Green Energy News | September 24, 2000

September 24, 2000 – Vol.5 No.26

ENERGIES... week of September 24, 2000

GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTIONS - ONLINE. On a project-by-project basis, Internet users can now follow completed and planned efforts to reduce greenhouse gases worldwide. The World Energy Council (WEC) has opened a database on its website - GHG Reduction Projects - which keeps track of individual projects, their potential amount of emission reduction, the company and country involved, along with descriptions of each project. The database will be updated as planned projects are completed and new ones developed.

Projects can range from a change of fuel at a powerplant or the construction of a new windfarm. The database was developed on a voluntary basis by industry and others and lists efforts in over seventy-five countries. Visit the GHG database at http://www.worldenergy.org/ . (If your company’s project is not listed, be sure to contact the WEC.)

DEVELOPING WORLD RENEWABLES. Solar energy and Internet commerce will work hand-in-hand in 50 remote villages in India. Greenstar India has announced it will begin building solar powered e-commerce centers in the villages as a way to open the two-way door to information and business the Internet provides.

Each e-commerce center will market a downloadable gallery of music, artwork, photographs, video and more - a digital culture in the arts. Revenues will be used to fund the basic needs of the village. The open doorway allows residents access to educational programs, health care information and other resources to help the community grow. For the outside looking in, the rest of the world will experience a sample of a culture probably unknown. The centers will be developed in part by the Greenstar Corporation USA.

In the Philippine’s, the government has announced that it will use solar power, wind energy or micro-hydropower to bring electricity to about 4500 barangays (villages) in remote coastal and mountainous areas by 2004. There are 9714 barangays in the nation without electric power. Visit the Philippine Dept. of Energy at http://www.doe.gov.ph/ .

ACTIVE MICROTURBINE MARKET. Following the market success of its 30 kilowatt Model 330 microturbine, Capstone has shipped its first Capstone 60, 60 kilowatt turbine generator. The unit is destined to be installed at a propane and liquefied natural gas storage facility operated by Reliant Energy Minnegasco. The natural gas fueled turbine will be used as back-up power and to supplement the grid connection to ensure the temperature control of stored fuels. Like the 330, the 60 has the same low NOx emissions of 9 parts per million, compared with 1000 or more from a diesel generator, for example.

But success brings new competition to Capstone. Solo Energy Corporation is developing a new product dubbed Wireless Energy (tm). Though information about their microturbine is sparse, the company has entered into a partnership with SCANA Resources and has received $6 million in investment from them. Visit Capstone at http://www.microturbine.com/ SCANA at http://www.scana.com/ .

NITROGEN OVERLOAD. For readers following nitrogen emissions, the Baltimore Sun has concluded an excellent 5 part series - Nitrogen’s Deadly Harvest - on the effects of excess nitrogen from NOx emissions, fertilizer and other sources in waterways around the world. The Sun is offering reprints of the newspaper report; call 410-332-6800 in the U.S.