New Ventures

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

Connecticut Biomass Plant Clears Financing Hurdle

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A flagship Enova biomass power project in the Northeastern US has cleared a string of financial hurdles following an agreement between private equity giant The Carlyle Group and SAIC.

The 37.5MW Plainfield, Connecticut project will cost $225 million and will consume recycled wood materials, removing it from an industry debate over the use of fresh-cut biomass for power generation. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 10, 2012 at 6:00 AM

DOE Aims To Head Off Clean Energy Materials Shortage

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Those high-efficiency compact fluorescent lights that are supposed to replace energy-wasting incandescent bulbs have a looming problem: the materials to make them are in short supply.

So are materials vital for things like high-efficiency wind turbines and electric vehicle motors.
Assistant Energy Secretary David Sandalow said those shortages could delay adoption of clean technologies, or make them more costly, so the Department of Energy has developed a strategy to try to avert shortages that is supported by $20 million in Congressional funding. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 6, 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

Volt Fires Won’t Hurt Electric Vehicle Demand: Experts

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You might fear for the future of any car whose battery sparked, smoldered, or burst into flames during government safety tests.

That’s what happened to the Chevy Volt, a plug-in electric/gasoline hybrid touted as GM’s leading response to popular demand for cars that consume less gasoline and emit fewer greenhouse gases than the automaker’s thirstier conventional models. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 28, 2011 at 1:00 PM

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

CSP Solar Energy Storage In Motion

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While solar critics decry the intermittent nature of photovoltaic technology that can capture the sun’s light and turn it into electricity only when its sunny, developers have been busy finding ways to store the sun’s power even overnight.

By using molten salts in its water tower, California-based solar company, BrightSource Energy, has developed a method to store overnight energy collected during the day by its concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. In late November, the company announced that it will be including its SolarPLUS thermal energy storage technology to several of its CSP plants. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 27, 2011 at 6:00 AM
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