Renewable Energy Resources

Some six months before the all-electric Nissan Leaf is set to hit the market, it has already sold out. That's right, according to Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, as reported by the Detroit Free Press, the car has received 13,000 orders for the car that is set to release by the end of 2010, the total allotment of Leafs headed to the U.S.

This fact, certainly good news for Nissan, may perhaps lend some weight to argument that there is a demand in this country for an affordable electric vehicle. But does it mean long-term success for other such vehicles? That is obviously the big question for car makers, scrambling to find their own place in this select niche, but this early success doesn't tell us much.

Thin Film Solar Panels

Thin film solar panels promise to provide some of best alternative energy solutions to come forward these past few years--perhaps ultimately fulfilling the hope that solar advocates have long held for this evolving technology. Thin film overcomes some of the shortfalls of traditional photovoltaic cell technology although they introduce a couple of obstacles that are yet to be overcome.

Traditional solar technology consists of converting the suns energy into electricity using bulky flat panes with crystalline silicon solar cells. The cost of production is relatively high (compared to traditional energy sources like coal and natural gas), the panels are bulky and the efficiency is somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20% for most residential applications (though near 40% efficiency is possible if you have deep enough pockets).

Native American Tribes and Solar Power

A New Mexico Indian tribe, the Jemez Pueblo, is looking to build the first utiltiy-scale electric plant powered by solar energy on tribal lands.

Other tribes, notably the Navajo in Arizona and New Mexico, have used solar power in the past but not on this scale.

Navajo Solar Panels

Additionally, the Campo Kumeyaay Nation near San Diego, California have built a large, 50-megawatt wind farm, but have not ventured into solar.

This project, set to be housed on a 30-acre site with about 14,850 soalar panels, would really be the first of its kind.

More information here .

Joule Biotech and its new Sun Powered Fuel

The SolarFuel Process

Joule Biotechnologies, a Cambridge, Massachusetts biotech company founded in 2007 by Flagship Ventures, has recently unveiled a new sun-powered fuel that has been getting quite a bit of attention lately. The process to create the fuel or "SolarFuel" as Joule calls it "harnesses sunlight to directly convert carbon dioxide (CO2)" into their new, proprietary liquid energy. Furthermore, the company claims that this "eco-friendly, direct-to-fuel conversion requires no agricultural land or fresh water, and leverages a highly scalable system capable of producing more than 20,000 gallons of renewable ethanol or hydrocarbons per acre annually."

First Solar, Inc., a Tempe, AZ manufacturer of solar modules, has recently announced a huge 500 MW contract with Southern California Edison (SCE). The plan is for First Solar to engineer, procure and construct two solar facilities in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in southern California. The company will use its thin-film photovoltaic solar modules for the project and it is expected to provide energy for about 170,000 homes in the area.

This latest solar project is expected to help meet California's ambitious goal of delivering 20 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2010.

Construction is expected to begin in 2012 for the Desert Sunlight 250MW project near Desert Center and in 2013 for the 300 MW Stateline project in northeastern San Bernardino County.

More details from the First Solar Press Release.

Image courtesy of First Solar

Chevy Volt MPG - Claims 230 Miles Per Gallon

GM has recently announced its soon to be released Chevy Volt is capable of 230 MPG. The number is derived by combining the first 40 miles in electric mode, powered by the battery alone. Thereafter, the car will continue to run off the battery but it will be charged with a fuel-powered engine-generator--granting an extended range of 300 more miles.

Critics of this recent announcement claim that GM is simply using hyperbolic figures for marketing purposes with fuzzy math and unrealistic driving conditions. In fact, the "230" figure appears to be a marketing tool as an ad campaign will have the number "2" and "3" followed by the round electrical outlet. The fact is that the fuel economy standards for electric and serial (or series) hybrid vehicles has not truly been ironed out. The standard methodology for determinining mpg doesn't quite fit electric vehicles and is easily manipulated.

For more info see:

http://green.autoblog.com/2009/08/11/gm-ceo-henderson-announces-the-volt-will-get-230-mpg-in-the/

http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE57F1OX20090816?sp=true

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/11/AR2009081101090.html

http://www.chevroletvoltage.com/

Switchgrass: Native American Powerhouse?

Switchgrass, a resilient, high-yield grass native to North America, has been drawing a lot of attention lately thanks to the president giving it his imprimatur in his 2006 State of the Union address.

This might just be more than political rhetoric because Switchgrass (also known as Tall Panic Grass) could become the biofuel of our dreams.

Algae, one of the oldest life forms on earth, are poised to play a major role in the global search for the ideal biofuel feedstock, as researchers around the world seek new, more efficient ways to squeeze oil from "seaweed" to produce a clean and renewable biofuel. Some scientists even project that algal fuels could one day replace petroleum outright.

There are certainly good reasons for this kind of audacious hope. Some forms of algae are as much as 50 percent oil, and they can be grown in salty water or even waste water, absorbing C02 in the process. Researchers say algae can produce from 30 to 400 times more oil per acre than other popular biofuel feedstocks like palm trees and soy beans. And since algae can be grown in huge open ponds or in sealed bioreactors, and because algae can convert sunlight into chemical energy (photosynthesis) much more efficiently than other feedstocks, its wide use could take biofuel production out of the food cycle for good.

The American Wind Energy Association, or (AWEA), has recently announced record growth in the wind producing industry in the US for a third year in a row. The United States now produces roughly 21,000 (MW) of installed wind power capacity at this point.

According to the AWEA, "this summer, the U.S. passed Germany to become the world leader in wind generation."

They also report that according to the US Department of Energy, "wind could provide 20% of U.S. electricity by 2030, supporting 500,000 jobs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions as much as taking 140 million vehicles off the road, and saving 4 trillion gallons of water."

BLM Reverses Position on Solar Energy Applications

Recently, in fact just last week, the BLM announced a moratorium on all new solar power projects on Federal land, citing the need for further environmental impact studies. We even talked about it in a recent blog post on solar power.

Now, the BLM has announced it was going to continue accepting solar energy applications for solar power plants on BLM land.

“We heard the concerns expressed during the scoping period about waiting to consider new applications,” said BLM Director James Caswell, “and we are taking action. By continuing to accept and process new applications for solar energy projects, we will aggressively help meet growing interest in renewable energy sources, while ensuring environmental protections.”

Although the BLM needs to move carefully in granting any type of project on federal land, this is great news for renewable energy and solar power specifically.

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