Solar San Diego

Calling for a US Energy Strategy

Daniel M. Kammen writes in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientist about the need for a US Energy Strategy. 

Over the next 50 years, progress to meaningfully address the risk of significant climate change will require an estimated 80-percent or more reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions. Global emissions now include more than 7 billion tons of carbon being pumped into the atmosphere annually, three-quarters of which come from fossil fuel combustion (with the remainder largely from land conversion and forest burning), and their rate of accumulation is increasing.

  Read the entire piece here.

Fortune Mag: Grean Energy Makes Money

"Venture investment in energy technology firms reached new highs this year, more than tripling the investment recorded for 2005, according to data released Wednesday by Thomson Financial and the National Venture Capital Association." states an article in Fortune Small Business.

Clean Energy Gold Rush North of the Border

Straight.com has an article about investment in clean energy companies north of the border in British Columbia. Read the article here.

Wind Energy Reseach Plan Meeting at UC Davis

The California Wind Energy Collaborative is hosting a "workshop on 11 December 2007 to gather input toward development of a Wind Energy Research Plan for California. The research plan will identify and prioritize wind energy research, development, and deployment efforts that will facilitate California's renewable energy policy goals."

Tech Companies that Could Change The World

From the Red Herring comes a story about the World Economic Forum naming "startup technology companies that the international organization said have demonstrated visionary leadership and proven technology that could change business and society." See the World Economic Forum list here.

Schott Supports Club of Rome Concept

From Schott Solar, a press release indicates their support for the Club of Rome energy concept.

Today, the former President of The Club of Rome, Prince Hassan bin Talal from Jordan, presented the White Book "Clean Power from Deserts - The DESERTEC Concept for Energy, Water and Climate Security" from the Club of Rome's Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC) initiative to the European Parliament in Brussels. According to the White Book, Europe should cooperate more closely with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region), in order to combat climate change "in a way that is economically, technologically and politically feasible". Key technologies in the DESERTEC Concept are concentrating solar thermal power plants and high-voltage direct-current transmission lines for transporting clean electricity from the MENA region to Europe (see press release from the German Association CLUB OF ROME dated 11/27/2007 under http://www.desertec.org//).

As a leading manufacturer of solar receivers, SCHOTT supports this initiative from the Club of Rome. "Solar thermal power plants offer an excellent solution for industrial scale generating electricity in the sunniest regions of the earth. This technology is on its way to achieving its global breakthrough and is capable of contributing towards more climate-friendly power generation. In addition, it offers the opportunity to achieve infrastructural and energy-related advances and promote the economic development of the southern and eastern Mediterranean region," said Professor Udo Ungeheuer, Chairman of the Board of Management of SCHOTT, upon the presentation of the White Book in Brussels.

Receivers from SCHOTT Solarthermie in Mitterteich (Bavaria/ Germany) represent the heart of solar thermal parabolic trough power plants. These plants consist of a large field of trough-shaped parabolic mirrors that concentrate sunlight onto absorber tubes (receivers) located along the focal line. Concentrated solar radiation is converted into heat inside these specially coated receivers. Then, a special heat transfer fluid that reaches temperatures of up to 400° Celsius (over 750° F) flows through the receivers and is pumped to the main power plant generator. It then passes through heat exchangers, before it generates the steam needed to drive the turbines, as in conventional power plants.

The technology behind parabolic trough power plants has been proving itself in the Mojave Desert in California for more than 15 years. Now, even more efficient power plants of the second generation are being built. The "Nevada Solar One" parabolic trough power plant built by Acciona Energy North America, located in Boulder City, near Las Vegas, Nevada (USA), began supplying power to the grid in June. In the summer of 2008, Europe's first commercially operated parabolic trough power plant "AndaSol" located near Granada, in Andalusia / Spain, will join the grid. Receivers from SCHOTT were used in the "Nevada Solar One" power plant and are also being put to use in the "AndaSol" power plant. When it comes to receivers, SCHOTT clearly ranks as the global technology leader. The company is currently building a second manufacturing site for receivers in Spain.>