Why Solar-Powered Cars Won’t Go: They Can’t Keep Up With The Combustion Engine

Forbes.com
May 25, 2011

Earlier this spring Idrove a solar racer designed by engineering students at the State University of New York in New Paltz.

The car runs on SunPower C-50 silicon solar cells and K2 Energy Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries all strapped to a NuGen Mobility SCM150 96-Volt motor. Its designers believe the Sunhawk, as it’s called, is a precursor to the technology that will dominate the American automotive market 50 years from now. Most of them are betting their careers on it.

Their work is crucial. But there’s reason to doubt that solar-powered cars are the future of American private transportation. For starters, solar cells are expensive. They have no infrastructure for refueling. Their batteries lose life relatively quickly. And there are many other potentially viable options for alternative fuel—natural gas, electricity and French Fry oil, to name a few.

The bigger issue here is that conventional vehicles are improving fast enough to forestall their displacement.
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New thermal battery manufacturing method

Sandia National Laboratories
June 1, 2011

A new thin-film coating process for manufacturing thermal batteries used in nuclear weapons and other munitions that was invented at Sandia National Laboratories will be industrialized under a new corporate partnership with a Maryland company. The process could lead to create lighter batteries in a variety of shapes for future applications.

A thermal battery is a nonrechargeable, single-use energy source that can remain inert for years at room temperature before becoming activated at temperatures as high as 1,100 degrees (600 degrees Celsius). The thin-film coating process changes the way some thermal batteries have been made since the 1950s.

Sandia researchers also are looking into whether a patented binder used in the new thin-film coating process has commercial applications, for example in lithium-ion batteries in electric and hybrid vehicles and in batteries used in the petroleum industry when drilling deep underground in hot geothermal environments.
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China makes world's largest wind turbine, on par with Germany

Xinhua News
May 30, 2011

A Sinovel made 6MW wind turbine prototype, fresh off the production line, can be used in onshore, offshore and inter-tidal wind farms, Tao Gang, vice-president of Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. said Monday.

It is the first of its kind produced in the country. Previously, Germany was the only country capable of independently developing the turbine -- the largest in terms of capacity in the world -- and is the only country to have tested the prototype in the natural environment.

With 128-meter blades in diameter, the prototype has greater wind capturing capacity and is more efficient at utilizing wind resources than other turbines, said Tao.

Tao said indigenous production of the huge turbine will accelerate development of offshore wind power in the country.

Given the growing scarcity of land resources and emission reduction targets, European countries and the United States are pushing development of offshore wind power.

Over the next decade, Britain and France plan to install 7,600 offshore wind turbines -- each unit with a capacity of more than 5MW.

China is also racing to tap offshore wind power. The first 100MW offshore wind farm went into operation in Shanghai in August 2010, with 34 Sinovel made 3MW turbines installed.

In the same year, China completed public tender for offshore wind farms totaling 1GW in capacity in the eastern Jiangsu Province. Construction of the wind farms will start this year.

Sinovel is looking to develop 10MW turbines, according to Tao.

Other Chinese wind turbine makers are also developing large capacity turbines. Xiangtan Electrical Machinery Co. Ltd. (XEMC), based in central Hunan Province, produced a 5MW prototype last October.

Before 2000, the domestic wind turbine market almost exclusively relied on equipment imported from Europe.

Shi Pengfei, vice president of China Wind Energy Commission (CWEA), says the introduction of wind power concession projects and preferential feed-in tariff policy for wind power has boosted localized production since 2000.

Chinese wind turbine makers have expanded output through licensed production or joint design with foreign partners. China has over 80 wind turbine makers.

The top three wind turbine markers in the country, Sinovel, Goldwind and Dongfang Electric, are among the top 10 makers in the world.

By the end of 2010, domestic cumulative wind installed capacity amounted to 44.7GW, the largest in the world, and accounted for 23 percent of the world total, according to the CWEA.

China creates market for Russia energy exports

Engineerblogger

June 2, 2011

China's rapid economic growth creates a huge market for Russia's energy exports, said Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan on Wednesday.

Economic development needs energy while energy exports have to look for markets, said Wang while visiting an oil field in Russia's Udermurt Republic on Wednesday.

Wang started his visit to Russia on Monday and attended the seventh round of the Sino-Russian energy negotiators' meeting.

Russia, which is rich in energy resources and enjoys advantages in such sectors as oil and gas exploration and extraction, as well as chemical industry, could be China's secure, long-term and reliable energy supplier, Wang said.

The vice-premier hailed China-Russia oil cooperation, noting that the joint adventure set up by Sinopec, China's oil giant, and Russia's Rosneft since 2006 has not only benefited the local people, but also China's companies.

Also on Wednesday, Wang met Rustam Minnikhanov, president of Russia's Tatarstan Republic.

Copyrighted from China Daily
During his stay in Russia, Wang also met with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow. After the meeting, the two nations signed a document on gas cooperation.

China's energy imports to increase

China Daily
June 2, 2011

China will tackle an impending power shortfall by increasing energy imports, said the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the top economic planner, on Wednesday.

The nation is expected to see a serious shortage this summer, said Li Yang, director-general of the NDRC's Bureau of Economic Operations Adjustment.

"With the coming of summer, the peak time for energy consumption, and the rapid growth of industrial production, the gap between electricity demand and supply will become more obvious and some areas may face a shortfall in coal and oil supplies," the bureau said in a statement.

Some experts say the nation will experience an energy shortfall of more than 30 million kilowatts this year.

China's net coal imports declined by 13.56 million tons, or 27.2 percent year-on-year in the first four months of 2011. Rising international coal prices, about 100 yuan ($15.4) more for each ton than domestic prices, are the major cause of the decline, according to the bureau.

The use of natural gas for power generation has also been increased to address the problem of tight supply. Gas-fired power plants in six provinces, including Henan and Jiangsu, tripled the supply of electricity they generated using natural gas.

"Imports of natural gas increased relatively rapidly," Li said, without providing details.
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Airbus sponsored electric concept aircraft “eGenius” takes up to the sky for the first time

EADS
May 26, 2011

Airbus supports basic research activities for a greener and emission free aviation industry.

Six weeks after its first public presentation at the international Aero-Expo in Friedrichshafen, Germany, the Airbus sponsored technology demonstrator “eGenius” performed its maiden flight yesterday in the late afternoon from the airfield in Mindelheim, Bavaria, Germany. During the 20 minutes flight the main focus was on checking the handling qualities and proving the unique propulsion system in flight.

The “eGenius” features an electric propulsion system which pushes the limits of electric flight to a power level of 60kW. In the following flight test campaign the flight envelope will be enlarged continuously by verifying the flight performance and reliability of the electric propulsion.

Designed by the Institute of Aircraft Design at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, the “eGenius” project is supported by Airbus as main sponsor in the frame of the manufacturer’s overall engagement to reduce emissions and develop a greener aviation industry. Airbus examines the long-term potential of electricity as alternative major onboard energy source. The data collected from the practical operation with the “eGenius” aircraft will be analysed by Airbus’ Future Projects teams to further develop the technology and better understand its opportunities.

Airbus is supporting various research and technology projects in close cooperation with universities and research institutes. Besides the monitoring of the electric propulsion technology, Airbus is also developing fuel cell technology as alternative energy source, enabling an emission-free aircraft operation on ground. In addition, Airbus is strongly engaging in implementing and testing bio-fuel technology and actively supports the installation of local bio-fuel value-chains around the world.

Notes for editors: Facts & Figures for “eGenius”aircraft:

• Wing span 16,86m
• MTOW 850 kg
• Wide fuselage for two pilots sitting side by side
• Range 400 km
• Cruise speed up to 235 km/h
• Engine power 60kW
• Equivalent energy consumption per 100km and passenger: 0.6 l fuel

European Commission Funds Global Project to Produce Bioproducts From Algae

Brussels, Belgium (SPX) 

June 01, 2011

Nine partners from seven countries have joined in an innovative project to show that ethanol, biodiesel and bioproducts can be produced from algae on a large scale. The BIOfuel From Algae Technologies (BIOFAT) project, largely funded by the European Commission's Seventh Framework Program, aims to demonstrate that biofuels made from microalgae can offer energy efficiency, economic viability and environmental sustainability.

Algae's potential for providing high-energy-yield products with low greenhouse gas emissions has been long understood, but the potential downside from such development is less clear.

BIOFAT seeks to maximize the benefits from algae while minimizing environmental impacts. Along the way, the project will introduce the world to the algorefinery, a facility that can produce high-value co-products in addition to biofuels.

Abengoa Bioenergia Nuevas Tecnologias (ABNT), the coordinator for BIOFAT project, is a subsidiary of Abengoa Bioenergy and began its operations in 2003 with the purpose of positioning Abengoa Bioenergy as the leading innovator in the Bioenergy industry, through the development of innovating technological processes for the production of biofuels.

ABNT (SP) centralizes the R and D activities and is focused on the production and development of biofuels for transport, bioethanol and biodiesel, among others, which use biomass as feedstock.

This project will be carried out by a transnational consortium drawn from the academic, industrial and public sectors and include the University of Florence (IT), A4F-AlgaFuel (PT), Ben-Gurion University (IL), Fotosintetica and Microbiologica (IT), Evodos (NL), AlgoSource Technologies (FR), IN SRL (IT) and Hart Energy (BE). Consortium members have been selected allowing the effective project goals achievement.

The microalgae-to-biofuel demonstration project aims to integrate the entire value chain in the production of ethanol and biodiesel. The process begins with strain selection and proceeds to biological optimization of the culture media, monitored algae cultivation, low energy harvesting and technology integration.

The development team will train on existing prototypes in Israel, Portugal and Italy, then scale up the process at a 10-hectare demonstration plant. The project is expected to last four years and produce about 900 tons of algae annually on the 10-hectare plant.