Green Energy News | August 13, 2000

August 13, 2000 – Vol.5 No.20

ENERGIES... week of August 13, 2000

BREATHING ROOM. While efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions need to continue, a new report from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) suggests that more potent greenhouse gases may be easier to control than CO2. The report - Global Warming in the 21st Century: An Alternative Scenario - claims that as economies worldwide have grown dramatically in recent decades the growth rate of carbon dioxide hasn’t increased. The curve hasn’t steepened.

Non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHG’s) such as methane, chlorofluorocarbons, tropospheric ozone as well as aerosols such as black carbon (soot) should be relatively easy to control - reductions that in some cases would be economically beneficial. For instance, methane trapped from sewage treatment plants can be used to provide power. Large amounts of methane from rice cultivation can be reduced by changing fertilizers and irrigation patterns - both of which could increase crop yields by reducing plant pests.

Black carbon and other aerosols can be removed by widespread use of state-of-the-art and already available air pollution control equipment for motor vehicles and power plants. Reducing pollution can eliminate related human health problems and improve agricultural production.

If the scenario were considered and implemented by policy makers, the development of clean and renewable energy sources would be given more time to develop technically and gain market acceptance. Visit NASA GISS at http://www.giss.nasa.gov/ .

FREEZING COLD HOT TURBINE. Capstone Turbine and Japan Steel Works will work together to develop new refrigeration systems utilizing the hot exhaust gases of Capstone MicroTurbines. The systems will use Japan Steel’s metal hydride absorption technology to create supply-air temperatures as low as 14 degrees F. With electricity generated by the already efficient turbine, and hot exhaust working to chill air, system efficiency is increased significantly reducing refrigeration costs.

Japan Steel Works has been developing metal hydrides - hydrogen absorbing alloys - to create refrigeration systems that don’t use chlorofluorocarbons. A prototype hydride chilling system has already been built and is undergoing testing. A marketable product could available late next year. Visit Japan Steel works at http://www.jsw.co.jp and Capstone at http://www.microturbine.com/ .

SOLAR PROJECTS. BP has opened the first of twelve partially solar powered gasoline filling stations planned for the Chicago area. At each of the six promised for the city, and six in the suburbs, thin-film solar arrays - provided by BP Solar - will supply up to 6 kilowatts of electricity to the station - 10-15 percent of the station’s power needs. The arrays mounted on the pump island canopy will power lighting and some store equipment.

Each installation is a demonstration and marketing opportunity for BP. The company would like to prove to businesses and individuals that solar power can be used successfully to meet energy demands.

On a larger scale, Potomac Electric Power (PEPCO) and Idacorp will build a 100 kilowatt solar array to power the central cooling plant for the Suitland Federal Center outside of Washington, D.C. The 2800 module array to be built by Applied Power, a division of Idacorp, should be operating in September. Visit BP Solar at http://www.bpsolar.com/ .