Canada's Wind energy future is "Cloudy"

Wind energy a sector of the renewable energy economy that has a tremendous potential for growth in the next few years. the evidence for this statement lies in the fact that renewable energy investments have been the highest in the Wind Energy sector. Many countries, both developing and developed, are formulating technologies, strategies and policies to as to harness this wonderful source of energy.
However, thanks to its large scale of operation and capital intensiveness, Wind energy schemes must be meticulously planned. Not doing so would be a waste of manpower and money, as can be seen in Canada. The government has not set any renewable energy goals beyond 2016, which has led to an outcry by many industrial bodies. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, Canada has added over 1300 MW of electricity supply from wind energy this year. This capacity could reach a whopping 14,000 MW by 2016 if all the policies are implemented completely. However, there is no long term plan after that. Only Ontario and Nova Scotia have planned wind energy reforms after 2016. The rest of Canada definitely needs to catch up, and fast. Their success could mean a lot for other countries, especially small countries who are struggling for effective ways to tap wind energy, to benefit from their example. 
Oh, and if I may mention, India had an installed capacity of over 13,066 MW of electricity (from wind) as of 2010.

Nuclear energy in Vietnam

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is assisting Vietnam in the development of Nuclear Power. Vietnam's PM, Pham Binh Minh applauded the IAEA's efforts of providing energy security to developing nations, and advocating the peaceful and constructive use of Nuclear Energy.

According to the IAEA, the number of nuclear plants all over the world will go up by 350 by the end of 2030. This is so, because Energy security is a must for every nation, and nuclear energy is an apple pie from which everyone wants a bite! 

Energy Un - Efficiency!

Majority of households in the USA are not so good when it comes to energy efficiency. This means that consumers are not only losing precious energy, but also money. And the people who want to contribute have no idea where to begin!

According to MXenergy (one of the largest gas and electricity retailers in the USA), energy auditing is the key. By "auditing", we mean an overall assessment and analysis of the entire household. This would help people identify the key areas their house is lagging in, and would also help in providing consultancy and methods for rectification of the same. Although this analysis is costly, it will certainly be a money - saver in the long run. Furthermore, the subsidies provided by the government for maintaining a green household will cover the price. These rebates and concessions can fund further improvements as well.

Another part of this drive could be the use of smart meters - electricity meters that give the house owner a daily (or even hourly) analysis of the energy consumed. This can certainly be beneficial in the long run, as electricity consumption can be modified after observing its patterns. 

Solar Power to run Traffic Signals in Noida

Traffic police in Noida (UP, India) is finally taking some initiative. After being piled with reports of dysfunctional traffic lights, the state's police department has decided to use Solar energy to power traffic lights. Under this scheme, 79 traffic lights will be overhauled, so as to run on Solar Power.

Since Noida is an upcoming city, power cuts and outages are common. Thanks to that, the traffic lights stop working and the commuters have to face the chaos on the roads. If this scheme is implemented properly, it will ensure that all the traffic signals are functioning during the day, and provide a smooth flow of traffic. At night, when the sun is not around, well, who cares about traffic signals anyway!

Wind Energy in Europe to triple its output by 2020

According to Justin Wilkes, policy director of the European Wind Energy Association, Wind Energy in Europe will triple its power output by 2020. Presently, 182 TWh (TeraWatt hour) of electricity is produced by wind, which is 5.5% of Europe's total energy production. This figure is expected to go up to 581 TWh in 2020, which will satisfy 15.7% of Europe's energy demands at that time.
This has been made possible by Europe's fast - paced development in the Wind Energy domain.
More than 260 billion USD were invested in offshore and onshore Wind energy farms in this decade. In the first half of 2011, wind energy turbines with a total capacity of 348 MW were set up, and wind farms worth USD 11.4 Billion are under construction (which will be able to generate more than 2400 MW electricity).
The wind energy sector is steadily recovering from the financial crisis, and the number of banks and financial institutions providing funding and investment in this sector is growing by the day.

Energy from Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Carbon Dioxide emissions are on a rise all over the world. Not only does it contribute to the Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming, it also adversely affects the health of people who are unlucky enough to breathe it. Many researchers are looking for viable options to do away with this excess carbon in our atmosphere.
A group of scientists from Berkeley Lab, California, have come up with a new method that stores Carbon Dioxide, uses the earth's heat to increase its temperature, and produces energy from it. This project has received funding worth USD 5 million by the United States Department of Energy, and is presently in the initial stages of development. In this method, Carbon Dioxide is pumped into a layer of the crust 3km below the surface, where the temperature is above 120 degrees Celsius. A closer look at the phase diagram of CO2 can lend us an insight into its behavior at high temperatures and pressures:

At temperatures above 32 degrees C, and pressures above 73 atm, Carbon dioxide enters into a super-critical state. This means that distinct solid and liquid phases do not exist. This fluid has very low viscosity, high diffusivity and (most importantly) a high value of enthalpy (stored energy) per unit mass. If the CO2 pumped into the earth's crust were allowed to reach a super-critical state and then released, it would reach the surface with enormous amounts of energy - energy which could be used to produce electricity. Basically, CO2 is being provided the earth's own energy, and that very energy is later converted to electricity.

This will offer a very interesting solution to our CO2 crisis - Carbon dioxide generating companies could pump the gas underground and let it reach critical state, after which it can be used to produce electricity at the surface. The spent gas can be recycled, and more gas will be added over course of time to compensate for losses due to absorption onto the crust.

There are two main drawbacks to this scheme:

1. Carbon storage / recovery is costly.
2. Pumping carbon into the crust may have an adverse effect on underground life, and may affect water reservoirs as well.

A more detailed study is required before this innovative idea can be implemented on a large scale.

Gemasolar : A Solar Power plant that operates round the clock!

All solar - powered products are useless in the absence of sunlight (for example, during the evening) and therefore can be used only in the day. The Spanish "Gemasolar", however, is breaking these rules by operating during the night as well.

The operating procedure is simple, really. As you can see from the image, the design consists of a central beacon, that is surrounded by large curved mirrors called "Heliostats". These mirrors (more than 2500 in number) direct sunlight to this beacon, which gets heated up. This energy is then conducted to a storage device. This device is a tank, filled with potassium and sodium nitrate salts. The salts get heated up to temperatures as high as 500 degrees Celcius, and are always in liquid form. Thanks to the high enthalpies of melting of these ionic salts, the tank can store enormous amounts of energy (this may be almost nine times the energy stored by oils, which are conventionally used storage media). This plant is now able to generate almost 20MW of electricity, and can function even when there is no sunlight using the energy stored in the molten salts.

Gemasolar, which cost nearly 320 million USD to construct, is a joint venture of Spanish construction company Sener, and Masdar - an Energy company from Abu Dhabi.