Korean company aiming for 15% of global windpower business

By admin | Published: September 2, 2009

IRVINE, California – Composite Technology Corporation (CTC) has reached agreement to sell substantially all of the operating assets and operating liabilities of DeWind Inc., including its subsidiaries and certain assets of DeWind Ltd., to Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd. () of South Korea.

DeWind has operations in the USA and Germany, It has supplied 710 wind turbines to the USA, China, and countries in Europe and South America. Its product range comprises:

• The D8.2 (50 and 60 Hz) is a new three-blade upwind turbine with pitch control and horizontal axis, and rated power of 2.0 megawatts (MW)

• The D8 (50 Hz only) is a proven three-blade upwind turbine with pitch control and horizontal axis, and rated power of 2.0 MW

• The D6 (50 Hz only) is a well-proven three-blade upwind turbine with pitch control and horizontal axis, and a rated power of 1.25 MW

The Korean company says the deal is designed to give it access to the booming global market for renewable technologies. It is the world’s second-largest shipmaker by sales. It has revealed plans to invest a further $70m to develop new wind power turbines and build additional USA manufacturing plants for its new subsidiary.

DSME has set a goal of being the world’s third largest windpower equipment maker by 2020, with a target of achieving a 15% share of the global market.

More information:

www.dsme.co.kr/en/

www.compositetechcorp.com/

www.higherperpetualenergy.co.uk

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450 drivers provide real-world feedback on electric-powered car

By admin | Published: September 2, 2009

WOODCLIFF LAKE, New Jersey – Two months into its pioneering field trials of electric-powered automobiles, MINI USA – an independent brand of the Germany-based BMW Group – is gathering valuable, real-world data from 450 drivers of MINI E electric-powered vehicles.

These vehicles are now in daily use in metropolitan New York, New Jersey, and Los Angeles, where they are being driven by private customers, and drivers from municipalities, universities, public utilities, non-profit, and commercial organisations.

Since the field trials began in June, these experiences have been fed back to MINI USA, with users describing what it is like to live with, and to drive, a vehicle that has a purely electric drivetrain. Initial responses include a wide variety of input including:

• Optimisation of the energy consumption through brake regeneration

• Managing the trip to the amount of range available

• Feedback on continued development regarding on-board efficiencies

A research partnership between the BMW Group and the University of California at Davis (UC Davis) has been established to further focus on real-world experiences with the electric vehicles (EVs), and is expected to provide valuable insights into real-life usage and perceptions about EVs during the trial period.

More information: www.bmwgroupna.com and www.miniusanews.com

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Germany’s biggest, world’s second-biggest solar farm

By admin | Published: September 2, 2009

By staff at juwi Group of Germany and First Solar Inc of the USA

TURNOW-PREILACK, Germany – The Lieberose solar farm under construction in Brandenburg became the world’s second biggest solar power plant and Germany’s biggest, according to Wörrstädt-based juwi Group and First Solar Inc.

The announcement followed the placement of the 560,000th solar panel in the project by German Infrastructure Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee and Brandenburg Minister President Matthias Platzeck.

The solar farm still under construction in Turnow-Preilack, near Cottbus, is in several ways a landmark project for the solar industry. Despite the current economic and financial crisis, the two companies are building a utility-scale project with a total investment volume of more than €160 million. With an output of about 53 megawatts (MW) and with a size of more than 210 football fields, it is the second-largest PV installation in the world.

More at www.juwi.de and www.firstsolar.com

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Manufacturing energy-dense solid fuel from corn stover

By admin | Published: September 2, 2009

OMAHA, Nebraska – Next Step Biofuels Inc., a company that utilises proprietary processes to convert non-food biomass into clean, renewable energy, has announced the successful, commercial-scale production of PowerPellets™ from corn stover at Loup Valley Alfalfa’s pelleting facilities in Burwell, Nebraska.

COO of Next Step, Russ Zeeck, explained that the industrial-scale production of pellets from corn stover is a huge step forward in unlocking corn stover’s vast potential as a reliable, affordable source of renewable energy.

“Corn stover – all the leaves, cobs and stalks leftover after the corn is harvested – is America’s most abundant source of sustainable biomass,” he said. “But, converting it into a fuel that can be economically shipped and stored at scale has proved to be elusive. Traditional pelletising processes don’t work on corn stover, but the proprietary, patent pending processes we’ve developed over the past few years do.”

President and CEO of Loup Valley Alfalfa, Jon W. Manasil, said that his 65-year old pelleting and feed mill operation has long been interested in a way to pelletise corn stover, but, until testing Next Step’s process last week, had not identified a suitable technology. “The Next Step solution is commercially viable,” he said. “It works at industrial-scale, and does not require binders or additives.”

More at www.nextstepbiofuels.com and www.loupvalleyalfalfa.com

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Trial production at a 3,000 tonne polysilicon plant in China

By admin | Published: August 23, 2009

JIASHAN – ReneSola Ltd, a manufacturer of solar wafers, has successfully begun trial production on the first batch of polysilicon from Phase 1 of its two-phase, 3,000 tonne (annualised capacity) polysilicon manufacturing facility located in Sichuan province of China.

The new plant utilises the Siemens process and a closed loop system to produce polysilicon. Phase 2 of the facility, representing approximately 1,500 tonnes (annualised capacity), is scheduled to reach mechanical completion in September.

Based in Jiashan in Zheijiang province, ReneSola is a manufacturer of solar wafers. Capitalising on proprietary technologies and technical know-how, it manufactures mono-crystalline and multi-crystalline solar wafers. In addition, it strives to enhance its competitiveness through upstream integration into virgin polysilicon manufacturing.

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Developing next generation biofuels using photosynthetic algae

By admin | Published: August 23, 2009

LA JOLLA, California – Synthetic Genomics Inc (SGI), a company applying genomic-driven commercial systems to address a variety of global challenges including energy and the environment, has announced a multi-year R&D agreement with ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company (EMRE) to develop next generation biofuels using photosynthetic algae.

Photosynthetic algae, which include microalgae (single-celled algae) and cyanobacteria (most commonly known as blue-green algae) are organisms that are very efficient at utilising the energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into cellular oils (lipids) and even some types of long-chain hydrocarbons that can be further processed into fuels and chemicals.

However, naturally-occurring algae do not carry out this process at the efficiencies or rates necessary for commercial-scale production of biofuels. SGI and EMRE believe that biology can now be harnessed to produce sufficient quantities of biofuels.

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Fraunhofer Institute says UK single-junction cell is 28.3% efficient

By admin | Published: August 23, 2009

KINGSTON-UPON-THAMES, England – QuantaSol Ltd., a new independent designer and manufacturer of strain-balanced quantum-well solar cells, has developed what it believes to be the most efficient single junction solar cell ever manufactured.

Developed in just two years, the single-junction device has been independently tested by Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg as achieving 28.3% efficiency at greater than 500 suns.

QuantaSol was established in June 2007 as a spin-out of Imperial College London to commercialise the university’s solar cell IP, and offer devices to concentrator photovoltaic systems developers.

In itself, CCS is a recognition that widespread coal-powered generation is here to stay, and that energy policy must focus on making fossil fuel burn less damaging to the environment while promoting other sources of low-carbon power generation.

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First geothermal energy project under Western Australia’s new legislation

By admin | Published: August 23, 2009

PERTH – Green Rock Energy Limited and the University of Western Australia (UWA) have been formally offered the Geothermal Exploration Permit in the Perth Metropolitan area, including the UWA’s Crawley Campus, enabling the development of the first geothermal energy project under the state of Western Australia’s recently enacted geothermal legislation.

This commercial demonstration project will replace approximately five megawatts (MW) thermal, or one third, of the electricity being used to power the University’s central air-conditioning plants. Absorption chillers are proven technology widely used for commercial air conditioning in the USA, Japan, and Europe.

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European CCS legislation to play pivotal role in fight against global climate change

By admin | Published: August 23, 2009

LONDON – The scientific evidence for climate change is abundant and irrefutable, as is the fact that carbon capture and storage technologies must play a role in mitigating this threat.

Yet, the gaping disconnection between this important role and the current European policy approach means that emissions are unlikely to be diverted from their current path of rapid growth, according to a new report by independent market analyst Datamonitor – Carbon Capture & Storage – current situation and future potential.

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Welcome to Save The Planet’s NEW Blog

By admin | Published: July 18, 2009
Hoping for the World to grasp Common Sense and encouraging the adoption of alternative energies or energy conservation in every home, office and throughout industry.
Save the Planet now have a new Blog where we will be sharing short stories with you about the latest technologies and green energy saving techniques amongst a lot of other news. Feel free to make comments if you have used any of these things before or are thinking about it, or even if you have an opinion about them.
We look forward to hearing from you!
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