With both candidates expressing support for alternative energy as part of the energy solution, this is not a particularly politically motivated piece, but it is intended if you have an interest in how America gets its energy, to provide some indication of what to look for in the candidate’s policies and speeches over the coming weeks.
McCain "We can move forward, and clean up our climate, and develop green technologies, and alternate — alternative energies for — for hybrid, for hydrogen, for battery-powered cars, so that we can clean up our environment and at the same time get our economy going by creating millions of jobs."
Obama "It, an energy economy, can be an engine that drives us into the future the same way the computer was the engine for economic growth over the last couple of decades...We’re going to have to come up with alternatives, and that means that the United States government is working with the private sector to fund the kind of innovation that we can then export to countries like China that also need energy and are setting up one coal power plant a week. We’ve got to make sure that we’re giving them the energy that they need or helping them to create the energy that they need."
Concentrated Solar Power
We’ve all heard of solar power right? What it may bring to mind immediately would be solar hot water systems on your roof, maybe a Photovoltaic panel or for the more savvy, you may have heard of Ausra and the solar thermal steam power stations they are developing.
But there is a whole lot of activity going on in the solar sector that might be worth talking about particularly as energy is such an important issue.
If you take the time to read this diary and explore the links, I hope you will learn something you did not know before about solar power. I hope you will begin to understand the potential for the economy, jobs at home in the United States (or wherever you live) and multiple paths to cheaper energy.
Note for a more succinct summary of much of what is discussed below
please go here.
http://earth2tech.com/...
First off I’d like you to take a look at page 8 of a document produced by an organization called Good Energies.
http://www.goodenergies.com/...
The matrix shown here shows 5 solar technologies Good Energies classify as ‘concentrating technologies.’
Concentrating PV
Dish Stirling
Parabolic Trough
Solar Tower
Solar Chimney
Some of these may be familiar as they have been widely talked about over the last few years, made the news and received plenty of publicity from greentech websites. I’ve posted previously on the firstso for the moment I’ll skip over this one and tell you a bit about a couple more of these technologies to keep these diaries down to a more readable level.
Dish Stirling
As with many of these technologies listed above, there are a number of companies developing variations on each concentrating theme. The design of the ‘Dish Stirling’is a parabolic dish which reflects and focuses the sun on a small area. Some of the companies working on this technology are as follows
Stirling Engine Systems - Phoenix, Arizona
• Technology invented in 1884
• Operational installation since 1984
• 25kW unit AC or DC voltage
This company utilizes an engine technology invented in 1884 and which has been developed by Sandia National laboratories who have had operational engines since 1984.
The original dish was about 38 foot in diameter and consisted of 82 mirrors arranged in a parabolic structure. The parabolic dish is mounted on a dual axis tracking system which always keeps focus directly at the sun from the moment it rises until it sets. The engine employed byStirling Energy Systems utilizes the concentrated heat from the sun to heat an internal gas (often helium), which expands and then contracts as it cools in turn driving a internal mechanism. This movement is able to generate electricity via a linear alternator. Wikipedia has an entry on the Stirling engine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
There is also a fairly good graphic on Stirling Energy’s technology page.
The Engine itself is capable of producing 25kW of power which is enough to power about 10 homes.
http://www.azom.com/...
It would be able to produce this in AC or DC voltages as can Infinia’s engine which I will discuss later on.
Stirling Energy Systems have some significant contracts.
Solar One SES have signed a Power Purchasing agreement contract to build 500 Megawatts (20,000 dishes) of power up to 850MW (34,000 dishes)with Southern California Edison
Solar Two a further 600 Megawatts (24,000 dishes) up to 900MW (36,000 dishes) for San Diego Gas and Electric. Both signed back in November of 2005.
To put this into perspective 1,100MW (500+600) is comparable in output to a coal or nuclear power station capable of supplying power for up to 540,000 households.
There is a video posted on youtube which shows Stirling Energy Systems dish in action.
The company is developing the manufacturing of this technology by teaming up with with Kockums Submarine Systems, NASA, Boeing and the Department of Energy.
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Infinia – Kennewick, Washington
• 3kW, developing 30kW unit with DOE support
• Worked with SES, NREL, Sandia Nat Labs, NASA, IBM, Lockheed Martin, DOD
• Combined Heat/Power application with fuel cell/Rankine cycle turbo-alternator
This company is building smaller scale versions of the Stirling Energy System parabolic dish/engine. Infinia has a long parallel history with SES above having worked with them to develop their engine, as well as with DOE, IBM, NASA, NREL, Lockheed Martin and the US army to develop this and cryocooling technology. Infinia currently manufacture a smaller engine which produces 3kW of power in AC or DC voltage or up to 6kW in a combined thermal process.
Infinia is looking to ‘upscale’ their technology having won a DOE grant to develop a 30kW version of their engine/dish unit.
They have also been working with Open Energy Corporation to develop the optical concentration componentof the engine.
The engine itself is also being developed along with ENATAC to not only operate as a solar power generation unit, but also in buildings in a CHP arrangement (Combined heat and power).
Infinia is backed by venture capital from Idealab and Khosla investments and Paul Allen (Microsoft) as well as a number of other Venture Capital firms and has plans to hire up to 150 employees next year dependent on demand.
So if you are looking for a job you can always look here
OpenEnergy Corp – Solana Beach, California
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Heliofocus – Israel
• 100kW gas turbine
• Can run on clean air or on a combustible gas (24 hour operation)
• 1000ºC temperatures achievable – other uses include solar tower
• Patent out to use in extracting hydrogen from water
The technology this company is developing differs slightly in a couple of ways from the above two technologies. Instead of using sunlight to heat a gas in an enclosed device it utilizes the sun to heat clean air to drive a gas turbine engine. Concentrating sunlight via the use of non-imaging optics in a central solar receiver to heat the air to 1000ºC in turn driving a similar linear design to the stirling engine to create 100kW of electricity.
http://www.google.com/...
The size of the dish is 24 meters in diameter which equates to about 78 feet. This is just over double the dish size used by SES for triple the power output. The technology has been under development for the past 20 years by the Weizmann institute of science and currently Heliofocus has contracted with Capstone Energy to develop and supply the turbine. (page 21).
Base load Generation
The benefit of this particular technology is it can also use natural gasto keep the turbine operational. In other words it is able to operate 24 hours a day or as a base load generator.
Jobs with Capstone Turbines – Chatsworth, California
Gas heating apparatus - Hydrogen
Heliofocus also have patented a means to extract hydrogen from water in a process that appears to only use sunlight and Argon. This one is not on their website, but does appear to be a technology with a lot of future potential.
Thermal operation
The company also claim high optical and thermal efficiencies utilizing the concentration of sunlight onto a central receiver tower. This particular technology belongs more in the solar tower concept which is discussed later on but what I will mention is the process flow diagram in the patent shows temperatures of 1200ºC and 100 Bar. These operational temperatures and pressures are what you would expect from a smaller fossil fuel power plant.
There are a couple of other Stirling Engine applications which rate a mention here, although they do actually rely on the use of a fuel, not sunlight. The first goes back to Infinia with its combined heat and power unit which runs a gas through a ceramic fuel cell (producing electricity) and using the heat generated (up to 800ºC) and also Heliofocus hybrid capability to run on natural gas..
Another application is in a biomass operated Stirling Engine
http://greenlight.greentechmedia.com...
It is worth noting here the Stirling engine relies on the expansion and contraction of a gas (air is made of gases) to drive the linear alternator. The parabolic trough design, however is similar in operation to a how a coal fired power station generates electricity. Most coal fired stations produce heat, similar to a big kettle, which heats water to steam with the steam driving a turbine.
To understand this Rankine cyclea little better (and this is very simplified) when water is heated above boiling point, or 212ºF, 100 ºC it expands 1,700 times it volume at atmospheric pressure.
So first the water is heated above this level, all of it, and because it is contained within a confined space what happens is the steam created starts to gain pressure. This high pressure steam is then contained in pipes and fed into a turbine which has lots of blades, causing them to turn. At one or both ends of the turbine shaft is mounted what is called an alternator which generates the electricity we use.
Here is a graphic of a multi-stage turbine
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Parabolic Trough (and variations thereof)
Ausra - Palo Alto, California
This company has just opened a factory in Nevada to produce the hardware for their concentrated solar technology. The Ausra designis based on multiple flat glass mirrors on a single axis tracking system, which concentrate the sunlight onto a pipe which heats water to steam. The steam then drives a turbine in the same way a coal fired or nuclear power station uses steam. The company has recently raised $60.6 Million dollars from KERN, KPCB, Starfish enterprises and Khosla ventures.
The factory will supply the concentration equipment required for the 177MW plant Ausra have been contracted to build for Pacfic Gas and Electric in San Luis Obispo County, California and the ongoing commitment to build up to 2,000MW of solar thermal plants for PG&E and Florida Light and Power.
Jobs with Ausra
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Skyfuel – Arvada, Colorado and Albuquerque, New Mexico(Parabolic trough Linear Fresnel tower)
• Heats Molten salt to 800ºC (potential 24 hour operation)
• 30% lighter than normal parabolic trough designs
• No on-site welded parts
• One whole 375 foot assembly fits on one flat bed truck.
Instead of using glass mirrors Skyfuel use a parabolic trough (skytrough) made of reflectively coated metal (Reflectech). This results in significant material and weight reductions (important for the installation and supporting structure design cost reductions). Sky fuel also use what is called a linear Fresnel design. This is where multiple parabolic troughs focus not on a single pipe but on a linear aligned vessel tower. The tower is designed to heat salt to 800ºC heating molten salt which acts as a storage medium and via a heat exchanger can be used to heat water to steam and in turn drive a turbine. By storing the molten salt in this way, Skyfuel have an ability to provide base load power as the molten salt is available for use when the need arises.
Skyfuel has been awarded 2 research grants by the DOE, and have capital investors Leaf Clean Energy, Shaw Capital add $17M to the development of this technology.
They have recently unveiled their design at an event in Colorado.
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Solel – Israel, Spain and Irvine, California
Solel bought out the original Luz design parabolic concentrating trough design thermal power stations commissioned from 1985 to 1989. Dagett 13.5MW and 30MW plant (1985), Kramer Junction 165MW plant (1986) and Harper Lake 160MW plant (1989).
20 years later these plants are still operational with the Carlyle grouptaking ownership of the Kramer Junction plant in 2005.
Solel have a number of projects underway including 3 x 50MW plants being built with Sacyr in Spain, they have a 553MW contract with PG&E, have been building a $140M manufacturing plant in Spain as well as well as a $9M reflector manufacturing facility in Finland. Solel have recently secured a $105M investment from Ecofin.
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Acciona – Parabolic Trough
http://www.acciona-energia.com/...
This company also uses parabolic concentration to focus the sun onto piping heating a mineral oil transfer fluid to 735ºF which in turn heats water through a heat exchanger turning it into steam.
http://www.nevadasolarone.net/...
Nevada Solar one, a 64MW nominal 75MW peak load power station, as of 2007 was generating electricity which is being sold to Nevada power company and Sierra Pacific Power to supply the city of Boulder City, Nevada.
http://www.acciona-energia.com/...
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FPL Energy – Florida
Florida Power and Light have been involved with the original Luz plants as mentioned above. Apart from Kramer Junction, they currently have ownership of the remaining assets of these original installations totaling 150MW. The parabolic trough design has been proven to be reliable and long lasting and FPL have contracted to build 250MW in addition to what they currently own and operate. There are expansion plans to build 850MW generation by 2015.
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Solar Tower
Abengoa - Arizona, Texas, Colorado, California
Abengoa, employing over 17,000 people and with turnover at 3.2 Billion Euro last year, is one of the biggest solar and renewable companies in the world. As a result of this Abengoa has developed multiple solar based technologies. Aside from multiple parabolic trough plants, Abengoa has also built a number of heliostat towers. Having built a Solucar Heliostat tower in Sevilla Spain, Abengoa are now building a larger plant in Seville, Spain.
The first of these towers is capable of supplying 55MW of saturated steam at 495ºF (257ºC) to a steam turbine to generate enough power to supply around 6,000 households. Abengoa has multiple sites under development in the US including a recent 280MW trough plant project in Arizona, as well as a number of parabolic heating installations in Texas, Colorado and California.
http://media.cleantech.com/...
Abengoa have a very strong research and development program investing in multiple concentrating technologies including Solar Towers, parabolic troughs and concentrating photovoltaics.
http://www.abengoasolar.com/...
http://www.abengoasolar.es/...
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Brightsource - Oakland California
Based on a Heliostat tower design, Brightsource which is the same team of experts who developed the original Luz parabolic trough system (see Solel, FPL above), is building a 400MW plant called Ivanpah, close to Primm near the California/Nevada border. Brightsource claim their technology is capable of supplying all of the electricity for homes in a state as big as California if only 2% of the Mojave desert contained their installations. They already have some very big power station projects inked including 500MW up to 900MW with PG&E.
http://www.brightsourceenergy.com/...
The application to commence construction on this plant was lodged in
September 2007.
http://www.brightsourceenergy.com/...
Not surprising when you consider some very big initial investors are backing Brightsource including Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Chevron Technology Ventures, VantagePoint partners and Draper Fisher Jurveston. Second round investment of $115M from additional investors Google and BP alternative investment advisers.
http://www.brightsourceenergy.com/...
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Solar Reserve - Santa Monica –
Molten Salt Smaller towers 46MW to 500MW
Backed by investors such as Good Energies, US Renewables Group, Citi, Credit Suisse and Sustainable Development Investments, this company has recently raised an additional $140M in working capital. The technology they utilize is a Heliostat tower design which heats molten salt, allowing the generation to continue even after the sun sets because of stored energy.
http://www.solar-reserve.com/...
http://www.hamiltonsundstrand.com/...
There is a very good video on Solar Reserves website which explains the technology and is worth watching. Yet another technology which is relying on innovation to change the way electricity is generated.
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Esolar – Pasadena
Esolar’s technology takes uses a heliostat tower design where flat reflective mirrors concentrate solar energy on a central receiver, heating water to steam. By simplifying the design to flat mirrors, and modularizing the installation in 46MW blocks, as well as reducing the height of each tower, this technology has various manufacturing and construction cost benefits which can be realized. eSolar has managed to secure enough land to build 1GW of these installations in SW California and has raised an initial $10M from Google.
as well as a follow on investment from Google, Idealab and Oak investments of $130M
The land base to build 46MW of this type of solar thermal power is currently pegged at 160 acres. This consists of 16 heliostat towers and a single air cooled condenser 46MW power block.
Covering 1% of the Sahara desert with eSolar power plants would provide enough electricity to power the entire world.
http://www.esolar.com/...
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Jobs at home
There is something to be said for working in the Renewable energy field. One of the best anecdotes I’ve read came from Earth the Sequel, written by Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn.
He tells a story about a visitor to one Interface Factory who approached a lift truck operator and asked, "what do you do?"
The young man stopped his machine and climbed down to answer:"Ma’am, every day I come to work to save the earth."
Unlike transportable fuel, Electricity is consumed usually in the country where it is produced.
I’ve never heard of there being a problem with the current account deficit/trade imbalance being too high because of Electricity imports.
Or war for electricity.
Or aside from what Enron did when the electricity market was deregulated, massive price fluctuations and shortages are less likely to occur with electricity. The price is not affected by speculation (barring Enron), conflict in the Middle East or Nigeria, because of Russia’s actions or because Venezuala threatens to cut off the supply. External conflicts and outside influence, generally do not affect a countries electricity supply.
Because it is consumed in the country where it is produced, electricity is the most stable form of energy I can think of. It is probably the most effective means of ensuring national energy security.
Because there are no speculative 'fuel costs' associated with this form of electricity generation, businesses can forecast long term what their energy costs will be based on past trends, or the current and projected inflation rate. Power stations are built for long term operation so investors can know very accurately, barring any unforeseen ‘Force Majeure’ events (breakdowns), the projected return on their money.
The maintenance or operation jobs the electrical business offers are also long term. A power station is designed to last 20, 30, 50 years with a good maintenance program. The small businesses, jobs and small towns the electricity industry supports have been fundamental contributors to a high quality of life. Let alone the electricity itself (imagine your world without it).
And regarding the opportunity for jobs at home, the main thing to consider are these :
Jobs in science, math, physics, engineering and management, at universities and research institutions to come up with new energy ideas which work.
In finance, accounting and venture capital, management and sales to recognize these ideas as feasible and to start to make them a reality.
In politics, government and public service such as the BLM to legislate and permit and allow these new factories and installations to be built safely and quickly.
In mechanical, electrical, civil engineering to design not just the factories to build the hardware, but also the site.
Factory floor workers, electrical, mechanical, fitter and turners, welders, brick layers, concrete workers, plumbers, carpenters, assembly operators, robotics technicians, forklift drivers, procurement, sales, receptionists, secretaries, supervisors, human relations officers, truck drivers, cleaners will all be needed to build, maintain and manufacture the hardware.
Construction personnel such as surveyors, Electricians, Fitters, Welders, Plumbers, concrete workers, heavy equipment operators, crane drivers and all of the laboring jobs that go along with this, will all be needed to build the factories and the installations themselves.
Jobs for white collar workers, jobs for blue collar workers, but really when you stand back and look at it, jobs for ‘green collar’ workers.
These are all jobs which, because electricity is produced by assets which must be built close to where the electricity is consumed, means they are jobs which cannot be outsourced. With the mammoth requirement to not only replace aging power station assets, allow for future electricity demand growth as well as beginning to replace existing fossil fuel based generators with cleaner forms of electricity generation, the US with its significant areas available for solar installations is a natural choice to shift to this type of energy production. Were the US government to finally adopt a comprehensive ‘clean energy’ platform, new small and large businesses and jobs would spring up all over the United States.
Electricity and the American consumer
The average American household currently uses 928kWh (KiloWatt hours)of electricity per month.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/...
Rounding this off to 1,000kWh which is referred to as a Megawatt hour (MWh), the average American home uses about 12MWh of electricity per year.
As of December 31 2007 America currently had 1,089,807 MW (MegaWatts)of electricity generation plant available.
http://www.eei.org/...
This means at full capacity, over a 24 hour period America can produce 26,155,368 MWh per day or 9,546,709 GWh(GigaWatt hours) of electricity per year.
Total electricity generation came to 4,159,514 GWh in 2007.
This averages out at 474,830 MW of electricity generation required per hour for 24 hours if the load curve was a straight line. But because demand for electricity fluctuates throughout the day, more electricity is used during the day when we are at work and less during the evening. So there is in fact more than double the amount of generation capacity which is not always fully utilized.
If we are to even begin to contemplate the task in front of America in trying to achieve a carbon neutral electricity generation target these are the figures to get your head around. So even with the possible future projects – FPL 850MW, SES 1750MW, Ausra 2,000MW, Brightsource 900MW, Solel 553MW this still comes short by a long stretch of replacing the 474,830MW average demand.
However it doesn’t have to be this way.
The beginning of a solution
Lets look at the EEEI site again to get an idea exactly where America currently gets its electrical power.
http://www.eei.org/...
Coal: 2,020,572 GWh
Nuclear: 806,487 GWh
Gas: 893,211 GWh
Hydro: 241,319 GWh
Fuel Oil: 65,708 GWh
Other renewables (geothermal, non-wood waste, wind, and solar): 102,988 GWh
Other: 29,230 GWh
As many people are aware, T Boone Pickens has his own plan for addressing the Gas component of this equation by replacing it with wind power. So assuming the focus needs to be on allowing for growth and retirement of old assets of 5% per year the first target would be to begin to build capacity of 104,307GWh (2,020,572 + 65,708 * 5%)of renewable generation capacity per year to eventually retire the coal and fuel oil component. However as we are looking at how many MW per hour each plant puts out, this would be 12GW per hour (104,307GW 36524) of continuous operational plant.
So things are not looking so bad after all with the current proposed plants by just these companies listed above.
But it gets better. America can in fact do this quicker than you think.
This link takes you to a solar studyof the best areas for building large scale solar plants. And the best areas are in the desert, in almost unpopulated areas. Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Wyoming all have what appears to be significant solar coverage.
Taking just California alone, the Bureau of Lands Management currently have on their books applications for 53,217MW of solar generation capacity.
Assuming this can be replicated over a number of the other states listed above, the entire US electricity infrastructure could be replaced within a relatively short time frame.
And this is with these forms of solar alone. In future posts I intend to talk about other forms of renewable energy and the capacity these have to add to this feasible generation capacity.
Conclusion
The Stirling engine was invented in 1884. A plant consisting of maintenance free Stirling Engines has been operating since 1984. Likewise a parabolic trough has been operating since 1985 supplying profitable power throughout Nevada. With temperatures of working mediums/fluids capable of reaching 550ºC, 800ºC and even 1000ºC the industrial process argument that these technologies are unsuitable to do anything meaningful loses it relevance. These technologies work, reduce fuel use, cut back on C02 emissions and pollution and best of all mean wealth and jobs can be created through great American ideas and innovation.
Exactly the same way companies like GM, Ford, Boeing, GE, Intel, Google, IBM were able to build America into a economical power house through great ideas, manufacturing and ‘old fashioned’ American ‘know how’.
Technology innovation is precisely why the rest of the world used to always look for the ‘Made in America’ stamp knowing they were buying the best products using the latest technologies the worlds best minds could create. Knowing full well that the quality of the product was guaranteed as American consumers demanded and received from American workers and manufacturers only the best.
There really is only one thing holding the US back from achieving this and that is the belief that the US can do this in spite of the odds.
And that is where rediscovering what made America great in the first place comes into the picture. By remembering that by working together to take on challenges such as this works much better for everyone than working against it.
What can you do?
Educating yourself about the reality of the practicalities of renewable concentrating solar energy is a good idea. Earth the Sequel is a good start. This technology alone is being developed also by these companies
Novatec Biosol
Sener
Solar Millenium
Solar Power Group
Neoenergia
Enel
Endesa
Iberdrola
Samca
Epuron
Grupo Enhol
Albiasa Solar
Bethel Energy
Flabeg
Schott Solar
Helios Renovables
Renovables Samca
There is a website also dedicated to the commercial roll out of this technology called CSP Today.
They have a lot of great information on the technology
Or you can join in with T Boone during the presidential debate, read Van Jones book and about green jobs now, or sign up/get active with wecansolveit.
And lastly, the most important thing is to think about this, even tell me where I am wrong, because the more it is talked about the more this has a chance of happening - creating jobs and securing America's Energy future.