, for example, was promoting the idea of regional headquarters and regional Directors General, not just one, and this approach seemed to gain support throughout the meeting. There was talk of regional headquarters in Beijing, New Delhi, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, and San Francisco. Several Delegates spoke on the record asking for consideration of centers in the Caribbean and Samoa.

The second order of business then came up – the election of an Interim Director General. There were four candidates: Arthouros Zervos, President of the European Renewable Energy Council and a long-time leader of renewable energy affairs in Europe and around the world; Hans Jurgen Koch, a deputy minister of foreign affairs of Denmark, and again with many years of leadership in European and world renewable energy affairs in official positions in government and international institutions; Hélène Pelosse, currently deputy head of Staff in the Private Office of the French Minister for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development, and Town and Country Planning in charge of international affairs; and an engineering professor from Spain.

There were as many “favorites” as there were delegates in the room, and much ongoing lobbying and talk about deals having been cut six months ago, and six days ago, and six hours ago. It was rumored that Abu Dhabi had communicated with 90 countries that they preferred the Spanish candidate. Europe was torn between Dr. Zervos and Dr. Koch, both of whom are widely respected. France was popular for many reasons and had call on many relationships with developing countries. Each candidate had assets and liabilities.

Each candidate gave speeches to the Assembly on their qualifications for Interim Director General and their vision for IRENA. The Chair then called for the voting process to begin and asked the Observers to leave the room. ACORE objected quietly to the Chair, saying that removing the observers was an institutional outrage, and not in keeping with any norms of an international body.

The voting proceeded through three rounds which required five hours, from 18:30 until nearly 23:30 PM. The Assembly gala dinner, scheduled for 20:30 hours at a nearby hotel, had to wait.

Dr. Zervos and Dr. Koch were eliminated in the first two rounds, leaving a third round of voting between France and Spain. Word of the voting results spread throughout the hall – it was 63 for France and 60 for Spain. Under these circumstances, with no candidate receiving a majority vote, the leaders would go up for a one-person vote seeking a 2/3rds majority and, if achieved, they would win. If no majority was achieved, the entire voting process would be deemed a failure and there would be a call for new nominations. Thus the selection process for Interim Director General was facing a cliff-hanging ending.

But there was also talk in the Assembly that the two candidates had agreed that, if neither achieved 2/3rds then the leader would go up to election by acclamation.

Then without disclosing the vote count, the Chair called the meeting to order – it was 11:15 PM at this time — and announced that the French candidate had received the most votes, and called for election of Hélène Pelosse by acclamation. There was applause, and the Chair announced that, without objection, Ms.Pelosse was elected Interim Director General of IRENA. There was again applause, and the business of the day was done.

During the afternoon and evening there had been another initiative taking place; to have Hermann Scheer, who originally conceived of IRENA, elected Chairman of IRENA. A four-page letter signed by over 25 recognized leaders in renewable energy was circulated and debated. The most likely scenario was Dr. Scheer to be elected Chairman, acting as an Ambassador for the Membership and assisting the Director General. There was also a rumor that Dr. Scheer would be elected Chairman and the four candidates for Director General would agree to become Vice Director Generals – for the interim period only. There were apparently various agreements on these possibilities, but in the end none of the compromise solutions worked out for the Interim Director General election and, unlike the headquarters selection, the vote went forward on a win-lose basis, but the voting process was compromised and there was no opportunity to introduce the election of Hermann Scheer as Chairman.

Dr. Scheer said: “IRENA has the potential to become more important than the Kyoto Protocol because IRENA can be the driving force behind the solutions to global sustainability. It will not regulate the world to an outcome – it will help the world reach the desired outcome.”

ACORE President Michael Eckhart concluded: “It has been a remarkable day, when IRENA held its first assembly of the member states, the U.S. joined, a headquarters and other centers were selected, and an Interim Director General was elected. The outcomes are thrilling to some, and concerning to others. But that is the reason for IRENA – to bring the world together on the task of implementing renewable energy, to give it a go, and come back another time as an organization to improve on it next time. In any case, IRENA is underway, making all of us more optimistic than before.”
About ACORE
ACORE, a 501(c)(3) membership nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., is dedicated to bringing renewable energy into the mainstream of the US economy and lifestyle through research and communications programs and membership committees. ACORE’s membership works in all sectors of the renewable energy industries including wind power, solar energy, geothermal energy, hydropower, ocean energy, biomass, biofuels, and waste energy. ACORE provides a common platform for the wide range of interests in the renewable energy community including end users, technology companies, manufacturers, utilities, professional service firms, financial institutions, colleges and universities, associations, nonprofit organizations and government agencies. ACORE serves as a forum through which these parties work together on common interests. ACORE co-organizes the REFF-Wall Street and REFF-West Finance Conferences, the RETECH All-Renewable Energy Conference & Exhibition, the Phase II National Policy Forum in Washington, DC, and hosts both domestic and global policy events furthering the mission of renewable energy. Additional information is available at http://www.acore.org.

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Green Venture Capital Rebounding

June 30, 2009

Venture Capital Investment in Green Technologies Rebounds With $1.2B in Q2 2009

Greentech Media Reports 85 Deals Made in the Quarter, Signaling a Quiet Recovery in the Greentech Sector

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Greentech Media Inc., the industry-leading online media company covering green technology news and analysis, released the most recent quarterly data showing that venture capital investment in green technologies totaled $1.2 billion in 85 deals in the second quarter of 2009. This is up from $836 million in 59 deals in the first quarter of 2009.

“The recent quarter’s balanced distribution of sectors that attracted capital underscores cleantech’s breadth and diversity of opportunity, one of the key drivers behind why cleantech remains an enduring area,” said Ira Ehrenpreis, General Partner at cleantech VC, Technology Partners.

Solar power was once again the leading investment segment at more than $330 million. Unlike previous quarters – the second quarter saw a much more balanced distribution across the various sectors with a marked increase in automotive (more than $202 million) and energy storage (more than $180 million).

One of the drivers for steady second quarter venture investment was the promise of stimulus monies offering startup investors a non-dilutive funding source. Meanwhile, early-stage and late-stage investments dominated, while mid-stage funding was harder to come by, and the average round sizes were slightly smaller. There were no giant $100 million+ solar or biofuel rounds as in 2008.

“Despite the economic slump, VC investors remain optimistic about the greentech sector and eventual exits in this space,” said Eric Wesoff, senior analyst at GTM Research and author of the Greentech Innovations Report, a monthly guide to investments and technology trends in greentech.

John Rockwell, founder and Managing Director of Element Partners adds, “The growing belief that credit markets and the economy are on the road to recovery has investors back in the market. Greentech markets are massive and diverse and investors are starting to pour additional money into the next wave of greentech opportunities.”

“2009 will be a year of consolidation and development while 2010 and 2011 will be the year greentech breaks. Expect to see IPOs and acquisitions of VC funded firms in solar, smart grid, green buildings and biofuels,” Wesoff added.

Additional details about this report, priced at $195.00, can be found at the following link: http://www.gtmresearch.com/report/q2-2009-greentech-deal-summary-vc-ma-ipo

About Greentech Media

Greentech Media is an integrated online media company designed to deliver the highest-quality content in the industry, whether it is research, news or critical networking events. Greentech Media is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., with operations in New York City, San Francisco and Munich. For more information, visit http://www.greentechmedia.com.

About the Greentech Innovations Report

The Greentech Innovations Report presents exclusive market research on the global greentech market’s critical developments and emerging sectors, prepared by our analysts and industry experts and available only to Greentech Innovations subscribers. In addition to covering topical green technology markets and trends on a monthly basis, The Greentech Innovations Report provides ongoing tracking of venture capital, private equity, unique investors and important financial developments in the market each month, plus quarterly and annual summaries of venture investing in greentech. For more information, visit http://www.gtmresearch.com/list/category/greentech-innovations/.

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Secretary Chu Opens U.S.-Canada Clean Energy Dialogue

June 30, 2009

Public-private meeting brings together industry and government leaders to expand bilateral clean energy cooperation

Washington, DC – U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today made opening remarks at the first U.S.-Canada Clean Energy Dialogue Roundtable at the Department of Energy Headquarters in Washington, DC. The public-private meeting, which will be held June 29-30, is bringing together leaders from private industry to meet with U.S. and Canadian energy leaders to solicit industry input on the goals and activities of the U.S.-Canada Clean Energy Dialogue.

“By working together to develop clean energy technologies and combat climate change, the United States and Canada can spark an economic recovery that will benefit both of our nations,” said Secretary Chu. “I’m pleased to lead this effort on behalf of the United States because the possibilities for progress are real and undeniable, and we must seize them. By listening to the perspective of private industry at this first meeting, we can set an ambitious but achievable course for this dialogue, as we work to further both of our nations’ clean energy goals.”

The Clean Energy Dialogue (CED) was announced in February when President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper met in Ottawa. The CED is charged with expanding clean energy research and development; developing and deploying clean energy technology; and building a more efficient electricity grid based on clean and renewable energy in order to reduce greenhouse gases and combat climate change in both countries. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Canadian Minister of Environment Jim Prentice serve as the lead government officials for moving the Clean Energy Dialogue forward.

Specific areas for further bilateral cooperation under the Clean Energy Dialogue include renewable and energy efficiency technologies such as next generation biofuels, cleaner engines, and home and building efficiency improvements; carbon capture and sequestration; and more efficient, clean, “smart” electrical grids.

This week’s roundtable will solicit private sector input on the most productive activities to undertake and ways to accelerate deployment of new clean energy technologies into the marketplace. Discussions during facilitated break out sessions in each of the three focus areas will concentrate on ways to advance these technologies through joint collaboration.

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Dow Announces Plan to Build and Operate a Pilot-Scale Algae-based Integrated Biorefinery with Algenol Biofuels

June 29, 2009

MIDLAND, Mich., June 29 /PRNewswire/ — The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) announced today that it plans to work with Algenol Biofuels, Inc. to build and operate a pilot-scale algae-based integrated biorefinery that will convert CO2 into ethanol. The facility is planned to be located at Dow’s Freeport, Texas site.

“This project and the innovative technology involved offers great promise in the battle to help slow, stop and reverse the growth of greenhouse gas emissions,” stated Andrew N. Liveris, Dow chairman and chief executive officer. We are very excited to be part of this ground-breaking alternative energy project, which is a good example of Dow’s holistic approach to CO2 capture and storage by adding value through chemistry.”

Algenol’s technology uses CO2, salt water, sunlight and non-arable land to produce ethanol. Dow, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and Membrane Technology & Research, Inc. are contributing science, expertise, and technology to the project. Their combined expertise offers new and innovative technology, with the opportunity for creating a breakthrough process for ethanol production.

Algenol submitted its formal request last week to obtain a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for financial support to successfully conduct the pilot. Upon approval of the grant, Dow and the other collaborators will work with Algenol to demonstrate the technology at a level to sufficiently prove that it can be implemented on a commercial scale.

In addition to leasing the land for the pilot-scale facility, Dow plans to develop the advanced materials and specialty films for the photobioreactor system. In addition, Dow will also provide the technology and expertise related to water treatment solutions and will provide Algenol with access to a CO2 source for the biorefinery from a nearby Dow manufacturing facility. The CO2 will be supplied to the algae in the photobioreactors and will serve as the carbon source for the ethanol produced. The result is a CO2 capture process which converts industrially derived CO2 into more sustainable fuels and chemicals.

In line with Dow’s sustainability efforts, the project exemplifies the Company’s commitment to providing solutions that improve energy efficiency, promote renewable energy and advance the environmental performance of its existing energy sources. According to Rich Wells, Dow vice president, Energy & Climate Change and Alternative Feedstocks, “This is yet another way that Dow is helping to solve world energy challenges with our expertise in sustainable chemistry that is good for the world, and good for business.”

About Dow

With sales of $58 billion in 2008 and 46,000 employees worldwide, Dow is a diversified chemical company that combines the power of science and technology with the “Human Element” to constantly improve what is essential to human progress. The Company delivers a broad range of products and services to customers in around 160 countries, connecting chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help provide everything from fresh water, food and pharmaceuticals to paints, packaging and personal care products. On April 1, 2009, Dow acquired Rohm and Haas Company, a global specialty materials company with sales of $10 billion in 2008 and 15,000 employees worldwide. References to “Dow” or the “Company” mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

About Algenol

Algenol today possesses the most advanced third generation biofuel technology in the United States. Algenol makes low cost ethanol directly from CO2 and seawater using hybrid algae in sealed, clear plastic photobioreactors through its unique, patented Direct to Ethanol(TM) technology — all powered by the sun. Algenol’s research and development efforts have culminated in a process that produces over 6,000 gallons of ethanol per acre per year, compared to corn at 400. Algenol’s process achieves an energy balance of more than 5 to 1 and a life cycle carbon footprint that is merely 20 percent of petroleum (an 80 percent reduction from petroleum). For more information about Algenol Biofuels, please visit www.algenolbiofuels.com.

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GE, INL researchers collaborate on waste heat efficiency research

June 29, 2009

by Keith Arterburn, INL Communications & Public Affairs
“Waste not, want not.”

This wise proverb is even more appropriate today in a global society demanding more energy for more uses. Squeezing more efficiency out of every energy unit is paramount.

Recently, researchers at Idaho National Laboratory met with engineers from GE Global Research (NYSE:GE) to kick off a two-year, public-private partnership project designed to capture energy from waste heat.

INL is leading this $2 million project that is part of the Department of Energy’s Industrial Technologies Program aimed at increasing energy efficiency of U.S. industries for a cleaner, more energy-efficient America.

The INL partnership will examine GE’s proprietary technology that captures energy from industrial engines that often are only 35 percent efficient, rejecting 65 percent of the available energy as waste heat. Capturing more of that energy makes sense in an era of rising energy costs, increasing demand and concerns about greenhouse gas emissions.

“This new technology could yield a 20- to 40-percent increase in energy efficiency,” said Donna Guillen, INL research engineer and project leader. “The process can produce additional electricity without using additional fuel, avoiding the release of millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions and reducing U.S. reliance on foreign oil.”

The INL-GE project will optimize the conversion of low-temperature waste heat (below 500 degrees Celsius) from gas turbine or reciprocating engine exhaust to produce electricity. The process is based on a thermodynamic process called the Organic Rankine Cycle, which uses an organic working fluid.

“GE has developed a new technology that transforms the Rankine cycle by eliminating the intermediate hot oil stage,” said Todd Wetzel of GE’s Niskayuna, N.Y., division. “Our new evaporator permits direct transfer of this waste heat, which increases overall efficiency at a far more affordable price than before.”

Until now, ORCs have been marginally economic because of the cost of the equipment and fluids. GE’s invention is expected to significantly lower the capital cost of the system and improve efficiency, which are important in responding to rising energy prices and increased global demand.

“This concept is transformational because it places the evaporator directly in the hot exhaust stream, something that no other commercial company has dared to do before,” Guillen said. “Our INL team will be conducting analyses on the flammability, chemical decomposition and two-phase heat transfer aspects of GE’s design.”

The INL team, led by Guillen, includes respected researchers with a solid record of noteworthy accomplishments — Dan Ginosar, Rick Wood and Manohar Sohal. The GE team is led by Wetzel and includes engineers Mike VanDerwerken, Helge Klockow and Matthew Lehar.

“GE will use the INL analysis to guide the design and testing of the direct evaporator prototypes at its research centers in New York and Germany,” Wetzel said.

Visit GE Global Research.
Visit the Department of Energy’s Industrial Technologies Program.
Read the DOE Fact Sheet about ORC.

Originally posted here.

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INL team helps pave way to Generation IV reactor

June 29, 2009

by Brett Stone, Nuclear Science & Technology communications intern Cleaner. Safer. Cheaper. More. Thanks to the work of a team at Idaho National Laboratory, the promised deliverables of fourth generation nuclear power plant graphite technology are one step closer.

Steve McClaskey checks the pnuematic tubing that will regulate the rams in the capsule.
Fourth generation nuclear reactors, the nuclear power plants of tomorrow, will provide safer, less expensive and more environmentally friendly energy. A critical step in developing new Very High Temperature Reactors (VHTR) is certifying the graphite that is used in many parts of the reactor’s core. In recent years, it has become necessary to develop new nuclear-grade graphite and certify it for use in the next generation of gas-cooled nuclear reactors.

Today, nuclear experts envision two different versions of gas cooled VHTRs for next-generation use. Both designs will require large amounts of high-quality graphite.

The “pebble-bed” style reactor uses billiard-ball-size “pebbles” of nuclear fuel particles coated with several layers of silicon-carbide and carbon. The pebbles enter the reactor from the top, work their way down through and exit the reactor from the bottom. There, they are monitored for remaining fuel to make another pass. Or, if the useable fuel is consumed by the time it reaches the bottom, it is collected for disposal. A second design utilizes a honeycomb block of graphite into which fuel rods would be inserted.

In recent years, the supplies of nuclear-grade graphite have been exhausted and researchers have had to turn to new sources. Different sources of graphite tend to be very idiosyncratic, each one having very specific characteristics that set it apart from others. Graphite must be tested so the American Society for Testing and Materials and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers can certify it for use in the design and construction of reactors.

Information on the amount a given piece of graphite will expand when exposed to heat, or shrink when irradiated, is vital to enable safe reactor design. Now that new reactors will have to use sources of graphite whose characteristics haven’t been verified, it’s important to perform tests to gain that information.

Enter INL and its team of engineers, led by Technical Director David Petti, Graphite Principal Investigator William Windes, and Design and Irradiation Technical Lead Blaine Grover. They, along with a team of around 20 other employees and the support of over 50 other specialists, took on the challenge of designing and building the experiment to validate these new graphite sources.

The result, after three years of planning, machining, wiring and welding, is the Advanced Graphite Capsule project. This six-phase project will test over 2,000 different samples of graphite in INL’s Advanced Test Reactor facility over a roughly 10-year period that will last until 2020.

The idea for the project came from early tests run in the 1960s at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The current experiment improves on early designs. Besides being larger than previous experiments, the new design also makes it easier for experimenters to closely monitor and control the temperature, pressure and irradiation levels of the samples without removing them from the reactor or halting the experiment.

By using pneumatic rams to adjust the pressure on the graphite samples, experimenters will avoid the warping and even possible failure of the pressure adjusting mechanisms that troubled early experimenters.

End of capsule protrudes from automatic welder near end of assembly process.
None of this could have been accomplished without a world-class design and fabrication team. The finished test capsule, with its shiny stainless steel shell and protruding wires and cables off the back end, almost looks more like something from a hot-rod spaceship than a highly sophisticated piece of experimental equipment.

And some of the processes used to assemble the capsule really do seem to have been taken out of a Star Trek shuttle bay. Take the welding, for example. On the 14-foot section of the capsule that will be entered into the reactor core, 13 super precise welds cause less than twenty-thousandths of an inch in variation from one end of the capsule to the other.

Yet the automated welding machine that performed this stellar work is not from a galaxy “far, far away,” but is built by a company located just a short drive from INL. Although AMET started up in the basement of co-owner Dave Stompro, the Rexburg, Idaho, company builds automated welding machines that have been used to help manufacture everything from NASA space shuttle tanks to the titanium frames for B1-B bombers.

“We’re certainly glad that our equipment is getting to be utilized for that level of work,” Don Schwemmer, AMET co-founder and president, said of the INL project. “On the other hand, it’s not just our equipment. They’ve got the expertise to use the equipment we provide.”

Marv Harker Operates the AMET automatic welder as it joins two sections of the capsule.
The rest of the project testifies to the expertise of the Advanced Graphite Capsule team. A beehive of cables, sensors, tiny pneumatic tubing and rams are strategically woven and nested to fit inside with the intricately cut ceramic insulator and sample carrier.

With the capsule finished and inspected, it will enter INL’s Advanced Test Reactor in June. There, it will endure average temperatures of 600 degrees Celsius (six times the temperature of boiling water) for almost two years. Five similar Advanced Graphite Capsule experiments will follow the first one.

The capsules will be exposed to successively increased temperatures so the last capsule will experience temperatures of over 1,200 degrees Celsius. Experimenters will also expose the samples to varying levels of radiation, all several times what they would experience in a normal reactor. The higher radiation levels give researchers a sense of how the material will behave under the prolonged irradiation the graphite would experience over many years in a next-generation reactor.

After data from each test is gathered and each capsule is removed from the reactor, more work awaits the team. Post Irradiation Examination will involve removing the graphite samples and measuring and recording the differences in each one’s characteristics compared to before its trip to the reactor.

Every detail of the half-inch diameter samples will be considered. Researchers will construct a new database after measuring how the irradiation changed the physical dimensions of the pieces, examining their “thermal diffusivity” using lasers, and recording other specifications.

This information will allow those who build advanced nuclear reactors to be sure that communities will, for generations, reap the benefits of clean, safe, inexpensive and abundant energy to power their progress.

Originally posted here.

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Climate and Energy Bill Passes House 7:16PM EDT

June 26, 2009

PASSED: Yea = 219, Nay = 212, (218 needed) Climate Change & Energy Bill Final Passage HR 2454

AP Announcement
Huffington Post

What do you think?

Originally posted here.

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Wind Experiment - Help AlternativeEnergy.com with New Wind Turbine Improvement Device

June 26, 2009

An affiliated company has a device that will improve the performance of wind turbines. We are looking for a place to test the device. We need a location where two turbines are in close proximity. The testing device will be placed on one of the units and the other unit will be a control to measure the device’s comparative performance. There would be no cost to the owner of the wind turbines, and there will even be a profit opportunity.

If you can help or know of someone who can help, please complete the following form:

Originally posted here.

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