MorganEnergy

Discussing Energy Economics on the Internet

Where the Money Goes

Posted in Renewables by Cheryl Morgan on the September 9th, 2008

The EIA has some interesting data out on the level of subsidies received in the US energy industry in 2007. Wind power is the sector receiving most total benefit – $666m from the production tax credit. However, in terms of dollars per MWh of generated power, refined coal turns out to be the most subsidized fuel.

It is worth noting that the numbers refer to direct energy subsidies only. Governments have all sorts of ways of directing money to established industries, and the renewables community often complains that the true level of subsidies to other fuels are not seen. In particular it is sometimes argued that a large portion of the US military budget is, in effect, a subsidy to the oil industry. Also the EIA notes that this narrow definition of subsidy excludes the whopping $3.0bn given to the ethanol industry under the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit.

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Xcel Goes Green

Posted in Colorado,Renewables by Cheryl Morgan on the August 22nd, 2008

The greening of the USA’s generation industry took another significant step forward this week when the Colorado Public Utilities Commission approved a plan by Xcel Energy to replace 229MW of coal-fired generation with a 200MW solar plant. As reported by Rocky Mountain News, Xcel had originally planned to replace the aging coal plants (Arapahoe in Denver and Cameo in Gran Junction) with a 480MW gas plant. However, in the face of local opposition, and the need to meet Governor Bill Ritter’s plan for a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020, the utility will now use renewable generation instead.
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Solar Power from IR

Posted in Renewables by Cheryl Morgan on the August 21st, 2008

The Economist has an interesting article up about the possibility of designing a solar cell that works on infra-red light rather than visible light. The technology is quite a long way from commercialization, but the possibilities for capturing and recycling energy from low grade heat are very interesting. Also it is fascinating to see how solar has come so quickly from a technology that everyone says is too expensive to a technology that is a favorite of entrepreneurs and inventors.

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Google Goes Geothermal

Posted in Renewables by Cheryl Morgan on the August 19th, 2008

According to a report today on Platts, Google is to invest $10.15 million in advanced geothermal technology. The idea is to develop techniques that will allow geothermal power to be tapped in places where no immediately available natural source exists:

In so-called Enhanced Geothermal Systems, the conditions needed for geothermal generation of naturally occurring pockets of steam and hot water are replicated by fracturing hot rock, circulating water through the system and using the resulting steam to produce electricity in conventional turbines.

The principal beneficiary will be AltaRock Energy, who have a nice graphic description of their technology here.

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Nature Article Now Available

Posted in Renewables by Cheryl Morgan on the August 18th, 2008

Thanks to personal intervention by Oliver Morton (gosh, we have influence!) the Nature article on renewable energy technologies is now available for free. You can read it here. Here are a few brief extracts:

Because hydro is a mature technology, there is little room for improvement in the efficiency of generation. Also, the more obvious and easy locations have been used, and so the remaining potential can be expected to be harder to exploit.

Building and operating nuclear plants requires a great many highly trained professionals, and enlarging this pool of talent enough to double the rate at which new plants are brought online might prove very challenging. The engineering capacity for making key components would also need enlarging.

Wind Power Monthly estimates that the world’s installed capacity for wind as of January 2008 was 94 gigawatts. If growth continued at 21%, that figure would triple over six years.

Earth receives about 100,000 TW of solar power at its surface — enough energy every hour to supply humanity’s energy needs for a year. There are parts of the Sahara Desert, the Gobi Desert in central Asia, the Atacama in Peru or the Great Basin in the United States where a gigawatt of electricity could be generated using today’s photovoltaic cells in an array 7 or 8 kilometres across. Theoretically, the world’s entire primary energy needs could be served by less than a tenth of the area of the Sahara.

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How Green is my Valley?

Posted in Renewables by Cheryl Morgan on the August 15th, 2008

Last weekend the technorati and venture capitalists of the world gathered together here in Silicon Valley to discuss business opportunities at the annual SciFoo event. One of the hot topics this year was renewable energy. Nature has a long article following on from this, which is sadly subscriber only. However, Oliver Morton has summarized some of the conclusions on this blog.

My own view on this is that what really matters is not what is technologically feasible or economically feasible, but what is politically feasible. Attempts at introducing renewable generation too often founder when faced with NIMBYist protests against the generation itself, or the transmission enhancements needed to bring that power to market. It has become abundantly clear that we humans, as a species, want electrical power, and want to save the planet, but both of those things have to come without the cost of having wind turbines and transmission lines in our own back yards.

From that point of view, I am particularly encouraged by the solar roofs program being run by SCE, in that the installations are often invisible except from the air, and are located right where the power is needed.

Update: PG&E has recently announced plans to construct an 800 MW solar plant. That’s serious generation.

Wave Power Works in Scotland

Posted in Renewables,UK by Cheryl Morgan on the August 5th, 2008

Wave power took a significant step forward last week when the Scottish Energy Minister, Jim Mather, officially switched on a prototype 100kW turbine on the coast of Islay. The generator belongs to WaveGen, and small versions of the plant, named “Limpet”, have been operating since late 2000. The new protoype is being tested in advance of a planned 4 MW plant to be built at Siadar Bay on the Isle of Lewis.

Unlike other proposed wave generation systems, the Limpet does not bob around in the water but, as its name suggests, clings to the rocky shore line. The action of the waves forces air in and out of the turbine chamber, and the turbine usefully generates power from air movement in both directions. The plant is enclosed in a concrete bunker that is small and anonymous enough to please all but the most ardent environmentalist, and because it is on shore it is easy to service and connect to the grid.

More information is available from the Wavegen brochure (PDF) and npower’s web site for the Siadar Bay project. The BBC has a video report from the Islay site.

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Texas Plans for Wind

Posted in Renewables,Texas by Cheryl Morgan on the July 21st, 2008

The Texas Public Utilities Commission has committed the state to a massive $4.93 bn project that will build transmission to carry up to 18,456 MW of wind (and possibly solar) power from remote areas of the state to the major population centers.
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Sometimes Protests Work

Posted in Renewables,USA Federal by Cheryl Morgan on the July 3rd, 2008

Last week we reported on the decision of the US Bureau of Land Management to place a 2-year moratorium on all new solar power planning applications in order to do an environmental impact study. The decision was widely condemned by the renewable power industry and the irony of the situation caused many newspapers around the world to take up the story. Even Congress woke up. As the New York Times reports, one of the Colorado Representatives joined in the protests. Yesterday the BLM reversed the decision. The BLM will now continue to process new applications, though they will also continue with the environmental impact study in parallel.

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Investment in Renewables Surges

Posted in Renewables by Cheryl Morgan on the July 1st, 2008

The BBC reports on a publication by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which tracks spending on renewable energy. According to Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2008 the amount invested worldwide in such projects last year was $148bn, up 60% on last year. Wind is the biggest area of investment, but solar is the fastest growing. However, worries about world food prices and environmental damage have caused investment in ethanol and biofuels to fall by about a third. UNEP head Achim Steiner describes the current situation as a “green energy gold rush.”

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