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Improving the Performance of Solar Thermal Power
The Oil Drum: Australia/New Zealand | Improving the Performance of Solar Therhmtatpl :P/o/wanezr.theoildrum.com/node/6279 Improving the Performance of Solar Thermal Power Posted by Big Gav on March 12, 2010 - 1:23am in The Oil Drum: Australia/New Zealand Topic: Alternative energy Tags: bill gross, concentrating solar power, esolar, solar power, solar thermal power [list all tags] The US Department of Energy granted a US$1.37 billion loan guarantee to Brightsource Energy last week which could help clear the way for over 15 gigawatts of solar thermal power projects in California. Brightsource built a pilot plant in Israel to prove their technology and has tested it over the past 18 months. Their flagship Ivanpah project in California got a big boost when construction giant Bechtel agreed to build the plant. Solar thermal is a way of harnessing the largest source of energy available to us, so in this post I'll have a look at the upswing in interest in the use of this technology for electricity generation in recent years and look at some of the approaches being pursued to make it economically competitive with coal fired power generation. Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/ The US Department of Energy granted a US$1.37 billion loan guarantee to Brightsource Energy last week which could help clear the way for over 15 gigawatts of solar thermal power projects in California. Brightsource built a pilot plant in Israel to prove their technology and has tested it over the past 18 months. Their flagship Ivanpah project in California got a big boost when construction giant Bechtel agreed to build the plant. -
Town of Amherst Request for Proposals
TOWN OF AMHERST REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR OLD LANDFILL REUSE PROPOSAL Presented by: In partnership with: Letter of Transmittal............................................................................................................... 5 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ 8 1. Evaluation Criteria ............................................................................................................ 10 1.1. Proposal protects the existing landfill caps. ...............................................................................10 1.2. Proposal protects operation of landfill gas systems...................................................................10 1.3. Experience of team proposing project........................................................................................10 1.4. Risk to human, health and the environment..............................................................................11 1.5. Effect on the environment..........................................................................................................11 1.6. Project compatibility with neighboring properties.....................................................................12 1.7. Noise levels from use of site.......................................................................................................12 1.7. Best compensation to Town of Amherst ....................................................................................13 -
2015-SVTC-Solar-Scorecard.Pdf
A PROJECT OF THE SILICON VALLEY TOXICS COALITION 2015 SOLAR SCORECARD ‘‘ www.solarscorecard.com ‘‘ SVTC’s Vision The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) believes that we still have time to ensure that the PV sector is safe The PV industry’s rapid growth makes for the environment, workers, and communities. SVTC it critical that all solar companies envisions a safe and sustainable solar PV industry that: maintain the highest sustainability standards. 1) Takes responsibility for the environmental and health impacts of its products throughout their life- cycles, including adherence to a mandatory policy for ‘‘The Purpose responsible recycling. The Scorecard is a resource for consumers, institutional purchasers, investors, installers, and anyone who wants 2) Implements and monitors equitable environmental to purchase PV modules from responsible product and labor standards throughout product supply chains. stewards. The Scorecard reveals how companies perform on SVTC’s sustainability and social justice benchmarks 3) Pursues innovative approaches to reducing and to ensure that the PV manufacturers protect workers, work towards eliminating toxic chemicals in PV mod- communities, and the environment. The PV industry’s ule manufacturing. continued growth makes it critical to take action now to reduce the use of toxic chemicals, develop responsible For over three decades, SVTC has been a leader in recycling systems, and protect workers throughout glob- encouraging electronics manufacturers to take lifecycle al PV supply chains. Many PV companies want to pro- responsibility for their products. This includes protecting duce truly clean and green energy systems and are taking workers from toxic exposure and preventing hazardous steps to implement more sustainable practices. -
Solar Thermal Energy an Industry Report
Solar Thermal Energy an Industry Report . Solar Thermal Technology on an Industrial Scale The Sun is Our Source Our sun produces 400,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 watts of energy every second and the belief is that it will last for another 5 billion years. The United States An eSolar project in California. reached peak oil production in 1970, and there is no telling when global oil production will peak, but it is accepted that when it is gone the party is over. The sun, however, is the most reliable and abundant source of energy. This site will keep an updated log of new improvements to solar thermal and lists of projects currently planned or under construction. Please email us your comments at: [email protected] Abengoa’s PS10 project in Seville, Spain. Companies featured in this report: The Acciona Nevada Solar One plant. Solar Thermal Energy an Industry Report . Solar Thermal vs. Photovoltaic It is important to understand that solar thermal technology is not the same as solar panel, or photovoltaic, technology. Solar thermal electric energy generation concentrates the light from the sun to create heat, and that heat is used to run a heat engine, which turns a generator to make electricity. The working fluid that is heated by the concentrated sunlight can be a liquid or a gas. Different working fluids include water, oil, salts, air, nitrogen, helium, etc. Different engine types include steam engines, gas turbines, Stirling engines, etc. All of these engines can be quite efficient, often between 30% and 40%, and are capable of producing 10’s to 100’s of megawatts of power. -
Beyond Solyndra: Examining the Department of Energy's Loan Guarantee Program Hilary Kao
William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review Volume 37 | Issue 2 Article 4 Beyond Solyndra: Examining the Department of Energy's Loan Guarantee Program Hilary Kao Repository Citation Hilary Kao, Beyond Solyndra: Examining the Department of Energy's Loan Guarantee Program, 37 Wm. & Mary Envtl. L. & Pol'y Rev. 425 (2013), http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmelpr/vol37/iss2/4 Copyright c 2013 by the authors. This article is brought to you by the William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository. http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmelpr BEYOND SOLYNDRA: EXAMINING THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’S LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM HILARY KAO* ABSTRACT In the year following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, the renewable and clean energy industries faced significant turmoil— from natural disasters, to political maelstroms, from the Great Recession, to U.S. debt ceiling debates. The Department of Energy’s Loan Guarantee Program (“DOE LGP”), often a target since before it ever received a dollar of appropriations, has been both blamed and defended in the wake of the bankruptcy filing of Solyndra, a California-based solar panel manufac- turer, in September 2011, because of the $535 million loan guarantee made to it by the Department of Energy (“DOE”) in 2009.1 Critics have suggested political favoritism in loan guarantee awards and have questioned the government’s proper role in supporting renewable energy companies and the renewable energy industry generally.2 This Article looks beyond the Solyndra controversy to examine the origin, structure and purpose of the DOE LGP. It asserts that loan guaran- tees can serve as viable policy tools, but require careful crafting to have the potential to be effective programs. -
Cadmium Telluride Photovoltaics - Wikipedia 1 of 13
Cadmium telluride photovoltaics - Wikipedia 1 of 13 Cadmium telluride photovoltaics Cadmium telluride (CdTe) photovoltaics describes a photovoltaic (PV) technology that is based on the use of cadmium telluride, a thin semiconductor layer designed to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity.[1] Cadmium telluride PV is the only thin film technology with lower costs than conventional solar cells made of crystalline silicon in multi-kilowatt systems.[1][2][3] On a lifecycle basis, CdTe PV has the smallest carbon footprint, lowest water use and shortest energy payback time of any current photo voltaic technology. PV array made of cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar [4][5][6] CdTe's energy payback time of less than a year panels allows for faster carbon reductions without short- term energy deficits. The toxicity of cadmium is an environmental concern mitigated by the recycling of CdTe modules at the end of their life time,[7] though there are still uncertainties[8][9] and the public opinion is skeptical towards this technology.[10][11] The usage of rare materials may also become a limiting factor to the industrial scalability of CdTe technology in the mid-term future. The abundance of tellurium—of which telluride is the anionic form— is comparable to that of platinum in the earth's crust and contributes significantly to the module's cost.[12] CdTe photovoltaics are used in some of the world's largest photovoltaic power stations, such as the Topaz Solar Farm. With a share of 5.1% of worldwide PV production, CdTe technology accounted for more than half of the thin film market in 2013.[13] A prominent manufacturer of CdTe thin film technology is the company First Solar, based in Tempe, Arizona. -
Fulfilling the Promise of Concentrating Solar Power Low-Cost Incentives Can Spur Innovation in the Solar Market
AGENCY/PHOTOGRAPHER ASSOCIATED PRESS ASSOCIATED Fulfilling the Promise of Concentrating Solar Power Low-Cost Incentives Can Spur Innovation in the Solar Market By Sean Pool and John Dos Passos Coggin June 2013 WWW.AMERICANPROGRESS.ORG Fulfilling the Promise of Concentrating Solar Power Low-Cost Incentives Can Spur Innovation in the Solar Market By Sean Pool and John Dos Passos Coggin May 2013 Contents 1 Introduction and summary 3 6 reasons to support concentrating solar power 5 Concentrating solar power is a proven zero-carbon technology with high growth potential 6 Concentrating solar power can be used for baseload power 7 Concentrating solar power has few impacts on natural resources 8 Concentrating solar power creates jobs Concentrating solar power is low-cost electricity 9 Concentrating solar power is carbon-free electricity on a budget 11 Market and regulatory challenges to innovation and deployment of CSP technology 13 Low-cost policy solutions to reduce risk, promote investment, and drive innovation 14 Existing policy framework 15 Policy reforms to reduce risk and the cost of capital 17 Establish an independent clean energy deployment bank 18 Implement CLEAN contracts or feed-in tariffs Reinstate the Department of Energy’s Loan Guarantee Program 19 Price carbon Policy reforms to streamline regulation and tax treatment 20 Tax reform for capital-intensive clean energy technologies Guarantee transmission-grid connection for solar projects 21 Stabilize and monetize existing tax incentives 22 Further streamline regulatory approval by creating an interagency one-stop shop for solar power 23 Regulatory transparency 24 Conclusion 26 About the authors 27 Endnotes Introduction and summary Concentrating solar power—also known as concentrated solar power, concen- trated solar thermal, and CSP—is a cost-effective way to produce electricity while reducing our dependence on foreign oil, improving domestic energy-price stabil- ity, reducing carbon emissions, cleaning our air, promoting economic growth, and creating jobs. -
AS You Sow on Creating Greener Solar PV Panels
AS You Sow on Creating Greener Solar PV Panels Andrew Burger. March 28, 2012 Advocating solar PV manufacturers adopt a set of industry best practices, a new survey and report highlights the environmental benefits of using solar photovoltaic (PV) energy as compared to fossil fuels, while at the same time criticizing ongoing, outsized government support for fossil fuel production. “Even though there are toxic compounds used in the manufacturing of many solar panels, the generation of electricity from solar energy is much safer to both the environment and workers than production of electricity from coal, natural gas, or nuclear,” stated Amy Galland, PhD and research director at non-profit group As You Sow. “For example, once a solar panel is installed, it generates electricity with no emissions of any kind for decades, whereas coal-fired power plants in the U.S. emitted nearly two billion tons of carbon dioxide and millions of tons of toxic compounds in 2010 alone.” Based on an international survey of more than 100 solar PV manufac- turers, the best practices in As You Sow’s report, “Clean & Green: Best Practices in Photovoltaics” aim to protect the employee and community health and safety, as well as the broader environment. Also analyzed are investor considerations regarding environmental, social and govern- ance for responsible management of solar PV manufacturing business- es. The best practices listed were determined in consultation with sci- entists, engineers, academics, government labs and industry consult- ants. Solar PV CSR survey and report card “We have been working with solar companies to study and minimize the environmental health and safety risks in the production of solar panels and the industry has embraced the opportunities,” Vasilis Fthenakis, PhD and director of the National PV Environmen- tal Health and Safety Research Center at Brookhaven National Laboratory and director of the Center for Life Cycle Analysis at Columbia University, explained. -
Laying the Foundation for a Bright Future: Assessing Progress
Laying the Foundation for a Bright Future Assessing Progress Under Phase 1 of India’s National Solar Mission Interim Report: April 2012 Prepared by Council on Energy, Environment and Water Natural Resources Defense Council Supported in part by: ABOUT THIS REPORT About Council on Energy, Environment and Water The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) is an independent nonprofit policy research institution that works to promote dialogue and common understanding on energy, environment, and water issues in India and elsewhere through high-quality research, partnerships with public and private institutions and engagement with and outreach to the wider public. (http://ceew.in). About Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 1.3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Chicago; Livingston and Beijing. (www.nrdc.org). Authors and Investigators CEEW team: Arunabha Ghosh, Rajeev Palakshappa, Sanyukta Raje, Ankita Lamboria NRDC team: Anjali Jaiswal, Vignesh Gowrishankar, Meredith Connolly, Bhaskar Deol, Sameer Kwatra, Amrita Batra, Neha Mathew Neither CEEW nor NRDC has commercial interests in India’s National Solar Mission, nor has either organization received any funding from any commercial or governmental institution for this project. Acknowledgments The authors of this report thank government officials from India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN), and other Government of India agencies, as well as United States government officials. -
Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative Hawaiian Electric Companies’ Energy Agreement One-Year Progress Update
Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative Hawaiian Electric Companies’ Energy Agreement One-Year Progress Update n October 2008, the Hawaiian Electric Companies joined the Governor of Hawaii; the Hawaii Department of Busi ness, Economic Development and Tourism; and Office of Consumer Advocacy in an energy agreement Ias part of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative. The agreement – the most aggressive such effort in the nation – aims to move Hawaii decisively away from imported oil for electricity and ground transportation toward diverse, local renewable energy and energy efficiency. Our goal is energy and economic security for Hawaii and reduced greenhouse gas emissions responsible for the climate change to which our islands are especially vulnerable. Making the needed investments now can provide more stable energy costs in the long-run. It will require unprecedented cooperation and commitment among individuals, businesses, institutions and government. We need unity of purpose through good and bad times, success and setbacks, no matter whether oil prices go up and down. This list summarizes some key actions by the Hawaiian Electric Companies in cooperation with others after only one year. Increased Renewable Portfolio Standards (Act 155 - 2009) Hawaiian Electric Companies supported placing into law an increased renewable energy requirement of 40 percent of electric sales by 2030 and a new Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard. New HCEI proposals submitted to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) • Feed-In Tariff (FIT): Creates standard rates to ease the process for private developers to add renewable energy to Hawaiian Electric Companies’ grids. After detailed hearings to obtain input from a broad range of stakeholders, the PUC issued basic principles for such tariffs. -
Energysecurityovervi
energy.sandia.gov EERE Program Overview 26 March 2012 http://energy.sandia.gov Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. SAND 2012-3066 P. History of Sandia Energy Programs Energy crisis of the 1970s Combustion Research spawned the beginning of Facility (CRF) & significant energy work Cummins partner on their newest diesel DOE’s Tech engine Strategic Petroleum Transfer Reserve – geological Initiative was characterization of established by Sandia was born as a nuclear salt domes to host oil Congress in weapons engineering laboratory storage caverns 1991 with deep science and Advent Solar engineering competencies Energy Policy Joint BioEnergy Act of 2005 Institute 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2007 2010 CRF opens to Vertical axis researchers wind turbine Power grid reliability study Consortium for Advanced NRC cask Simulation of Light Water Sunshine to Reactors (CASL) certification Petrol Pilot Test Our core NW studies & competencies core melt enabled us to take studies on additional large SunCatcher™ Climate study national security Solar Tower partnership with Large-scale pool fire uncertainties to tests of liquefied challenges opens Stirling Energy economies Systems natural gas (LNG) on water Distributed Energy Technology Laboratory (DETL) to integrate Combustion Research emerging energy technologies Computation -
The Status of CSP Development
The Status of CSP Development DISH STIRLING POWER TOWER CLFR Tom Mancini CSP Program Manager Sandia National Laboratories PARABOLIC TROUGH 505.844.8643 DISH STIRLING [email protected] [email protected] 1 Presentation Content • Brief Overview of Sandia National Laboratories • Background information • Examples of CSP Technologies − Parabolic Trough Systems − Power Tower Systems − Thermal Energy Storage − Dish Stirling Systems • Status of CSP Technologies • Cost of CSP and Resource Availability • Deployments • R & D Directions [email protected] 2 Four Mission Areas Sandia’s missions meet national needs in four key areas: • Nuclear Weapons • Defense Systems and Assessments • Energy, Climate and Infrastructure Security • International, Homeland, and Nuclear Security [email protected] 3 Research Drives Capabilities High Performance Nanotechnologies Extreme Computing & Microsystems Environments Computer Materials Engineering Micro Bioscience Pulsed Power Science Sciences Electronics Research Disciplines 4 People and Budget . On-site workforce: 11,677 FY10 operating revenue . Regular employees: 8,607 $2.3 billion 13% . Over 1,500 PhDs and 2,500 MS/MA 13% 43% 31% Technical staff (4,277) by discipline: (Operating Budget) Nuclear Weapons Defense Systems & Assessments Energy, Climate, & Infrastructure Security International, Homeland, and Nuclear Security Computing 16% Math 2% Chemistry 6% Physics 6% Other science 6% Other fields 12% Electrical engineering 21% Mechanical engineering 16% Other engineering 15% 5 Sandia’s NSTTF Dish Engine Engine Test Rotating Testing Facility Platform Established in 1976, we provide ………. • CSP R&D NSTTF • Systems analysis and FMEA • System and Tower Testing Solar Furnace component testing and support NATIONAL SOLAR THERMAL TEST FACILITY [email protected] 6 Labs Support the DOE Program The CSP Programs at Sandia and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) support the DOE Solar Energy Technology Program.