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TCASE 14: Assessment of Electricity Generation Costs

August 17, 2011 by Barry Brook
with 704 views
3

In the previous TCASE post, I considered how various low-carbon energy technologies meet the following criteria: commercial readiness, scalability, dispatchability, fuel constraints, load access, storage requirements, capacity factor and emissions intensity. Here I consider the next issue: cost of deployment, based on expert... [read more]

US Renewables Need A Fallback Plan

August 8, 2011 by Geoffrey Styles
with 831 views
14

When I described some of the energy implications of the debt limit crisis last month, the most serious ones were associated with a default by the US government in the event the debt ceiling wasn't extended. That risk has been resolved, for now. But that doesn't mean that everything looks rosy, especially for renewables. Renewable energy... [read more]

The New Post-Carbon Business Model

June 17, 2011 by David Thorpe
with 325 views
0

The idea of providing a service of renewable energy - rather than a simple supply - and reaping a return on investment from selling any surplus generated to the grid, or by claiming the difference between the regular and premium rate, is emerging as the favoured business model for financing the low carbon revolution.The latest example is... [read more]

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20MW Gemasolar Plant: Elegant, But Pricey

June 6, 2011 by Nathan Wilson
with 5,323 views
8

Torresol Energy has announced the commissioning of its Gemasolar CSP electrical plant. It went on-line 5/24/2011, with a maximum output of 19.9 MW, and 15 hours of thermal energy storage, which allows it generate power 24 hours per day many months per year. The cost is about $33 per average Watt delivered. [read more]

Justifying $15 Trillion for Renewables

May 11, 2011 by Geoffrey Styles
with 711 views
35

Yesterday I received a joint press release from a group of renewable energy trade associations. It touted a new report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the potential growth of renewable energy by 2050. The report has already garnered an impressive array of headlines, such as "Renewable Energy Can Power the... [read more]

A Geothermal Bankruptcy

May 6, 2011 by Geoffrey Styles
with 343 views
3

I just caught up with last week's bankruptcy filing by Raser Technologies, Inc., a small developer of geothermal power plants. Burdened with excessive debt, Raser is filing for Chapter 11 protection to restructure its liabilities and continue operating under new ownership. In the process the current shareholders will see their much-... [read more]

As Nuclear Falters: A Practical, Affordable (and Safe) Clean Electricity Plan

March 15, 2011 by Craig Severance
with 458 views
0

With the Japanese nuclear debacle, the world is now looking for a way forward without new nuclear power. New nuclear is absent from a Practical and Affordable Clean Electricity Plan not because of safety concerns, but because it fails the "practical and affordable" test. This post details how President Barack Obama's goal of "80% Clean Energy by 2035" can be met, without reliance on new nuclear power. [read more]

Arizona Solar Power Doubles in 2010

March 10, 2011 by Reginald Norris
with 491 views
2

Arizona solar made substantial strides in 2010 by installing over 54 megawatts of solar power, doubling its 2009 output of 21 megawatts, ranking it fourth in the U.S. According to a study by the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research, 878 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic (PV) capacity and 78 MW of concentrating solar power (... [read more]

Study: Wind energy to save Irish customers €100M/ year in electricity costs by 2020

March 1, 2011 by Kate Garratt
with 952 views
1

IWEA calls on Government to deliver a robust management system for the industryTuesday, March 1, 2011: Wind energy generation will deliver savings to Irish consumers of €100m by 2020, the most detailed analysis to date into the value of the sector has revealed.The report, commissioned by IWEA (Irish Wind Energy Association) in... [read more]

Due Diligence: How to Evaluate a Renewable Energy Technology

February 21, 2011 by Robert Rapier
with 918 views
2

Doing Due Diligence To people who follow the energy industry closely, it’s a common occurrence to come across announcements from companies proclaiming to have developed the key to the ‘next big thing’ — for solving the world’s energy crisis. Maybe they say they can take any sort of waste biomass and turn it into fuel — ethanol, diesel,... [read more]

Definitions and other matters

April 25, 2009 by Margaret Harding
with 119 views
2

Once again, while wandering on another social media site, I ran across a question that needed answering. This time, someone wanted to know why hydrogen was never mentioned as a renewable energy source. As I wrote a response to this individual, I realized that there is significant potential for confusion and incorrect thinking around... [read more]

Outsmarting the Smart Grid

February 18, 2009 by William Tucker
with 888 views
12

The latest delusion about energy is the “smart grid.”  This bright new technological miracle will once again help us overcome the realities of physics and allow us to live in a world run on wind and sunshine.Al Gore, Thomas Friedman, Amory Lovins and Silicon Valley are the predictable originators of this story, but – as always –... [read more]

Nuclear taking off - but not here

December 10, 2008 by William Tucker
with 179 views
0

"The nuclear renaissance isn’t just coming, it’s here already here."Those were the keynote remarks form J.M. Bernhard, Jr., CEO of the Shaw Group, at PennWebb’s "PowerGen" conference in Orlando last week.The industry’s premier event, attended by 18,000 people, PowerGen was abuzz with talk of a nuclear revival.  If you listened... [read more]

Tales from the Coal Pits

November 30, 2008 by William Tucker
with 190 views
0

Here’s another anecdote from my book, Terrestrial Energy. One of the things I did was visit the Zimmer Power Station in Moscow, Ohio. This is an 810-megawatt coal plant that serves Cincinnati andsouthwestern Ohio. Zimmer significant in American energy history because in 1985 it was 95 percent completed as anuclear power plant when... [read more]

Whatever Happened to Small is Beautiful?

November 27, 2008 by William Tucker
with 314 views
1

In 1976, Amory Lovins, the 26-year-old British representative of Friends of the Earth, published Soft Energy Paths, a phenomenally successful book that calledfor an American economy run on renewable and “soft” energy.Lovins’ mentor was E.F. Schumacher, who three years earlier had written Small is Beautiful, a manifesto for “appropriate... [read more]