Green Energy News | April 22, 2001

April 22, 2001 – Vol.6 No.4

ENERGIES... week of April 22, 2001

SOLAR EXPANSION. Working towards its objective to expand its solar energy business, BP has announced it will build a new 20 megawatt per annum module assembly plant in Lower Saxony, Germany. The $12 million facility, when operational late in 2002, will employ over 100. BP stated two years ago that it intended to increase annual sales of solar equipment from $200 million per year to $1 billion in a decade. Visit BP Solar at http://www.bpsolar.com/ .

GREENHOUSE GAS TO WORK. Little talked about greenhouse gas - methane - will be used in Japan to fuel a 250 kilowatt Ballard fuel cell. At the Nishimachi Sewage Treatment Plant in Tomakomai, methane from an anaerobic digester will be processed to extract hydrogen with reforming technology ordinarily used for natural gas. Hydrogen will then fuel the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell. The fuel cell was delivered to EBARA Corporation which has a joint venture with Ballard,

Utilizing methane from sewage treatment plants as fuel for fuel cells creates a new energy source, eliminates some methane emissions, but still releases a some carbon dioxide in the reforming process. However, given a choice of gases to release into the air, carbon dioxide - the less potent greenhouse gas - would be preferable to methane. Visit Ballard at http://www.ballard.com/ .

THE POWER PACKED OCEANS. The oceans are a harsh and sometimes dangerous environment to work in. Yet offshore oil companies operate in this environment with relatively few mishaps. With their expertise harnessing energy from the oceans themselves - not from what lies beneath the ocean floor - could move forward at a brisker pace. All the while, technologies used to tap the power of oceans continue to be developed.

Sperboy, a 15-foot diameter floating oscillating water column wave generator from Embley Energy Limited is now being tested in the UK. As waves pass by Sperboy, water rises or drops through tubes that extend 40 feet below the surface. Rushing air above the tubes passes through turbines that are connected to a generator to make electricity. This technology keeps mechanical and electrical equipment above the water line for easy access and away from sea life and corrosive salt water.

Using flowing currents is another ocean energy possibility. Helical turbines - looking somewhat like an egg beater - could be dropped into any moving current from a mountain stream to the Gulf Stream, according to inventor Alexander Gorlov and company GCK Technology. One prototype is being tested in the Amazon, another small unit in a tidal pond in Maine, and GCK has been approached by the South Korean government to build an 80 megawatt system. The turbine’s efficiency of 35 percent has been confirmed by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. An open river - no damming necessary - hydropower system should cost around $400-600 per kilowatt.

A must read on ocean energy is in Science News at http://www.sciencenews.org/ (search their archives for the April 14, 2001 edition.) For Gorlov’s turbines search the web using Gorlov Helical Turbine for a number of articles.

FLYWHEEL ENERGY STORAGE. The intermittent power supply from renewables such as wind and solar could benefit from the use of energy storage systems - energy saved for later use. But energy storage is generally expensive. Eventually the economics of mass production could bring down the cost per unit of flywheel storage systems for use with wind or solar. For now, flywheel companies are seeking lucrative markets outside renewable energy storage to build sales with the hope of future cost reduction.

Active Power, which is marketing flywheels as back-up power to the telecommunications industry as well as small business and residential customers, is now testing a fully integrated flywheel/motor-generator/turbine. The prototype continuous power system (CPS) with turbine off, flywheel spinning should provide 6 kilowatts for a minimum of 8 hours. Turbine on, CPS would supply power as long as fuel is delivered.

Beacon Power is also seeking customers in telecommunications with a 2 kilowatt flywheel. To expand its market potential, it has a 6 kilowatt prototype in development.

Because of their high rotational speed operation, extreme care must be used in flywheel manufacture to prevent catastrophic mechanical failure. The preciseness of the manufacturing process, adds to the cost of these devices. Visit Active Power at http://www.activepower.com/ and Beacon power at http://www.beaconpower.com/ .

FUEL CELL ENERGY STORAGE. Another possibility in energy storage is a regenerative hydrogen fuel cell. When power is available hydrogen can be produced from water through electrolysis and stored. When power is not available hydrogen, is fed into the fuel cell to provide electricity.

Proton Energy Systems is developing its UNIGEN (tm) system that can store up to 70 kilowatt hours of electricity in the form of compressed hydrogen. Like the flywheel companies Proton is pursuing markets in telecommunications.

Stuart Energy System’s fuel appliances makes hydrogen on the spot and has been demonstrating the technology with the California Fuel Cell Partnership. Since the appliance requires a power connection - from renewable sources or otherwise - it too could also make hydrogen for storage and later use. Visit Proton at http://www.protonenergy.com/

YOUR FUEL CELL EXPERIMENT. The most inexpensive fuel cells on the market are available on the Internet, at well known retailers in the U.S. (like Walmart, CompUSA) and soon will be available elsewhere. Though designed to power or recharge cell phones and personal digital assistants, the zinc-air technology is basically the same as that used to power vehicles.

Electric Fuel offers a variety of zinc-air battery-substitute products for cell phones along with its Instant Power (tm) cell phone charger. Instant Power Charger is small portable generator with electricity coming from a replaceable, sacrificial, zinc anode cartridge. At about $20, and $10 for replacement cartridges, experimenters, inventors and mad scientists could afford to test this technology for other applications. (The company doesn’t mention this notion.)

Another firm in the zinc-air arena is AER Energy Resources which is also pursuing the cell phone market with its prototype 4V04 battery. When the zinc anode is activated on exposure to air, oxidation of the anode will continue unless the air supply is shut off. Heat, humidity, even carbon dioxide effects the performance of the battery. AER solves the problem with a proprietary air control device known as Diffusion Air Manager. With Electric Fuel’s Instant Power Charger, the company asks that users remove the anode and put it in an air-tight pouch.

Zinc-air technology is known for its long run time, which should seem appealing to electric vehicle developers. Some EV batteries now in use have siblings working daily to power laptop computers, cell phones, etc. Visit Electric Fuel at http://www.electric-fuel.com/