Green Energy News | March 5, 2000

March 5, 2000 – Vol.4 No.49

ENERGIES... week of March 5, 2000

TEAR DOWN THE WALLS! Rising from the smoke of discussion at the International Conference on Accelerating Grid-Based Renewable Energy Power Generation for a Clean Environment came a clear message - remove barriers to entry hampering the development of renewable energy.

Of all, two distinct ideas rose to the surface. Long-term loan programs need to be created to finance long-lived renewable energy projects, and governments should stop subsidizing power generation projects which burn fossil fuels.

Large renewable energy projects, that might provide clean power to the grid for decades, can only get relatively short-term funding - financial institutions often want their money back in fewer than 10 years. Stiff payback terms make it difficult for companies to build new projects, generate low cost power and provide profits needed to attract other investors.

And, the fossil-fuel industry is mature. It shouldn’t need government assistance. Taxpayer-provided funding for carbon emitting power plants should end if governments are serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The two day conference was hosted by the U.S. Energy Association (USEA), the World Bank and others. Visit USEA at http://www.usea.org/ , the World Bank at http://www.worldbank.org/.

ROOF POWER. Government does provide considerable funding for renewable energy. In an industrial park in Virginia the world’s largest roof-integrated, thin-film solar electric system has been completed by PowerLight Corporation with help from taxpayers.

The 10,000 square foot, 42 kilowatt array was built with PowerLight’s PowerGuard (tm) solar photovoltaic roofing tiles which provide a leak proof surface and additional insulation for Building Number One at the Cape Charles Sustainable Technology Industrial Park. BP Solarex thin-film Millennia (tm) modules are integrated into the interlocking tiles.

Funding for the system was provided by the Virginia Alliance for Solar Energy and the Utility PhotoVoltaic Group’s TEAM-UP program which get cost sharing assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy. Visit PowerLight at http://www.powerlight.com/ and BP Solarex at http://www.bpsolarex.com/ .

FUEL CELL REPORTS. Astris Energi has announced substantial progress on its Energy Master 4 kilowatt alkaline fuel cell being developed for both stationary and non-road vehicle applications. The company chose an alkaline fuel cell design over Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) designs because of the potential for lower cost. The company plans to have an operating vehicle in about a year.

ZeTek Power, also developing alkaline fuel cells, is looking for partners to become ZeTek Approved Systems Integrators (ZASI) to develop specific commercial applications for its technology. ZASI partners must meet engineering, sales and marketing criteria set by ZeTek in return for training, purchasing benefits and product support from the company.

International Fuel Cells (IFC) claims it has achieved 1.5 kilowatts of power per liter energy density - 15% greater than competing companies have reported - for its automobile fuel cell now under development . IFC uses a near atmospheric pressure fuel cell to eliminate the need for a noisy and energy-robbing air pump. IFC has sold more than 190 model PC25 stationary fuel cell generators world wide.