Since the launch of the FIT program in October 2009, several big wind and solar manufacturers have announced plans to set up or expand their operations in the province to capitalize on growing demand for Ontario-made products. Global manufacturer Canadian Solar is building a new facility in the town of Guelph that will be capable of manufacturing 200 megawatts of modules a year and create around 500 jobs. Some sixty miles down the road, Siemens is establishing Canada?s first wind turbine blade factory in Tillonsburg, representing a $20 million dollar investment and the creation of 300 jobs. South Korea?s Samsung is, of course, the largest foreign investor in the market to date with its $7 billion contract from the Ontario government to develop the province?s wind and solar industries.
Through the FIT program, Ontario is becoming a hot bed of green energy development, manufacturing and job creation. In December, Ontario Energy Minister Brad Duguid said he?d recently announced 1,700 clean energy jobs across the province.
The solar business in particular is seeing a surge in activity with new local content rules driving partnerships and investment. �Starting this year, solar projects must meet a 60% domestic content requirement. Suppliers and manufacturers have responded by developing products and alliances to allow developers to meet the steep local content threshold. SunEdison, for instance, has begun deploying a locally-produced racking system for solar rooftop installations across the region. The company is also manufacturing fully-bankable solar PV panels in Newmarket, Ontario and has doubled production since December due to high demand.
According to data from Toronto-based ClearSky Advisors, prior to FIT?s launch, there were three solar manufacturers in the Ontario market: 6N silicon, SolGate and SatCon. Today, there are 18 module manufacturers, three of which are manufacturing through a local contract manufacturer and 15 inverter manufacturers, six of which are using local contractors. In addition, there are numerous racking/mounting manufacturers that have sprung up since the program?s debut.
Developments on the wind side are slower with many OEMs and suppliers looking for more certainty about the long-term viability of the program before investing. Along with Siemens, Vestas and GE Energy are very active in the region. In terms of new manufacturing facilities, India?s Suzlon Wind Energy is said to be eyeing the province as a possible venue but nothing definitive has been announced. Current wind manufacturing capacity in Ontario will not allow for developers to meet the increased local content requirement of 50% which kicks in next year. So the market needs more OEMs to set up and form partnerships with local manufacturers and service providers.
The big elephant in the room for Ontario?s green energy industries is the upcoming provincial election set for next October. The opposition Conservative party is currently leading in polls and has been making negative comments in the press about the future of the FIT program, which was passed by the current Liberal government. Ontario taxpayers are being subjected to diametrically opposed narratives in the media about the potential impact FIT will have on the provincial economy with critics blaming the program for energy rate hikes while supporters point to job creation and investment. Experts say some of the big players are waiting to see what happens next fall before making a sizable investment in the market.
The other big question is grid capacity. Developers and manufacturers are very concerned about the timing and extent of the province?s transmission expansion plans to accommodate renewables. There are over 250 renewable projects awaiting approval from the OPA which was supposed to begin a testing process last August. The Economic Connection Test (ECT) will determine which grid expansion plans will go forward allowing projects to connect. The timing for this test remains uncertain and with expansion projects requiring long lead times, developers are wondering when or if their projects will get a greenlight.
Despite this uncertainty, Ontario?s green energy industry is continuing to grow and there are plenty of opportunities for wind and solar manufacturers and service providers to play a role in building the local supply chains. The next few months are critical as FIT projects seek financing, transmission expansion plans become clearer and supplier arrangements are finalized. While the future of FIT will not be entirely certain until after the election, the future looks bright for Ontario?s renewable energy industries.
Adrienne Baker is a director of Canadian Clean Energy Conferences and produces the Ontario Feed-in Tariff Supply Chain Forum which takes place April 19-20 in Toronto.�
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Thursday, March 31, 2011
Scientists Generate Two Energetic Electronic States from One Photon
News Release NR-4410
Double yield via singlet fission could mean 35% efficiency boost for solar
December 2, 2010
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy?s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the University of Colorado, Boulder (UCB), have reported the first designed molecular system that produces two triplet states from an excited singlet state of a molecule, with essentially perfect efficiency.The breakthrough could lead to a 35 percent increase in light-harvesting yield in cells for photovoltaics and solar fuels.The experiments, using a process called singlet fission, demonstrated a 200 percent quantum yield for the creation of two triplets of the molecule 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran (DPIBF) at low temperatures.In singlet fission, a light-absorbing molecular chromophore shares its energy with a nearby non-excited neighboring molecule to yield a triplet excited state of each. If the two triplets behave independently, two electron-hole pairs can be generated for each photon absorbed in a solar cell. This process could subsequently increase by one third.the conversion efficiency of solar photons into electricity or solar fuels.The researchers identified DPIBF as a promising candidate while searching for molecular chromophores that have the required ratio of singlet and triplet energy states.Earlier, NREL and Los Alamos National Laboaratory had demonstrated an analgous two-electrons-from-one photon bonus using semiconductor quantum dots in a process NREL termed Multiple Exciton Generation. The latest advance is the first to demonstrate the electron multiplication phenomenon via �the singlet-fission process in molecules.Until this most recent advance, singlet fission had been known as a somewhat obscure phenomenon occurring at low efficiency in a small number of molecular systems. In 2004, NREL and UCB revisited singlet fission as a potential way to maximize solar photon conversion efficiency. In 2006, NREL?s Arthur J. Nozik and Mark C. Hanna calculated the gains in thermodynamic efficiencies that were possible with solar cells based on singlet fission. These activities led to a much more extensive search for the best candidate molecules in a collaboration between NREL and the research group at the UCB led by Josef Michl.The research has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.� Authors are NREL?s Justin C. Johnson and Arthur J. Nozik, and UCB?s Josef Michl.� For a technical summary of this article, please visit http://www.nrel.gov/news/pdfs/technical_summary_20101202_press_release.pdfNREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.�###�Visit NREL online at�www.nrel.govNR-4410
For further information contact NREL Public Relations at 303-275-4090.Subscribe to receive new NREL releases by e-mail. Subscribe to RSS feed. About RSS.
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NREL Solar Scientists Epitomize Teamwork
December 22, 2010
Enlarge image
NREL scientists Ki Ye and Joe Berry peer into the glass siding of a deposition instrument to view the latest results of an experiment with a new material.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder
A Colorado carpenter's son, an African American from Indiana, a post-doctoral researcher from Senegal, and a young woman from China are working together to solve one of the most important problems in solar-cell efficiency.
When they're not laughing with each other, or meeting with a group of 20 to share strategies, the foursome of scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory is trying to control semiconductors' band gaps to make solar cells less expensive and more efficient. And along the way they're attempting to solve fundamental scientific questions about the nature of new opto-electronic materials.
They're the new face of science ? collaborative and diverse, living proof that the age of the solo scientist shouting "Eureka!" has been replaced in the 21st century by multi-disciplinary teams with complementary skills.
David Ginley, the son of a carpenter, who grew up in suburban Denver near NREL's Golden, Colo., campus, leads the team.
He is joined by Joe Berry, a senior scientist, who hails from Indiana; Yi Ke, a graduate student from China who is doing her doctoral dissertation work at Colorado School of Mines and is experimenting with materials in NREL's Pulse Laser Deposition (PLD) lab; and Paul Ndione, the post-doc who oversees the PLD.
NREL Team Searching for Better Top Layer
Enlarge image
From left, Ph.D. student Ki Ye, Research Fellow David Ginley and Senior Scientist Joe Berry work in the Plasma Deposition Lab. They're using sophisticated deposition techniques to find better materials for solar cells.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder
Despite tremendous gains made in processing and developing solar cells, most arrays on individual rooftops or in grid-connected solar fields still operate well below the nearly 30 percent theoretical conversion efficiency possible for a single absorber device.� There are many opportunities to significantly improve the existing efficiency, sometimes while reducing the cost.
That means any breakthrough to add a percentage point or two to that efficiency is huge, and a big step toward making clean solar energy competitive with fossil fuels.
Most solar photovoltaics are composed of an active semiconductor absorber that absorbs the light, a junction to turn photons into charge carriers, and contacts to efficiently remove the carriers without blocking light. To accomplish this, the top layer, the one facing the sun, needs to be both transparent and able to conduct electrons with very little loss.
It's that top layer that is the subject of the NREL team's work. Lately, solar manufacturers have been using indium tin oxide for that transparent conducting oxide layer. However, indium is difficult to extract and is very expensive. So, scientists are searching for alternatives.
Zinc oxide is a promising candidate because it is both highly transparent and conductive, as well as being much more abundant, Ke said. It is also about 1 percent of the cost of indium tin oxide. �
Ginley and his team want to add magnesium to the zinc oxide to improve its transparency and then to dope the ZnMgO with another material to boost its conductivity, all in the name of developing more efficient and more cost-effective solar cells.
Searching for an Elusive Element
They're rarely without their deluxe-model periodic tables called up on their iPads or iPhones, searching for that elusive element that can best pair with zinc oxide and magnesium to boost the number of electrons that can conduct electricity. This impurity only need be present at less than 1 percent and should not significantly change the structure of the ZnMgO, but it adds the electronic carriers (doping) that are so critical to getting the photogenerated charges out of PV devices without significant loss.
In the transparent conductive semiconductors, most electrons (carriers) are in the conduction band, which means they're free to move and carry an electric current.� The valance band in the material is a lower energy state in which carriers are not as mobile
Between the conduction band and the valence band is the energy gap, or band gap. It's this gap that is so intriguing to scientists, who think they can change the size of the bandgap and simultaneously but independently control the electronic conductivity by doping with an appropriate impurity.
Ginley, Berry and Ke are looking for the best doping agents to push electrons from the atoms in the ZnMgO material to the conduction band of the semiconductor, where they would be in a free electronic state and can help improve the efficiency and lower the cost of PV devices.
When the NREL team finds a promising material, as with the addition of magnesium, the resulting semiconductor layer has a larger band gap and would be more transparent. However, the materials that dope the ZnO do not add electronic carriers to the Mg substituted materials as well. So, this drives the search to look for new dopants.
"As you crank that gap open, you basically make something that is increasingly transparent," Berry said. "That means you can look through it, and for solar that's what you need.
"The fact that you can change the sensitivity to color at which this thing responds means you can make a detector or window that's selective for a particular wave length," Berry said. "Being able to tune that gap is useful in terms of optoelectronics."
The trick is to get the electrons moving without changing the fundamental nature of the semiconductor material.
"What's cool in this system, you can crank substantial amounts of magnesium into ZnO and it basically stays zinc oxide," Ginley said. "You change the electronic properties, but nothing else changes. It� gets much more transparent and its electronic properties are better."
To explore these systems the group uses pulsed laser deposition.� Inside the PLD chamber, they aim lasers at ceramic targets containing the chosen material, inducing tremendous energy in the atoms on the surface. �What erupts is a plasma plume of partially ionized gas that knocks out some atoms and moves some of the electrons from those atoms to a higher energy state.
Imagine a Water Pistol and Some Mud
Enlarge image
This pulse of light is a unique signature for the success of a new material. The NREL team is experimenting with yttrium, manganese, zinc and other materials to get more efficiency out of solar cells.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder
A bright light forms in the plasma plume, as those excited electrons release energy while relaxing back into a lower energy state.
Meantime, the fast-moving ions and atoms in the plasma stop abruptly when they run into the plate (or substrate) for the materials being deposited. They solidify into a thin film suitable for incorporation into a next generation of solar cells.
A down-to-earth analogy? "Imagine using a powerful water pistol to shoot at a mound of mud," Ke said. The resulting slurry "sprays on your beautiful clothes."
The water pistol is the laser, the clothes the substrate. The slurry of mud and water is akin to the plasma of atoms and ions, "except the plasma is much more gorgeous and interesting," Ke said.
"For a dopant we're looking at yttrium, scandium, and titanium as possible replacements for the conventional aluminum used to dope zinc oxide," Berry said. "In the magnesium-substituted materials, the question is can you restore the critical ability to dope by going to new dopants."
"If you can control the band gap, while controlling the doping, you can have a huge impact on organic photovoltaic, organic LEDs, silicon, copper indium gallium, PV as a whole," Ginley said. "It would have an immense applicability."� A number of other technologies such as flat panel displays and transparent electronics also depend on these same materials, Ginley said.
Forming a Scientific Team
Ginley says one if his major duties is hiring good people.
"You should hire people that scare you, they're so good," Ginley said, "people who are more likely to replace you than anything else. You shouldn't be timid when you hire. With grad students, we look for people with outstanding potential who have good communications skills and some indication of being able to be team players.
"The era of the lone scientist is over," Ginley said. "The kinds of problems we deal with, you just don't have the horsepower to do it by yourself. That's an increasing realization nationwide. Look at the Energy Frontier Research Centers. These new centers are a reflection of that. People are realizing that big problems take critical-mass teams."
"We don't know enough on our own," Ginley said. "It's that shared knowledge base and experience base that makes things go faster."
Joe Berry, the African American son of a professor, whom Ginley plucked from the National Institute of Standards and Technology up the road in Boulder, concurred. The breadth of the solar cell project, together with the collegiality of the team, gave him a new enthusiasm for his work. "When I was at NIST, I was doing something by myself at a bench," he said. "But the number of people who cared about what I was doing, or who would be impacted by what I was doing, was equally as large."
From China with Aspirations
Ke got her undergraduate degree in China, majoring in electrical engineering. "I started feeling enthusiastic about solar cells" during her college years, she said. "They're things that can really help humans, can give utilities the power to solve a lot of problems. I figured out I could have a great career trying to move that along."
Ke applied to graduate school in the United States because "it has the best higher education in the world," she said. "I feel so fortunate to be here and working with NREL. They have the best scientists, the best mentors ever.� Graduate work here is more challenging that in China."
The chance to work at NREL was the main reason she applied to the Colorado School of Mines, Ke said. "I got accepted at Stanford, but my advisor at Mines talked about the possibility of joining this group and working at NREL. He mentioned Dave, I looked him up and I came here for an interview. I was very lucky to get it."
Ke would be very content working in photovoltaics and renewable energy the rest of her career.
"I really want to be a person who understands the science and the R&D," she said. "But also someone who can apply the technology to industry so I can make some difference. To let people use this and become less dependent on fossil fuels."
She sees herself living part time in the United States, part time in China. "A greener future in both America and China can lead to cooperation between the two countries."
Senegal to France to Quebec to NREL
Enlarge image
NREL post-doc Paul Ndione and NREL scientist Joe Berry spend a great deal of their work lives in the Pulsed-Laser Deposition laboratory where they set up experiments to find the ideal materials to gain more efficiency in solar cells.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder
Ndione, the post-doc who hails from Senegal, earned his undergraduate degree in Bordeaux, France, and got his doctorate in Quebec, Canada.
Just a thin slice of Senegal's population is college-educated, and to specialize in certain specific areas, a Senegalese has to leave the country. "Now, there are more opportunities for scientists in Senegal," Ndione said. "But to specialize in a field that includes semiconductors and lasers is difficult. We have to go abroad to do it.
"This is what I love," Ndione said, while setting up for another experiment. "The aim in the future is to adapt this technology to our realities in Africa and also, to promote intensive collaboration between the USA and Africa in the field of renewable energy."
Finding a Life of Science
Berry got his undergraduate degree at Goshen College in Goshen, Ind., where his father was a political science professor.
Science and math always suited Berry. It might have suited his father as well, but the elder Berry grew up in the segregated south, the first in his family to get a college degree. "Back then, it was one thing for an African American to learn how to read, quite another to learn how to do trigonometry or calculus," Berry said. "I don't think he ever had the opportunities to do that. He might have been inclined."
The son took the next step, cultivating his love for the sciences. Berry's dad helped him with his homework until high school chemistry, after which he was on his own.
Berry went on to get a doctorate at Pennsylvania State University in condensed material physics, specializing in photon detection.
"These kinds of band-engineering things are meat and potatoes to a semiconductor device physicist," Berry said. "But they're much more challenging than the ones we considered challenges in graduate school.
"NREL being NREL, there's this balance between what we do on the fundamental level and the need to find a way to produce these things at low cost and at scale," Berry said. "NREL is one of those places you always think that it would be nice to work here," Berry said. "I didn't know whether I had the appropriate skill set. But there was an opening and I applied. Dave in his infinite wisdom decided I'd be a reasonable fit for his group. It's been four years. I've been happy as a clam ever since."
Learn more about NREL's photovoltaic research.
? Bill Scanlon
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Energy 101: Cool Roofs
This edition of Energy 101 takes a look at how switching to a cool roof can s...
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PNNL Improving Commercial Building Energy Efficiency
January 04, 2011
Anne Haas, PNNL, (509) 375-3732
Through the Commercial Buildings Partnership, DOE?s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and several partners will work together to retrofit existing structures or design new structures that exceed current energy efficiency codes by at least 50 percent for new buildings ? and 30 percent for existing buildings. Commercial buildings account for 18 percent of U.S. energy consumption.
RICHLAND, Wash. ?
Commercial buildings account for 18 percent of U.S. energy consumption.� In an effort to significantly reduce energy use from these buildings, public and private entities are teaming as part of the Commercial Buildings Partnership to design and implement energy efficient measures.� The partnership is kicking off a three-year program, funded through the U.S. Department of Energy's Building Technologies Program, which will lead to several new or retrofitted structures across the country. DOE announced the funding in November 2010.
DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will work with Home Depot in California; Grand Valley State University in Michigan; the U.S. Army in Ft. Bragg, N.C.; U.S. General Services Administration in New England; the U.S. Job Corps in Reno, Nev.; and the Smart Grid Development in Kingstown, R.I., to help retrofit existing structures or design new structures that exceed current energy efficiency codes by at least 50 percent for new buildings and 30 percent for existing buildings.� Some buildings are attempting to use renewable energy and energy efficiency measures to produce as much energy as they consume on an annual basis.�
The projects will serve as test beds and training centers for innovative building-related research and will demonstrate how energy use can be dramatically reduced in commercial buildings ? to help spur wider adoption of energy efficient building practices across the industry.
At Home Depot, for example, the team will design and construct an energy efficient prototype store in California that will require up to 50 percent less energy than current code.� This code is known as the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)/Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) Standard 90.1-2007 compliant buildings.
"The program will enable PNNL to use the knowledge and skills developed over three decades of buildings energy efficiency research to help commercial building owners and operators take advantage of huge opportunities for energy savings ? and accelerate the widespread deployment of cost-effective, energy saving measures in commercial buildings across the U.S.," said Michael Baechler, senior buildings program manager at PNNL.
Each project partner will receive technical assistance valued at between $200,000 and $700,000, depending on the scope of work.� Partners also will contribute 20 percent in cost-share to each project.�
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funded the work.� To learn more about DOE's Building Technologies Program visit: www.eere.energy.gov/buildings.
The mission of the Building Technologies Program (BTP) is to develop technologies, techniques, and tools for making buildings more energy efficient, productive, and affordable. BTP focuses on improving commercial and residential building components, energy modeling tools, building energy codes, and appliance standards. This Web site provides information and resources for industry professionals to help reduce the energy use of new and existing buildings and strengthen the nation's energy future.
Tags: Energy, Energy Efficiency, Smart Grid
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory where interdisciplinary teams advance science and technology and deliver solutions to America's most intractable problems in energy, the environment and national security. PNNL employs 4,900 staff, has an annual budget of nearly $1.1 billion, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965. Follow PNNL on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Capturing Waste Heat with Organic Rankine Cycle Systems
In Brisbane, Australia, a 240-kW ORC unit at a timber plant will soon harvest heat from an existing biomass burner and generate electricity to power kilns for drying lumber. Similar ORC systems are becoming killer add-ons for other heat-based renewable energy plants, including concentrating solar and utility-scale geothermal systems.
?People are realizing now that, if you throw away heat, you?re throwing away money,? said David Paul, international business development manager for Pratt & Whitney, which designed the system for the Gympie Timber Company in Australia.
Typical geothermal systems generate electricity when water-based steam at high temperatures powers turbines. An ORC system uses a different fluid, such as thermal oil or silicon-based oil, which powers turbines at lower temperatures than those required for steam. ORC power plants have been known to generate power from geothermal sources with temperatures as low as 73.3�C (165�F) in Alaska. Utility-scale geothermal plants with steam turbines typically require water temperatures in excess of 350�F.
The ability to use lower temperature fluids make the ORC systems ideal for harvesting heat from industrial exhaust systems. They are typically configured with the following components:
Heat source ? This can be a geothermal water well, exhaust from an industrial facility, or heat from a biomass furnace or concentrating solar power system.
Thermal oil ? This intermediary component transfers heat from the source to the ORC unit.
Rankine cycle� ? Oil from the thermal oil system warms oil in the ORC unit, creating temperatures high enough to power a turbine.
Pratt & Whitney is among the growing number of companies trying to introduce ORC en mass to the United States market. ORC systems have been generating heat and electricity with woody biomass sources for 20 years overseas. Europeans have embraced combined heat and power (CHP) ORC plants (such as the one in Australia) because they can operate with at to 85 percent efficiencies.
?When you look at the stacks on a nuclear plant or coal plant, they?re releasing all that excess heat into the atmosphere, so they?re only 20 to 30% efficient,? said Bob Larson, CEO of Pennsylvania-based 1st Renewable Energy Technologies. ?An ORC captures that excess heat, making 85% efficiencies possible.?
Europe has 120 to 150 ORC CHP plants with capacities of multiple megawatts. Many use waste wood as biomass feed sources. Larson said environmental concerns, coupled with high fuel costs, jump-started Europe?s investments in ORC plants in the 1980s. His company has formed a partnership with Maxxtech AG, one of Europe?s leading ORC manufacturers, to target the American market, where cement plants and other industrial facilities have been capturing waste heat for years.
Paul said Pratt & Whitney has received a notable increase in inquiries about ORCs as waste heat has become a hot topic over the past year. The company, a division of United Technologies, recently sold a unit to the city of Albany, New York. Similar systems are also marketed by geothermal heavyweight Ormat Technologies Inc.
Challenges remain in expanding ORC use in the United States, especially when retrofitting at industrial plants. In many configurations, the ORC itself is only 50% of the total installation costs, which include heat transfer equipment and condensers to cool the systems.
?A lot of times there have to be incentives in place [to make the economics work],? Paul said.
Incentive programs have helped his company?s ORC business expand to in India, Thailand and Indonesia.
Pratt & Whitney spokesman Bryan Kidder said its systems run $1,000 to $2,000 per kW. Larson said his CHP ORC systems can cost $925 kW compared to $5,000 to $7,000 per kW for other forms of renewable energy.
Larson envisions a time when Americans might install relatively small (2 to 5 MW) distributed ORC plants that provide heat and power to regional districts while operating independently of large transmission lines.� He believes smaller, distributed plants are more efficient and could take advantage of ORC technology more sustainably.
?There?s talk about 50 MW biomass plants in the U.S., but you kind of shoot yourself in the foot if you need to truck in biomass from 100 miles out just to fuel [the plant],? he said. ?Smaller plants allow for more sustainable forestry.?
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?People are realizing now that, if you throw away heat, you?re throwing away money,? said David Paul, international business development manager for Pratt & Whitney, which designed the system for the Gympie Timber Company in Australia.
Typical geothermal systems generate electricity when water-based steam at high temperatures powers turbines. An ORC system uses a different fluid, such as thermal oil or silicon-based oil, which powers turbines at lower temperatures than those required for steam. ORC power plants have been known to generate power from geothermal sources with temperatures as low as 73.3�C (165�F) in Alaska. Utility-scale geothermal plants with steam turbines typically require water temperatures in excess of 350�F.
The ability to use lower temperature fluids make the ORC systems ideal for harvesting heat from industrial exhaust systems. They are typically configured with the following components:
Heat source ? This can be a geothermal water well, exhaust from an industrial facility, or heat from a biomass furnace or concentrating solar power system.
Thermal oil ? This intermediary component transfers heat from the source to the ORC unit.
Rankine cycle� ? Oil from the thermal oil system warms oil in the ORC unit, creating temperatures high enough to power a turbine.
Pratt & Whitney is among the growing number of companies trying to introduce ORC en mass to the United States market. ORC systems have been generating heat and electricity with woody biomass sources for 20 years overseas. Europeans have embraced combined heat and power (CHP) ORC plants (such as the one in Australia) because they can operate with at to 85 percent efficiencies.
?When you look at the stacks on a nuclear plant or coal plant, they?re releasing all that excess heat into the atmosphere, so they?re only 20 to 30% efficient,? said Bob Larson, CEO of Pennsylvania-based 1st Renewable Energy Technologies. ?An ORC captures that excess heat, making 85% efficiencies possible.?
Europe has 120 to 150 ORC CHP plants with capacities of multiple megawatts. Many use waste wood as biomass feed sources. Larson said environmental concerns, coupled with high fuel costs, jump-started Europe?s investments in ORC plants in the 1980s. His company has formed a partnership with Maxxtech AG, one of Europe?s leading ORC manufacturers, to target the American market, where cement plants and other industrial facilities have been capturing waste heat for years.
Paul said Pratt & Whitney has received a notable increase in inquiries about ORCs as waste heat has become a hot topic over the past year. The company, a division of United Technologies, recently sold a unit to the city of Albany, New York. Similar systems are also marketed by geothermal heavyweight Ormat Technologies Inc.
Challenges remain in expanding ORC use in the United States, especially when retrofitting at industrial plants. In many configurations, the ORC itself is only 50% of the total installation costs, which include heat transfer equipment and condensers to cool the systems.
?A lot of times there have to be incentives in place [to make the economics work],? Paul said.
Incentive programs have helped his company?s ORC business expand to in India, Thailand and Indonesia.
Pratt & Whitney spokesman Bryan Kidder said its systems run $1,000 to $2,000 per kW. Larson said his CHP ORC systems can cost $925 kW compared to $5,000 to $7,000 per kW for other forms of renewable energy.
Larson envisions a time when Americans might install relatively small (2 to 5 MW) distributed ORC plants that provide heat and power to regional districts while operating independently of large transmission lines.� He believes smaller, distributed plants are more efficient and could take advantage of ORC technology more sustainably.
?There?s talk about 50 MW biomass plants in the U.S., but you kind of shoot yourself in the foot if you need to truck in biomass from 100 miles out just to fuel [the plant],? he said. ?Smaller plants allow for more sustainable forestry.?
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Clean-energy collaboration could enhance U.S.-China relations
Submitted on 01/20/11, 11:28 AM | Source Reuters
Cooperation on clean energy could be a high point in U.S.-China relations leading to benefits for both countries, government and business officials said ahead of a summit between Chinese President Hu Jintao and President Barack Obama. Disputes between the world's two largest economies and energy consumers over China's wind power subsidies and its slowdown in exports of rare earths minerals, used in everything from wind turbines to cell phones, have dominated headlines in recent months. As China tries to transform its economy from the manufacturing of cheap goods into one developing and distributing sophisticated technologies, such as clean energy, spats over intellectual property rights have already troubled trade relations between the two countries. But pressure on both countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reel in fossil fuel demand may push them to overcome these differences.
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Wednesday, March 30, 2011
EnCore spuds Catcher North appraisal well
EnCore spuds Catcher North appraisal well
Posted: 24 January 2010
EnCore Oil plc reported the Catcher North appraisal well 28/9-3 in Central North Sea Block 28/9 was spudded at 08.00 hours on Monday 24 January 2011.
The EnCore operated well is being drilled using the Transocean Galaxy II heavy duty jack-up rig and is being managed by Applied Drilling Technology International (ADTI), a turnkey drilling services provider with over 30 years' experience. The well is expected to take approximately 20 days, subject to weather and operational requirements.
The main objective of the well is to appraise the Tay and Cromarty reservoirs to the North of the Catcher discovery made in June 2010, at estimated depths of approximately 4,300 feet (Tay) and 4,500 feet (Cromarty) True Vertical Depth Sub Sea.
Catcher North is the second well in the current drilling campaign after the group took advantage of a weather window suitable for mobilisation from Varadero to the Catcher North location. Burgman will now be drilled following Catcher North.
The equity in the Catcher joint venture partnership is as follows: EnCore Oil plc (15 per cent., Operator), Premier Oil (35 per cent), Wintershall (UK North Sea) Limited (20 per cent), Nautical Petroleum (15 per cent) and Agora Oil & Gas (15 per cent).
�
Posted by Richard Price, Editor, energyme.com.
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Posted: 24 January 2010
EnCore Oil plc reported the Catcher North appraisal well 28/9-3 in Central North Sea Block 28/9 was spudded at 08.00 hours on Monday 24 January 2011.
The EnCore operated well is being drilled using the Transocean Galaxy II heavy duty jack-up rig and is being managed by Applied Drilling Technology International (ADTI), a turnkey drilling services provider with over 30 years' experience. The well is expected to take approximately 20 days, subject to weather and operational requirements.
The main objective of the well is to appraise the Tay and Cromarty reservoirs to the North of the Catcher discovery made in June 2010, at estimated depths of approximately 4,300 feet (Tay) and 4,500 feet (Cromarty) True Vertical Depth Sub Sea.
Catcher North is the second well in the current drilling campaign after the group took advantage of a weather window suitable for mobilisation from Varadero to the Catcher North location. Burgman will now be drilled following Catcher North.
The equity in the Catcher joint venture partnership is as follows: EnCore Oil plc (15 per cent., Operator), Premier Oil (35 per cent), Wintershall (UK North Sea) Limited (20 per cent), Nautical Petroleum (15 per cent) and Agora Oil & Gas (15 per cent).
�
Posted by Richard Price, Editor, energyme.com.
Follow energyme.com on Twitter @energyme.
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UK businesses 'failing to invest in green growth'
Many UK businesses are failing to invest in green growth opportunities, despite the fact that 92 per cent of firms believe the industry is important, a new survey shows.A report from the Carbon Trust shows that just one-third of businesses in the UK are investing money in the research and development of green products and services.In addition to this, just one in eight of the firms surveyed believe that the UK is the most prepared country to benefit from green growth. Germany was thought to be the most prepared by the majority of respondents.Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said: "Green growth is the only show in town. No other sector can drive the recovery."Commenting, Neil Bentley, director of business environment at the Confederation of British Industry, said: "Unlocking green growth is one of the key challenges for businesses and the government, and much more needs to be done to get us on track to meet our ambitious climate change targets."The government must deliver the right policy framework to attract global investors to low-carbon projects."Posted by Emily Thomas Sign up for regular email updates to help you save money and energy
For more information please see: Green growth campaign� The news feeds on this site are independently provided by Adfero Limited � and do not represent the views or opinions of the Energy Saving Trust.
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Domestic Solar Power Systems - What's In It For Me?
[WizardRSS: unable to retrieve full-text content]Solar power has been with us for many years now, from the humble solar powered calculator through to the SEGS CSP installation in California's Mojave Desert (capable of producing an incredible 354 MW of power) - it is used to power all manner of devices and supplement grid supply in many areas. Although these massive solar power stations are incredibly interesting and capable of producing vast quantities of electricity (and the solar powered calculator is rather useful), the single most potentially life....Powered By WizardRSSHome Power Generator
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President Obama Signs Bill Extending Energy Efficiency, Renewable Provisions
This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter.
January 05, 2011
President Obama on December 17 signed a bill that temporarily extends through 2011 various energy efficiency and renewable energy provisions, including Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provides cash assistance to energy producers in place of tax credits. Under this program, the federal government provides a cash payment in lieu of a tax credit totaling 30% of the qualifying cost of the project. The measure, passed by the U.S. House and U.S. Senate and hailed by renewable energy industry associations, extends for one year the start-of-construction deadline for projects such as wind and solar power that are eligible under Section 1603.
Other provisions extended through 2011 include a $1-per-gallon production tax credit for biodiesel as well as diesel fuel created from biomass; credit for manufacturers of energy-efficient residential homes; a 50-cent-per gallon alternative fuel tax credit; the existing per-gallon tax credits and outlay payments for ethanol; credits for U.S.-based manufacture of energy-efficient washing machines, dishwashers, and refrigerators; certain credit for energy-efficient improvements to existing homes; and a 30% investment tax credit for alternative vehicle refueling property. See the President's remarks upon the signing of the bill, the bill summary with energy provisions on pages 6-7, and statements on the passage by the American Wind Energy Association, and the Solar Energy Industries Association.
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January 05, 2011
President Obama on December 17 signed a bill that temporarily extends through 2011 various energy efficiency and renewable energy provisions, including Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provides cash assistance to energy producers in place of tax credits. Under this program, the federal government provides a cash payment in lieu of a tax credit totaling 30% of the qualifying cost of the project. The measure, passed by the U.S. House and U.S. Senate and hailed by renewable energy industry associations, extends for one year the start-of-construction deadline for projects such as wind and solar power that are eligible under Section 1603.
Other provisions extended through 2011 include a $1-per-gallon production tax credit for biodiesel as well as diesel fuel created from biomass; credit for manufacturers of energy-efficient residential homes; a 50-cent-per gallon alternative fuel tax credit; the existing per-gallon tax credits and outlay payments for ethanol; credits for U.S.-based manufacture of energy-efficient washing machines, dishwashers, and refrigerators; certain credit for energy-efficient improvements to existing homes; and a 30% investment tax credit for alternative vehicle refueling property. See the President's remarks upon the signing of the bill, the bill summary with energy provisions on pages 6-7, and statements on the passage by the American Wind Energy Association, and the Solar Energy Industries Association.
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Energy Storage Technologies - White Paper
Demand for energy storage solutions is expected to further benefit from the growing trends in the adoption of renewable energy generation and microgrid solutions. The significant public and private investments currently being made are also expected to bolster the growth of energy storage solutions in the utility sector. However, a number of challenges remain, including the need to further improve the cost/performance of current technologies, the relative lack of technical and commercial maturity of many energy storage solutions, and regulatory and monetization issues.
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Energy Storage Technologies - White Paper
Demand for energy storage solutions is expected to further benefit from the growing trends in the adoption of renewable energy generation and microgrid solutions. The significant public and private investments currently being made are also expected to bolster the growth of energy storage solutions in the utility sector. However, a number of challenges remain, including the need to further improve the cost/performance of current technologies, the relative lack of technical and commercial maturity of many energy storage solutions, and regulatory and monetization issues.
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Geothermal: A Green Solution
Geothermal: A green solution
Indonesia has the potency to be a superpower in electricity generation from geothermal energy, a clean source of locally available, though not exportable, energy. Yet challenges loom large in realizing this dream that has been shared by many ? including Nobel laureate and former US vice president Al Gore.During his recent visit to Indonesia, Gore pointed out that Indonesia, with the biggest reserves of geothermal energy in the world, could easily follow the example of the world?s largest geothermal energy users ? the United States and the Philippines. By developing geothermal energy, Indonesia would be able to achieve its own target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent by 2020.Indonesia?s geothermal energy reserves spanning from Sumatra to East Nusa Tenggara have the potential to produce up to 27,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity. However, Indonesia?s current electricity generation from geothermal energy is less than 5 percent of this, totaling 1,100 MW, compared to 4,000 MW in the United States and 2,500 MW in the Philippines.It?s not just Al Gore. Even President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, himself a climate champion by setting an ambitious national target for greenhouse gas emissions, has raised the importance of geothermal energy in Indonesia?s development during his address at the World Geothermal Congress in Bali last year.The government aims to accelerate geothermal development to deliver close to 4,000 MW by 2014, almost quadrupling our current output. To realize that target, Vice President Boediono summoned geothermal stakeholders, including governors, to help accelerate the development of geothermal energy in their respective areas. Developing geothermal energy is becoming more viable now, especially with international crude oil prices reaching US$100 per barrel. Feeding our existing power generators with diesel is increasingly expensive. Thus, geothermal energy has become a solution to one of our biggest electricity problems, a shortage of power generation. Geothermal energy not only offers a solution to our electricity problem, but more than that, it is a green solution. Another greener solution for our electricity generation problem would be nuclear energy. However, in light of our current political situation, nuclear energy is simply outside our calculations for now. Thus, we again come back to geothermal energy.We know from the outset that the problems and challenges in accelerating the development of geothermal energy in Indonesia are not at the policy-making level, as the government ? especially at the top ? fully supports green energy and geothermal energy. Our challenges are more at the implementation stages. The biggest challenge is in the investment level. A huge investment is required to build even a small power generation from geothermal energy. For example, it takes around US$105 million in investment to develop a geothermal project to generate 45 MW of electricity. This investment includes the cost of drilling seven to nine geothermal wells, which cost around $5 million per well, and to build related infrastructure such as roads. With this high investment cost, it?s no wonder only big companies are entering geothermal energy development. Currently, we have three big companies that have produced electricity from geothermal sources: Star Energy, producing 425 MW, Chevron, producing 350 MW and Pertamina Geothermal, producing 325 MW.Another challenge in geothermal development is the lacking coordination among government institutions, especially in the lower levels of government. For example, some geothermal projects are located in forest areas and, therefore, there are conflicts between the local forestry offices and the office of the energy and mineral resources. There are also differences in perception between developers and local governments. Such differences in interpretation and perception, if not addressed, could become bottlenecks in the acceleration of geothermal development.The last and most challenging issue is from state utility company PT PLN, the buyer of electricity produced from geothermal projects. PLN is not aggressive and not particularly supportive of the development of geothermal energy because, for PLN, it costs more than electricity from coal-powered plants. However, the World Bank is interested in extending soft loans for green energy projects. So far, PLN has not signed even a single purchase agreement with geothermal developers. Forcing PLN to buy geothermal energy at a higher price without governmental financial support ? and in the face of consumers? unwillingness to pay more ? will not solve the problem. Ambivalence on this issue is damaging to geothermal development. Thus, it needs a comprehensive solution, especially at the implementation levels, for electricity development using green geothermal energy. The writer is executive director of Center for Information and Development Studies (CIDES).
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Vids 4 Grids
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), in partnership with George Mason University and Northern Virginia Community College, is producing a series of videos designed to inform today?s students about tomorrow?s possibilities. Targeting high school seniors and first-year college students, Vids 4 Grids will (when all have been produced) consist of 12 ten-minute videos and three 30-minute podcasts to be posted on YouTube. Each video in the series will highlight a particular piece of grid equipment or fundamental concept integral to the deployment of Smart Grid systems.
Through integration into curricula and online posting for open usage, Vids 4 Grids aims to increase awareness and create interest in power systems careers, and ultimately lead to expanded enrollment in classes leading to power system careers. The project encourages industry participation in curriculum development for power engineering and, through the open access of YouTube, increase general public knowledge of the power sector. NEMA expects Vids 4 Grids to help develop the well-trained, highly skilled electric power sector workforce that is essential to implementing a national clean-energy Smart Grid.
Vids 4 Grids is funded by the Department?s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability as one of 52 Recovery-Act funded awards for Workforce Development, and is the only one of those selected specifically developing videos. Filming for the videos is done on-site at the facilities of leading power equipment manufacturers. The Podcasts will incorporate open-ended questions with student-selected experts on their experiences in the power sector.
Below are the first two videos in the series:
Check back for more updates at: http://www.youtube.com/vids4grids.
Deborah J Buterbaugh is Energy Project Specialist with the National Energy Technology Laboratory.�
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Tuesday, March 29, 2011
UK businesses 'failing to invest in green growth'
Many UK businesses are failing to invest in green growth opportunities, despite the fact that 92 per cent of firms believe the industry is important, a new survey shows.A report from the Carbon Trust shows that just one-third of businesses in the UK are investing money in the research and development of green products and services.In addition to this, just one in eight of the firms surveyed believe that the UK is the most prepared country to benefit from green growth. Germany was thought to be the most prepared by the majority of respondents.Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said: "Green growth is the only show in town. No other sector can drive the recovery."Commenting, Neil Bentley, director of business environment at the Confederation of British Industry, said: "Unlocking green growth is one of the key challenges for businesses and the government, and much more needs to be done to get us on track to meet our ambitious climate change targets."The government must deliver the right policy framework to attract global investors to low-carbon projects."Posted by Emily Thomas Sign up for regular email updates to help you save money and energy
For more information please see: Green growth campaign� The news feeds on this site are independently provided by Adfero Limited � and do not represent the views or opinions of the Energy Saving Trust.
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For more information please see: Green growth campaign� The news feeds on this site are independently provided by Adfero Limited � and do not represent the views or opinions of the Energy Saving Trust.
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Online Solar PV Design & Installation Training
SLI proudly announces the launch of our new Online Training Program, a highly interactive and� innovative approach to learning� based on the curriculum offered in our popular in- person courses. Now you can get the same high quality professional training that SLI is noted for through this convenient and lower cost new medium. New online courses in PV Sales and Marketing will be released later this spring.Master the essential knowledge and skills needed to jump-start your career in the growing Solar Industry. Whether your career track is management, installation, finance, sales, marketing, customer service or administrative support, this eCourse provides a solid foundation to build your career.COURSE FEATURES��� � Click for a�DEMO
Continuous enrollments, register and start today.
Fifteen interactive, scenario-based eLearning modules with practice activities, integrative exercises and assessments.
Take eight (8) weeks to complete the course on your own schedule; apply for additional extensions if you need more time.
Access the course for review and reference for 12 months at no additional charge.
?Ask the Expert;? get your questions answered quickly by expert instructors through email and webinars.
Apply your learning in a challenging state-of-the-art PV Simulation.
Other features include: discussion forums, chat room, peer networking, PV installation videos, topical webinars, electronic notepad and useful reference resources.
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Continuous enrollments, register and start today.
Fifteen interactive, scenario-based eLearning modules with practice activities, integrative exercises and assessments.
Take eight (8) weeks to complete the course on your own schedule; apply for additional extensions if you need more time.
Access the course for review and reference for 12 months at no additional charge.
?Ask the Expert;? get your questions answered quickly by expert instructors through email and webinars.
Apply your learning in a challenging state-of-the-art PV Simulation.
Other features include: discussion forums, chat room, peer networking, PV installation videos, topical webinars, electronic notepad and useful reference resources.
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Wind Farm Going Up As Scheduled
What could be Wisconsin's largest wind energy project is going
up as scheduled, despite a proposal from Gov. Scott Walker that
could make future wind farms more challenging to build in the
state.
The governor's proposal calls for a minimum setback of 1,800 feet
between neighboring property and the turbine towers in a "large
wind energy system" (300 kilowatts or more).
Glacier Hills is a We Energies project whose 90 turbines, on
approximately 17,350 acres in the towns of Randolph and Scott,
could generate up to 207 megawatts. Construction - including roads
leading to the tower sites and a headquarters on Columbia County
Highway H in the town of Scott - started in May, and continues this
winter with the installation of underground connections that will
eventually link each of the turbines to the power grid. The
400-foot towers are scheduled to be built starting this
spring.
Andrew Hesselbach, We Energies wind farm project manager, said any
new setback rules would not affect the construction of Glacier
Hills, which received approval from the Public Service Commission
of Wisconsin in January 2010.
And, he noted, "Glacier Hills is already half-completed."
Walker's proposal, as outlined in Assembly Bill 9, calls for "the
setback distance of at least 1,800 feet," unless the owners
properties adjoining the site where a tower is planned, or property
owners separated from the site's land by a road, agree in writing
to a setback of less than 1,800 feet.
Hesselbach was one of 15 members of a wind siting council that the
PSC last March to advise the commission on statewide setback rules
for wind turbine towers - rules that were scheduled to go into
effect March 1.
Those rules set 1,250 feet as a minimum setback - the same setback
specified in the PSC's "certificate of public convenience and
necessity" that gave the go-ahead for construction of Glacier
Hills.
We Energies spokesman Brian Manthey noted that there is no
guarantee that the 1,800-foot setback called for in the bill will
not be amended as the measure makes its way through the state
Assembly and Senate.
"We'll watch where this legislation goes," he said.
Even if the setback were to be adopted as proposed, Manthey said,
it doesn't necessarily mean that utilities such as We Energies
could never put up another wind farm in Wisconsin.
And for sure, he said, it won't affect the utility's efforts to
generate more of its energy through renewable sources, to meet
requirements set by state law.
For example, he said, We Energies is moving forward with a
generator near Rothschild that burns "biomass" - basically, the
normally-discarded branches and treetops from trees that have
fallen to the forest floor.
"Whether it be biomass - and don't forget, solar is a part of this
- we'll have to determine what we have to do to meet our portfolio
requirements," Manthey said.
Hesselbach said the state sets the percentage of the "renewable
portfolio" required for each individual utility. In the case of We
Energies, the requirement calls 4.27 percent of their energy to
come from renewable sources, through that number will be increased
to higher than 8 percent by 2015.
We Energies has one other Wisconsin wind farm, Blue Sky Green
Field, featuring 88 turbines in rural Fond du Lac County,
generating up to 188 megawatts.
Hesselbach said he doesn't anticipate that the company will propose
any new wind facilities any time soon - and if such facilities are
proposed, the utility will have to plan on spending more time
negotiating setbacks with neighboring landowners.
ljerde@capitalnewspapers.com
745-3587
�
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up as scheduled, despite a proposal from Gov. Scott Walker that
could make future wind farms more challenging to build in the
state.
The governor's proposal calls for a minimum setback of 1,800 feet
between neighboring property and the turbine towers in a "large
wind energy system" (300 kilowatts or more).
Glacier Hills is a We Energies project whose 90 turbines, on
approximately 17,350 acres in the towns of Randolph and Scott,
could generate up to 207 megawatts. Construction - including roads
leading to the tower sites and a headquarters on Columbia County
Highway H in the town of Scott - started in May, and continues this
winter with the installation of underground connections that will
eventually link each of the turbines to the power grid. The
400-foot towers are scheduled to be built starting this
spring.
Andrew Hesselbach, We Energies wind farm project manager, said any
new setback rules would not affect the construction of Glacier
Hills, which received approval from the Public Service Commission
of Wisconsin in January 2010.
And, he noted, "Glacier Hills is already half-completed."
Walker's proposal, as outlined in Assembly Bill 9, calls for "the
setback distance of at least 1,800 feet," unless the owners
properties adjoining the site where a tower is planned, or property
owners separated from the site's land by a road, agree in writing
to a setback of less than 1,800 feet.
Hesselbach was one of 15 members of a wind siting council that the
PSC last March to advise the commission on statewide setback rules
for wind turbine towers - rules that were scheduled to go into
effect March 1.
Those rules set 1,250 feet as a minimum setback - the same setback
specified in the PSC's "certificate of public convenience and
necessity" that gave the go-ahead for construction of Glacier
Hills.
We Energies spokesman Brian Manthey noted that there is no
guarantee that the 1,800-foot setback called for in the bill will
not be amended as the measure makes its way through the state
Assembly and Senate.
"We'll watch where this legislation goes," he said.
Even if the setback were to be adopted as proposed, Manthey said,
it doesn't necessarily mean that utilities such as We Energies
could never put up another wind farm in Wisconsin.
And for sure, he said, it won't affect the utility's efforts to
generate more of its energy through renewable sources, to meet
requirements set by state law.
For example, he said, We Energies is moving forward with a
generator near Rothschild that burns "biomass" - basically, the
normally-discarded branches and treetops from trees that have
fallen to the forest floor.
"Whether it be biomass - and don't forget, solar is a part of this
- we'll have to determine what we have to do to meet our portfolio
requirements," Manthey said.
Hesselbach said the state sets the percentage of the "renewable
portfolio" required for each individual utility. In the case of We
Energies, the requirement calls 4.27 percent of their energy to
come from renewable sources, through that number will be increased
to higher than 8 percent by 2015.
We Energies has one other Wisconsin wind farm, Blue Sky Green
Field, featuring 88 turbines in rural Fond du Lac County,
generating up to 188 megawatts.
Hesselbach said he doesn't anticipate that the company will propose
any new wind facilities any time soon - and if such facilities are
proposed, the utility will have to plan on spending more time
negotiating setbacks with neighboring landowners.
ljerde@capitalnewspapers.com
745-3587
�
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The Peak Oil Catastrophe-in-waiting
Peak oil is the point at which global oil production reaches a maximum and then declines. The speed of the decline is a key unknown and if it is relatively fast, the results could be truly dire for economies around the world.�
We saw prices as high as $147 a barrel in mid-2008 (the dominant factor for gasoline prices well over $4 a gallon), which played a strong role, perhaps the dominant role, in the global Great Recession -- as high oil prices have in most recessions over the last fifty years. Once the recession hit, oil demand dropped and prices plummeted as low as $33 a barrel.
Prices steadily recovered since their low in early 2009 and are back to dangerous levels in early 2011 (about $90 a barrel). We can expect far higher prices as the global recovery continues. An increasing number of analysts are projecting prices as high or higher than the 2008 peak in the next couple of years.
More importantly, global net exports of oil continue to drop as major oil exporters increase their own consumption at the same time as their production is stagnant or falling. As a major oil-importing nation (about 2/3 of our oil is imported, by far the largest import dependency in the world), net oil exports are far more important to the U.S. than total oil production. Even if global oil production increases in the coming years, if there is less available for oil-thirsty nations like ours the situation will be far worse than total oil production figures would otherwise suggest. More on this below.
It is time for public discussion of this issue to reach the same prominence as climate change. Indeed, many solutions to these ?twin crises? are the same because reducing petroleum dependence will ameliorate peak oil and climate change.
This article is an update on the peak oil situation at the beginning of 2011 and a follow-up to my many previous pieces on peak oil (one with Nobel Prize winner Walter Kohn). First, some facts.
Global oil production has plateaued since 2004, despite the fact that oil prices have risen dramatically. Figure 1 shows this history, demonstrating that oil production has not been very response to market forces, suggesting strongly that we are at a global peak.
Figure 1. Global oil production and oil price 2004-2010. (Source: EIA, chart courtesy of www.TheOilDrum.com).
Bloomberg reported a summary of oil price forecasts for 2011, selecting for their summary those forecasters who have the most accurate track records. The dominant view was that average oil prices will rise almost as high in 2011 as seen in 2008 ? to $87 a barrel for the year as a whole (the average price for 2008 was $99). It?s likely, however, that the actual average 2011 price will be significantly higher because we are already over this price at about $90 a barrel in early January and the large majority of economic forecasts project a robust global recovery this year, with attendant increases in oil demand.
More anecdotally, but with perhaps more impact because of its source, Shell?s recent ex-president John Hofmeister predicts $5 gas by 2012 due to the global economic recovery and very tight supply.
A number of comprehensive reviews of the global oil supply situation have appeared in the last year.
Lloyds and Chatham House: ?We are heading towards a global oil supply crunch and price spike.? ?A supply crunch appears likely around 2013? given recent price experience, a spike in excess of $200 per barrel is not infeasible.?
The U.S. Department of Defense issued a stark warning in its 2010 Joint Operating Environment (JOE) report, including discussion of ?peak oil?: "By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 million barrels per day.?
Similarly, the German military is taking peak oil very seriously, made clear by a report leaked to Der Spiegel in 2010: ?[The report] warns of shifts in the global balance of power, of the formation of new relationships based on interdependency, of a decline in importance of the western industrial nations, of the ?total collapse of the markets? and of serious political and economic crises.?
The same article reports on secret British government planning for peak oil: ?The leak has parallels with recent reports from the UK. Only last week the Guardian newspaper reported that the British Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is keeping documents secret which show the UK government is far more concerned about an impending supply crisis than it cares to admit. According to the Guardian, the DECC, the Bank of England and the British Ministry of Defence are working alongside industry representatives to develop a crisis plan to deal with possible shortfalls in energy supply.?
The UK?s Industry Task Force on Peak Oil and Energy Security (a non-governmental group) issued its second major report on peak oil in late 2010, concluding: ?[W]e face a situation during the [next few years] where fuel price unrest could lead to shortages in consumer products and the UK?s energy security will be significantly compromised. This has the potential to hit UK business and commerce as well as the most disadvantaged in society with yet another crisis.?
In August of 2009, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the official energy watchdog for the western world, was even more strident in its warnings. The UK?s Independent newspaper reported:
The world is heading for a catastrophic energy crunch that could cripple a global economic recovery because most of the major oil fields in the world have passed their peak production, a leading energy economist has warned.
Higher oil prices brought on by a rapid increase in demand and a stagnation, or even decline, in supply could blow any recovery off course, said Dr Fatih Birol, the chief economist at the respected International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, which is charged with the task of assessing future energy supplies by OECD countries.
Later in 2009, two IEA whistleblowers went public and claimed that the situation was even worse than the IEA was stating publicly. The UK?s Guardian newspaper reported in November of 2009: ?A ? senior IEA source, who has now left but was ? unwilling to give his name, said a key rule at the organization was that it was ?imperative not to anger the Americans? but the fact was that there was not as much oil in the world as has been admitted. ?We have (already) entered the ?peak oil? zone. I think that the situation is really bad,? he added.?
IEA has changed its public tune yet again, however. IEA?s 2010 World Energy Outlook (WEO), a major forecast released each year, apparently ignored the IEA?s own previous analysis by reverting to its previous policy of simply assuming ? literally ? that projected petroleum demand will be met with the needed supply. IEA states in WEO 2010: ?Energy prices ensure that projected supply and demand are in balance throughout the Outlook period in each scenario?.?� In other words, IEA simply assumes that supply will meet demand due to market forces. This is obviously true at a very basic level: supply will always match demand if we define demand as that which is actually consumed. But if we define demand instead as the desired oil consumption, all else being equal, we reach a very different conclusion ? far more in line with the US JOE report that projects a possible 10 million barrel per day shortfall by 2015.
WEO 2010 does, however, include some discussion of peak oil and it projects that the 2006 peak in global conventional oil production will never be exceeded (p. 8 of the Exec. Summary). That is, IEA has officially concluded that 2006 was the annual peak for conventional oil production. We are, accordingly, past the point of peak oil if we define this term to include only conventional oil.
Even based on official IEA projections (which are likely far too rosy considering the whistleblower claims), we have a major problem facing us, made clear by the chart below. The key point from this chart is that IEA thinks we?ve already passed the peak for global conventional oil production, as just mentioned. As a consequence, a huge amount of new oil must be found to replace declining conventional oil production ? a deficit of about 75 million barrels per day by 2035. This is equivalent to nine new Saudi Arabias coming online by 2035 (Saudi Arabia currently produces about 8 million barrels per day).
IEA projects (Figure 2) that this new oil will come from a combination of new conventional oil production, from known fields yet to be developed and fields not even found yet; from natural gas liquids; and from unconventional oil like tar sands and oil shale.
Figure 2. IEA projections for oil supply through 2035 (Source: IEA WEO 2010.)
For those who worry about national security and energy dependence, the report offers an even more worrying conclusion: the large majority of new oil will come from OPEC nations, with only Brazil, Canada and Kazakhstan as non-OPEC nations projected to have significant new production (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Sources of new oil by 2035 (Source: IEA WEO 2010).
We must keep in mind, however, that these new production figures don?t take into account the growing petroleum demand in these producing nations. The key issue, from a U.S. national security and energy dependence perspective, is not oil production itself but ?net oil exports.? The public version of the 2010 WEO does not discuss net oil exports, but private analysts Jeffrey Brown and Samuel Foucher have produced forecasts of net oil exports, concluding that the top five oil exporters will have literally zero oil for export by 2030. Even if, for some reason, their model is substantially off the mark (it?s not been peer-reviewed, to my knowledge), we must consider the net export issue in our analysis because any analysis that ignores rapidly growing consumption in oil-producing nations will be highly inaccurate.
Figure 4. Brown and Foucher?s 2008 projections for top five oil exporting nations? net oil exports by 2030, in millions of barrels per day (mbpd).
It?s not all bad, however. A more encouraging forecast from the IEA report can be found in their cost savings projections. They conclude that the ?new policies scenario? (what used to be called the ?reference scenario,? which codifies existing policies) and the 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide equivalent scenario (which codifies new policies required to prevent atmospheric emissions from reaching this level) result in very substantial net cost savings on a global basis and, in particular, for oil importing nations. This is the case because fossil fuel demand is dramatically reduced in these scenarios. This reduction in demand lowers both average prices for fossil fuels and the amount of fossil fuel that needs to be purchased.
Figure 5. Oil-import bills as share of gross domestic product in selected countries (Source: IEA WEO 2010).
It is time to get very serious about managing a reduction in petroleum demand in the U.S. and around the world. I write ?managing? because it is my view that this reduction in demand will happen whether we want it to or not due to declining oil supplies. The question, then, is how we best manage this decline. A high quality analysis of the possible scenarios for an oil-constrained world, by Oxford University professor J�rg Friedrichs, appeared in 2010. Friedrichs examines three possible trajectories: ?Predatory militarism,? ?totalitarian retrenchment,? and ?socioeconomic adaptation.?
At least two rigorous policy solutions have been offered in recent years. The Rocky Mountain Institute completed Winning the Oil Endgame in 2007, suggesting a suite of policy and technology solutions that can get the U.S. off oil, ?led by business for profit.? Richard Heinberg offered his own book-length solution, The Oil Depletion Protocol, in 2008, suggesting how the U.S. and other nations could manage declining oil supplies by achieving a three percent per year reduction in demand through various policies.
As we continue a global economic recovery in 2011, higher oil prices are inevitable, super price spikes are a strong possibility, and even shortages are not out of the question. We must ask ourselves: should we manage the decline in a way that avoids economic catastrophe or do we continue our generally laissez faire attitude toward this major problem?
Tam Hunt is president of Community Renewable Solutions, LLC, a renewable energy consulting and project development company. He is also a Lecturer in climate change law and policy at UC Santa Barbara?s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. His blog, Thought, Spirit, Politik, is at www.tamhunt.blogspot.com.�
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We saw prices as high as $147 a barrel in mid-2008 (the dominant factor for gasoline prices well over $4 a gallon), which played a strong role, perhaps the dominant role, in the global Great Recession -- as high oil prices have in most recessions over the last fifty years. Once the recession hit, oil demand dropped and prices plummeted as low as $33 a barrel.
Prices steadily recovered since their low in early 2009 and are back to dangerous levels in early 2011 (about $90 a barrel). We can expect far higher prices as the global recovery continues. An increasing number of analysts are projecting prices as high or higher than the 2008 peak in the next couple of years.
More importantly, global net exports of oil continue to drop as major oil exporters increase their own consumption at the same time as their production is stagnant or falling. As a major oil-importing nation (about 2/3 of our oil is imported, by far the largest import dependency in the world), net oil exports are far more important to the U.S. than total oil production. Even if global oil production increases in the coming years, if there is less available for oil-thirsty nations like ours the situation will be far worse than total oil production figures would otherwise suggest. More on this below.
It is time for public discussion of this issue to reach the same prominence as climate change. Indeed, many solutions to these ?twin crises? are the same because reducing petroleum dependence will ameliorate peak oil and climate change.
This article is an update on the peak oil situation at the beginning of 2011 and a follow-up to my many previous pieces on peak oil (one with Nobel Prize winner Walter Kohn). First, some facts.
Global oil production has plateaued since 2004, despite the fact that oil prices have risen dramatically. Figure 1 shows this history, demonstrating that oil production has not been very response to market forces, suggesting strongly that we are at a global peak.
Figure 1. Global oil production and oil price 2004-2010. (Source: EIA, chart courtesy of www.TheOilDrum.com).
Bloomberg reported a summary of oil price forecasts for 2011, selecting for their summary those forecasters who have the most accurate track records. The dominant view was that average oil prices will rise almost as high in 2011 as seen in 2008 ? to $87 a barrel for the year as a whole (the average price for 2008 was $99). It?s likely, however, that the actual average 2011 price will be significantly higher because we are already over this price at about $90 a barrel in early January and the large majority of economic forecasts project a robust global recovery this year, with attendant increases in oil demand.
More anecdotally, but with perhaps more impact because of its source, Shell?s recent ex-president John Hofmeister predicts $5 gas by 2012 due to the global economic recovery and very tight supply.
A number of comprehensive reviews of the global oil supply situation have appeared in the last year.
Lloyds and Chatham House: ?We are heading towards a global oil supply crunch and price spike.? ?A supply crunch appears likely around 2013? given recent price experience, a spike in excess of $200 per barrel is not infeasible.?
The U.S. Department of Defense issued a stark warning in its 2010 Joint Operating Environment (JOE) report, including discussion of ?peak oil?: "By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 million barrels per day.?
Similarly, the German military is taking peak oil very seriously, made clear by a report leaked to Der Spiegel in 2010: ?[The report] warns of shifts in the global balance of power, of the formation of new relationships based on interdependency, of a decline in importance of the western industrial nations, of the ?total collapse of the markets? and of serious political and economic crises.?
The same article reports on secret British government planning for peak oil: ?The leak has parallels with recent reports from the UK. Only last week the Guardian newspaper reported that the British Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is keeping documents secret which show the UK government is far more concerned about an impending supply crisis than it cares to admit. According to the Guardian, the DECC, the Bank of England and the British Ministry of Defence are working alongside industry representatives to develop a crisis plan to deal with possible shortfalls in energy supply.?
The UK?s Industry Task Force on Peak Oil and Energy Security (a non-governmental group) issued its second major report on peak oil in late 2010, concluding: ?[W]e face a situation during the [next few years] where fuel price unrest could lead to shortages in consumer products and the UK?s energy security will be significantly compromised. This has the potential to hit UK business and commerce as well as the most disadvantaged in society with yet another crisis.?
In August of 2009, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the official energy watchdog for the western world, was even more strident in its warnings. The UK?s Independent newspaper reported:
The world is heading for a catastrophic energy crunch that could cripple a global economic recovery because most of the major oil fields in the world have passed their peak production, a leading energy economist has warned.
Higher oil prices brought on by a rapid increase in demand and a stagnation, or even decline, in supply could blow any recovery off course, said Dr Fatih Birol, the chief economist at the respected International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, which is charged with the task of assessing future energy supplies by OECD countries.
Later in 2009, two IEA whistleblowers went public and claimed that the situation was even worse than the IEA was stating publicly. The UK?s Guardian newspaper reported in November of 2009: ?A ? senior IEA source, who has now left but was ? unwilling to give his name, said a key rule at the organization was that it was ?imperative not to anger the Americans? but the fact was that there was not as much oil in the world as has been admitted. ?We have (already) entered the ?peak oil? zone. I think that the situation is really bad,? he added.?
IEA has changed its public tune yet again, however. IEA?s 2010 World Energy Outlook (WEO), a major forecast released each year, apparently ignored the IEA?s own previous analysis by reverting to its previous policy of simply assuming ? literally ? that projected petroleum demand will be met with the needed supply. IEA states in WEO 2010: ?Energy prices ensure that projected supply and demand are in balance throughout the Outlook period in each scenario?.?� In other words, IEA simply assumes that supply will meet demand due to market forces. This is obviously true at a very basic level: supply will always match demand if we define demand as that which is actually consumed. But if we define demand instead as the desired oil consumption, all else being equal, we reach a very different conclusion ? far more in line with the US JOE report that projects a possible 10 million barrel per day shortfall by 2015.
WEO 2010 does, however, include some discussion of peak oil and it projects that the 2006 peak in global conventional oil production will never be exceeded (p. 8 of the Exec. Summary). That is, IEA has officially concluded that 2006 was the annual peak for conventional oil production. We are, accordingly, past the point of peak oil if we define this term to include only conventional oil.
Even based on official IEA projections (which are likely far too rosy considering the whistleblower claims), we have a major problem facing us, made clear by the chart below. The key point from this chart is that IEA thinks we?ve already passed the peak for global conventional oil production, as just mentioned. As a consequence, a huge amount of new oil must be found to replace declining conventional oil production ? a deficit of about 75 million barrels per day by 2035. This is equivalent to nine new Saudi Arabias coming online by 2035 (Saudi Arabia currently produces about 8 million barrels per day).
IEA projects (Figure 2) that this new oil will come from a combination of new conventional oil production, from known fields yet to be developed and fields not even found yet; from natural gas liquids; and from unconventional oil like tar sands and oil shale.
Figure 2. IEA projections for oil supply through 2035 (Source: IEA WEO 2010.)
For those who worry about national security and energy dependence, the report offers an even more worrying conclusion: the large majority of new oil will come from OPEC nations, with only Brazil, Canada and Kazakhstan as non-OPEC nations projected to have significant new production (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Sources of new oil by 2035 (Source: IEA WEO 2010).
We must keep in mind, however, that these new production figures don?t take into account the growing petroleum demand in these producing nations. The key issue, from a U.S. national security and energy dependence perspective, is not oil production itself but ?net oil exports.? The public version of the 2010 WEO does not discuss net oil exports, but private analysts Jeffrey Brown and Samuel Foucher have produced forecasts of net oil exports, concluding that the top five oil exporters will have literally zero oil for export by 2030. Even if, for some reason, their model is substantially off the mark (it?s not been peer-reviewed, to my knowledge), we must consider the net export issue in our analysis because any analysis that ignores rapidly growing consumption in oil-producing nations will be highly inaccurate.
Figure 4. Brown and Foucher?s 2008 projections for top five oil exporting nations? net oil exports by 2030, in millions of barrels per day (mbpd).
It?s not all bad, however. A more encouraging forecast from the IEA report can be found in their cost savings projections. They conclude that the ?new policies scenario? (what used to be called the ?reference scenario,? which codifies existing policies) and the 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide equivalent scenario (which codifies new policies required to prevent atmospheric emissions from reaching this level) result in very substantial net cost savings on a global basis and, in particular, for oil importing nations. This is the case because fossil fuel demand is dramatically reduced in these scenarios. This reduction in demand lowers both average prices for fossil fuels and the amount of fossil fuel that needs to be purchased.
Figure 5. Oil-import bills as share of gross domestic product in selected countries (Source: IEA WEO 2010).
It is time to get very serious about managing a reduction in petroleum demand in the U.S. and around the world. I write ?managing? because it is my view that this reduction in demand will happen whether we want it to or not due to declining oil supplies. The question, then, is how we best manage this decline. A high quality analysis of the possible scenarios for an oil-constrained world, by Oxford University professor J�rg Friedrichs, appeared in 2010. Friedrichs examines three possible trajectories: ?Predatory militarism,? ?totalitarian retrenchment,? and ?socioeconomic adaptation.?
At least two rigorous policy solutions have been offered in recent years. The Rocky Mountain Institute completed Winning the Oil Endgame in 2007, suggesting a suite of policy and technology solutions that can get the U.S. off oil, ?led by business for profit.? Richard Heinberg offered his own book-length solution, The Oil Depletion Protocol, in 2008, suggesting how the U.S. and other nations could manage declining oil supplies by achieving a three percent per year reduction in demand through various policies.
As we continue a global economic recovery in 2011, higher oil prices are inevitable, super price spikes are a strong possibility, and even shortages are not out of the question. We must ask ourselves: should we manage the decline in a way that avoids economic catastrophe or do we continue our generally laissez faire attitude toward this major problem?
Tam Hunt is president of Community Renewable Solutions, LLC, a renewable energy consulting and project development company. He is also a Lecturer in climate change law and policy at UC Santa Barbara?s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. His blog, Thought, Spirit, Politik, is at www.tamhunt.blogspot.com.�
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Algeria plans rapid green energy ramp-up
[ALGIERS] Algeria is aiming to generate 40 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, energy minister Youcef Yousfi has announced. About 60 renewable energy projects will be launched to give a capacity of 3,000 megawatts, hetold a press conference held to announce the strategy (2 January).
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"The main purpose of this new policy is to prepare the country for the post-petrol era," Yousfi said. Currently, fossil fuels account for 96 per cent of export revenue, and are the basis of the national economy. The country hopes to supplement this revenue from exports of renewably sourced energy."Algeria has been late in developing the renewable energy sector, but by stepping up the launch of projects we can catch up," said Omar Bouhadjar, research manager at Algeria's Centre for Development of Renewable Energies (CDER). "Important projects were announced last month that will support the new Algerian strategy," he added. But legislators were forced to postpone a discussion of a draft of the renewable energy development strategy, due to take place on 4 January, because of political disturbances.Article continues: http://www.scidev.net/en/news/algeria-plans-rapid-green-energy-ramp-up.html Powered By WizardRSSMagnetic Generators Free Energy Home Home Power Generator Green Energy Green Energy Sources
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"The main purpose of this new policy is to prepare the country for the post-petrol era," Yousfi said. Currently, fossil fuels account for 96 per cent of export revenue, and are the basis of the national economy. The country hopes to supplement this revenue from exports of renewably sourced energy."Algeria has been late in developing the renewable energy sector, but by stepping up the launch of projects we can catch up," said Omar Bouhadjar, research manager at Algeria's Centre for Development of Renewable Energies (CDER). "Important projects were announced last month that will support the new Algerian strategy," he added. But legislators were forced to postpone a discussion of a draft of the renewable energy development strategy, due to take place on 4 January, because of political disturbances.Article continues: http://www.scidev.net/en/news/algeria-plans-rapid-green-energy-ramp-up.html Powered By WizardRSSMagnetic Generators Free Energy Home Home Power Generator Green Energy Green Energy Sources
Wave and Tidal Energy on the Rise: But Will it Work?
Companies have been developing marine energy devices for more than 100 years ? but success has been limited.
With more advanced materials and a long track record of failures to learn from, a number of companies are working on promising technologies. However, leading technology developers like Aquamarine Power, Atlantis Resources Corporation, Ocean Power Technologies, OpenHydro, Ocean Renewable Power Company and Pelamis have been secretive about the performance of their devices.
Because there is little data to evaluate, it's still uncertain how successful wave and tidal companies will be as larger projects are deployed.
The report from Douglas Westwood highlights the many challenges the sector faces: Reliability, cost of electricity, environmental protection issues and availability of project finance. There are many unknowns facing the industry that may prevent companies from reaching the 150-MW projection outlined in the report.
With that said, more governments are providing R&D funding and incentives for project developers, providing a needed boost for these early-stage companies.
According to Douglas-Westwood, The UK, Canada and US will be the three biggest markets through 2015. The UK leads with 110 MW of projected installations. Driven by a strong tidal resource, excellent R&D and support, Canada is the second largest market. The US is also making progress, again with much R&D funding attracting developers.
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How to build a chicken tractor: version 2.0
A recent wind storm turned our chicken tractor into a kite, throwing it 30? away.
All the birds were OK, just wondering where their roof went. I retrieved my son from school early, bought the largest fishing nets we could find, and tracked down our birds wandering around the pasture before the daily sundown coyote pack visit.
Chicken Tractor Version 1.0 was damaged enough to warrant building an entirely new portable coop. So I broke out the long list of change ideas I had been collecting and designed a new tractor.
-Aesthetics (for us and neighbors)
-Wind management for entire coop + nest boxes
-Coyote/Raccoon proof
-Weight for daily movement
-Manageable trap door and access to nest boxes for my kids
-Cleaner eggs
Primary changes:
Flat roof. There are zero flat areas in my back yard, so a flat roof will still shed rain well since the entire coop is always at an angle. The new flat roof allowed me to get away from tarps, which never stay tight nor look attractive for long.
Solar electric fence to replace the hardware mesh skirt. The skirt *is* effective against coyotes; we?ve found their scat right next to the coop several times. But it catches on the pasture grass and makes daily movement of the tractor difficult for my wife.
Horizontal access door (replacing a vertical accessible hatch). You can see it in the accompanying photo, held in place by carabiner lock bungee cords to thwart the raccoons. See additional detail photos in the nearby photostream. The nest buckets are bolted to this door, which keep s them upright even in strong wind. My seven year old can lift off this panel to retrieve the eggs by himself. With the nest buckets secured, we can use straw rather than sand in the base, which makes for much cleaner eggs.
4? additional roost space with 100% of it under roof. Old design only had 8? of roost space with 2? open to the sky (rain).
Suggestions for your own efforts:
Do a dry fit before applying pipe cement and drilling holes.
Remember overall lengths increase when adding fittings by about 1?. Adjust your pipe lengths accordingly.
I considered using cattle panels, but at 36 lbs for every 50? x 16? section, they would add too much weight. Same for wood versus water pipe. Weight considerations drove a lot of our decisions.
Corrugated plastic roof panels
Bolts to secure panels (2? with wide washers and locknuts)
Silicon to make drill holes for bolts waterproof
Water pipe (1? schedule 40)
Pipe fittings (esoteric ones here)
Chicken wire (2? roll)
Solar electric fence
17 gauge wire for electric fence
14? screwdriver to act as a ground for electric fence
Zip ties (lots and lots)
Pull ropes with clamp-on end hooks
Ground stakes used for dogs to secure coop in high wind
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All the birds were OK, just wondering where their roof went. I retrieved my son from school early, bought the largest fishing nets we could find, and tracked down our birds wandering around the pasture before the daily sundown coyote pack visit.
Chicken Tractor Version 1.0 was damaged enough to warrant building an entirely new portable coop. So I broke out the long list of change ideas I had been collecting and designed a new tractor.
-Aesthetics (for us and neighbors)
-Wind management for entire coop + nest boxes
-Coyote/Raccoon proof
-Weight for daily movement
-Manageable trap door and access to nest boxes for my kids
-Cleaner eggs
Primary changes:
Flat roof. There are zero flat areas in my back yard, so a flat roof will still shed rain well since the entire coop is always at an angle. The new flat roof allowed me to get away from tarps, which never stay tight nor look attractive for long.
Solar electric fence to replace the hardware mesh skirt. The skirt *is* effective against coyotes; we?ve found their scat right next to the coop several times. But it catches on the pasture grass and makes daily movement of the tractor difficult for my wife.
Horizontal access door (replacing a vertical accessible hatch). You can see it in the accompanying photo, held in place by carabiner lock bungee cords to thwart the raccoons. See additional detail photos in the nearby photostream. The nest buckets are bolted to this door, which keep s them upright even in strong wind. My seven year old can lift off this panel to retrieve the eggs by himself. With the nest buckets secured, we can use straw rather than sand in the base, which makes for much cleaner eggs.
4? additional roost space with 100% of it under roof. Old design only had 8? of roost space with 2? open to the sky (rain).
Suggestions for your own efforts:
Do a dry fit before applying pipe cement and drilling holes.
Remember overall lengths increase when adding fittings by about 1?. Adjust your pipe lengths accordingly.
I considered using cattle panels, but at 36 lbs for every 50? x 16? section, they would add too much weight. Same for wood versus water pipe. Weight considerations drove a lot of our decisions.
Corrugated plastic roof panels
Bolts to secure panels (2? with wide washers and locknuts)
Silicon to make drill holes for bolts waterproof
Water pipe (1? schedule 40)
Pipe fittings (esoteric ones here)
Chicken wire (2? roll)
Solar electric fence
17 gauge wire for electric fence
14? screwdriver to act as a ground for electric fence
Zip ties (lots and lots)
Pull ropes with clamp-on end hooks
Ground stakes used for dogs to secure coop in high wind
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Energy Storage Technologies - White Paper
Demand for energy storage solutions is expected to further benefit from the growing trends in the adoption of renewable energy generation and microgrid solutions. The significant public and private investments currently being made are also expected to bolster the growth of energy storage solutions in the utility sector. However, a number of challenges remain, including the need to further improve the cost/performance of current technologies, the relative lack of technical and commercial maturity of many energy storage solutions, and regulatory and monetization issues.
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Monday, March 28, 2011
EnCore spuds Catcher North appraisal well
EnCore spuds Catcher North appraisal well
Posted: 24 January 2010
EnCore Oil plc reported the Catcher North appraisal well 28/9-3 in Central North Sea Block 28/9 was spudded at 08.00 hours on Monday 24 January 2011.
The EnCore operated well is being drilled using the Transocean Galaxy II heavy duty jack-up rig and is being managed by Applied Drilling Technology International (ADTI), a turnkey drilling services provider with over 30 years' experience. The well is expected to take approximately 20 days, subject to weather and operational requirements.
The main objective of the well is to appraise the Tay and Cromarty reservoirs to the North of the Catcher discovery made in June 2010, at estimated depths of approximately 4,300 feet (Tay) and 4,500 feet (Cromarty) True Vertical Depth Sub Sea.
Catcher North is the second well in the current drilling campaign after the group took advantage of a weather window suitable for mobilisation from Varadero to the Catcher North location. Burgman will now be drilled following Catcher North.
The equity in the Catcher joint venture partnership is as follows: EnCore Oil plc (15 per cent., Operator), Premier Oil (35 per cent), Wintershall (UK North Sea) Limited (20 per cent), Nautical Petroleum (15 per cent) and Agora Oil & Gas (15 per cent).
�
Posted by Richard Price, Editor, energyme.com.
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Posted: 24 January 2010
EnCore Oil plc reported the Catcher North appraisal well 28/9-3 in Central North Sea Block 28/9 was spudded at 08.00 hours on Monday 24 January 2011.
The EnCore operated well is being drilled using the Transocean Galaxy II heavy duty jack-up rig and is being managed by Applied Drilling Technology International (ADTI), a turnkey drilling services provider with over 30 years' experience. The well is expected to take approximately 20 days, subject to weather and operational requirements.
The main objective of the well is to appraise the Tay and Cromarty reservoirs to the North of the Catcher discovery made in June 2010, at estimated depths of approximately 4,300 feet (Tay) and 4,500 feet (Cromarty) True Vertical Depth Sub Sea.
Catcher North is the second well in the current drilling campaign after the group took advantage of a weather window suitable for mobilisation from Varadero to the Catcher North location. Burgman will now be drilled following Catcher North.
The equity in the Catcher joint venture partnership is as follows: EnCore Oil plc (15 per cent., Operator), Premier Oil (35 per cent), Wintershall (UK North Sea) Limited (20 per cent), Nautical Petroleum (15 per cent) and Agora Oil & Gas (15 per cent).
�
Posted by Richard Price, Editor, energyme.com.
Follow energyme.com on Twitter @energyme.
Information supplied by companies or PR agencies who are responsible for content. Send press releases in Word format to richard@energyme.comPowered By WizardRSSFree Energy Home Home Power Generator Green Energy Green Energy Sources Magnetic Generator
California PUC Decision Allows Use of TRECs
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) lifted a suspension of its decision which authorized the use of unbundled tradable renewable energy credits (TRECs) to meet the state's renewable portfolio standard (RPS). The CPUC originally approved the use of TRECs in March 2010, but then suspended that decision in May 2010. With this new ruling, unbundled RECs may be used to meet no more than 25 percent of a utility's annual procurement target. TRECs can be used for RPS compliance until December 31, 2013. The CPUC also placed a temporary $50 per TREC price cap that will expire on December 31, 2013.
News Release - CPUC Approves Use of Tradable Renewable Energy Credits for State's Renewables Program
Additional Information - Decision Resolving Petitions for Modification of Decision 10-03-021 Authorizing Use of Renewable Energy Credits for Compliance with the California Renewables Portfolio Standard and Lifting Stay and Moratorium Imposed by Decision 10-05-018
Contact: Terrie Prosper, 415-703-1366
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Lundberg Family Farms Nearly Doubles On-Site Solar
Lundberg Family Farms (Richvale, CA) opened a new warehouse that supports a solar system expected to produce 500,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually. The company is already producing approximately 584,000 kWh of green power through solar panels located on the farm. With the new installation, the farm expects to generate 20 percent of its electricity from solar. In addition, Lundberg Family Farms purchases renewable energy certificates (RECs) from Renewable Choice Energy to match the rest of its electricity use.
News Release - At Lundberg Family Farms, Sun Powers More Than Just Rice Fields
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Review: Twilight in the Desert by Matt Simmons
Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy
By Matthew R. Simmons
448 pp., hardcover. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ? Jun. 2005. $24.95.
A year ago peak oil author Dave Cohen christened 2009 "A Year We Will Live To Regret."1 But as it happens, 2010 has brought its own mother lode of discouragement, failure and tragedy. It began on the heels of the bungled climate change summit in Copenhagen, a major blackout in southern France and news of a disastrous crash in Yemen's oil revenues. Before the year had rounded its halfway mark, it had presided over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. And as if all this weren't enough, 2010 also saw the sudden and unexpected death of one of the very icons of the peak oil movement, the revered Matthew R. Simmons.
It has been said of Simmons that no one in America was more influential in warning of the coming oil crisis, and that's surely true enough.2 Appearing in documentaries and in frequent TV and radio spots, he was a vital go-between for journalists reporting on the ever-escalating cost of fuel and a pained, bewildered public. He had even been a presidential energy advisor. But that description of Simmons only scratches the surface, for he did far more than simply raise awareness of oil depletion. Above all, he was the voice of informed reason in debates over whether Saudi Arabia, long the world's oil producer of last resort, could indefinitely continue to provide whatever quantities of oil the global economy may need.
His controversial bestselling book Twilight in the Desert represents the seminal attempt to answer this question. He began writing it in 2003, following a visit to the headquarters of Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco. Simmons was then chairman and CEO of Simmons & Company International, an investment banking firm that he'd founded in 1974 and that has since acted as financial advisor on more than $134 billion in transactions within the oil and gas services industry.3 During the visit, a Saudi Aramco senior manager explained that the company used "fuzzy logic" to maximize recovery from the nation's oilfields. That term didn't sit well with Simmons, and for the first time he became skeptical of Saudi Arabia's alleged oil potential.
His skepticism was confirmed when he came across an extensive collection of technical papers from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) offering an in-depth look into Saudi oil production over the past 40 years. This collection, containing more than 200 papers, documented a decades-long saga of technical difficulties that had taxed the talents and ingenuity of some of the world's foremost oil engineers. The picture that these documents painted was a far cry from the boastful claims long made by Saudi officialdom regarding the supposed robustness of its oilfields.
To date, Saudi Arabia's all-time record output was roughly 10 million barrels a day, achieved in 1981. Current production fluctuates between approximately 8 and 9 million barrels a day, according to demand. Yet many oil observers insist that the country could raise its output to 12, 16 or even 20 to 25 million barrels per day, and that it could sustain these rates for as long as 50 years into the future. After researching and writing Twilight, Simmons knew better. In my favorite Simmons quote of all time, he wryly remarked to radio talk show host Jim Puplava, "I can tell you on your program that, trust me, my net worth will exceed Bill Gates' by 2030, and you'd be a fool to believe it?unless Bill Gates had a terrible financial collapse. There's nothing illegal about me telling you that. I can want that. And that's kind of what the world has done."4 Simmons' wit was as quick as his energy savvy and wisdom were great.
The most troubling trends dogging Saudi Arabia's oilfields, as revealed in Twilight, are all textbook examples of what can happen when oil reserves are exploited too hastily or vigorously. According to our best current understanding of the science of oil production, Simmons explains, every oilfield has an ideal production rate. Exceeding this rate is known as "overproducing" a field, and it can cause irreparable damage resulting in far more oil being permanently left behind. In short, overproducing brings more immediate returns but reduces the longevity of a field and the amount of oil that can ultimately be recovered.
As the 40-year SPE paper trail attests, multiple generations of Aramco scientists and engineers have been struggling to address the classic signs of overproduction in some of Saudi Arabia?s great oilfields. These include dramatic drops in reservoir pressure, increasing quantities of water produced along with the oil and premature gas cap formation. Simmons argues that they represent the dear price that Saudi Arabia has had to pay for its otherwise commendable decision to assume the responsibility of world's chief swing oil producer.
Based on the available evidence, Simmons concludes that Saudi oil production is at or nearing its peak sustainable level, and that it's likely to start dropping irreversibly in the quite foreseeable future. Further, the decline rate promises to be quite steep because Aramco's experimental use of water injection to maintain reservoir pressure right at the start of the fields? development?rather than at the end, as is standard?has swept the proverbial cupboards bare. Worse yet, because Saudi Arabia is essentially the only oil-producing nation with any spare production capacity left, its peak also signals the world peak.
Twilight is organized into a neat, easy-to-follow structure with four main sections. Parts one and two supply background information that is crucial to understanding the technical discussions in parts three and four. This background includes an account of Saudi Arabia's brief national history and how it came to dominate the world oil market, a detailed run-down of Saudi Aramco's operations and a basic primer on the steps involved in discovering and developing oil reserves. The book?s third part is an exhaustive assessment of each of Saudi Arabia?s dozen or so major fields and their unique technical challenges. And finally, the last section of the book explores at length the social, institutional and economic implications of the waning of Saudi Arabia's oil bounty.
A common theme running through the oilfield analyses is that too much about these fields' geology and behavior remains poorly understood. The mighty Ghawar field is a case in point. Once having supplied as much as two-thirds of Saudi Arabia's total output and six percent of global production, Ghawar is believed to be the largest oil-bearing structure ever to have existed on planet Earth. And yet, only one northernmost region of this great field has proven relatively trouble-free, and has thus been the source of the lion's share of Ghawar's oil. The remaining 80 percent of Ghawar produces far more modest flows because of ?reservoir pressure anomalies" seemingly linked somehow to a baffling set of faults, fractures and other geological phenomena.
In addition to the SPE papers, Simmons draws on an array of other equally revealing primary sources, chief among them a Senate staff report released in 1979. This report seriously questioned Aramco's claimed sustainable peak rate of 12 million barrels a day and quite presciently concluded that 9.8 million barrels a day was probably a more realistic goal. Yet it warned that even at that level the major fields would have tipped into decline before the turn of the century.
One of Simmons' biggest peeves was the secrecy surrounding oil reserves and production not just in Saudi Arabia, but in all OPEC countries. Twilight recounts how OPEC countries once routinely reported field-by-field production figures to industry periodicals like the Oil & Gas Journal but stopped doing this when Saudi oil minister Zaki Yamani took office in 1982. The result was a confusing maelstrom of contradictory reserves and production numbers that continues to this day. Oil-producing countries have little to gain by dispelling this veil of secrecy, because doing so would reveal that the geese laying their golden eggs are steadily succumbing to old age. As a result, the policy of secrecy has stuck.
The book goes into great depth about the need to break this veil and how that might be done. It calls for an international forum for systematically collecting and reporting worldwide energy data, something for which Simmons had long agitated. Indeed, asked once how he would begin to address energy policy if elected president, Simmons began, ?Probably cry??and then, once the laughter had dissipated, added, ?I would basically hold my fireside chat after having the conversation all day with the 20 most important world leaders and saying we need tomorrow morning to slap a $20-a-barrel transportation fine on any producer of oil that will not release their basically field-by-field production statistics, because we have a week to figure out how bad this problem is."5 Witticisms aside, Simmons was so adamant about this need for an international energy forum that he felt Twilight would have done the world a great service if all it did was supply the necessary catalyst.
As an outspoken peak oiler, Simmons was always something of a provocateur. At the end of his life, however, he became a loose cannon. His own firm ended its association with him after he lambasted BP Plc. for its hand in the Deepwater Horizon spill and predicted that the spill would bankrupt BP within weeks. Then he shocked everyone with his suggestion that the wellbore be sealed through the detonation of a nuclear bomb. (He pointed out that the Russians had used this approach repeatedly?and he reasoned that we needn't worry about radioactive contamination because the seafloor well was even deeper than the old Nevada test sites?but his idea was nonetheless roundly attacked as insane.) After "retiring" from Simmons & Co., he devoted full time to the Ocean Energy Institute, a think tank and venture capital fund that he'd established three years earlier to pursue offshore wind energy. Just two months later, on Sunday, Aug. 8, he died of a heart attack in a hot tub at his home in North Haven, Maine, at the age of 67. His hard words for BP had gained him enough notoriety that in no time speculation, never substantiated, was flying around the Web that his death had really been an assassination carried out by some wronged party.6
In the years leading up to Simmons' death, there had been excited murmurings within the peak oil community over his plans to write a second book. According to one source, it was going to deal with the increasingly decrepit infrastructure and aging labor force of the oil industry, and how these threaten to bring about just as serious a collapse in oil production as the one imposed by Mother Nature.7 The world will never know what Simmons might have put in this unwritten book, nor what additional contribution it might have made to the literature. But Twilight remains an essential piece of scholarship that deserves to be remembered and read for decades.
1 Dave Cohen, ?2009 ? A Year We Will Live To Regret,? Energy Bulletin, Dec. 17 2009, http://www.energybulletin.net/node/51013 (accessed Dec. 6, 2010).
2 Steve Andrews, Sally Odland, John Theobald and Randy Udall and others, ?Remembering the remarkable Matthew R. Simmons,? Energy Bulletin, Aug. 19 2010, http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2010-08-19/remembering-remarkable-... (accessed Dec. 6, 2010).
3 ?History and Purpose of EOCM,? Energy Opportunities Capital Management, http://www.energyocm.com/history.html (accessed Dec. 6, 2010).
4 Matthew R. Simmons, interview with Jim Puplava, "Financial Sense Newshour," Financial Sense: Uncommon News & Views for the Wise Investor, Apr. 7, 2007, http://www.financialsensearchive.com/transcriptions/2007/0407.html (accessed Dec. 6, 2010).
5 Simmons, interview with Puplava, "FSN Expert Roundtable: Energy Roundtable," Financial Sense, Feb. 2, 2008, http://www.financialsensearchive.com/Experts/roundtable/2008/0202.html (accessed Dec. 6, 2010).
6 Braden Reddall and Kristen Hays, "Energy bank Simmons cuts ties to outspoken founder," Reuters, Jun. 16, 2010, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1617784120100616 (accessed Dec. 6, 2010); Rich Blake, "BP Shares Sink on Oil Spill Bankruptcy Worries," ABC News, Jun. 10, 2010, http://abcnews.go.com/Business/bp-survive-company-result-oil-spill-gulf-... (accessed Dec. 6, 2010); Kent Bernhard, Jr., "Matthew Simmons Reflects On Deepwater Horizon Disaster: One Lesson From Pearl Harbor," Portfolio.com: a bizjournals property, Jun. 3, 2010, http://www.portfolio.com/industry-news/energy/2010/06/03/matthew-simmons... (accessed Dec. 6, 2010); ?Matthew R. Simmons Retires as Chairman Emeritus of Simmons & Company International to Dedicate his Full Attention to The Ocean Energy Institute,? Earth Times, June. 16, 2010, http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/press/ocean-energy-institute,1348001.... (accessed Dec. 6, 2010); Scott Malone and Edward McAllister, ?Oil guru Matthew Simmons dies in Maine,? Reuters, Aug. 9, 2010, http://in.reuters.com/article/idINN0926746220100809 (accessed Dec. 6, 2010).
7 Totoneila, ?DrumBeat: November 8, 2006,? The Oil Drum, Nov. 8, 2006, http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2006/11/8/82046/5724 (accessed Dec. 6, 2010).
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By Matthew R. Simmons
448 pp., hardcover. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ? Jun. 2005. $24.95.
A year ago peak oil author Dave Cohen christened 2009 "A Year We Will Live To Regret."1 But as it happens, 2010 has brought its own mother lode of discouragement, failure and tragedy. It began on the heels of the bungled climate change summit in Copenhagen, a major blackout in southern France and news of a disastrous crash in Yemen's oil revenues. Before the year had rounded its halfway mark, it had presided over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. And as if all this weren't enough, 2010 also saw the sudden and unexpected death of one of the very icons of the peak oil movement, the revered Matthew R. Simmons.
It has been said of Simmons that no one in America was more influential in warning of the coming oil crisis, and that's surely true enough.2 Appearing in documentaries and in frequent TV and radio spots, he was a vital go-between for journalists reporting on the ever-escalating cost of fuel and a pained, bewildered public. He had even been a presidential energy advisor. But that description of Simmons only scratches the surface, for he did far more than simply raise awareness of oil depletion. Above all, he was the voice of informed reason in debates over whether Saudi Arabia, long the world's oil producer of last resort, could indefinitely continue to provide whatever quantities of oil the global economy may need.
His controversial bestselling book Twilight in the Desert represents the seminal attempt to answer this question. He began writing it in 2003, following a visit to the headquarters of Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco. Simmons was then chairman and CEO of Simmons & Company International, an investment banking firm that he'd founded in 1974 and that has since acted as financial advisor on more than $134 billion in transactions within the oil and gas services industry.3 During the visit, a Saudi Aramco senior manager explained that the company used "fuzzy logic" to maximize recovery from the nation's oilfields. That term didn't sit well with Simmons, and for the first time he became skeptical of Saudi Arabia's alleged oil potential.
His skepticism was confirmed when he came across an extensive collection of technical papers from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) offering an in-depth look into Saudi oil production over the past 40 years. This collection, containing more than 200 papers, documented a decades-long saga of technical difficulties that had taxed the talents and ingenuity of some of the world's foremost oil engineers. The picture that these documents painted was a far cry from the boastful claims long made by Saudi officialdom regarding the supposed robustness of its oilfields.
To date, Saudi Arabia's all-time record output was roughly 10 million barrels a day, achieved in 1981. Current production fluctuates between approximately 8 and 9 million barrels a day, according to demand. Yet many oil observers insist that the country could raise its output to 12, 16 or even 20 to 25 million barrels per day, and that it could sustain these rates for as long as 50 years into the future. After researching and writing Twilight, Simmons knew better. In my favorite Simmons quote of all time, he wryly remarked to radio talk show host Jim Puplava, "I can tell you on your program that, trust me, my net worth will exceed Bill Gates' by 2030, and you'd be a fool to believe it?unless Bill Gates had a terrible financial collapse. There's nothing illegal about me telling you that. I can want that. And that's kind of what the world has done."4 Simmons' wit was as quick as his energy savvy and wisdom were great.
The most troubling trends dogging Saudi Arabia's oilfields, as revealed in Twilight, are all textbook examples of what can happen when oil reserves are exploited too hastily or vigorously. According to our best current understanding of the science of oil production, Simmons explains, every oilfield has an ideal production rate. Exceeding this rate is known as "overproducing" a field, and it can cause irreparable damage resulting in far more oil being permanently left behind. In short, overproducing brings more immediate returns but reduces the longevity of a field and the amount of oil that can ultimately be recovered.
As the 40-year SPE paper trail attests, multiple generations of Aramco scientists and engineers have been struggling to address the classic signs of overproduction in some of Saudi Arabia?s great oilfields. These include dramatic drops in reservoir pressure, increasing quantities of water produced along with the oil and premature gas cap formation. Simmons argues that they represent the dear price that Saudi Arabia has had to pay for its otherwise commendable decision to assume the responsibility of world's chief swing oil producer.
Based on the available evidence, Simmons concludes that Saudi oil production is at or nearing its peak sustainable level, and that it's likely to start dropping irreversibly in the quite foreseeable future. Further, the decline rate promises to be quite steep because Aramco's experimental use of water injection to maintain reservoir pressure right at the start of the fields? development?rather than at the end, as is standard?has swept the proverbial cupboards bare. Worse yet, because Saudi Arabia is essentially the only oil-producing nation with any spare production capacity left, its peak also signals the world peak.
Twilight is organized into a neat, easy-to-follow structure with four main sections. Parts one and two supply background information that is crucial to understanding the technical discussions in parts three and four. This background includes an account of Saudi Arabia's brief national history and how it came to dominate the world oil market, a detailed run-down of Saudi Aramco's operations and a basic primer on the steps involved in discovering and developing oil reserves. The book?s third part is an exhaustive assessment of each of Saudi Arabia?s dozen or so major fields and their unique technical challenges. And finally, the last section of the book explores at length the social, institutional and economic implications of the waning of Saudi Arabia's oil bounty.
A common theme running through the oilfield analyses is that too much about these fields' geology and behavior remains poorly understood. The mighty Ghawar field is a case in point. Once having supplied as much as two-thirds of Saudi Arabia's total output and six percent of global production, Ghawar is believed to be the largest oil-bearing structure ever to have existed on planet Earth. And yet, only one northernmost region of this great field has proven relatively trouble-free, and has thus been the source of the lion's share of Ghawar's oil. The remaining 80 percent of Ghawar produces far more modest flows because of ?reservoir pressure anomalies" seemingly linked somehow to a baffling set of faults, fractures and other geological phenomena.
In addition to the SPE papers, Simmons draws on an array of other equally revealing primary sources, chief among them a Senate staff report released in 1979. This report seriously questioned Aramco's claimed sustainable peak rate of 12 million barrels a day and quite presciently concluded that 9.8 million barrels a day was probably a more realistic goal. Yet it warned that even at that level the major fields would have tipped into decline before the turn of the century.
One of Simmons' biggest peeves was the secrecy surrounding oil reserves and production not just in Saudi Arabia, but in all OPEC countries. Twilight recounts how OPEC countries once routinely reported field-by-field production figures to industry periodicals like the Oil & Gas Journal but stopped doing this when Saudi oil minister Zaki Yamani took office in 1982. The result was a confusing maelstrom of contradictory reserves and production numbers that continues to this day. Oil-producing countries have little to gain by dispelling this veil of secrecy, because doing so would reveal that the geese laying their golden eggs are steadily succumbing to old age. As a result, the policy of secrecy has stuck.
The book goes into great depth about the need to break this veil and how that might be done. It calls for an international forum for systematically collecting and reporting worldwide energy data, something for which Simmons had long agitated. Indeed, asked once how he would begin to address energy policy if elected president, Simmons began, ?Probably cry??and then, once the laughter had dissipated, added, ?I would basically hold my fireside chat after having the conversation all day with the 20 most important world leaders and saying we need tomorrow morning to slap a $20-a-barrel transportation fine on any producer of oil that will not release their basically field-by-field production statistics, because we have a week to figure out how bad this problem is."5 Witticisms aside, Simmons was so adamant about this need for an international energy forum that he felt Twilight would have done the world a great service if all it did was supply the necessary catalyst.
As an outspoken peak oiler, Simmons was always something of a provocateur. At the end of his life, however, he became a loose cannon. His own firm ended its association with him after he lambasted BP Plc. for its hand in the Deepwater Horizon spill and predicted that the spill would bankrupt BP within weeks. Then he shocked everyone with his suggestion that the wellbore be sealed through the detonation of a nuclear bomb. (He pointed out that the Russians had used this approach repeatedly?and he reasoned that we needn't worry about radioactive contamination because the seafloor well was even deeper than the old Nevada test sites?but his idea was nonetheless roundly attacked as insane.) After "retiring" from Simmons & Co., he devoted full time to the Ocean Energy Institute, a think tank and venture capital fund that he'd established three years earlier to pursue offshore wind energy. Just two months later, on Sunday, Aug. 8, he died of a heart attack in a hot tub at his home in North Haven, Maine, at the age of 67. His hard words for BP had gained him enough notoriety that in no time speculation, never substantiated, was flying around the Web that his death had really been an assassination carried out by some wronged party.6
In the years leading up to Simmons' death, there had been excited murmurings within the peak oil community over his plans to write a second book. According to one source, it was going to deal with the increasingly decrepit infrastructure and aging labor force of the oil industry, and how these threaten to bring about just as serious a collapse in oil production as the one imposed by Mother Nature.7 The world will never know what Simmons might have put in this unwritten book, nor what additional contribution it might have made to the literature. But Twilight remains an essential piece of scholarship that deserves to be remembered and read for decades.
1 Dave Cohen, ?2009 ? A Year We Will Live To Regret,? Energy Bulletin, Dec. 17 2009, http://www.energybulletin.net/node/51013 (accessed Dec. 6, 2010).
2 Steve Andrews, Sally Odland, John Theobald and Randy Udall and others, ?Remembering the remarkable Matthew R. Simmons,? Energy Bulletin, Aug. 19 2010, http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2010-08-19/remembering-remarkable-... (accessed Dec. 6, 2010).
3 ?History and Purpose of EOCM,? Energy Opportunities Capital Management, http://www.energyocm.com/history.html (accessed Dec. 6, 2010).
4 Matthew R. Simmons, interview with Jim Puplava, "Financial Sense Newshour," Financial Sense: Uncommon News & Views for the Wise Investor, Apr. 7, 2007, http://www.financialsensearchive.com/transcriptions/2007/0407.html (accessed Dec. 6, 2010).
5 Simmons, interview with Puplava, "FSN Expert Roundtable: Energy Roundtable," Financial Sense, Feb. 2, 2008, http://www.financialsensearchive.com/Experts/roundtable/2008/0202.html (accessed Dec. 6, 2010).
6 Braden Reddall and Kristen Hays, "Energy bank Simmons cuts ties to outspoken founder," Reuters, Jun. 16, 2010, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1617784120100616 (accessed Dec. 6, 2010); Rich Blake, "BP Shares Sink on Oil Spill Bankruptcy Worries," ABC News, Jun. 10, 2010, http://abcnews.go.com/Business/bp-survive-company-result-oil-spill-gulf-... (accessed Dec. 6, 2010); Kent Bernhard, Jr., "Matthew Simmons Reflects On Deepwater Horizon Disaster: One Lesson From Pearl Harbor," Portfolio.com: a bizjournals property, Jun. 3, 2010, http://www.portfolio.com/industry-news/energy/2010/06/03/matthew-simmons... (accessed Dec. 6, 2010); ?Matthew R. Simmons Retires as Chairman Emeritus of Simmons & Company International to Dedicate his Full Attention to The Ocean Energy Institute,? Earth Times, June. 16, 2010, http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/press/ocean-energy-institute,1348001.... (accessed Dec. 6, 2010); Scott Malone and Edward McAllister, ?Oil guru Matthew Simmons dies in Maine,? Reuters, Aug. 9, 2010, http://in.reuters.com/article/idINN0926746220100809 (accessed Dec. 6, 2010).
7 Totoneila, ?DrumBeat: November 8, 2006,? The Oil Drum, Nov. 8, 2006, http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2006/11/8/82046/5724 (accessed Dec. 6, 2010).
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