Corporate

Oil Royalties Dwindle: Alaskans Agitate For Gas Drilling

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Alaskans’ way of life is threatened as oil production declines and new pipelines for natural gas remain difficult to justify financially.

Larry Persily, Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects, said only high oil prices are keeping state royalties from dropping even more. The state gets 90% of its General Fund – some $8 billion last year — from oil and gas royalties. Alaskans pay no income or sales taxes, and get an annual cash rebate from the royalty fund. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 11, 2012 at 10:00 AM

Can A Cleaner Environment Create Jobs?

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The tactic du jour for environmentalists trying to sell a skeptical public on tighter regulations is this: spin the thing as a job creator. Last week a Maryland-based environmental group said efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay would actually create 240,000 jobs over the next several years, mainly by employing people to upgrade sewage systems. In a recent report defending stricter mercury pollution limits on power plants, the Environmental Protection Agency said 8,000 more people would be needed to build and run the pollution control equipment than would be laid off as a result of older plants shutting down. Economists that aren’t aligned with either industry or activist groups say that, when it comes to creating or destroying jobs, environmental regulations come out somewhere near neutral — adding costs to industry but producing benefits in public health or other areas.

 /  Published January 10, 2012 at 11:00 AM

A Greener Alternative To Conventional Solar Backsheets

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As the solar market continues its dramatic growth, the future outlook for manufacturers is changing. While US photovoltaic module manufacturers were working on technology development and manufacturing strategies, their competition, mainly in Asia, was able to line up financing and build new factories more rapidly. The Chinese government also has been developing a set of subsidies to boost solar energy production in-country.

As a result, a great deal of industry buzz has been generated by the precipitous slide in solar module prices, which dropped approximately 40 percent from 2007 to 2010 and by another 40 percent in 2011. Most industry experts predict that solar module price will eventually bounce back from its lowest level of 2011 once demand catches up with supply as evidenced by steadily growing solar energy demand in the future. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 10, 2012 at 6:00 AM

Four New Ways To Solve The Energy Challenge

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In labs around the globe, scientists are working on radical technologies, from 500-mile car batteries to solar space farms. The holy grail in the electric-car world is beating range anxiety: the fear you’ll run out of juice in the middle of nowhere. Today’s electrics, like the Nissan Leaf, have a range of about 100 miles, but scientists at IBM are in hot pursuit of a better technology. In the 1990s researchers hypothesized that they could create energy by combining lithium with oxygen, making what is now referred to as a lithium-air battery. Today IBM and some 50 other labs globally are working on versions that would let an electric car go 500 miles a charge — a potential game changer for models like BMW’s i3 concept vehicle. This article is a linkout.

 /  Published January 5, 2012 at 11:00 AM

BASF Goes Biological With Renmatix Investment

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International chemical firm and major energy customer BASF has invested $30 million in biomass technology firm Renmatix as companies around the world continue to ramp up research and development of alternative bio-based fuels and chemicals for industrial purposes.

Renmatix’ technology allows for the production of industrial sugar from wood, cane trash or straw, the American firm said in announcing the new investment. The privately-held firm already operates a facility in Georgia, where it has the capacity to turn three tons of cellulosic biomass into sugar daily. The BASF investment will allow Renmatix to boost production to industrial scale and become more efficient, Renmatix CEO Mike Hamilton said. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 5, 2012 at 7:00 AM

HyperSolar Abandons Photovoltaics With Hope Of Surviving The Solar Slump

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The solar shakeout has been spreading far and wide, with the most recent announcement of 40-year-old BP Solar quitting the mix thinning competitors even further.

There have been various strategies for survival for the remaining players as they attempt to keep up with rapidly dropping panel prices but steady manufacturing costs. One California-based solar PV company, HyperSolar, recently announced it would abandon solar panels altogether and will focus instead on making solar powered nanoparticles that can float in wastewater to clean it and at the same to,e produce methane gas. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 30, 2011 at 10:30 AM

Feds Eye Criminal Charges Against BP Workers: Report

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U.S. prosecutors are reportedly considering filing criminal charges against BP employees over the U.K. energy giant’s role in the worst offshore oil spill in American history. According to The Wall Street Journal, federal officials may disclose felony charges early next year against employees who may have provided false information to regulators about the risks tied to the Gulf of Mexico well while drilling was ongoing. The charges would mark the first criminal charges stemming from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident, which killed 11 people, injured 17 and caused almost 5 million barrels of crude oil to spill. A conviction would call for up to five years in prison in addition to a fine, the paper said. This article is a linkout.

 /  Published December 29, 2011 at 10:30 AM

Biomass Facility At Savannah River Set To Save DOE Nearly $1 Billion

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A biomass generation plant serving a giant Department of Energy installation has been delivered under the largest Energy Savings Performance Contract to date.

The 20 MW biomass power facility will provide roughly 30% of the 310 square mile Savannah River Site‘s power needs once it becomes fully operational in 2012. During six weeks of performance tests the biomass facility produced more than 3 million kilowatt hours of power. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 28, 2011 at 10:00 AM

Hitachi’s Social Innovation Business Shouts Smart Grid

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An owner of 900 companies globally and 70 in the US, IT giant Hitachi has recently been increasingly focusing on smart grid technology and sustainable infrastructure development.

From fiscal years 2010-2012, Hitachi has dedicated 1.6 trillion yen (roughly $20.5 billion) to what it calls “social innovation business.” During that same period, the company has also dedicated 1.2 trillion yen to research and development in the social innovation business, according to Hitachi Director of Corporate Branding, Lauren Raguzin. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 27, 2011 at 6:00 AM

2012 Smart Grid Predictions

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1. Significant smart meter growth in emerging markets in South America, Eastern Europe and elsewhere. $50 billion smart meter and smart grid opportunity by 2020. Leading countries include Brazil, Poland, and Singapore.

2. Prepayment service will become a major topic of discussion now that smart meters make it possible to implement at no extra cost; the hope is that this will help solve our national scandal of cutting off power to over 6 million poor households per year. This is over 1,000 times as many disconnections as the UK, which, at one-fifth the US population, has fewer than 5,000 disconnections per year. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 23, 2011 at 8:30 AM
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