Green Energy News | July 23, 2000

July 23, 2000 – Vol.5 No.17

ENERGIES... week of July 23, 2000

EXPERTS TOP TEN. Well regarded soothsayers from the Battelle Memorial Institute and U.S. government laboratories have created a list of energy innovations that should be prevalent by 2010. The panel of experts considered technological advances in relationship to economics, expanding research and development, tightening global environmental regulations, consumer preferences, energy policy and legal issues relative to energy production.

-- Energy deregulation will continue. New, small utilities created as a result of deregulation will eventually remerge into SuperUtilities. Oil companies, too, will become full service providers for both stationary and vehicle energy demands.

BP Amoco, through numerous news reports, seems to support this notion - at least for itself.

-- Hybrid Vehicles, including 80 mile per gallon family-sized sedans, will become commonplace. Higher-than-comfortable gasoline prices will cause many to choose more fuel efficient cars and trucks. However, according to one expert, the full transition to highly efficient vehicles may take decades.

Ford’s announcements for the introduction of a hybrid electric sport utility vehicle and increasing fuel economy for SUV’s by 25 percent by 2005 agrees with this vision.

-- Smart Energy Management Systems will be managing the flow of electricity used to operate everything from household appliances to business equipment, making all more efficient.

One company chasing this market is EnergySmart, which has hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to assist in business decisions related to company growth. EnergySmart’s line of Power Planner microprocessor controlled managers senses the needs of electric motor driven devices to optimize power flow to increase motor efficiency.

-- Distributed Generation, including power generated by microturbines, internal combustion engines and fuel cells, will become prominent in the energy landscape. Businesses, individuals, or neighborhoods could choose to generate their own electricity.

Already happening. On top of growing business at Capstone Turbine the company will receive $10 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for a neighborhood-sized 170 -180 kilowatt turbine generator. Also in the market is DTE Energy Technologies which has announced plans to build a 400 kilowatt micro-grid gas turbine.

-- Fuel Cells have come a long way in the past ten years, but still need more development to make them smaller and less expensive. Still, the next decade will see more of them in use for both stationary and vehicle power.

-- Gas-to-Liquid Conversion methods, such as turning natural gas into diesel fuel, will become economically attractive. Worldwide supplies of natural gas seem ample - at this point in time. Liquid fuels are less expensive to ship from remote areas than gaseous.

-- Advanced Batteries, lithium polymer in particular, will carry three times the capacity they now do. Electric vehicles with greater range will be available. Portable electronics will benefit as well.

-- Energy Farms which grow bio-engineered crops whose sole purpose is be converted to fuel will begin operation. The never ending demand for fuel would bring new business to farmers who could grow both food and fuel crops.

-- Solar Energy will continue to expand with continued improvements in photovoltaic cell efficiency. The promise still holds out for widespread deployment of economical solar generated electricity.

-- Methane Hydrate Crystal Mining of frozen natural gas crystals on the ocean bottom would add significantly to the worldwide supply of natural gas. U.S. government programs are underway to study recovery methods and environmental concerns.

Visit Battelle at http://www.battelle.org/ , BP Amoco at http://www.bp.com/ , Ford at http://www.ford.com/ Capstone at http://www.capstoneturbine.com/