Green Energy News | June 24, 2001

June 24, 2001 – Vol.6 No.13

ENERGIES... week of June 24, 2001

LEADERSHIP FROM THE DEVELOPING WORLD. According to a new report from the World Resources Institute (WRI), many developing countries - although they are under no international obligation to do so - are already making significant cuts in greenhouse gases or taking meaningful action towards that goal.

Most noteworthy in reductions to date is China. While the economy of the world’s most populous nation grew by 15 percent between 1997 and 1999, greenhouse gas emissions were cut by 17 percent in that period. As report co-author Nancy Kete stated, “China’s achievement is unprecedented.” China’s reductions were made through a campaign to make the nation’s coal-fired industrial boilers more efficient, a decrease in fossil fuel subsidies and investment in energy efficient and renewable energy technologies.

Other developing countries, too, have taken responsible action. Indonesia, a member of OPEC, is phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and has developed national goals to increase energy efficiency and build more renewables. Mexico, India, Thailand and the Philippines have similar plans. The report “ The U.S., Developing Countries and Climate Protection: Leadership or Stalemate?” is available at http://www.wri.org/ .

CLEAN, CLEAR SAILING. In Sydney, Australia, tourists and commuters can ply the waters of the beautiful harbor in a hybrid solar-powered ferry.

The 100-passenger Solar Sailor has solar panels that can both generate electricity and work in the same fashion as fabric sails on a traditional sailboat. The solar panels can also be repositioned to collect the optimum amount of solar energy to keep the craft’s batteries charged. For the worst case scenario - no sun for days - the ferry has a natural gas fueled generator on board to power its two 40 kilowatt electric motors. Transport officials in San Francisco, California as well as those in Japan and China are studying the ferry. Visit Solar Sailor at http://www.solarsailor.com/ .

WASTE-GAS-TO-WORK. Now being marketed to energy companies in North America is a new power generator developed to run on flare gas or low-pressure gas from abandoned natural gas wells. The generator from Well to Wire Energy - WW(e) - can operate on supply-gas pressure of less than 8 ounces and, according to the company, generate up to 300 kilowatts of power. The generator motor is a reciprocating internal combustion engine but with spherical rotary intake valves.

The engine design, along with putting ordinarily flared and wasted gas to work, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by adding new low-emission power to the grid. A smaller home-sized version is under development. Visit WW(e) at http://www.welltowire.com/ .

FUEL CELL GRID. This summer the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) of New York will connect 75 stationary fuel cells from Plug Power to the grid. The $7 million program, financed through LIPA’s five-year, $170 million Clean Energy Initiative (CEI), will provide enough power for 100 homes.

The program’s purpose is to test the fuel cells for reliability and performance to help bring the technology one step closer to full commercialization. Plug Power has been developing a 7 kilowatt fuel cell power plant for residential use which will be used in the program. Visit LIPA at http://www.lipower.org/ , Plug Power at http://www.plugpower.com/ .

WORLD WIND WATCH. The aluminum industry in the U.S. Northwest has been at a near standstill since the Bonneville Power Authority (BPA) made agreements with producers to curtail operations early this year. Hydropower, normally used for smelting operations, needed to be channeled to the grid for west coast markets desperate for electricity. Slowing production to a crawl, along with poor market conditions for primary aluminum, has put some companies under severe financial stress.

Now one company, Golden Northwest Aluminum, has plans to pursue other sources of energy to power its facilities including 600 megawatts of wind power. BPA will provide limited assistance for up to 200 megawatts of that wind energy. Wind energy could improve Golden’s bottom line and allow the company to stay in business.

In February of this year BPA posted a request for proposals for up to 1000 megawatts of new wind power in the same region. Now sorting through 25 proposals for 2600 megawatts, the U.S. Department of Energy will enter into pre-development negotiations with SeaWest WindPower, Zilkha Renewable Energy, Columbia Wind Power and Pacific Winds for seven projects totaling 830 megawatts.

If built and completed in about 2 and a half years, the additional capacity, added to existing or under construction wind power, will make the BPA, a U.S. federal agency, the largest wind power supplier in the nation. Visit BPA at http://www.bpa.gov/ , SeaWest at http://www.seawestwindpower.com/