With the calendar year winding down, very nearly everyone, this site included, are putting out their year-in-review content—and the American Wind Energy Association is no different. It’s pretty easy to get down on US renewable energy policy if you’re just paying attention to the nonsense coming out of legislators bought and paid for by the polluting class, but there were some truly great milestones in US wind power in 2011.
The People’s Republic of China has increased its target for installed solar power by 50%. It now aims to have 15GW of installed solar generating capacity, by 2015, Reuters reports.
The move comes just months after China doubled its solar goal from 5 GW to 10 GW earlier this year, following the partial meltdown of the Fukishama nuclear plant in Japan.
The Energy Competence Centre (ECC) has recently finished the development of its second wind turbine project at the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR).
The project consists of the installation of two 1.5-megawatt GE wind turbines which will provide clean electricity to the Air Force Center for Engineering. MMR’s main goal is to obtain all of its energy from renewables.
“This highly visible project was delivered safely, with high quality and ahead of schedule through the collective efforts of the entire AFCEE/ECC team. Each time I cross the Sagamore Bridge and see the turbines spinning, I am reminded of ECC’s contribution in bringing alternative energy to Cape Cod,” said Brian LaMont, program manager for ECC.
The myriad benefits of the efficient use of wind energy for power generation have been talked about for long. The idea is being implemented in various projects around the world but a mainstream use of the technology, something that allows for the increase in efficiency and presents it as a viable alternative to fossil fuels, is missing. Trans Wind Energy Generation concept by Richard Harrington offers a solution that promises to be beneficial on several counts. This concept addresses problems relating to efficient and pollution free power generation, better use of renewable resources and commuting without having to navigate traffic snarls.
I don’t understand why researchers are not trying harder to crack better energy storage solutions. Instead, all the focus seems to be on finding new clean sources of energy. That’s important, of course, but if we could vastly improve energy storage we could presumably make do with the energy sources we already have? And intermittent renewables such as wind and solar would be so much more attractive.
BrightSource Energy is a leading solar thermal energy company. In California, it’s in the process of planning and building some of the largest solar thermal power plants in the world. (For more on its technology, see the last paragraph of this post. For more background, check out our BrightSource Energy page.)
Yesterday, the company announced that it is adding “its SolarPLUS thermal energy storage capability to three of its power purchase agreements with Southern California Edison (SCE).” It now has two solar thermal power plants scheduled to be finished and delivering energy in 2015, and three, with storage, scheduled to deliver electricity in 2016 and 2017. (And, BrightSource — with partners NRG Energy, Google, and Bechtel — are building a 126-megawatt plant for Southern California Edison at the Ivanpah solar project in southeast California).
One of the biggest hurdles for integrating renewable energy from solar or wind sources comes from the question of storage – how can power be stored for times when the wind doesn’t blow or the skies are overcast?
Researchers at Stanford University are addressing this headlong and have reported the development of a new high-power electrode that is cheap, durable and efficient. If development continues as hoped, this discovery might potentially foster the manufacture of batteries large enough to provide for economical renewable energy storage on the grid.
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