Dadamotive: Life after cheap oil: January 2009 Archives

Logical, ja?

Posted by Herman | January 30 | 2009 9:06 PM | permalink

We are familiar with coal-gasification. The intermediate product is syn-gas, a mixture of hydrogen and CO. Syngas can be used in may ways to generate power, for stationary or mobile purposes, making it a key ingredient for future energy infrastructures.

But syngas can also be made from biomass. The main drawback against using biomass has been logistic costs. You need a large gasification plant to get the economies of scale. To transport the necessary biomass volume to the plant is just not viable.

Unless....

Scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have found a way around the problem.

Bioliq as they call it involves first heating the plant material in the absence of air to around 500°C, a process known as pyrolysis. This produces a thick oily liquid containing solid particles of coke termed biosyncrude. The crude can be made efficiently in small decentral facilities. The highly concentrated crude is transported to the central plant to make syngas.

The economics are a magnitude better. Clever.

Plugged

Posted by Herman | January 30 | 2009 8:18 PM | permalink

A lot of knowledgeable people predict that we will see Plugin-Hybrid Vehicles take a large part of the market quickly, much more than pure electric vehicles. They combine the best of two worlds until battery technology gets to the next level, are reliable, production can be scaled up quickly. The reduction of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions can be quite large, as recent results show.

Cleantechnica reports about real life use of a couple of Priuses that have been converted to PHEV's.

More than 40 km to the liter if you add a couple of cents of electricity, not bad.

Turning point?

Posted by Herman | January 28 | 2009 11:12 AM | permalink

According the latest Annual report on Energy Generation in the USA they have reached a turning point:

In 2007, for the first time, renewable energy sources, other than conventional hydroelectric capacity, accounted for the largest portion of capacity additions. Total net summer capacity increased 8,673 MW in 2007. Wind capacity accounted for 5,186 MW of this new capacity. Natural gas-fired generation accounted for 4,582 MW. Two new coal-fired plants with summer capacity totaling 1,354 MW were placed in service in 2007. However, retirements and downward adjustments to existing capacity resulted in a 217 MW net reduction in coal-fired capacity.

[Source Cleantechnica]

"Clean" coal?

Posted by Herman | January 28 | 2009 7:58 AM | permalink

Factcheck.org has published a pretty good overview of the state of the discussion on coal as an energy source. Is so-called "clean coal" possible? Their answer: not yet, is probable, but with a hefty price tag.

What they leave out in their considerations are two observations.

One: adding traditional coal energy plants (with or without CO2 capture) to the grid will only increase the base load capacity, while you have to decrease this base load level to adapt to sustainable energy sources. Flexibility will become key in the future, coal is very inflexible.

Coal gassification on the other hand is very flexible and it allows for cheaper and easier CO2 capture.

Two: if you now allow investments in traditional coal plants with (future and yet unproven) end-of-pipe CO2 capture, you have painted yourself in a corner as society. All the riscs of end-of-pipe capture will be placed upon us all. If it does not work we have the lousy choice of throwing away the investment in the plant or allow CO2 emissions to be continued. If it turns out end-of-pipe capture works but it turns out to be very expensive we will pay the price directly or indirectly.

Bad public policy.

For anyone who wants to freshen up on the subject.

Fly away

Posted by Marjolein | January 27 | 2009 2:01 PM | permalink

Are you looking for a way to bond with your neighbours? Buy a hot air balloon and generate energy for all your new friends with the balloon engine. Ian Edmonds' balloon engine traps solar energy in a greenhouse and inflates a giant balloon with the heated air. The balloon pulls a earthbound tether while it rises, spinning a generator to generate electricity. Once the balloon has ascended 3 kilometers it automatically release its air to lose buoyancy. In the descent less energy is needed to pull the balloon back down again, resulting in a net power gain. Edmonds estimates the average power output on 50kW for a commercially available balloon (with a volume of 45,000 cubic metres, equivalent to a sphere of diameter 44m). He predicts that the costs of his balloon engine par with that of wind power. That would be great for sunny places where the wind rarely blows.

Via: NewScientist.com
Link to more information and the concept of operation: Balloon Engine

Effect

Posted by Herman | January 26 | 2009 7:56 AM | permalink

Another effect of the German laws that stimulate local sustainable energy generation.

Flow of money

Posted by Herman | January 23 | 2009 10:44 PM | permalink

During my visit in the Bavarian Alps (near the Czech border) I noticed the effect of the famous German law that regulates the amount that is paid for green energy delivered to the grid. It is known that is has spurred a lot of investments in solar panels and windenergy parks.

Over here they tackled it a little bit different.

Someone with a little mountain river on his property has placed 4 turbines in the river. Each turbine delivers on average 250 KW of energy. The electric energy is delivered to the grid at a price of 11 eurocents per KWh, meaning a revenue of 240.000 euro per turbine per year. Depreciation, maintenance and interest is estimated by the locals at less than 200.000 euro per year.

So these 4 turbines give an income of 160.000 euro per year.

Not bad for a relatively small piece of land in the outback of Bavaria.

Beats farming.

Penalty

Posted by Herman | January 20 | 2009 8:56 AM | permalink

Everyone in logistics is aware of the relatively low utilization rate of trucks. It is reportedly below 50 %, as many trucks bring a load to one place and return empty. Many other factors (like branded trucks: a Coca Cola truck cannot carry beverages from other companies, let alone something else than beverages) reduce the utilization even more. All these empty kilometers cost money and produce CO2 emissions.

In a move probably stimulated by the succes of the congestion charge in London an advisor to the British Government has proposed to tax empty truck kilometers. This would reduce road taxes for others and stimulate cooperation to improve utilization.

Hmm, not a bad idea. The only problem might be to check if a truck is empty or not. I can imagine that clever truckers keep the truck partly loaded at all time.

Logical

Posted by Herman | January 18 | 2009 11:59 PM | permalink

One strategy to use less (expensive) silicon in solar panels is by concentrating the sunlight with lenses on the solar cells. The drawback is the heat: silicon does not like to be overheated. So you see designs with elaborate cooling fins to keep the solar cells at a reasonable temperature.

I guess it would only be a matter of time before somebody realized you could harvest that heat as well, increasing the energy produced by this envestment and reducing the waste.

Well, here is one example. Entech Solar produces combined cycle solar collectors called ThermaVolt. I am curious about the real-life performance.......

It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's ....uhhh

Posted by Herman | January 18 | 2009 7:18 PM | permalink

Ok, paragliding is well known sport. You even can see powered paragliders, carrying a small engine and propellor on their back.

But extending this to a 4-wheeled vehicle?

Apparently a company called Skycar will sell these vehicle/powered paraglider cross-overs in a sleek package.

The specs are OK:

In "fly mode" the car will have:

a take-off speed of 60 kmph
a top speed of 110 kmph
a range of 300 km.
a cruising altitude of 2000 - 3000 ft
a maximum altitude of 15,000 ft.

In "road mode" the car will have:

independent 4 wheel suspension
rear wheel drive
acceleration from 0-100 kmph in 4.5 seconds
a top speed of 180 kmph
a range of 400 km

To prove their point they have started a charity fundraising journey from London to Timbouctou, approx. 6000 km, by road and in the air.

Selling newspapers

Posted by Herman | January 13 | 2009 9:31 PM | permalink

Yesterday the story was all over the news "Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research." . Great headline, therefore copied without any checking by leading media.

The reseacher quoted has a different story. The Sunday Times of London who started the story made things up.

Techworld tells us:

The study's author, Harvard University physicist Alex Wissner-Gross, says he never mentions Google in the study. "For some reason, in their story on the study, the Times had an ax to grind with Google," Wissner-Gross told TechNewsWorld. "Our work has nothing to do with Google. Our focus was exclusively on the Web overall, and we found that it takes on average about 20 milligrams of CO2 per second to visit a Web site."

And the example involving tea kettles? "They did that. I have no idea where they got those statistics," Wissner-Gross said.

Wisner-Gross has a simple explanation: "The short answer is, it's a really easy way to sell papers. Google is a very successful company and it's a very easy way to get readership by making grandiose claims about them.".

Interestingly enough this has triggered Google to give an estimate themselves.: 0,2 gram of CO2 per search.

Still ugly

Posted by Willem | January 13 | 2009 1:50 PM | permalink

Although the people from jalopnik.com seem to like it, I still think the new Toyota Prius, recently unveiled at the Detroit motor show, looks bad. The article displays a lot of details on the new design and performance. And also in that aspect, I am somewhat dissapointed. 9% better fuel efficiency does not sound like a lot for a new model. My prediction: Prius is out. And although more dead than alive, Chryler will be in if it reaches 2011..

.

Ballistic

Posted by Herman | January 11 | 2009 11:23 PM | permalink

The battle on nuclear energy is in full swing. Proponents see it as the most effective method for reducing emissions of green-house-gasses. However discussions on safety have erupted after the stream of reports on "minor accidents" in France. Reports about the possibility of a limited supply of fuel have been debunked by the IAE, but the issue of storage of radioactive waste material for eons is still unresolved.

One can debate on all of the above. The biggest questionmark now is costs. As reported before more and more proof is becoming available that nuclear energy is far more expensive than any other solution. The NY Times reports :

It turns out that new plants would be not just extremely expensive but spectacularly expensive. The first detailed cost estimate, filed by Florida Power & Light (FPL) for a large plant off the Keys, came in at a shocking $12 billion to $18 billion. Progress Energy announced a $17 billion plan for a similar Florida plant, tripling its estimate in just a year. "Completely mind-boggling," says Charlie Beck, who represents ratepayers for Florida's Office of Public Counsel.

....

The key will be reducing demand through energy efficiency and conservation. Most efficiency improvements have been priced at 1¢ to 3¢ per kilowatt-hour, while new nuclear energy is on track to cost 15¢ to 20¢ per kilowatt-hour. And no nuclear plant has ever been completed on budget.

How to prevent traffic jams

Posted by Herman | January 06 | 2009 10:28 AM | permalink

Yesterday (the 5th of januari) half of the Netherlands was covered in snow. The eastern/southern half to be precise. The effect? Terrible traffic jams in the south, particularly on the roads leading to the Randstad (area enclosed by Amsterdam, Den Haag, Rotterdam and Utrecht).

And hardly any traffic jam in the Randstad itself, funny enough.

Which leads to the hypothesis that the main cause of traffic jams is all the traffic going to and from the Randstad, the economic heart of the Netherlands.

Ultracapacitor

Posted by Willem | January 02 | 2009 3:26 PM | permalink

Gas2.0 published an interview with Honda's chief engineer Tetsuya Yokoyama and discussed the ultracapacitor with him. In brief the ultracapacitor is a battery-alternative that stores more energy than a comparable size and weight battery and can be charged much faster. Two other publications on this nice website tell about a recently granted patent and about some of the science behind it. Interestingly enough, however, Mr. Yokoyama states that the ultracapacitor has taken a backburner at Honda, considering recent advances in lithium ion and NiMH battery technology. He states that a significant technological break through is needed for the ultracapacitor to become production reality and that this is rare. However, the accumulation of know-how from the continuous technological research and development could bring further advancement by linking different technologies together, he pointed out. Combination of a classical battery with an ultracapacitor could then maybe become the first reality. Read also Honda's own information on the ultracapacitor.