Energy Think! - Part 2

Finding a Long term Solution to Managing Used Nuclear Fuel and Nuclear Waste

There was a time the US where the idea of expanding use of Nuclear energy was so politically unpopular that very few leaders would suggest it for fear of being attached by environmental groups. Fear of disasters from very real accidents such as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl remained fresh in everyone’s mind. Now as the consequences of using fossil fuels becomes clear these same environmental groups are getting behind the idea of a Nuclear powered future. It is true that Nuclear energy produces clean electricity in vast amounts but with the current fission process waste fuel remains radioactive for tens of thousands of years. It is difficult to imagine handing down a legacy of radioactive material over 1000 of generations of future residents of planet earth. However if we can find a better way to either process the fuel or store the fuel than maybe it is worth while to keep Nuclear power as one of many power options.

Duke Energy Enters the Solar Power Market with a Texas Solar Farm Purchase

Duke Energy is adding solar power to its commercial renewable energy portfolio through the acquisition of a large-scale solar photovoltaic project under development in San Antonio, Texas.

Duke Energy Generation Services (DEGS), a Duke Energy Commercial Businesses unit that owns and develops renewable power assets, will purchase the Blue Wing Solar Project from juwi solar Inc., based in Boulder, Colo. The 14-megawatt (16-megawatt direct current) project will consist of 214,500 ground-mounted First Solar thin film panels.

University of Maryland to Build Underground Quantum Physics Laboratory

The University of Maryland has received a $10.3 million federal grant to build an advanced physics lab. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, a Southern Maryland Democrat, said the federal economic stimulus dollars will expand research and create jobs. The university plans to use the money to build a 21,000-square-foot Laboratory for Advanced Quantum Science. The underground lab space will be part of the Physical Sciences Complex, set for completion in 2013. Officials say Maryland was among 11 universities and one nonprofit research group to receive the construction grants for new research facilities.

2010 Waste-to-Fuels Conference & Trade Show - Florida

The 3rd Annual Waste-to-Fuels Conference & Trade Show will be conducted at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront, in Jacksonville, Florida on April 18-20, 2010.

The Waste-to-Fuels Conference & Trade Show will provide a forum for informing the public and private sectors of the economic and environmental benefits of converting waste materials to alternative fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol as well as energy recovery. Attendees will have excellent networking opportunities and a chance to visit with exhibitors to preview the newest advances in alternative fuel production products and services. The conference will be designed to attract individuals and organizations/companies nationally.

Investing in the Future of Solar Energy Technology

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will invest up to $12 million in total funding—$10 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—in four companies to support the development of early stage solar energy technologies and help them advance to full commercial scale. The goal of this effort is to help further expand a clean energy economy and make solar energy more cost-competitive with conventional forms of electricity.

U.S. Army looking to Use Rechargable batteries in Field Operations

Protonex Technology Corporation a leading provider of advanced fuel cell power systems today announces that, as anticipated in its results announcement of 13 January 2010, it has received a $1.85 million (£1.13M) contract award from the U.S. Army CECOM, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to develop and deliver advanced portable battery charger / APU fuel cell systems. This contract award also includes three option phases which, if awarded, could increase the total value of this contract to $6.4 million (£3.9M) and could include delivery of over 100 production units.

What are the Implications of Generating 30% of our Energy from Wind?

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory today released a major study of the technical, operational, and economic issues facing the integration of large amounts of wind energy into the power system. The Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study (EWITS), the largest study of its kind conducted in the United States to date, evaluates the future operational and integration impacts of up to 30% wind energy penetration into the power system in the study year 2024. The study encompasses the majority of the utilities in the Eastern Interconnection. The study also includes a high-level analysis of transmission needed to deliver the wind energy to load centers and a cursory analysis of carbon pricing impacts.

Revolutionary New Nanowire battery can hold 10 times the charge of existing lithium-ion battery

Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices.

The new technology, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers.

Vestas Receives Order for V90-3.0 Mwatt Turbines in Canada

Vestas has entered into an agreement with TransAlta to supply and service 18 additional units of the V90-3.0 MW wind turbine at the Kent Hills site near Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. Delivery and construction is expected in early 2010 and commissioning scheduled for completion in late 2010. The order includes a five-year service and maintenance agreement with Vestas.

The 18-turbine order is an expansion of the site that already includes 32 units of the V90-3.0 MW commissioned in 2008. Once completed, the total installed capacity of the 50 units will be 150 megawatts.

G.E. to Expand Advanced Battery Production in New York State

GE Transportation announced this month that it has received advanced manufacturing credits for the construction of a manufacturing facility to develop next generation energy storage systems and create new high-tech manufacturing jobs in the United States. The tax credit of $25.5 million is part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and will be utilized to refurbish a pre-existing GE manufacturing facility in Schenectady, New York. GE selected the Schenectady site for energy storage manufacturing in August 2009.


Finding a solution to Radar Interference from Wind Farms.	Greenland to Increase share of renewable energy through storage of hydrogen	Largest Solar PV power generation comes online in Florida	Cell Phone Towers to double as wind energy generators.	G.E. powers China's largest chicken waste biogas plant