Cleantech Update

In the late 1970s, John Gofman, co-inventor of plutonium, had second thoughts about his work with nuclear power over the years. He authored a book entitled Irrevy, in which he argued that the use of nuclear power for electrical production amounted to a bad tradeoff of inefficient and expensive power generation for an insoluble toxic waste problem and generations upon generations of unknown cancers and genetic defects. While the portion of domestic electricity currently produced by nuclear energy is marginal, at that time there were quite a few more nuclear power plants and nuclear energy production. A perfect storm of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl together with movies such as The China Syndrome gave impetus to an anti-nuclear movement, of which, Gofman was a pre-eminent spokesman, which changed all of that. Now, as the nation faces an energy crisis, not just of gas lines, but of all energy production, the idea of re-introducing nuclear energy with a vengeance has emerged. During the ...

I pulled this from a Alfagy's website: They are developing wood mass gassification in a high heat low oxegen invironment, the burining the clean gas. Very interesting... -CTE Editor The range of fully automated Wood Gasified Heat and Power Plants are as follows: The ENERCARB wood gas technology offers customers a turn-key automated solution for heat and power generation from wood. We can provide a complete solution covering the full value chain from wood preparation to power generation in the 250 kW to 1,000 kW range. This is a gap in the market where the company believes there is a potential £725m market worldwide.A full scale 500 kW wood gasification plant was built for a client and has been operating since April 2009. Over the next 3 years sales of wood gasification plants are expected growing rapidly with the introduction of new support structures. Biomass accounts for around 5 per cent of total energy consumption in Europe. In countries such as Finland, Sweden and Austria it...

I found this five year old post that proclaims they time for cogeneration has come. It is more true today than ever. -Editor The Future of Small Scale Distributed Generation Feb 27, 2004 12:00 PM, By George Zirnhelt, P.E., Power Systems Research, Inc. Even though the United States’ electric utility system delivers only 20% to 30% of potential energy to end-users, it’s still the most cost-effective means of generation available today. Distributed generation (DG) has proven to be more efficient, but its cost has been prohibitive to this point. Its supporters have been pushing to capture more of the power market for years, but until it can compete on both levels, it will have trouble. In certain situations, however, economics, reliability, and/or quality have created a circumstance where it actually makes sense for the electric power user to generate his own power. Large-scale industrial users—especially those who can also use the by-product heat—can justify the investment on economic ter...

This is a repost of an great article By Lindsay Audin from June 2008 -Editor In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and give their organizations some green credibility, many facility executives are incorporating on- site renewable or high-efficiency sources of power into their operations. Federal income tax credits (available until the end of 2008) and state and utility-sponsored rebates, grants or low-interest loans are lowering the net cost for such on-site systems. Many facility executive are also purchasing renewable energy credits (RECs) or carbon offsets (also called Verified Emission Reductions, or VERs) that pay others to produce renewable energy elsewhere. Together, these processes help to minimize an organization’s carbon footprint. Financial incentives and novel contractual arrangements are opening new doors to such options, but finding the right paths may still be a challenge. With the major presidential candidates supporting some form of carbon regulation, m...

Signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, President Barack Obama has included a new tax credit to encourage investment in efficient energy production equipment manufacturing facilities. A new 30% investment tax credit is available for projects that establish, re-equip or expand manufacturing facilities for fuel cells, micro-turbines, renewable fuel refineries and blending facilities, energy saving technologies, smart grid technologies and solar, wind and geothermal technologies. In addition, as part of the Act, close to $17 billion of funding for the Department of Energy (DoE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The funding is a nearly tenfold increase for EERE, which is expected to use the bulk of the new funding in direct grants and rebates, although $2.5 billion will support its applied research, development and deployment activities, including $800 million for biomass. A further $400 million will support the establishment of an agency to suppo...

Unlike the traditional steam Rankine cycle , the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) uses a high molecular mass organic fluid. It allows heat recovery from low temperature sources such as industrial waste heat, geothermal heat, solar ponds, etc. The low temperature heat is converted into useful work, that can itself be converted into electricity. A prototype was first developed and exhibited in 1961 by Israeli solar engineers Harry Zvi Tabor and Lucien Bronicki . [1] [2] Working principle of the ORC T-s diagram for the ideal/real ORC The working principle of the organic Rankine cycle is the same as that of the Rankine cycle : the working fluid is pumped to a boiler where it is evaporated, passes through a turbine and is finally re-condensed. In the ideal cycle, the expansion is isentropic and the evaporation and condensation processes are isobaric . In the real cycle, the presence of irreversibilities lowers the cycle efficiency . Those irreversibilities mainly occur : During the expansio...

Glossary of Fuel Cell Terms Alkali: A chemical "base" (loosely, the opposite of an acid). Certain types of alkalis (especially potassium hydroxide) have been used as fuel cell electrolytes. Anion: A negative ion. Alkali, molten carbonate and solid oxide fuel cells are "anion-mobile" cells – anions migrate through the electrolyte toward the anode. Anode: One of two electrodes in a fuel cell or battery. In a fuel cell it is where the fuel reacts or "oxidizes", and releases electrons. Capital Cost: The purchase price of a power generating system. Carnot Limit: A theoretical limit on the efficiency of an engine based on the flow of heat between two reservoirs. Named for its discoverer Sadi Carnot (1796-1832) of France, this limit stems from basic physical laws and applies to all steam engines. Fossil fuel and nuclear power plants are bound by this limit, but most fuel cells are not. Catalyst: A substance that causes or speeds a chemical reaction without itself...

Acumentrics Corporation They make a 5 kw SOFC Fuel cell : Acumentrics’ 5000 Electric Power Generator Efficient: Peak efficiencies between 40-50%; up to 90% with waste heat recovery. Silent: Whisper quiet electrochemical process generates continuous electricity. Internal scrubbing: Negligible NOx and SOx output; reduced CO2 output. Solid State: Ceramic fuel cell tubes. Fuel-flexible: Compatible with natural gas, propane, biofuels, LPG, H2 \ Site flexible: Small scale package is easy to site. Grid-tie option: Allows connection to utility grid for peak shaving and net-metering. Easy operation: Rapid start and stop. Fuels can be stored onsite or delivered at residential line pressures. No external or internal pressure boosting required. Communications ready: Monitor and control using built-in Ethernet port. Altergy Altergy Systems designs and manufactures proprietary proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems, collectively known as Altergy Freedom Power™ products . These compact, r...

Energy Recovery West Point Treatment Plant South Treatment Plant Cogeneration is the concurrent production of power and heat from the same source. Recycling, Reusing and Reclaiming King County is committed to recovering and reusing the products of the wastewater treatment process at its regional clean-water facilities. The capability to beneficially reuse products increase the efficiency of the wastewater treatment plants, offer environmental sustainability and save the ratepayers money. The treatment plants have three main products : treated water, treated solids known as biosolids , and digester gas. All biosolids are beneficially reused in agriculture and forestry. Some highly treated reclaimed water is reused for irrigation and plant processes. Digester gas is released from the solid matter removed from wastewater during the treatment process. The solid matter is collected and thickened. It then goes to large digester tanks. In the digesters, the solid matter is heated and mixed. ...

March 11th, 2008 Last week, RSP Systems installed the first microturbines in New York City pursuant to a new rule for their installation and use that Mayor Bloomberg signed into law last December. RSP installed a set of Capstone C60 Microturbines at LEED Gold-certified Millenium Tower Residences in Battery Park City. According to RSP President Cory Glick, microturbines are being specified with increasing frequency in local projects for new and existing buildings, and the company has created a New York-area dealership network of electrical and mechanical contractors who can design, install, and commission Capstone microturbines. The microturbine law was drafted by a Cogeneration Task Force led by Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. Microturbines capture the heat waste generated by their turbines in producing electricity and transform it into usable energy, making them between 70 and 80 percent efficient (compared with 30 to 35 percent e...