The news these days is rife with stories of falling stock prices and failing companies, corporate bailouts and bankruptcies. Cleantech, championed for the last few years as America’s next growth sector, has suffered along with the rest of the economy. PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy Index, for example, is trading over 70% lower than it was a year ago (versus the S&P 500 which is down about 47% over the same period). Has the cleantech bubble burst? Actually, I don’t think so. There are quite a few bright spots that point out continued growth in extant cleantech companies despite the drying up of investment capital and the falling price of oil.
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I recently wrote a post about devices that harvest the kinetic energy of moving water, and noted how technologies that capture such energy are finding their way into doors, turnstiles, and dancefloors. Well, an Israeli company called Innowattech seems to have taken this concept of capturing wasted mechanical energy further than anyone else, and is pitching energy-harvesting roadways, runways, and railways.
How do they do this? Using a network of piezoelectric generators that are embedded into the surface of the roadway (or runway or railroad) which can harvest energy from weight, motion, vibration, and temperature changes. In addition, the company claims to have developed an energy storage system to attach to their piezoelectric generators.
Innowattech says one kilometer of roadway can produce up to 500 kW of electricity every hour, and the faster and heavier the vehicles, the more energy the roadways can generate - sounds perfect for the driving habits of Americans.
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This week the state of Hawaii announced plans to partner with Better Place to create an electric car infrastructure throughout the Aloha State. This follows the announcement from late October that an agreement with the state’s electric utilities had been reached to implement the Hawaiian Clean Energy Initiative — which among other bold moves calls for 70% of the state’s transportation and electric energy to come from clean sources by 2030. 40% of electricity would be derived from renewable sources by 2030, effectively doubling Hawaii’s currently renewable portfolio standard (RPS) of 20% by 2020.
These are certainly bold goals, but I think Hawaii has a shot at achieving them. My confidence stems primarily from the fact that the state’s plans indicate a different psychology around this new era of energy in the state.
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The Boston Sunday Globe had a great article on an uptick in interest in community wind projects here in the Bay State — highlighted by a vignette on an abbey of nuns who are choosing to site a wind turbine on their land in order to harness a “gift of creation” to serve 75% of their electricity needs.
Public perception of wind’s acceptance in Massachusetts has been driven largely by the Cape Wind project, the hotly contested 130-turbine offshore farm that would sit between Cape Cod and Nantucket. But as this article points out - community wind might be just the ticket for this densely populated region with decent wind resources, a green-leaning populace, and high electricity prices.
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Utilities seem to be damned if they do and damned if they don’t when it comes to solar. 27 states plus DC now have renewable portfolio standards in place with mandates for an increasing portion of electricity to come from sources like wind and solar. Yet, when utilities Southern California Edison and Duke Energy Carolinas responded by launching aggressive utility-owned distributed rooftop solar programs recently, their ambitious plans were heavily criticized as being too expensive and unfriendly to competition. Duke has already chopped their planned program in half due to the critiques.
Just this week, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, announced their plans to have 10% of the city’s energy generated by solar by 2020. This aggressive and precedent-setting goal is already drawing criticism. That doesn’t seem quite right - shouldn’t we be praising utilities that are early-adopters and innovators?
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The Sacramento Bee reports that the city may kill plans to build a next generation waste to energy plant that uses a technology called plasma arc gasification. City council is citing uncertainties around the developer’s opaque financials and the unknown environmental impact of the plant as the reasons why they are hesitant to greenlight a project that will put renewable electricity on the grid while preventing most if not all of the city’s trash from being driven to a dump in Reno.
OK, I get the part about the developer’s financials – but the environmental impact? You’d think there probably isn’t a high environmental bar to get over when the status quo is driving diesel trucks 280 miles roundtrip to throw trash into a hole. But Sacramento’s hesitation actually reveals a pretty good point about this technology: we really have very little idea what will happen if we built one of these plants to utility scale. It’s time for someone to make a sound case for the gasification of solid waste.
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We usually only hear about fuel cells in relation to discussions about the perpetually around-the-bend hydrogen economy, but the technology is actually more than a century old. In fact, there are numerous types of fuel cells that can run on a variety of fuels - some are even being examined as alternatives to batteries in consumer electronics. What is true across all types of fuel cells is that they produce electricity from a chemical reaction, rather than through combustion. Well Bloom Energy, formerly Ion America, is reportedly ready to debut a fuel cell ready to run on any hydrocarbon, from coal-derived gas to natural gas to renewable fuels like ethanol. The company’s stealth operation has recently been “revealed” through a large expose on the company’s backers, Kleiner Perkins, in the NY Times Magazine.
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One of the most exciting next-generation solar companies is Konarka, a spinoff from Umass Lowell which makes solar power from organic polymers that is printed on a roll, just like photographic film. But, until recently, Konarka had more of a concept than a product ready for mass manufacture. Well, the company now has 1 GW / yr manufacturing capacity after taking over a former Polaroid facility and re-tooling it to produce solar panels.
What does this mean? Well, if Konarka has its way, your roof won’t be the only thing generating electricity - your building’s awnings, blinds, and windows will too…
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Like many other observers, I’ve long viewed thin-film solar technology with skepticism. While the technology promised lower costs and better performance in a range of conditions compared to traditional crystalline silicon, the greater efficiency of traditional PV, and the promise of high efficiency multi-junction cells, has made some wonder if the technology had missed its window – the industry is no longer losing sleep over silicon shortages, and costs have not fallen to the degree many have hoped. However, a stealthy start-up has just emerged with what may be a truly disruptive solar technology.
Solyndra, like many thin-film designs, uses CIGS technology. But that’s where the similarities with other designs ends. Whereas CIGS is usually deposited onto a flat, sometimes flexible, substrate, Solyndra deposits CIGS on a glass tube that looks like a fluorescent lightbulb you’d find in your office building.
The company claims these rows of PV tubes offer many advantages over traditional solar designs. Others certainly agree with the assertion – the company has raised in the neighborhood of $600 million in VC funding and claims it has contracts that total $1.2 billion. It has its eyes set on commercial customers with large, flat roofs, like big box stores and warehouses.
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We need more wind power - that’s why we should electrify the transportation sector, not power it off natural gas.
T. Boone Pickens and the national energy plan he’s evangelizing are receiving significant media attention. His plan contains two main proposals – the expansion of wind power throughout the US, and the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel. Despite the wonderful media story this oil-turned-wind baron represents, the truth of the matter is his plan is well-intentioned but misguided. Wind power capacity should surely be expanded, but increasing natural gas demand is the last thing we need. Pickens is overlooking a clear alternative, and one that will help deploy even more wind-powered generation – the electrification of the transportation sector.
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