2nd Green Revolution » Clean Technology

New York City Gets Tidal Energy Project

Justin Manger — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:47:52 +0000

Verdant Power was granted the first US license for a tidal energy project right on New York City’s doorstep, the East River. While the 1MW project is tiny compared to the over 2,000MW wind farm on the drawing board for Wyoming, it is good to see various renewable technologies being tested around the country. Localization of power sources by taking advantage of the renewable types of energy specific to a region is important as we broaden our power generation options.

The announcement on January 23rd that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a pilot commercial license for the project – the first-ever commercial license for tidal power in the United States – capped off a full decade of work. It’s been a long road for Verdant Power, as the project began in 2002 with prototype testing. The Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project is being developed in three phases:

Phase 1 (2002 – 2006): Prototype Testing
Phase 2 (2006 – 2009): Demonstration
Phase 3 (Current): MW-Scale Build-Out

Under the 10 year license, the project will have up to 30 commercial class (Generation 5) turbines under a Free Flow Kinetic Hydropower System. According to the website, “the RITE Project is a prime example of how the Free Flow System can be scaled for placement directly within a population center.” Eric’s recent piece on cities got to the heart of the debate about whether cities are truly more sustainable. If more of their power could be gathered from renewable sources like the one being tested in NYC, they may be wind up being more sustainable after all.

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Largest Windfarm in U.S. Slated for Wyoming

Justin Manger — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:21:43 +0000

Even given the backlash over the very public bankruptcy of solar panel maker Solyndra, the Obama administration remains set on pushing clean energy. It has fast tracked plans for the largest windfarm in the U.S., a 2,000 to 3,000MW facility that will consist of 1,000 wind turbine generators and be built just south of Rawlins, Wyoming. Called the ChokeCherry/Sierra Madre Wind Project, the project should get final Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approval in the next few months. The BLM site has detailed information if you’re interested. The plan is to feed the electricity into the grid. Since it’s only a couple hundred miles from Ft. Collins/Denver/Boulder, perhaps it will boost the percentage of green energy for that metropolis.

The largest windfarm at the moment in the U.S. is the 781MW Roscoe Wind Farm facility in Texas. For comparison sake, there are 29 coal fired power plants in the country with more than 2000MW capacity.

Obama Returns to Energy Theme in State of the Union

2nd Green Revolution — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:04:52 +0000

As he has done previously in talking about the state of America, President Obama had several things to say about energy in Tuesday night’s speech (transcript here). For one, due to a surge in domestic oil production, imports of foreign oil have fallen to the lowest levels in 16 years and “American oil production is the highest that it’s been in eight years.”

Though there wasn’t much new in terms of policy, Obama did lay out a bold goal for clean energy, saying that the U.S. can get 80% of its electricity from clean sources by 2035. This includes natural gas, of course, which is cleaner than coal but not a renewable energy source.

The idea of domestic energy and national security was mentioned a few times, a recurring theme recently. Obama specifically envisioned “A future where we’re in control of our own energy, and our security and prosperity aren’t so tied to unstable parts of the world.” While biofuels were not mentioned by name, the president did acknowledge that with only 2% of the world’s oil reserves, “This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy.”

As is the tradition in presidential addresses, Obama cited working class individuals who were in the audience. In particular, he mentioned Bryan Ritterby, a formerly out-of-work furniture maker. Ritterby was hired at Energetx, a wind turbine manufacturer in Michigan.

Obama also argued that the country needs to “double-down on a clean energy industry” by passing tax credits. Furthermore, he called for a clean energy standard to spur innovation. Calling out Congress, he directed the “administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power 3 million homes.”Fortunately, the president did not overlook the low-hanging fruit of efficiency and conservation. He proposed to “Help manufacturers eliminate energy waste in their factories and give businesses incentives to upgrade their buildings.” Estimates from these improvements come in at $100 billion in savings on energy bills. This is in conjunction with “less pollution, more manufacturing, [and] more jobs for construction workers who need them.”

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Poll: Obama’s State of the Union Speech

Justin Manger — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:31:24 +0000

On Tuesday, January 24th President Obama will deliver his State of the Union Address from Capitol Hill. How prominently do you think clean energy and the “green” economy will be featured in the speech? Choose from one of the options below:

Take Our Poll

For a brief reminder of last year’s state of the union, check out our coverage of the speech.

Secretary Chu Says EV Batteries Will Be 70% Cheaper in 3 Years

Justin Manger — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:09:07 +0000

At a recent speech in Detroit - a kind of pep rally for the city and its car industry – Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu had some good news about the cost of the batteries that power electric vehicles. In addition to making inroads on new kinds of battery technology, he talked about the likely decreases in battery prices that will make EV’s more affordable for the average consumer:

While a typical battery for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle with a 40-mile electric range cost $12,000 in 2008, we’re on track to demonstrate technology by 2015 that would reduce the cost to $3,600. And last year, we set a goal of demonstrating technology by 2020 that would further reduce the cost to $1,500 – an accomplishment that could help spur the mass-market adoption of electric vehicles.

Some of the money for the federal stimulus during the recent recession went to setting up battery manufacturing plants and funding research that would allow domestic battery makers to better compete on the world stage while churning out new technologies. It looks the the first signs of return on that investment may be around the corner.

In addition to talking about the future cost of batteries, the building of an Energy Innovation Hub was announced. “Modeled after America’s great industrial labs in their heyday, [the hubs] will bring together scientists, engineers, and industry to develop fresh concepts and new approaches to making batteries that last longer, go farther, and cost less.”

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