Green Energy News | November 22, 1998

November 22, 1998 – Vol.3 No.34

ENERGIES... week of November 22,1998

BLACK FRIDAY, GREEN HOLIDAYS. The kick-off for the holiday shopping season in the U.S. starts the day after Thanksgiving as hordes of shoppers jam highways to invade already packed malls - an environmentally unfriendly way to start a season of cheer and goodwill. This year concerned shoppers can give a “green” gift to friend, family and the planet as well by purchasing a small portion of a grid connected photovoltaic (PV) electric system.

Sun Power Electric, the first non-profit solar electric utility in the U.S., is offering $30 gift certificates the proceeds of which used to offset the capital costs of Sun Power’s PV installations. Costs which would otherwise be passed on to customers. Each contribution to Sun Power will help make solar power per kilowatt more cost competitive with traditional energy sources - thus more appealing to consumers.

Currently Sun Power is operating under power deregulation only in the states of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. However, air pollution crosses state lines and greenhouse gases affect the planet, so contributing to clean solar power, even from a great distance, helps everyone. Recipients get a handsome certificate acknowledging their contribution to the clean power.

Sun Power is a division of Conservation Services Group. Gift certificates can be ordered by phone at 1-800-689-7957. Visit Sun Power at http://www.sunpower.org/ . (Site under construction when last visited.)

CLEAN POWER FOR CLEAN WATER. As growing populations and economies continue to strain water supplies, desalination of ocean water becomes a serious consideration. Making salt water drinkable can be an energy intensive, and costly, business. While it’s possible to desalinate water through osmosis or with solar stills, the quickest way to make large quantities of salt water safe for domestic use is by boiling it.

The UK fuel cell manufacturer and developer Zero Emission Vehicle Company (Zevco), PTC Holdings and the PTC Group are creating a joint venture with the objective of manufacturing Alkaline Fuel Cells for stationary applications. The initial markets will be to incorporate the into modular, integrated seawater desalination plants.

Zevco’s core fuel cell technologies were purchased from Elenco BV in 1995 which had been developing the AFC’s for 16 years.

FULL CIRCLE FOR BATTERIES. According to the Battery Council International, 96.5% of all lead-acid batteries in the U.S were recycled in 1996. (The latest available data.) A new lead-acid battery contains almost 100% recycled material including reclaimed lead and plastic. (The report doesn’t mention the fate of the electrolyte.)

Should electric vehicles ever take off in the marketplace, and should they have battery packs, the EV batteries should make an easy transition into a closed loop manufacturing process like that already established for lead-acid batteries.