Bio-tech, nano-tech, and solar

[American Horse]

I'm not going to pretend to understand all that; one thing I do understand us that the photovoltaic generation of electricity is not the problem. The problem is storing all that potential energy. It does seem to me that if we can optimize it sufficiently, we could move those cells into geosynchronous orbit where the sun always shines, generate it and beam it down to earth. That would be the full utilization of the energy we need.

What ever happened to that "space ladder" concept? I think it consists of a carbon nano-tube extending from earth's surface out into space.

Not giving that any credibility since it would have to be more than 25,000 miles in length, would have to have a counter balance mass in orbit equal to the mass of the tether plus cargo to be lifted, and be of a size to make it efficient for two way transportation; all that to me, makes it an unrealizable fantasy.

 

[Old Rocks]

In the 1950's a worldwide net was not even an unrealizable fantasy. Had anyone suggested it, it would have been pointed out that the vacuum tubes in the computers for such a thing would have requiered more energy than the world produced at the time.

Unrealizable fantasies are the meat and potatoes of scientists and engineers.

 

[Old Rocks]

I'm not going to pretend to understand all that; one thing I do understand is that the photovoltaic generation of electricity is not the problem. The problem is storing all that potential energy. It does seem to me that if we can optimize it sufficiently, we could move those cells into geosynchronous orbit where the sun always shines, generate it and beam it down to earth. That would be the full utilization of the energy we need.

The idea of using algea solar panels to create 'diesel' fuel would be an example of storage of that energy. We use the most electricity for industry in the daylight hours, so the photovoltaic panels would be very appropriate for that period.

 

[waltky]

Solar power catchin' on...

Solar power beginning to go mainstream
Sun, Oct 30, 2011 - The solar power movement is gaining ground as a drop in solar panel prices and numerous government subsidies make the technology more affordable

Solar energy may finally get its day in the sun. The high costs that for years made it impractical as a mainstream source of energy are plummeting. Real-estate companies are racing to install solar panels on office buildings, utilities are erecting large solar panel “farms” near big cities and in desolate deserts and creative financing plans are making solar more realistic than ever for homes. Solar power installations doubled in the US last year and are expected to double again this year. More solar energy is being planned than any other power source, including nuclear, coal, natural gas and wind. “We are at the beginning of a turning point,” says Andrew Beebe, who runs global sales for Suntech Power Holdings Co (尚&#24503, a manufacturer of solar panels.

Solar’s share of the power business remains tiny, but its promise is great. The sun splashes more clean energy on the planet in one hour than humans use in a year, and daytime is when power is needed most. Moreover, solar panels can be installed near where people use power, reducing or eliminating the costs of moving power through a grid. Solar power has been held back by costs. It’s still about three times more expensive than electricity produced by natural gas, according to estimates by the US Energy Information Administration. However, the financial barriers are falling fast. Solar panel prices have plunged by two-thirds since 2008, making it easier for installers to market solar’s financial benefits and not simply its environmental ones. Homeowners who want to go solar can do so for free and pay the same or less for their power.

Last month, two of the nation’s biggest utilities, Exelon Corp and NextEra Energy Inc, each acquired a large California solar power farm in the early stages of development. Another utility, NRG Energy Inc, has announced a plan with Bank of America and the real estate firm Prologis Inc to spend US$1.4 billion to install solar systems on 750 commercial rooftops. Nationwide, solar power installations grew by 102 percent from 2009 to last year, by far the fastest rate in the past five years. Making solar affordable still requires large tax breaks and other subsidies from federal and state governments. The main federal subsidy pays for 30 percent of the cost of a residential system. When state and other subsidies are added, as much as 75 percent of the cost can be covered.

However, prices of solar panels, the squares of crystalline silicon or thin layers of metal films that turn the sun’s rays into electricity, are falling so fast that its advocates now credibly claim that solar will be able to compete with fossil fuels even when the federal solar subsidy shrinks by two-thirds in 2016. The falling prices have made it easier for solar installers to raise the money needed to grow. And they’ve made solar power systems so affordable they can appeal to homeowners who want to save on their electric bill, not just reduce their environmental impact. Some installers are teaming up with big hardware chains Home Depot and Lowe’s in an effort to expose solar to customers who might not otherwise consider it.

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See also:

Japan uses old battleship part in alternative energy
Mon, Oct 31, 2011 - SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES:A giant 70-year-old reflector is being used in a solar furnace in a town that was the birthplace of the Imperial Japanese Navy

A spare searchlight reflector built for Japan’s legendary World War II battleship Yamato has been brought out of mothballs for peaceful use in the country’s search for new energy sources. The circular reflector, 1.5m across, has become part of a solar furnace, which converts sunlight into heat at Tohoku University’s facility on the southern island of Kyushu. The furnace in Hyuga city was recently shown to Japanese media, the English-language Jiji Press reported yesterday. “It fills me with emotion to think that we can make use of the reflector some 70 years after the war,” Yasuaki Kohama, a Tohoku University professor who headed the project, told the news agency.

Yamato, the pride of the Japanese Imperial Navy, was sunk by US carrier-based bombers and torpedo bombers on April 7, 1945, while it was on its way to Okinawa to fight the Allied invasion just months before the country’s surrender. The 65,027-tonne vessel, 263m long, commissioned in December 1941, and its sister ship, the Musashi — were known as the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever built. The reflector, estimated to be worth more than ￥100 million (US$1.3 million), had been stored in Nagoya by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. The solar furnace is in Hyuga’s Mimitsu district, which is regarded as the birthplace of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Legend has it that Emperor Jinmu, the mythical first monarch of Japan, led his naval force from Mimitsu in the 7th century BC on a mission to control a major province in western Japan. “I feel some connection,” Kohama was quoted as saying by Jiji. “I am deeply moved because we can convert a weapon into energy for peaceful use.” With the use of the solar furnace, the project aims to develop a new type of fuel cell that exploits the chemical reactions of magnesium, the report said. Researchers are planning to heat magnesium oxide to 1,200°C or higher to reduce it into magnesium for reuse in the battery. In the future, the researchers aim to launch a large-scale solar furnace project in the desert in northwestern Australia.

Japan uses old battleship part in alternative energy - Taipei Times

 

[waltky]

Harvesting algae would also be a good way to clean up lakes and ponds choked with overgrowth...

U.S. Energy Department backs plan to produce algae crude oil
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Raw algae can be converted into a crude oil that can be processed at existing petroleum refineries before distribution as a substitute for gasoline and other processed fuels, new research has found.

The innovative use of algae, including the common seaweed, for large-scale renewable fuel production takes the quest for economically feasible environmentally friendly fuel a few steps further, easing pressure on agricultural alternatives that are often criticized as a potential threat to global food resources. Algae comprise from one cell to many cells, as in giant kelp, and are seen as a potential solution to global energy needs. The U.S. Department of Energy and OriginOil Inc. of California plan to work together to develop the idea to a point where algae growers can be enabled to grow their businesses and enter the renewable crude market. Brazil has been leading research into alternative sources for renewable fuel in South America but has faced criticism that some of the renewable fuels produced from feedstock and various grains threaten to undermine agriculture for food.

Algae biofuel has the potential to meet the world's growing energy demand, an OriginOil spokesman said. "Due to its high productivity, algae represents a sustainable pathway for helping to reduce capital and operating costs of algae production, due to its high productivity, sequestration of CO2, and broad co-product portfolio." OriginOil says algae has the potential to yield greater volumes of biofuel than other biofuel sources. Algal biomass has been recognized as a promising alternative source of raw material for continuous renewable biofuel. The company will launch an algae production workshop Jan. 30 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and has begun a partnership with Idaho National Laboratory to support algae growers' entry into the oil market.

Both sides will work toward developing an integrated system for direct conversion of raw algae into a renewable crude oil. "We believe this is a major breakthrough for OriginOil and a major step forward for the algae industry," OriginOil Chief Executive Officer Riggs Eckelberry said. "We already lead the industry with our chemical-free, low-energy, continuous high-flow harvesting system," he added. "From there it's a natural step to helping algae growers make a direct crude oil replacement right on site, giving them direct access to the existing world market for transportation fuels, including jet fuel. That's an instant upgrade from what is now a niche market, to the immediate 86 million-barrel-per-day global crude oil market."

OriginOil says its planned Biocrude System will integrate its own harvesting system with state-of-the-art biomass processing technology that is developed to convert raw algae into barrels of renewable crude oil. The company said obtaining the renewal crude oil will be a much cleaner alternative to hydrocarbons. Renewable algae crude could also be blended with other biomass sources to improve their performance, OriginOil said. "Algae is a high energy biomass and can function as a force multiplier to blend in other biomass waste such as from forestry and agriculture into a uniform renewable crude oil substitute," Deborah T. Newby, project manager at the Department of Energy Idaho National Laboratory said. "This may well support the U.S. military's strategic fuels diversification program." INL has been researching sustainable energy and strategically important alternatives to conventional energy sources since 1949.

Read more: U.S. Energy Department backs plan to produce algae crude oil - UPI.com

 

[waltky]

Harvesting seaweed would clean up the beaches...

Seaweed as biofuel? Scientists find a way
Jan 19, 2012 - As the search for alternative fuels expands, scientists are exploring myriad possibilities. They revealed progress Thursday using something beachgoers try to avoid: seaweed.

A team with Bio Architecture Lab (BAL), a company based in Berkeley, Calif. announced it has found a way to extract the major sugars in seaweed and convert them into affordable renewable fuels. Its work is featured on the cover of the Jan. 20th edition of Science magazine.

"About 60% of the dry biomass of seaweed are fermentable carbohydrates, and approximately half of those are locked in a single carbohydrate - alginate," company CEO Daniel Trunfio said in announcing the research.. His scientists have engineered an enzyme to degrade the alginate and a pathway to metabolize it.

They describe seaweed as an ideal feedstock for making biofuels, because it has a high sugar content, does not require arable land or freshwater to grow and is environmentally friendly. BAL has four farms in Chile that can grow seaweed in economically viable quantities.

In 2010, BAL and DuPont received a $17.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a process that converts seaweed's sugars into isobutanol. DOE's Jonathan Burbaum said BAL's technology, combined with commercial-scale seaweed cultivation promises to produce renewable fuels without forcing a tradeoff with food crops such as corn or sugarcane.

Source

 

[whitehall]

I have algae in my pond and it doesn't seem to increase the efficiency of my fish. I'm being fatuous but the point is that the recipients of federal grants are just like anyone taking money from the taxpayers. They will justify anything that keeps them in that Lexus. Count on them to hint at a breakthrough that may or not come in ten or twenty more years of federal grants.