/PRNewswire/ -- Thomas A Fanning, chairman, president and CEO of Southern Company, today told members of Congress that proposed regulations aimed at emissions from power plants could reduce reliability, raise electricity prices, slow economic development and eliminate American jobs.
"My message today is that the reliability and affordability that Americans deserve could be at risk," Fanning said in testimony before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power in Washington.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed regulation on further reducing air emissions from coal-fired power plants. The new regulation, known as Utility MACT (maximum achievable control technology), covers 125 different types of emissions. The EPA has allowed 60 days for comment.
"This is nearly a thousand-page rule with nearly a thousand more pages of technical supporting documents," Fanning said. "Sixty days is plainly inadequate for the industry to analyze this rule and its effects and offer meaningful comments."
Of greater concern, said Fanning, is the three years mandated for compliance.
"In just three years, utilities would have to develop compliance strategies for each plant, engineer solutions on a unit-by-unit basis, obtain required environmental permits, gain state public utility commission regulatory approval, actually procure and install the required technology, test the technology and implement any operational changes, and then demonstrate full compliance," Fanning said.
A study conducted for the Edison Electric Institute by ICF, Fanning testified, concluded that for the U.S. by 2015 over 80,000 megawatts of scrubbers and over 160,000 megawatts of fabric filter baghouses would have to be constructed and almost 80,000 megawatts of current coal capacity would have to be replaced.
"As the CEO of a company that has installed more pollution controls than any other utility," Fanning said, "I tell you that this cannot be done in three years."
Fanning also stressed that the Utility MACT proposal could cost the industry as much as $300 billion over the next five years.
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Showing posts with label electricity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label electricity. Show all posts
Friday, April 15, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Georgia Power and EPRI to Study Solar PV Installation on Power Lines
/PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Power and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) are conducting an 18-month study to evaluate how solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems may affect the utility's distribution system.
Fifty PV systems are being installed in seven cities around the state. Seven-to-eight small systems will be installed on one distribution line in each city. Sites were identified based on a number of environmental parameters. Selecting cities around the state will allow evaluation of a variety of conditions such as temperature, cloud cover and solar intensity.
EPRI will monitor each module's power output and sunlight input at one- second intervals for the entire 18 months to determine how much electricity they generate and how well they perform under diverse weather conditions. The panels will remain in place at the end of the project and Georgia Power will continue to monitor long-term results. This research will help to:
* Identify the effects, if any, on operation of Georgia Power's distribution system
* Understand the feasibility of widespread solar PV installations on distribution lines
* Determine ranges for overall PV performance in Georgia
* Characterize and compare variable issues such as passing clouds
Each panel is about 3-by-5 feet in size, and able to generate about 200 watts of electricity.
"An installation of this size will not create a noticeable increase in the amount of energy on our distribution system," says Scott Gentry, Georgia Power's distributed generation services project manager and coordinator for this project. "However, the data we collect from each module will provide useful information on PV generation as it relates to the utilities grid."
PV panels have been installed in Rome, Valdosta, Macon, Augusta, Columbus, Savannah and Conley. EPRI will own the panels while Georgia Power does the installation.
Solar power uses PV cells to convert sunlight directly into electricity. When sunlight strikes a PV cell, electrons are dislodged, creating an electrical current.
Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the nation's largest generators of electricity. The company is an investor-owned, tax-paying utility with rates well below the national average. Georgia Power serves 2.3 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties.
The Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. (EPRI) conducts research and development relating to the generation, delivery and use of electricity for the benefit of the public. An independent, nonprofit organization, EPRI brings together its scientists and engineers as well as experts from academia and industry to help address challenges in electricity, including reliability, efficiency, health, safety and the environment. EPRI also provides technology, policy and economic analyses to drive long-range research and development planning, and supports research in emerging technologies. EPRI's members represent more than 90 percent of the electricity generated and delivered in the United States, and international participation extends to 40 countries. EPRI's principal offices and laboratories are located in Palo Alto, Calif.; Charlotte, N.C.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Lenox, Mass.
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Fifty PV systems are being installed in seven cities around the state. Seven-to-eight small systems will be installed on one distribution line in each city. Sites were identified based on a number of environmental parameters. Selecting cities around the state will allow evaluation of a variety of conditions such as temperature, cloud cover and solar intensity.
EPRI will monitor each module's power output and sunlight input at one- second intervals for the entire 18 months to determine how much electricity they generate and how well they perform under diverse weather conditions. The panels will remain in place at the end of the project and Georgia Power will continue to monitor long-term results. This research will help to:
* Identify the effects, if any, on operation of Georgia Power's distribution system
* Understand the feasibility of widespread solar PV installations on distribution lines
* Determine ranges for overall PV performance in Georgia
* Characterize and compare variable issues such as passing clouds
Each panel is about 3-by-5 feet in size, and able to generate about 200 watts of electricity.
"An installation of this size will not create a noticeable increase in the amount of energy on our distribution system," says Scott Gentry, Georgia Power's distributed generation services project manager and coordinator for this project. "However, the data we collect from each module will provide useful information on PV generation as it relates to the utilities grid."
PV panels have been installed in Rome, Valdosta, Macon, Augusta, Columbus, Savannah and Conley. EPRI will own the panels while Georgia Power does the installation.
Solar power uses PV cells to convert sunlight directly into electricity. When sunlight strikes a PV cell, electrons are dislodged, creating an electrical current.
Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the nation's largest generators of electricity. The company is an investor-owned, tax-paying utility with rates well below the national average. Georgia Power serves 2.3 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties.
The Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. (EPRI) conducts research and development relating to the generation, delivery and use of electricity for the benefit of the public. An independent, nonprofit organization, EPRI brings together its scientists and engineers as well as experts from academia and industry to help address challenges in electricity, including reliability, efficiency, health, safety and the environment. EPRI also provides technology, policy and economic analyses to drive long-range research and development planning, and supports research in emerging technologies. EPRI's members represent more than 90 percent of the electricity generated and delivered in the United States, and international participation extends to 40 countries. EPRI's principal offices and laboratories are located in Palo Alto, Calif.; Charlotte, N.C.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Lenox, Mass.
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Thursday, October 14, 2010
Prevent vampires from wasting energy in your home
Just like a vampire can steal energy from an unsuspecting victim, an idle home appliance can bleed power from a home and unnecessarily add to its electric bill.
Did you unplug the coffeemaker before you left home this morning? If not, it is still pulling a small amount of electricity. This is called “phantom” or “vampire” energy. Most small appliances do not use a lot of electricity while still plugged in or in standby mode, but there use is being recorded. You will pay for those watts of electricity.
A phone charger, for example, plugged in with no cell phone attached uses phantom energy. Computers, printers, hard drives and monitors all still pull electricity while plugged in and not being used.
The best way to stop this phantom energy waste is to use a power strip or surge protector. By plugging electronics into these, you can turn off the power to the strip or protector and eliminate the flow of electricity.
To reduce the electricity used by a computer, turn it and its monitor off if you’re not going to use it for more than two hours. If you’re not going to use the monitor for more than 20 minutes, turn it off.
There is a surge of electricity when your computer is initially turned on, but overall it’s much less than the electricity used when the computer is in standby mode. Another misconception is that screen savers are energy savers. Many screen savers actually use more energy than if the computer was on without a screen saver in place.
To save energy, purchase Energy Star® computers and other appliances. These appliances and electronics carry the Energy Star logo.
As with all energy-saving tips, apply the ideas that make sense for your household. If you have to reprogram television or cable remotes every time you unplug the television, DVD player or cable box, this may result in too much time or too much of an inconvenience for you.
Working together, families can do simple things like turn off lights when they leave a room or unplug small appliances that are not being used. Replacing light bulbs with compact florescent bulbs can save energy, too. CFL bulbs cost a little more than traditional bulbs, but they last five to seven years.
For more energy-savings tips, contact your local University of Georgia Cooperative Extension office at 1-800-ASK-UGA1, or your local power provider.
By Jackie Dallas
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Did you unplug the coffeemaker before you left home this morning? If not, it is still pulling a small amount of electricity. This is called “phantom” or “vampire” energy. Most small appliances do not use a lot of electricity while still plugged in or in standby mode, but there use is being recorded. You will pay for those watts of electricity.
A phone charger, for example, plugged in with no cell phone attached uses phantom energy. Computers, printers, hard drives and monitors all still pull electricity while plugged in and not being used.
The best way to stop this phantom energy waste is to use a power strip or surge protector. By plugging electronics into these, you can turn off the power to the strip or protector and eliminate the flow of electricity.
To reduce the electricity used by a computer, turn it and its monitor off if you’re not going to use it for more than two hours. If you’re not going to use the monitor for more than 20 minutes, turn it off.
There is a surge of electricity when your computer is initially turned on, but overall it’s much less than the electricity used when the computer is in standby mode. Another misconception is that screen savers are energy savers. Many screen savers actually use more energy than if the computer was on without a screen saver in place.
To save energy, purchase Energy Star® computers and other appliances. These appliances and electronics carry the Energy Star logo.
As with all energy-saving tips, apply the ideas that make sense for your household. If you have to reprogram television or cable remotes every time you unplug the television, DVD player or cable box, this may result in too much time or too much of an inconvenience for you.
Working together, families can do simple things like turn off lights when they leave a room or unplug small appliances that are not being used. Replacing light bulbs with compact florescent bulbs can save energy, too. CFL bulbs cost a little more than traditional bulbs, but they last five to seven years.
For more energy-savings tips, contact your local University of Georgia Cooperative Extension office at 1-800-ASK-UGA1, or your local power provider.
By Jackie Dallas
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Wednesday, July 28, 2010
New Report Shows Significant Potential for Renewable Energy in South
The South could generate 20-30 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources within the next 20 years – up from less than 4 percent today -- if strong federal policies are enacted, according to a report released July 27 by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Duke University. The analysis, “Renewable Energy in the South,” finds that conventional wisdom has underestimated the available renewable resources in the region and that a federal renewable electricity standard (RES) would enable the South to capitalize on this untapped renewable energy potential.
Read the Full Report Here: http://www.spp.gatech.edu/aboutus/workingpapers/renewable-energy-in-the-south
The South lags behind all other regions in renewable electricity, obtaining 3.7 percent of its power from renewable sources, compared to 9.5 percent for the country as a whole. Only four states (Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and Texas) have a state-level renewable portfolio standard, while three others have voluntary renewable energy goals. The fate of renewables in the South is not only important for the region, but for the nation as a whole since, in 2008, the region accounted for 44 percent of the country’s energy consumption.
Opponents of renewable energy production claim that the South lacks the renewable energy resources to capitalize on the growing demand for clean energy. However, the report finds that there are abundant renewable energy resources available that can be tapped if supportive policies are put in place. The report shows that if a 25 percent (by 2025) federal RES is enacted, the amount of electricity supplied by power companies from renewable sources could increase more than 250 percent above the level expected in 2030 if no new federal renewables policies were enacted.
A number of other studies have shown a large potential for renewable energy in the South,” said Etan Gumerman of Duke University’s Nicholas Institute and co-lead researcher of the study. “Our study shows that significant increases can actually be achieved, particularly through supportive local or federal policies.”
The report, using a customized version of the economic modeling system used by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, finds that a federal renewable electricity standard and carbon pricing system would increase the proportion of electricity derived from renewable sources by power companies in every state, particularly in wind and biomass. By 2030, the report shows, federal carbon pricing policy would increase renewable electricity production in the South by 390 percent.
“Countries around the world are already tapping into the potential of renewable energy, and are capturing export markets and generating jobs in the process,” said Dr. Marilyn Brown of the Georgia Institute of Technology and co-lead researcher of the study. “The report demonstrates that although many states in the South are off to a slow start, renewable initiatives are now underway across the region, and the potential for expansion is promising.”
In addition, the report finds that electricity produced by end-users, such as households and businesses using small-scale solar electric and heating facilities, would also benefit from federal policies and could supply a substantial portion of the region’s renewable electricity. Under a 25 percent RES, for example, renewable electricity supplied by utilities and end-users could increase by 154 percent. Carbon pricing policy could lead to a 266 percent increase above the total level of renewable electricity expected in the absence of federal policy changes.
“In the future, households and businesses have the potential to become major suppliers of clean, renewable electricity,” added Dr. Brown. “This changes the way we need to think about the South’s renewable energy potential.”
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Read the Full Report Here: http://www.spp.gatech.edu/aboutus/workingpapers/renewable-energy-in-the-south
The South lags behind all other regions in renewable electricity, obtaining 3.7 percent of its power from renewable sources, compared to 9.5 percent for the country as a whole. Only four states (Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and Texas) have a state-level renewable portfolio standard, while three others have voluntary renewable energy goals. The fate of renewables in the South is not only important for the region, but for the nation as a whole since, in 2008, the region accounted for 44 percent of the country’s energy consumption.
Opponents of renewable energy production claim that the South lacks the renewable energy resources to capitalize on the growing demand for clean energy. However, the report finds that there are abundant renewable energy resources available that can be tapped if supportive policies are put in place. The report shows that if a 25 percent (by 2025) federal RES is enacted, the amount of electricity supplied by power companies from renewable sources could increase more than 250 percent above the level expected in 2030 if no new federal renewables policies were enacted.
A number of other studies have shown a large potential for renewable energy in the South,” said Etan Gumerman of Duke University’s Nicholas Institute and co-lead researcher of the study. “Our study shows that significant increases can actually be achieved, particularly through supportive local or federal policies.”
The report, using a customized version of the economic modeling system used by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, finds that a federal renewable electricity standard and carbon pricing system would increase the proportion of electricity derived from renewable sources by power companies in every state, particularly in wind and biomass. By 2030, the report shows, federal carbon pricing policy would increase renewable electricity production in the South by 390 percent.
“Countries around the world are already tapping into the potential of renewable energy, and are capturing export markets and generating jobs in the process,” said Dr. Marilyn Brown of the Georgia Institute of Technology and co-lead researcher of the study. “The report demonstrates that although many states in the South are off to a slow start, renewable initiatives are now underway across the region, and the potential for expansion is promising.”
In addition, the report finds that electricity produced by end-users, such as households and businesses using small-scale solar electric and heating facilities, would also benefit from federal policies and could supply a substantial portion of the region’s renewable electricity. Under a 25 percent RES, for example, renewable electricity supplied by utilities and end-users could increase by 154 percent. Carbon pricing policy could lead to a 266 percent increase above the total level of renewable electricity expected in the absence of federal policy changes.
“In the future, households and businesses have the potential to become major suppliers of clean, renewable electricity,” added Dr. Brown. “This changes the way we need to think about the South’s renewable energy potential.”
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Southern Company Sets Winter Peak Demand Record Again; Third Record in Seven Days Tops Summer Peak Demand
/PRNewswire/ -- Southern Company today (January 11) announced it has set its third record for winter peak demand in the past seven days. Between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. EST, preliminary peak demand for electricity averaged approximately 37,224 megawatts, exceeding by 1,363 megawatts Southern Company's January 6 winter time peak of 35,861 megawatts. Today's peak also exceeds Southern Company's 2009 summer peak demand, which was 36,505 megawatts.
"While last summer was cooler than normal, it is still very unusual in our part of the country for a winter peak to be higher than a summer peak," said Greg Darnell, Southern Company Generation Fleet Operations manager.
According to Darnell, the primary contributor to the record loads of the past week was "sustained cold temperatures." Monday morning's "system temperature" - the average temperature weighted across five cities in Southern Company's service territory - was 18 degrees Fahrenheit, with especially cold readings in the coastal region of the service territory. The "system temperature" had been 19 degrees last Wednesday, Jan 6, and 18 degrees Tuesday, Jan. 5.
Last Wednesday's peak exceeded the record of 35,580 megawatts set last Tuesday, between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. EST, by 281 megawatts. The Tuesday peak had surpassed by 139 megawatts Southern Company's previous winter record of 35,441 megawatts set Feb. 5, 2009.
System peak demand is an indicator of how hard Southern Company's generating plants are working and what is required to ensure the reliable supply of electricity needed by customers. The peak demand number reported by fleet operations represents the average peak demand for electricity generated during a one-hour period and reflects the retail and wholesale obligations of Southern Company.
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"While last summer was cooler than normal, it is still very unusual in our part of the country for a winter peak to be higher than a summer peak," said Greg Darnell, Southern Company Generation Fleet Operations manager.
According to Darnell, the primary contributor to the record loads of the past week was "sustained cold temperatures." Monday morning's "system temperature" - the average temperature weighted across five cities in Southern Company's service territory - was 18 degrees Fahrenheit, with especially cold readings in the coastal region of the service territory. The "system temperature" had been 19 degrees last Wednesday, Jan 6, and 18 degrees Tuesday, Jan. 5.
Last Wednesday's peak exceeded the record of 35,580 megawatts set last Tuesday, between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. EST, by 281 megawatts. The Tuesday peak had surpassed by 139 megawatts Southern Company's previous winter record of 35,441 megawatts set Feb. 5, 2009.
System peak demand is an indicator of how hard Southern Company's generating plants are working and what is required to ensure the reliable supply of electricity needed by customers. The peak demand number reported by fleet operations represents the average peak demand for electricity generated during a one-hour period and reflects the retail and wholesale obligations of Southern Company.
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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
GE Applauds the Department of Energy’s Announcement of Smart Grid Demonstration Projects across the Nation
(BUSINESS WIRE)--With one of the broadest portfolios in the industry for modernizing the electrical grid, GE (NYSE: GE) applauds the Department of Energy's selection of the smart grid demonstration projects which were announced today at American Electric Power’s Dolan Laboratory in Columbus, Ohio.
“The Department of Energy recognizes the importance of investing in innovative smart grid solutions to expedite the advancement of the commercialization of these transformative technologies,” said Bob Gilligan, vice president – transmission & distribution for GE Energy Services. “The smart grid demonstration projects announced this afternoon in Ohio will establish a ‘proving ground’ for next-generation smart grid tools, techniques and solutions—from advanced energy storage to smart appliances to the integration of plug-in electric vehicles. These grants support regional demonstrations that combine technologies to form holistic solutions, proving the business case for large-scale deployments."
Gilligan continued, “While the investment grants announced last month will contribute to projects based on 'commercially available' products, the demonstration money announced in Columbus will fund new technologies and approaches, helping to establish the United States as a global leader in smart grid advancement and opening doors for U.S. companies to become net exporters of advanced smart grid solutions.”
He concluded, “We applaud the federal government for its ongoing commitment to smart grid progress. Ultimately, these projects will help us identify the best approach for delivering reliability, efficiency and clean-energy technologies across the electrical network, while empowering consumers to better manage their energy consumption and costs. Our environment, our economy and our future will be better for it.”
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“The Department of Energy recognizes the importance of investing in innovative smart grid solutions to expedite the advancement of the commercialization of these transformative technologies,” said Bob Gilligan, vice president – transmission & distribution for GE Energy Services. “The smart grid demonstration projects announced this afternoon in Ohio will establish a ‘proving ground’ for next-generation smart grid tools, techniques and solutions—from advanced energy storage to smart appliances to the integration of plug-in electric vehicles. These grants support regional demonstrations that combine technologies to form holistic solutions, proving the business case for large-scale deployments."
Gilligan continued, “While the investment grants announced last month will contribute to projects based on 'commercially available' products, the demonstration money announced in Columbus will fund new technologies and approaches, helping to establish the United States as a global leader in smart grid advancement and opening doors for U.S. companies to become net exporters of advanced smart grid solutions.”
He concluded, “We applaud the federal government for its ongoing commitment to smart grid progress. Ultimately, these projects will help us identify the best approach for delivering reliability, efficiency and clean-energy technologies across the electrical network, while empowering consumers to better manage their energy consumption and costs. Our environment, our economy and our future will be better for it.”
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Thursday, October 29, 2009
Harvesting Energy from Natural Motion
By taking advantage of the vagaries of the natural world, Duke University engineers have developed a novel approach that they believe can more efficiently harvest electricity from the motions of everyday life.
Energy harvesting is the process of converting one form of energy, such as motion, into another form of energy, in this case electricity. Strategies range from the development of massive wind farms to produce large amounts of electricity to using the vibrations of walking to power small electronic devices.
Although motion is an abundant source of energy, only limited success has been achieved because the devices used only perform well over a narrow band of frequencies. These so-called “linear” devices can work well, for example, if the character of the motion is fairly constant, such as the cadence of a person walking. However, as researchers point out, the pace of someone walking, as with all environmental sources, changes over time and can vary widely.
“The ideal device would be one that could convert a range of vibrations instead of just a narrow band,” said Samuel Stanton, graduate student in Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering, working in the laboratory of Brian Mann, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials sciences. The team, which included undergraduate Clark McGehee, published the results of their latest experiments early online in Applied Physics Letters.
“Nature doesn’t work in a single frequency, so we wanted to come up with a device that would work over a broad range of frequencies,” Stanton said. “By using magnets to ‘tune’ the bandwidth of the experimental device, we were able verify in the lab that this new non-linear approach can outperform conventional linear devices.”
Although the device they constructed looks deceptively simple, it was able to prove the team’s theories on a small scale. It is basically a small cantilever, several inches long and a quarter inch wide, with an end magnet that interacts with nearby magnets. The cantilever base itself is made of a piezoelectric material, which has the unique property of releasing electrical voltage when it is strained.
The key to the new approach involved placing moveable magnets of opposing poles on either side of the magnet at the end of the cantilever arm. By changing the distance of the moveable magnets, the researchers were able to “tune” the interactions of the system with its environment, and thus produce electricity over a broader spectrum of frequencies.
“These results suggest to us that this non-linear approach could harvest more of the frequencies from the same ambient vibrations,” Mann said. “More importantly, being able to capture more of the bandwidth makes it more likely that these types of devices could someday rival batteries as a portable power source.”
The range of applications for non-linear energy harvesters varies widely. For example, Mann is working on a project that would use the motion of ocean waves to power an array of sensors that would be carried inside ocean buoys.
“These non-linear systems are self-sustaining, so they are ideal for any electrical device that needs batteries and is in a location that is difficult to access,” Mann said.
For example, the motion of walking could provide enough electricity to power an implanted device, such as a pacemaker or cardiac defibrillator. On a larger scale, sensors in the environment or spacecraft could be powered by the everyday natural vibrations around them, Mann said.
Mann’s research is supported by the Office of Naval Research.By Richard Merritt
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Friday, September 18, 2009
Southern Company to Deploy Clean Coal Technology in China
/PRNewswire/ -- Southern Company today announced that China will be the site for the first worldwide commercial implementation of the Transport Integrated Gasification (TRIG(TM)) technology for producing low-emission coal-based electricity.
TRIG is an advanced integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology that produces electricity with lower emissions than traditional coal power plants. It also is compatible with lower rank coals that are abundant in China.
The technology was developed by Southern Company, KBR Inc., and other partners, including the U.S. Department of Energy, at the DOE's research facility in Wilsonville, Ala., that is managed and operated by Southern Company.
Under the terms of their technology licensing arrangements with KBR Inc., the companies will provide Beijing Guoneng Yinghui Clean Energy Engineering Co., Ltd. with licensing, engineering services and proprietary equipment for the implementation of TRIG technology at a power plant operated by Dongguan Tianming Electric Power Co., Ltd. (Dongguan TMEP) in Guandong Province, Peoples Republic of China.
At the Dongguan TMEP facility, TRIG technology will be added to an existing gas turbine combined cycle plant so that it can use clean synthetic gas from coal as its fuel for generating electricity, rather than fuel oil.
"China's rapid growth vividly demonstrates the global need for advanced technologies to ensure reliable, affordable and cleaner supplies of energy," said Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO David Ratcliffe. "This plant will demonstrate that TRIG offers an effective technological solution to these challenges."
The 120-megawatt Dongguan TMEP plant, expected to begin operation in 2011, would demonstrate an example of advanced U.S. IGCC technology that is being developed in partnership between the DOE and industry. This IGCC technology is compatible with carbon capture, and its deployment in China is an important step toward positioning IGCC for future integration with carbon capture technology.
Ratcliffe also noted that Southern Company subsidiary Mississippi Power currently is seeking regulatory approval to build a 582-megawatt plant using TRIG technology in Kemper County, Miss. That plant would include 65 percent carbon capture and sequestration.
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TRIG is an advanced integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology that produces electricity with lower emissions than traditional coal power plants. It also is compatible with lower rank coals that are abundant in China.
The technology was developed by Southern Company, KBR Inc., and other partners, including the U.S. Department of Energy, at the DOE's research facility in Wilsonville, Ala., that is managed and operated by Southern Company.
Under the terms of their technology licensing arrangements with KBR Inc., the companies will provide Beijing Guoneng Yinghui Clean Energy Engineering Co., Ltd. with licensing, engineering services and proprietary equipment for the implementation of TRIG technology at a power plant operated by Dongguan Tianming Electric Power Co., Ltd. (Dongguan TMEP) in Guandong Province, Peoples Republic of China.
At the Dongguan TMEP facility, TRIG technology will be added to an existing gas turbine combined cycle plant so that it can use clean synthetic gas from coal as its fuel for generating electricity, rather than fuel oil.
"China's rapid growth vividly demonstrates the global need for advanced technologies to ensure reliable, affordable and cleaner supplies of energy," said Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO David Ratcliffe. "This plant will demonstrate that TRIG offers an effective technological solution to these challenges."
The 120-megawatt Dongguan TMEP plant, expected to begin operation in 2011, would demonstrate an example of advanced U.S. IGCC technology that is being developed in partnership between the DOE and industry. This IGCC technology is compatible with carbon capture, and its deployment in China is an important step toward positioning IGCC for future integration with carbon capture technology.
Ratcliffe also noted that Southern Company subsidiary Mississippi Power currently is seeking regulatory approval to build a 582-megawatt plant using TRIG technology in Kemper County, Miss. That plant would include 65 percent carbon capture and sequestration.
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Plant Vogtle Receives Early Site Permit
/PRNewswire/ -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today issued an Early Site Permit (ESP) for the two new units of the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Waynesboro, Ga. Plant Vogtle is owned by Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia [MEAG Power] and Dalton Utilities.
The ESP is another step in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) new, streamlined licensing process designed to reduce regulatory uncertainty by completing the process in stages. Completion of the ESP process resolves many site-related safety and environmental issues, determines that the site is suitable for construction of a nuclear energy plant and successfully demonstrates the NRC's licensing process. Southern Nuclear filed an application for the ESP in August 2006.
"This is an important step for the Vogtle project, because the demand for electricity in the Southeast, and particularly in Georgia, will continue to grow," said Mike Garrett, president and CEO of Georgia Power. "The new Vogtle units will help meet our growing energy needs by providing safe, reliable and economical electricity with a zero-emission technology. The project represents a $14 billion capital investment in Georgia that will create thousands of construction jobs and 800 permanent jobs once the units are operational."
"Receiving this ESP on behalf of Plant Vogtle co-owners is a significant accomplishment for Southern Nuclear and for the nuclear industry," said Buzz Miller, executive vice president of nuclear development for Georgia Power and Southern Nuclear. "Southern Nuclear's ESP is the first one in the industry based on a specific technology, the Westinghouse AP1000. It is also the first ESP that includes a Limited Work Authorization (LWA) which allows for certain safety-related activities to begin prior to receiving a Combined License (COL) from the NRC."
In addition to the ESP, in March 2008, Southern Nuclear filed an application for a Combined License (COL) at the Vogtle site. The COL provides one license to construct and operate a nuclear power plant. The COL application is under review by the NRC. Pending appropriate approvals, Unit 3 will begin operating in 2016 and Unit 4 will become operational in 2017.
Southern Nuclear, a subsidiary of Southern Company, operates the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant near Baxley, Ga., the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant near Dothan, Ala. and the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant near Waynesboro, Ga.
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The ESP is another step in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) new, streamlined licensing process designed to reduce regulatory uncertainty by completing the process in stages. Completion of the ESP process resolves many site-related safety and environmental issues, determines that the site is suitable for construction of a nuclear energy plant and successfully demonstrates the NRC's licensing process. Southern Nuclear filed an application for the ESP in August 2006.
"This is an important step for the Vogtle project, because the demand for electricity in the Southeast, and particularly in Georgia, will continue to grow," said Mike Garrett, president and CEO of Georgia Power. "The new Vogtle units will help meet our growing energy needs by providing safe, reliable and economical electricity with a zero-emission technology. The project represents a $14 billion capital investment in Georgia that will create thousands of construction jobs and 800 permanent jobs once the units are operational."
"Receiving this ESP on behalf of Plant Vogtle co-owners is a significant accomplishment for Southern Nuclear and for the nuclear industry," said Buzz Miller, executive vice president of nuclear development for Georgia Power and Southern Nuclear. "Southern Nuclear's ESP is the first one in the industry based on a specific technology, the Westinghouse AP1000. It is also the first ESP that includes a Limited Work Authorization (LWA) which allows for certain safety-related activities to begin prior to receiving a Combined License (COL) from the NRC."
In addition to the ESP, in March 2008, Southern Nuclear filed an application for a Combined License (COL) at the Vogtle site. The COL provides one license to construct and operate a nuclear power plant. The COL application is under review by the NRC. Pending appropriate approvals, Unit 3 will begin operating in 2016 and Unit 4 will become operational in 2017.
Southern Nuclear, a subsidiary of Southern Company, operates the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant near Baxley, Ga., the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant near Dothan, Ala. and the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant near Waynesboro, Ga.
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Monday, March 9, 2009
Energy Costs Take 20% Bite From Average Wallet
/PRNewswire/ -- American families faced the biggest increase in energy expenses on record last year, in large part because of costs for transportation fuels driving global demand.
According to a study released today by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), for the half of the U.S. families earning $50,000 or less, energy costs consumed 20 percent of after-tax income in 2008. The study also reveals energy costs consumed a quarter of after-tax income when families made $30,000 or less.
"This is our annual household energy cost report card, and this year we would grade 2008 as a D for dangerous," said Joe Lucas, Senior Vice President of Communications for ACCCE. "As our economy is faltering and more and more Americans are finding it hard to make ends meet, adopting policies that help keep energy costs affordable should be a national priority."
Families saw their total energy burden increase by 75 percent between 2001 and 2008. Electricity costs increased less than 38 percent during that same timeframe showing that electricity remains an energy bargain in most parts of the country.
"Primarily because we used lower-cost domestic coal for half our nation's electric generation, electricity costs have increased at less than the inflation rate during the past two decades," Lucas said.
The study notes that gasoline prices retreated from historic highs in July, but they are once again starting to climb, ensuring the total energy cost burden will continue to seriously constrain most people's budgets. Lucas said that this shows the economic peril associated with high reliance on imported energy resources.
"In our focus groups, many Americans say that they feel helpless to reduce energy costs when America is dependent on other countries to meet our energy needs. We can change that. We have domestic fuels like coal available here at home, and we can use those fuels wisely to not only promote energy independence but to also keep energy costs low," said Lucas.
Lucas said that ACCCE supports the expanded use of electricity to fuel transportation energy needs, recognizing that a variety of fuels will be needed to meet the increase in electricity demand as a means of displacing foreign oil.
Lucas also noted that keeping energy costs affordable needed to be a key factor in shaping government policies - especially in designing a federal program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"We support a mandatory program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Lucas. "We just believe that we have to be smart in designing the program to ensure that consumers are not paying a higher than necessary cost of energy."
According to Lucas, the 100 percent auction for emissions allowances being promoted for inclusion in a federal cap-and-trade bill will drive up the cost to consumers.
"Under an auction for emissions credits, you get the very same environmental benefit as you would with an allocation of credits - it is just that the cost to the consumer is higher," said Lucas.
"These auctions really work as a de facto energy tax where the government raises revenue ultimately paid by consumers with the hope of getting that money back at some future date in the form of an increased government service. We say, don't raise the cost of energy on American consumers, if you can keep from it, based upon the promise of repaying that investment somewhere in the future," said Lucas.
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According to a study released today by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), for the half of the U.S. families earning $50,000 or less, energy costs consumed 20 percent of after-tax income in 2008. The study also reveals energy costs consumed a quarter of after-tax income when families made $30,000 or less.
"This is our annual household energy cost report card, and this year we would grade 2008 as a D for dangerous," said Joe Lucas, Senior Vice President of Communications for ACCCE. "As our economy is faltering and more and more Americans are finding it hard to make ends meet, adopting policies that help keep energy costs affordable should be a national priority."
Families saw their total energy burden increase by 75 percent between 2001 and 2008. Electricity costs increased less than 38 percent during that same timeframe showing that electricity remains an energy bargain in most parts of the country.
"Primarily because we used lower-cost domestic coal for half our nation's electric generation, electricity costs have increased at less than the inflation rate during the past two decades," Lucas said.
The study notes that gasoline prices retreated from historic highs in July, but they are once again starting to climb, ensuring the total energy cost burden will continue to seriously constrain most people's budgets. Lucas said that this shows the economic peril associated with high reliance on imported energy resources.
"In our focus groups, many Americans say that they feel helpless to reduce energy costs when America is dependent on other countries to meet our energy needs. We can change that. We have domestic fuels like coal available here at home, and we can use those fuels wisely to not only promote energy independence but to also keep energy costs low," said Lucas.
Lucas said that ACCCE supports the expanded use of electricity to fuel transportation energy needs, recognizing that a variety of fuels will be needed to meet the increase in electricity demand as a means of displacing foreign oil.
Lucas also noted that keeping energy costs affordable needed to be a key factor in shaping government policies - especially in designing a federal program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"We support a mandatory program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Lucas. "We just believe that we have to be smart in designing the program to ensure that consumers are not paying a higher than necessary cost of energy."
According to Lucas, the 100 percent auction for emissions allowances being promoted for inclusion in a federal cap-and-trade bill will drive up the cost to consumers.
"Under an auction for emissions credits, you get the very same environmental benefit as you would with an allocation of credits - it is just that the cost to the consumer is higher," said Lucas.
"These auctions really work as a de facto energy tax where the government raises revenue ultimately paid by consumers with the hope of getting that money back at some future date in the form of an increased government service. We say, don't raise the cost of energy on American consumers, if you can keep from it, based upon the promise of repaying that investment somewhere in the future," said Lucas.
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Thursday, March 5, 2009
Southern Company Reaches Milestone in Smart Meter Program with 1 Million Installations
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southern Company announced today that it has installed 1 million Smart Meters, achieving a milestone in an advanced electricity metering program that will eventually see 4.4 million meters in place for its customers across the Southeast.
The program - which integrates advanced metering, communications and other innovative technologies to provide superior customer service at reduced operating costs - is producing direct benefits for the customer, the environment and the company while positioning the company to employ additional features of the technology in the future.
The initiative began in January 2008 and will deploy Smart Meters for customers of Southern Company's electric utility subsidiaries Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power and Mississippi Power. The company is installing about 4,500 meters each day.
In addition to reducing operating costs that can help keep rates lower for customers, the company expects the program to lessen environmental impact. Southern Company, for example, expects to reduce the vehicle fleet used for meter reading by at least 500, saving 12.5 million miles of driving annually and producing direct benefits in lower vehicle emissions.
Once fully deployed, the Smart Meter program may also allow customers to manage energy consumption, helping them to be more efficient by providing detailed energy usage information and innovative rate options.
"Southern Company continues to be an industry leader in adopting technology that benefits customers while reducing environmental impact," said Southern Company CEO David Ratcliffe. "The company's progress in the Smart Meter program underscores our commitment to customer service and environmental responsibility."
Installing Smart Meters throughout Southern Company's territory lays the groundwork for many potential technology opportunities and benefits in the future as well. Those include:
-- Innovative billing and rate options
-- Remote programmability of meters
-- Power quality monitoring
-- Prepaid power options
Southern Company's program is based on the Sensus FlexNet(R) Advanced Metering Infrastructure network, which uses advanced technology that allows for a range of features, including meter reading for monthly billing, two-way communication between customers and the company, outage detection, and remote reconnects and disconnects.
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The program - which integrates advanced metering, communications and other innovative technologies to provide superior customer service at reduced operating costs - is producing direct benefits for the customer, the environment and the company while positioning the company to employ additional features of the technology in the future.
The initiative began in January 2008 and will deploy Smart Meters for customers of Southern Company's electric utility subsidiaries Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power and Mississippi Power. The company is installing about 4,500 meters each day.
In addition to reducing operating costs that can help keep rates lower for customers, the company expects the program to lessen environmental impact. Southern Company, for example, expects to reduce the vehicle fleet used for meter reading by at least 500, saving 12.5 million miles of driving annually and producing direct benefits in lower vehicle emissions.
Once fully deployed, the Smart Meter program may also allow customers to manage energy consumption, helping them to be more efficient by providing detailed energy usage information and innovative rate options.
"Southern Company continues to be an industry leader in adopting technology that benefits customers while reducing environmental impact," said Southern Company CEO David Ratcliffe. "The company's progress in the Smart Meter program underscores our commitment to customer service and environmental responsibility."
Installing Smart Meters throughout Southern Company's territory lays the groundwork for many potential technology opportunities and benefits in the future as well. Those include:
-- Innovative billing and rate options
-- Remote programmability of meters
-- Power quality monitoring
-- Prepaid power options
Southern Company's program is based on the Sensus FlexNet(R) Advanced Metering Infrastructure network, which uses advanced technology that allows for a range of features, including meter reading for monthly billing, two-way communication between customers and the company, outage detection, and remote reconnects and disconnects.
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Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Southern Company COO Tom Fanning Details Greenhouse Gas Reduction Initiatives
Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Chief Operating Officer Tom Fanning yesterday offered a glimpse of the broad range of initiatives currently under way across Southern Company and its subsidiaries to develop and deploy the technologies needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while continuing to provide reliable, affordable electricity to the company's 4.4 million customers across the Southeast.
In remarks delivered to the Southern States Energy Board's Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership's 4th Annual Stakeholders' Briefing held here yesterday, Fanning noted that technology solutions to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will vary depending on geographic region.
"Southern Company believes that a diverse portfolio of solutions will be necessary to reduce CO2 emissions from power generation." Fanning continued, "As there is no single answer, we are pursuing a number of CO2 reduction strategies including increasing energy efficiency and conservation, bringing more renewables online, and deploying new nuclear and clean coal technologies."
Southern Company subsidiaries Georgia Power and Alabama Power are currently conducting pilot-scale, solar photovoltaic (PV) system demonstration projects to help determine the most promising PV technology for the hot, humid southeastern United States.
Fanning also noted that Georgia Power recently submitted an application to the Georgia Public Service Commission to convert the company's Plant Mitchell, near Albany, Ga., from coal to 100 percent biomass. A decision is expected March 17. If approved, the retooled plant would have 96 megawatts of capacity and be the largest biomass facility in the United States.
In addition, Fanning detailed Mississippi Power's request currently before that state's public service commission to build a state-of-the-art integrated gasification combined cycle power plant that would use technology developed by Southern Company in a joint effort with the U.S. Department of Energy. By providing carbon capture and sequestration, the facility will lead the way to lower-carbon electricity production.
Fanning noted that clean coal, including carbon capture and storage (CCS), increasingly appears to show promise for the future. "The Southeast has large capacity and very secure geologic sequestration potential," he said. "That's one of the reasons Southern Company employs such a robust research and development program related to CCS, including a CO2 pilot injection program at Mississippi Power's Plant Daniel."
Fanning emphasized, however, that existing barriers to commercial-scale operation of CCS such as uncertainty about the cost of carbon capture technology and outstanding regulatory and long-term storage liability issues have yet to be resolved fully. "If we are to continue to take the steps to widely deploy CCS, it is imperative that regulatory frameworks be consistent and fair to all industries."
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In remarks delivered to the Southern States Energy Board's Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership's 4th Annual Stakeholders' Briefing held here yesterday, Fanning noted that technology solutions to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will vary depending on geographic region.
"Southern Company believes that a diverse portfolio of solutions will be necessary to reduce CO2 emissions from power generation." Fanning continued, "As there is no single answer, we are pursuing a number of CO2 reduction strategies including increasing energy efficiency and conservation, bringing more renewables online, and deploying new nuclear and clean coal technologies."
Southern Company subsidiaries Georgia Power and Alabama Power are currently conducting pilot-scale, solar photovoltaic (PV) system demonstration projects to help determine the most promising PV technology for the hot, humid southeastern United States.
Fanning also noted that Georgia Power recently submitted an application to the Georgia Public Service Commission to convert the company's Plant Mitchell, near Albany, Ga., from coal to 100 percent biomass. A decision is expected March 17. If approved, the retooled plant would have 96 megawatts of capacity and be the largest biomass facility in the United States.
In addition, Fanning detailed Mississippi Power's request currently before that state's public service commission to build a state-of-the-art integrated gasification combined cycle power plant that would use technology developed by Southern Company in a joint effort with the U.S. Department of Energy. By providing carbon capture and sequestration, the facility will lead the way to lower-carbon electricity production.
Fanning noted that clean coal, including carbon capture and storage (CCS), increasingly appears to show promise for the future. "The Southeast has large capacity and very secure geologic sequestration potential," he said. "That's one of the reasons Southern Company employs such a robust research and development program related to CCS, including a CO2 pilot injection program at Mississippi Power's Plant Daniel."
Fanning emphasized, however, that existing barriers to commercial-scale operation of CCS such as uncertainty about the cost of carbon capture technology and outstanding regulatory and long-term storage liability issues have yet to be resolved fully. "If we are to continue to take the steps to widely deploy CCS, it is imperative that regulatory frameworks be consistent and fair to all industries."
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Friday, February 13, 2009
GT: Nanogenerators Produce Electricity from Running Rodents
Could hamsters help solve the world’s energy crisis? Probably not, but a hamster wearing a power-generating jacket is doing its own small part to provide a new and renewable source of electricity.
And using the same nanotechnology, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have also generated electrical current from a tapping finger – moving the users of BlackBerry devices, cell phones and other handhelds one step closer to powering them with their own typing.
“Using nanotechnology, we have demonstrated ways to convert even irregular biomechanical energy into electricity,” said Zhong Lin Wang, a Regent’s professor in the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering. “This technology can convert any mechanical disturbance into electrical energy.”
The demonstrations of harnessing biomechanical energy to produce electricity were reported February 11 in the online version of the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters. The research was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Air Force, and the Emory-Georgia Tech Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence.
The study demonstrates that nanogenerators – which Wang’s team has been developing since 2005 – can be driven by irregular mechanical motion, such as the vibration of vocal cords, flapping of a flag in the breeze, tapping of fingers or hamsters running on exercise wheels. Scavenging such low-frequency energy from irregular motion is significant because much biomechanical energy is variable, unlike the regular mechanical motion used to generate most large-scale electricity today.
The nanogenerator power is produced by the piezoelectric effect, a phenomenon in which certain materials – such as zinc oxide wires – produce electrical charges when they are bent and then relaxed. The wires are between 100 and 800 nanometers in diameter, and between 100 and 500 microns in length.
To make their generators, Wang’s research team encapsulated single zinc oxide wires in a flexible polymer substrate, the wires anchored at each end with an electrical contact, and with a Shottky Barrier at one end to control current flow. They then attached one of these single-wire generators to the joint area of an index finger, or combined four of the single-wire devices on a “yellow jacket” worn by the hamster.
The running and scratching of the hamster – and the tapping of the finger – flexed the substrate in which the nanowires were encapsulated, producing tiny amounts of alternating electrical current. Integrating four nanogenerators on the hamster’s jacket generated up to up to 0.5 nanoamps; less current was produced by the single generator on the finger.
Wang estimates that powering a handheld device such as a Bluetooth headset would require at least thousands of these single-wire generators, which could be built up in three-dimensional modules.
Beyond the finger-tapping and hamster-running, Wang believe his modules could be implanted into the body to harvest energy from such sources as muscle movements or pulsating blood vessels. In the body, they could be used to power nanodevices to measure blood pressure or other vital signs.
Because the devices produce alternating current, synchronizing the four generators on the hamster’s back was vital to maximizing current production. Without the synchronization, current flow from one generator could cancel out the flow from another.
The research team – which also included Rusen Yang, Yong Qin, Cheng Li and Guang Zhu – solved that problem by using a substrate that was flexible in only one direction, forcing the generators to flex together. Still, there was substantial variation in the output from each generator. The differences result from variations in the amount of flexing and from inconsistencies in the hand-built devices.
“The nanogenerators have to be synchronized, with the output of all of them coordinated so the current adds up constructively,” Wang noted. “Through engineering, we would expect this can be resolved in the future through improved design and more consistent manufacturing.”
To ensure that the current measured was actually produced by the generators, the researchers took several precautions. For instance, they substituted carbon fibers – which are not piezoelectric – for the zinc oxide nanowires and measured no output electrical signal.
The research team encountered a number of obstacles related to its four-legged subjects. Wang’s team first tried to outfit a rat with the power-generating jacket, but found that the creature wasn’t very interested in running.
At the suggestion of Wang’s daughter, Melissa, the researchers found that hamsters are more active creatures – but only after 11PM They had to experiment with a jacket configuration that was tight enough to stay on and to wrinkle the nanogenerator substrate – but not so tight as to make the hamster uncomfortable.
“We believe this is the first demonstration of using a live animal to produce current with nanogenerators,” Wang added. “This study shows that we really can harness human or animal motion to generate current.”
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And using the same nanotechnology, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have also generated electrical current from a tapping finger – moving the users of BlackBerry devices, cell phones and other handhelds one step closer to powering them with their own typing.
“Using nanotechnology, we have demonstrated ways to convert even irregular biomechanical energy into electricity,” said Zhong Lin Wang, a Regent’s professor in the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering. “This technology can convert any mechanical disturbance into electrical energy.”
The demonstrations of harnessing biomechanical energy to produce electricity were reported February 11 in the online version of the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters. The research was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Air Force, and the Emory-Georgia Tech Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence.
The study demonstrates that nanogenerators – which Wang’s team has been developing since 2005 – can be driven by irregular mechanical motion, such as the vibration of vocal cords, flapping of a flag in the breeze, tapping of fingers or hamsters running on exercise wheels. Scavenging such low-frequency energy from irregular motion is significant because much biomechanical energy is variable, unlike the regular mechanical motion used to generate most large-scale electricity today.
The nanogenerator power is produced by the piezoelectric effect, a phenomenon in which certain materials – such as zinc oxide wires – produce electrical charges when they are bent and then relaxed. The wires are between 100 and 800 nanometers in diameter, and between 100 and 500 microns in length.
To make their generators, Wang’s research team encapsulated single zinc oxide wires in a flexible polymer substrate, the wires anchored at each end with an electrical contact, and with a Shottky Barrier at one end to control current flow. They then attached one of these single-wire generators to the joint area of an index finger, or combined four of the single-wire devices on a “yellow jacket” worn by the hamster.
The running and scratching of the hamster – and the tapping of the finger – flexed the substrate in which the nanowires were encapsulated, producing tiny amounts of alternating electrical current. Integrating four nanogenerators on the hamster’s jacket generated up to up to 0.5 nanoamps; less current was produced by the single generator on the finger.
Wang estimates that powering a handheld device such as a Bluetooth headset would require at least thousands of these single-wire generators, which could be built up in three-dimensional modules.
Beyond the finger-tapping and hamster-running, Wang believe his modules could be implanted into the body to harvest energy from such sources as muscle movements or pulsating blood vessels. In the body, they could be used to power nanodevices to measure blood pressure or other vital signs.
Because the devices produce alternating current, synchronizing the four generators on the hamster’s back was vital to maximizing current production. Without the synchronization, current flow from one generator could cancel out the flow from another.
The research team – which also included Rusen Yang, Yong Qin, Cheng Li and Guang Zhu – solved that problem by using a substrate that was flexible in only one direction, forcing the generators to flex together. Still, there was substantial variation in the output from each generator. The differences result from variations in the amount of flexing and from inconsistencies in the hand-built devices.
“The nanogenerators have to be synchronized, with the output of all of them coordinated so the current adds up constructively,” Wang noted. “Through engineering, we would expect this can be resolved in the future through improved design and more consistent manufacturing.”
To ensure that the current measured was actually produced by the generators, the researchers took several precautions. For instance, they substituted carbon fibers – which are not piezoelectric – for the zinc oxide nanowires and measured no output electrical signal.
The research team encountered a number of obstacles related to its four-legged subjects. Wang’s team first tried to outfit a rat with the power-generating jacket, but found that the creature wasn’t very interested in running.
At the suggestion of Wang’s daughter, Melissa, the researchers found that hamsters are more active creatures – but only after 11PM They had to experiment with a jacket configuration that was tight enough to stay on and to wrinkle the nanogenerator substrate – but not so tight as to make the hamster uncomfortable.
“We believe this is the first demonstration of using a live animal to produce current with nanogenerators,” Wang added. “This study shows that we really can harness human or animal motion to generate current.”
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Monday, February 9, 2009
Study: Billions Needed to Deliver Wind Power to Eastern Interconnection
/PRNewswire/ -- The Joint Coordinated System Plan (JCSP'08), the first step of a transmission and generation system expansion analysis of the majority of the Eastern Interconnection, estimates the electricity sector will need over $80 billion in new transmission infrastructure to obtain 20% of the region's electricity from wind generation.
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This initial analysis, which was performed with participation from major transmission owners and operators in the Eastern U.S., looked at two scenarios to examine transmission and generation possibilities between 2008 and 2024. The first, a Reference Scenario, assumes "business as usual" with respect to wind development, with approximately 5% of the region's energy coming from wind. The second was a 20% Wind Energy Scenario and was based on the U.S. Department of Energy's Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study.
"We believe that, although JCSP'08 examined a small set of scenarios with limited variables, this study nonetheless gives a clear idea of the scale of commitment it will take to integrate large amounts of renewable resources into the grid," said John Bear, President and CEO of the Midwest ISO. "This is information we believe that our leaders need to consider as they begin work under a new administration and start defining our energy future."
JCSP'08 estimates that incorporating 5% wind energy (the "Reference Scenario") will require the addition of approximately 10,000 miles of new extra-high voltage transmission at a cost of approximately $50 billion, in addition to nearly $700 billion in total generation capital costs by 2024.
The 20% Wind Energy Scenario is estimated to require 15,000 miles of new extra-high voltage lines, at an estimated cost of $80 billion, in addition to $1.1 trillion in total generation capital costs by 2024.
Under both scenarios, the generation capital costs would be borne by developers, while the funding source for the needed transmission is not known at this time.
The study represents the collaborative efforts of Midwest ISO, Southwest Power Pool, Inc., PJM Interconnection, the Tennessee Valley Authority, Mid- Continent Area Power Pool (MAPP), and participants within SERC Reliability Corporation (SERC). Among the key features of the study are:
-- It used a collaborative, transparent, stakeholder process to develop and screen assumptions and postulate transmission expansion possibilities.
-- It used a common approach with system condition assumptions to characterize the majority of the Eastern Interconnection in a single multi- regional analysis, rather than conducting parallel, region-specific analyses.
-- It used study tools and databases that are in common use in the electric power industry.
As previously stated, this is only the initial phase of the analysis that must be performed to derive the most effective and efficient answer. A follow- on phase of the study will be initiated in the first quarter of 2009 to investigate additional scenarios that must be analyzed to develop a better understanding of the possible solutions available, perform a detailed reliability assessment, better refine the existing assumptions, and recommended new transmission facilities and the costs and benefits.
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Thursday, February 5, 2009
Georgia Tech Research Helps Protect Against Lightning Damage
Firing bolts of lightning at expensive electrical equipment is all in a day’s work at NEETRAC – the National Electric Energy Testing Research and Applications Center. The goal for the lightning research and other testing done by the center is to improve reliability for the nation’s electric energy transmission and distribution system.
The 2.2 million-volt impulse generator needed to produce artificial lightning is just one part of the test gear used to evaluate utility industry equipment that ranges from wooden poles and aluminum transmission lines to transformers and switches. Part of Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the center is supported by 32 equipment manufacturers and utility companies that provide nearly 60 percent of the electricity used in the United States.
A major part of the work is ensuring reliability during the lightning storms that threaten utilities and their customers.
“Lightning is electricity of the wrong sort,” explained Rick Hartlein, NEETRAC’s director. “Electric utilities must do a number of things to keep lightning from damaging the power delivery system, which can cause power outages or damage to equipment plugged into electrical outlets in homes and businesses.”
Thunderstorms can produce more than 100 million volts – compared to the 120 volts in household wall outlets and 240 volts that power large home appliances. To deal with those added millions of volts, utilities rely on a complex array of lightning arrestors, static lines and grounding systems.
Lightning arrestors, for instance, contain special materials that under normal conditions do not permit the flow of electrical current. But when they sense a sudden surge of electricity from a lightning strike, they change properties in a few microseconds, becoming conductors rather than insulators. When strategically placed on the electric grid, the arrestors carry the lightning surges away to the ground – after which the arrestors return to their role as insulators.
Without the arrestors, lightning could arc across the insulators that support power lines, causing interruptions and damaging other equipment. In severe cases, the damage could cause line circuit breakers to trip, resulting in power outages to businesses, hospitals and whole communities.
At NEETRAC’s facilities near Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Hartlein and his research team evaluate the arrestors and help utilities choose the right locations for them.
“Lightning arrestors are not inexpensive devices and they must be maintained once they are put on the system,” Hartlein said. “You want to distribute them on the system frequently enough to protect it, but not so frequently that you are wasting money.”
After multiple lightning strikes and years out in the elements, lightning arrestors themselves can fail, creating a momentary short-circuit on the power grid. If that happens, a device built into the arrestors senses the problem and fires a tiny explosive charge that physically disconnects the faulty arrestor from the distribution system. NEETRAC has developed specialized laboratory testing procedures to evaluate the performance of these devices.
Helping the industry develop better equipment requires an understanding of lightning and how it works. For instance, though it’s generally not visible to the human eye, most lightning strikes in the Southeast are made up of between three and five separate pulses between 30 and 120 milliseconds apart, each one containing potentially damaging electrical energy.
In the Southeast, 90 percent of lightning has a negative charge. But positively-charged lightning also occurs, most often in the winter. Positive lightning ionizes the atmosphere more efficiently than negative lightning and can therefore travel longer distances.
“Positive lightning can travel 10 miles from the storm before striking an object on the ground, so the storm clouds may not even be visible when the lightning strikes,” said Ray Hill, a research technologist with NEETRAC. “This is the source of what people call a ‘bolt from the blue.’ Because it tends to be a single pulse, positive lightning can be more dangerous since all of the energy is in a single stroke – and people aren’t expecting it.”
Though NEETRAC’s lightning impulse generator can create explosive results, most testing at the center’s facilities is less dramatic.
For instance, salt fog chambers simulate long-term exposure in moist and corrosive environments to study how utility system components will withstand years of exposure to the elements.
Strong ultraviolet lights and high temperatures test the ability of rubber seals to withstand summertime heat and strong sunlight while keeping moisture away from sensitive components. Computer simulations developed by Sakis Meliopoulos, a member of the Georgia Tech electric power faculty, help determine the most efficient way to ground the electric grid, which provides the only effective way to control damaging current.
“The utility companies do a lot to keep lightning from damaging their systems, which helps keep the lights on,” Hill added. “When it comes down to that last bit of lightning protection for the service that comes into a home, consumers should consider additional surge protection, particularly for electronic equipment. But nothing is absolute – all you can really do with lightning protection is to get the odds in your favor.”
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The 2.2 million-volt impulse generator needed to produce artificial lightning is just one part of the test gear used to evaluate utility industry equipment that ranges from wooden poles and aluminum transmission lines to transformers and switches. Part of Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the center is supported by 32 equipment manufacturers and utility companies that provide nearly 60 percent of the electricity used in the United States.
A major part of the work is ensuring reliability during the lightning storms that threaten utilities and their customers.
“Lightning is electricity of the wrong sort,” explained Rick Hartlein, NEETRAC’s director. “Electric utilities must do a number of things to keep lightning from damaging the power delivery system, which can cause power outages or damage to equipment plugged into electrical outlets in homes and businesses.”
Thunderstorms can produce more than 100 million volts – compared to the 120 volts in household wall outlets and 240 volts that power large home appliances. To deal with those added millions of volts, utilities rely on a complex array of lightning arrestors, static lines and grounding systems.
Lightning arrestors, for instance, contain special materials that under normal conditions do not permit the flow of electrical current. But when they sense a sudden surge of electricity from a lightning strike, they change properties in a few microseconds, becoming conductors rather than insulators. When strategically placed on the electric grid, the arrestors carry the lightning surges away to the ground – after which the arrestors return to their role as insulators.
Without the arrestors, lightning could arc across the insulators that support power lines, causing interruptions and damaging other equipment. In severe cases, the damage could cause line circuit breakers to trip, resulting in power outages to businesses, hospitals and whole communities.
At NEETRAC’s facilities near Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Hartlein and his research team evaluate the arrestors and help utilities choose the right locations for them.
“Lightning arrestors are not inexpensive devices and they must be maintained once they are put on the system,” Hartlein said. “You want to distribute them on the system frequently enough to protect it, but not so frequently that you are wasting money.”
After multiple lightning strikes and years out in the elements, lightning arrestors themselves can fail, creating a momentary short-circuit on the power grid. If that happens, a device built into the arrestors senses the problem and fires a tiny explosive charge that physically disconnects the faulty arrestor from the distribution system. NEETRAC has developed specialized laboratory testing procedures to evaluate the performance of these devices.
Helping the industry develop better equipment requires an understanding of lightning and how it works. For instance, though it’s generally not visible to the human eye, most lightning strikes in the Southeast are made up of between three and five separate pulses between 30 and 120 milliseconds apart, each one containing potentially damaging electrical energy.
In the Southeast, 90 percent of lightning has a negative charge. But positively-charged lightning also occurs, most often in the winter. Positive lightning ionizes the atmosphere more efficiently than negative lightning and can therefore travel longer distances.
“Positive lightning can travel 10 miles from the storm before striking an object on the ground, so the storm clouds may not even be visible when the lightning strikes,” said Ray Hill, a research technologist with NEETRAC. “This is the source of what people call a ‘bolt from the blue.’ Because it tends to be a single pulse, positive lightning can be more dangerous since all of the energy is in a single stroke – and people aren’t expecting it.”
Though NEETRAC’s lightning impulse generator can create explosive results, most testing at the center’s facilities is less dramatic.
For instance, salt fog chambers simulate long-term exposure in moist and corrosive environments to study how utility system components will withstand years of exposure to the elements.
Strong ultraviolet lights and high temperatures test the ability of rubber seals to withstand summertime heat and strong sunlight while keeping moisture away from sensitive components. Computer simulations developed by Sakis Meliopoulos, a member of the Georgia Tech electric power faculty, help determine the most efficient way to ground the electric grid, which provides the only effective way to control damaging current.
“The utility companies do a lot to keep lightning from damaging their systems, which helps keep the lights on,” Hill added. “When it comes down to that last bit of lightning protection for the service that comes into a home, consumers should consider additional surge protection, particularly for electronic equipment. But nothing is absolute – all you can really do with lightning protection is to get the odds in your favor.”
-----
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Friday, January 9, 2009
Efficiency and Conservation Key to Meeting Rising Energy Demand, Southern Company CEO Says
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Energy efficiency and conservation will play an increasingly important role in meeting rising energy demand, said Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Chairman, President and CEO David M. Ratcliffe during the National Association of Regulators and Utility Commissioner's Anybody Can Serve, So Let's Conserve energy efficiency campaign launch. Ratcliffe also noted that along with efficiency and conservation as first choices, a diverse portfolio of generation resources including renewables, new nuclear and advanced coal technologies would be crucial in meeting customers' electricity needs.
Anybody Can Serve, So Let's Conserve is a campaign designed to help inform consumers about the many ways to move toward a more affordable, energy efficient, eco-friendly society by making conservation efforts more accessible, affordable and practical.
Addressing a broad audience including utility commissioners, federal and state lawmakers, consumer advocates and utility CEOs, Ratcliffe noted that energy efficiency programs have a history of helping Southern Company and other utilities meet demand. "Between 1989 and 2005, such programs saved enough electricity to power 74 million average U.S. homes for one year," said Ratcliffe.
Ratcliffe also noted that demand-side and energy efficiency efforts have helped Southern Company avoid building more than 3,000 megawatts of peaking capacity since the 1990s, which is enough energy to power nearly half a million homes. "Over the next decade that number will grow by at least another 1,000 megawatts," Ratcliffe continued. "Between now and 2020, we will invest more than $1 billion in energy efficiency programs for our customers."
Southern Company recently launched a program called EarthCents that is designed to reduce customers' energy use and save them money. It includes initiatives ranging from energy audits, weatherization, direct load control, geothermal heating and cooling, as well as homebuilder programs, smart meters and real-time pricing.
Ratcliffe noted that public awareness campaigns like Anybody Can Serve, So Let's Conserve, school partnerships, interactive Web sites, and personal contact are key to helping customers use energy more wisely. "While we do these things now, this new campaign is a creative approach that will help us be even more effective," he said.
Ratcliffe concluded his remarks by emphasizing the need for increased collaboration between federal and state governments, business leaders and the environmental community to meet the energy challenges facing this nation.
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Anybody Can Serve, So Let's Conserve is a campaign designed to help inform consumers about the many ways to move toward a more affordable, energy efficient, eco-friendly society by making conservation efforts more accessible, affordable and practical.
Addressing a broad audience including utility commissioners, federal and state lawmakers, consumer advocates and utility CEOs, Ratcliffe noted that energy efficiency programs have a history of helping Southern Company and other utilities meet demand. "Between 1989 and 2005, such programs saved enough electricity to power 74 million average U.S. homes for one year," said Ratcliffe.
Ratcliffe also noted that demand-side and energy efficiency efforts have helped Southern Company avoid building more than 3,000 megawatts of peaking capacity since the 1990s, which is enough energy to power nearly half a million homes. "Over the next decade that number will grow by at least another 1,000 megawatts," Ratcliffe continued. "Between now and 2020, we will invest more than $1 billion in energy efficiency programs for our customers."
Southern Company recently launched a program called EarthCents that is designed to reduce customers' energy use and save them money. It includes initiatives ranging from energy audits, weatherization, direct load control, geothermal heating and cooling, as well as homebuilder programs, smart meters and real-time pricing.
Ratcliffe noted that public awareness campaigns like Anybody Can Serve, So Let's Conserve, school partnerships, interactive Web sites, and personal contact are key to helping customers use energy more wisely. "While we do these things now, this new campaign is a creative approach that will help us be even more effective," he said.
Ratcliffe concluded his remarks by emphasizing the need for increased collaboration between federal and state governments, business leaders and the environmental community to meet the energy challenges facing this nation.
-----
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Obama Inauguration to Highlight Dramatic 'Green Energy' Agenda
/PRNewswire/ -- President-Elect Barack Obama will take office January 20th with the strongest commitment to renewable energy of any President in history. Obama's widely anticipated inauguration speech is expected to highlight bold new national policies to speed America's transition to a renewable energy economy.
-- Construction of a high-voltage "interstate highway" system to bring more wind and solar energy to America's major cities.
-- A national policy mandating America's electric utilities to buy a percentage of their electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind - the most readily available, abundant and affordable sources of green energy.
-- Aggressive near-term targets to reduce America's dependence upon imported oil to address both global warming and national security.
Wind and solar energy companies, already coming off a year of record growth in 2008, are expected to gain new momentum through the inauguration and first 100 days as the new Obama administration implements its green agenda.
Growth and investment in the solar industry is focused on manufacturers of photovoltaic (PV) laminate - which convert sunlight to renewable energy. Analysts at Lazard Capital Markets confirmed buy ratings on leading PV suppliers Energy Conversion Devices (NASDAQ:ENER) and First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) .
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-- Construction of a high-voltage "interstate highway" system to bring more wind and solar energy to America's major cities.
-- A national policy mandating America's electric utilities to buy a percentage of their electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind - the most readily available, abundant and affordable sources of green energy.
-- Aggressive near-term targets to reduce America's dependence upon imported oil to address both global warming and national security.
Wind and solar energy companies, already coming off a year of record growth in 2008, are expected to gain new momentum through the inauguration and first 100 days as the new Obama administration implements its green agenda.
Growth and investment in the solar industry is focused on manufacturers of photovoltaic (PV) laminate - which convert sunlight to renewable energy. Analysts at Lazard Capital Markets confirmed buy ratings on leading PV suppliers Energy Conversion Devices (NASDAQ:ENER) and First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) .
-----
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Friday, December 19, 2008
Energy, Environmental Groups Urge Quick Action by Congress to Use Energy Efficiency Programs to Stimulate Economy, Create Green Jobs
/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As a new administration transitions into the White House and Congress gears up to move an economic recovery package early next year, energy and environmental groups today issued a set of recommendations to boost the nation's energy efficiency, create green jobs, and save energy and money. The groups urged Congress to incorporate many of the proposals into legislation to be considered in early 2009.
The Alliance to Save Energy, Edison Electric Institute, Energy Future Coalition and the Natural Resources Defense Council released proposals ranging from low-income home weatherization and energy efficiency retrofits for homes and commercial and government buildings, to strengthened national model building energy codes, enhanced product efficiency standards and energy efficiency investments by utilities. In addition to federal funds for job-creating efficiency programs, the groups asked Congress to fund the authorized Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program to help states further reduce their total energy use, reduce emissions related to fossil fuel use, and improve energy efficiency across all sectors.
Significantly, the groups urged Congress to make the program's funding contingent upon state adoption of more stringent building code requirements and major changes to utility regulation that create long-term incentives to encourage major investments in energy efficiency. Without making such long-term changes, the benefits of federal funding under the block grant program likely would not be as sustainable, the organizations said.
"Today, the United States is the largest energy user and is the most energy inefficient economy of all developed countries," noted Alliance to Save Energy President Kateri Callahan, who continued: "An economic recovery bill that includes significant investments in energy efficiency will not only create jobs immediately, but also and more importantly will bring American ingenuity and its 'can-do' spirit to a new, clean and sustainable energy future -- one in which the U.S. becomes one of the most energy efficient economies in the world."
"With electricity demand projected to grow 30 percent over the next two decades and with utilities facing rising costs across the board, enhanced energy efficiency programs are critical to helping consumers manage their electricity costs," said EEI President Tom Kuhn. "For this to happen, state regulators must go beyond simply removing disincentives to greater efficiency gains by utilities. Instead, they must create regulations that allow utilities to earn a rate of return on new efficiency investments, comparable to what they would earn on a new power plant, for example."
Reid Detchon, executive director of the Energy Future Coalition, commented, "Most utilities make more money by selling more energy than they do by saving it. Flipping that incentive structure is the key to unlocking greater national investment in energy efficiency. Right now, the nation's building trades have been knocked flat on their backs by the economic downturn. Retrofitting America's buildings for energy efficiency can put them back to work immediately and deliver needed energy savings to consumers."
"Any serious approach to moving America toward clean energy and tackling our climate crisis must include energy efficiency as one of the key elements," said Peter Lehner, executive director of NRDC. "Energy efficiency is the fastest and most cost-effective way to decrease global warming pollution. Significant investments to increase energy efficiency in people's homes and businesses will help repower America with clean energy, save consumers millions of dollars, and create new jobs to restart our economy."
President-elect Obama and congressional advocates have indicated a clear desire to take up legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The groups emphasized that energy efficiency should be a key element of any federal response to climate concerns. "Energy efficiency programs offer both immediate and long-term benefits by creating green jobs, helping to mitigate rising energy costs and reducing emissions related to global warming," they said. "We hope Congress will move quickly on these critical issues."
-----
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The Alliance to Save Energy, Edison Electric Institute, Energy Future Coalition and the Natural Resources Defense Council released proposals ranging from low-income home weatherization and energy efficiency retrofits for homes and commercial and government buildings, to strengthened national model building energy codes, enhanced product efficiency standards and energy efficiency investments by utilities. In addition to federal funds for job-creating efficiency programs, the groups asked Congress to fund the authorized Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program to help states further reduce their total energy use, reduce emissions related to fossil fuel use, and improve energy efficiency across all sectors.
Significantly, the groups urged Congress to make the program's funding contingent upon state adoption of more stringent building code requirements and major changes to utility regulation that create long-term incentives to encourage major investments in energy efficiency. Without making such long-term changes, the benefits of federal funding under the block grant program likely would not be as sustainable, the organizations said.
"Today, the United States is the largest energy user and is the most energy inefficient economy of all developed countries," noted Alliance to Save Energy President Kateri Callahan, who continued: "An economic recovery bill that includes significant investments in energy efficiency will not only create jobs immediately, but also and more importantly will bring American ingenuity and its 'can-do' spirit to a new, clean and sustainable energy future -- one in which the U.S. becomes one of the most energy efficient economies in the world."
"With electricity demand projected to grow 30 percent over the next two decades and with utilities facing rising costs across the board, enhanced energy efficiency programs are critical to helping consumers manage their electricity costs," said EEI President Tom Kuhn. "For this to happen, state regulators must go beyond simply removing disincentives to greater efficiency gains by utilities. Instead, they must create regulations that allow utilities to earn a rate of return on new efficiency investments, comparable to what they would earn on a new power plant, for example."
Reid Detchon, executive director of the Energy Future Coalition, commented, "Most utilities make more money by selling more energy than they do by saving it. Flipping that incentive structure is the key to unlocking greater national investment in energy efficiency. Right now, the nation's building trades have been knocked flat on their backs by the economic downturn. Retrofitting America's buildings for energy efficiency can put them back to work immediately and deliver needed energy savings to consumers."
"Any serious approach to moving America toward clean energy and tackling our climate crisis must include energy efficiency as one of the key elements," said Peter Lehner, executive director of NRDC. "Energy efficiency is the fastest and most cost-effective way to decrease global warming pollution. Significant investments to increase energy efficiency in people's homes and businesses will help repower America with clean energy, save consumers millions of dollars, and create new jobs to restart our economy."
President-elect Obama and congressional advocates have indicated a clear desire to take up legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The groups emphasized that energy efficiency should be a key element of any federal response to climate concerns. "Energy efficiency programs offer both immediate and long-term benefits by creating green jobs, helping to mitigate rising energy costs and reducing emissions related to global warming," they said. "We hope Congress will move quickly on these critical issues."
-----
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Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Global Wind Industry Milestone: GE Energy Ships its 10,000th 1.5-Megawatt Wind Turbine
(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Energy today announced the shipment of its 10,000th 1.5-megawatt wind turbine, a global wind industry milestone. Over the past decade, GE’s 1.5-megawatt machines have been installed in 19 countries and have accumulated more than 130 million operating hours, producing more than 78,000 gigawatt-hours of cleaner, wind-generated electricity.
The 10,000th unit was shipped to FPL Energy, the largest U.S. generator of wind power, for the Ashtabula Wind Energy Center located in North Dakota. The milestone shipment was announced during a press conference today in Orlando.
GE’s fleet of 10,000 1.5-megawatt machines can power more than five million homes and produce more than 50 million megawatt-hours annually. Compared to other power generation sources, this represents a savings of more than 27 million tons of CO2 emissions each year, the equivalent of removing more than five million U.S. cars from the road.
“We’re very pleased to share this milestone celebration with FPL Energy,” said Victor Abate, vice president-renewables for GE Energy. “Like GE, FPL Energy is firmly committed to increasing the supply and quality of wind power as a vital step on the road to energy security and energy independence for our country.”
“GE Energy is an industry leader and a valued partner,” said Mike O’Sullivan, senior vice president of FPL Energy. “Having a reliable supply of wind turbines to meet our customers’ growing demand for clean and renewable wind energy has been an important ingredient in the growth and success of our wind business.”
Offering proven performance and reliability, GE’s 1.5-megawatt wind turbine is the most widely used megawatt-class wind turbine in the world and is recognized as the industry workhorse. This machine has been proven in nearly every wind regime, terrain and climate worldwide. GE continues to invest in technology improvements that will build upon the vast experience gained from a 10,000+ unit installed base. These investments continue to drive even higher levels of wind turbine reliability and efficiency.
Since entering the wind business in 2002, GE has continued to advance the performance and reliability of the 1.5-megawatt wind turbine through GE-designed technology including pitch systems, blades and gearboxes; improved component robustness; and better diagnostic capabilities and controls. The result is continuous improvement in overall fleet availability to a level over 98% for units commissioned since 2007.
GE’s 1.5-megawatt wind turbine platform continues to evolve and benefits from GE’s core power generation expertise. The XLE model of the 1.5-megawatt class turbine offers a 15% increase in swept area, resulting in greater energy output.
Delivering worldwide services technology and fast parts fulfillment is critical to maintaining reliable performance of the 1.5-megawatt fleet. GE’s customer support and remote monitoring centers in Schenectady, N.Y. and Salzbergen, Germany provide continuous monitoring and diagnostic services seven days a week. The mission of these centers is to increase equipment availability and reduce downtime and operational costs. In addition, GE has opened a parts operation center near Memphis, Tenn. with fleet-wide critical parts for overnight delivery, when needed.
As the penetration of wind-generated electricity grows, it is increasingly important that wind farms have the capability to contribute to power system stability. GE has developed several products for the 1.5-megawatt wind turbine that address this requirement, including Wind RIDE-THRU, which allows uninterrupted wind turbine operation through many types of grid disturbances.
“Since 2002, we have invested more than $800 million to drive reliable and efficient wind turbine technology,” said Abate. “Continuing this investment is part of our overall commitment to wind power, which will be an integral part of the world energy mix throughout the 21st century.”
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The 10,000th unit was shipped to FPL Energy, the largest U.S. generator of wind power, for the Ashtabula Wind Energy Center located in North Dakota. The milestone shipment was announced during a press conference today in Orlando.
GE’s fleet of 10,000 1.5-megawatt machines can power more than five million homes and produce more than 50 million megawatt-hours annually. Compared to other power generation sources, this represents a savings of more than 27 million tons of CO2 emissions each year, the equivalent of removing more than five million U.S. cars from the road.
“We’re very pleased to share this milestone celebration with FPL Energy,” said Victor Abate, vice president-renewables for GE Energy. “Like GE, FPL Energy is firmly committed to increasing the supply and quality of wind power as a vital step on the road to energy security and energy independence for our country.”
“GE Energy is an industry leader and a valued partner,” said Mike O’Sullivan, senior vice president of FPL Energy. “Having a reliable supply of wind turbines to meet our customers’ growing demand for clean and renewable wind energy has been an important ingredient in the growth and success of our wind business.”
Offering proven performance and reliability, GE’s 1.5-megawatt wind turbine is the most widely used megawatt-class wind turbine in the world and is recognized as the industry workhorse. This machine has been proven in nearly every wind regime, terrain and climate worldwide. GE continues to invest in technology improvements that will build upon the vast experience gained from a 10,000+ unit installed base. These investments continue to drive even higher levels of wind turbine reliability and efficiency.
Since entering the wind business in 2002, GE has continued to advance the performance and reliability of the 1.5-megawatt wind turbine through GE-designed technology including pitch systems, blades and gearboxes; improved component robustness; and better diagnostic capabilities and controls. The result is continuous improvement in overall fleet availability to a level over 98% for units commissioned since 2007.
GE’s 1.5-megawatt wind turbine platform continues to evolve and benefits from GE’s core power generation expertise. The XLE model of the 1.5-megawatt class turbine offers a 15% increase in swept area, resulting in greater energy output.
Delivering worldwide services technology and fast parts fulfillment is critical to maintaining reliable performance of the 1.5-megawatt fleet. GE’s customer support and remote monitoring centers in Schenectady, N.Y. and Salzbergen, Germany provide continuous monitoring and diagnostic services seven days a week. The mission of these centers is to increase equipment availability and reduce downtime and operational costs. In addition, GE has opened a parts operation center near Memphis, Tenn. with fleet-wide critical parts for overnight delivery, when needed.
As the penetration of wind-generated electricity grows, it is increasingly important that wind farms have the capability to contribute to power system stability. GE has developed several products for the 1.5-megawatt wind turbine that address this requirement, including Wind RIDE-THRU, which allows uninterrupted wind turbine operation through many types of grid disturbances.
“Since 2002, we have invested more than $800 million to drive reliable and efficient wind turbine technology,” said Abate. “Continuing this investment is part of our overall commitment to wind power, which will be an integral part of the world energy mix throughout the 21st century.”
-----
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