When it comes to alternate energy, what does America have over everyone else? In a word, innovation. What does America lack compared to other nations? A composite plan to implement alternate energy across the entire spectrum of energy use and a strategy for phasing out fossil fuels. If there is going to be a breakthrough in alternate energy whether it is in batteries, solar cells, super efficient motors, super efficient lights, super biofuels and — dare I go there — even safe nuclear power, America is most likely the one to do it. Advances in solar cells, batteries and super grid systems seem to be coming out of only America’s research labs. We are No. 2 in solar panel installation. Research at the NREL and NASA is focused on improving battery efficiencies, lighter materials, and greater thermal conductivity to name but a few. Exxon Mobil holds the patents on the most advanced lithium batteries, is experimenting with plastics for batteries, and has invested over $600 million on algae biofuels. Bill Gates, with Terra Power, was ready to test his TWR nuclear project, but it’s on hold due to the trade war with China where it was to be tested and presumably marketed. It’s a nuclear reactor that would use reprocessed nuclear waste, has a fast shutdown time in an emergency, uses less water for cooling. In California, a company called Heliogen has built a mirror focusing farm in the Mojave Desert. This innovative project can convert sunlight directly into 2200F heat, enough to melt most metals and extract hydrogen from water. America also is stepping up its research in perovskite at the university level. If this solar cell ever gets to the next stage, the theoretical limit of 66% could be achieved. However, America is a little behind China and the Netherlands in getting closer to a commercially marketable perovskite. The race is on. The next issue is storage systems. The U.S. has the best fuel cell manufacturers, FuelCell, Plug Power and Bloom — you may want to consider these in your portfolio. All have huge upward potential as solar farms, municipalities, grid systems, all forms of transportation will be looking to back up their power systems with batteries. Grand Ridge Project in Illinois by Invenergy company is one of the largest lithium ion battery installations, and Los Angeles is looking into 100 megawatt storage unit. The Southwest Power Pool is spending $545 million to upgrade its grid system to incorporate wind power with storage systems. Sometimes the wind output exceeds demand for the three states served by the grid. The all-electric movement is another American innovation. There is a movement afoot to ensure that all new construction goes green. From Massachusetts to California, mandates are requiring that new construction goes all-electric, which assures a single line of energy that eliminates gas lines, makes feeding the houses with power from solar panels and solar farms much more effective. Such a noble imposition has its drawbacks. It’s not that people don’t want it, it’s just too much too soon. The transition to green energy must be smooth. Many energy enthusiasts champion green ideas, but they must first work with the real world and allow the change to take place as old products and systems need replacement and new systems blended in. This transition may be America’s largest contribution on the world stage for going green. Geothermal is picking up across the U.S. but has been limited to local single-owner type use. Large geothermal sites run an even greater risk for earthquakes as does fracking. What America lacks So with all of that what does America lack in the energy future? Europe, Africa, some of South America, Canada, India, China and to a minor extent Russia all have made commitments to curb global warming. They all have goals to commit to a greener world such as growing more trees, curbing mining operations, using natural gas as an intermediate implementing solar and wind projects anywhere feasible, protecting water systems with smart hydro-power generation. Our President, who has no background in science, does not consult specialists in the field nor does he appoint any to the appropriate office.* NASA, NREL, and NOAA are all federal agencies that deal in great measure with weather, climate and geological change data, which top scientists say indicate with utmost certainty that there is global warming. NOAA is going to launch four satellites by 2024 with the sole purpose of monitoring those elements of climate change. If this isn’t enough to convince the commander in chief, companies such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and BP all concede that global warming is real. Would these successful energy companies build their business model around a hoax? These companies are dedicating resources on alternate fuels, battery research and materials to aid the solar and wind industries. With all this evidence, President Trump continues to insist that global warming is a hoax. Under his administration America lacks a plan to reduce carbon emissions and any commitment to get off fossil fuels. If anything, it is doing the exact opposite. This administration has pulled out all the stops to take away the protections to nature and to turn them over for a pittance to mining interests, notably in Utah at the Bear’s Earsand Grand StairCase Escalante National parks. Although the matter is under appeal, Trump is demanding that the park begin mining operations. The president also has removed the power of the secretaries of each state, as required under the Clean Water Act, to determine the various water projects and has placed himself in charge. President Trump has removed the United States from the Paris accord as well, the only country to do so. He is reducing the emissions standards of coal-fired plants and reduced environmental standards of mining around the streams and tributaries. He has opened up Alaska’s coastal region to mine for oil and gas. Further he has placed a 30% tariff on solar panels from China, the major U.S. supplier. It was, in fact, one of the first tariffs imposed on China. President Trump has condemned or ridiculed virtually all forms of alternate energy — from LED lights causing blindness to wind turbines causing (hearing) cancer and killing the American bald eagle and to solar panels causing pollution. President Trump frequently criticizes wind turbines for killing birds when in fact tall buildings are the No. 1 killer of birds, tall buildings that Trump enterprises builds all around the world. In conclusion In my humble opinion, we are a global community. What one nation does within its borders can affect the world at large. Chernobyl comes to mind. The numerous natural gas fires in Siberia will eventually affect Europe and Asia. The lack of rain in Australia — hence the fires — may possibly be attributed to the change in weather patterns promoted by concentrated farming practices around the world. The U.S., which at one time consumed 30% of the world’s total energy, bears a moral and material responsibility to the rest of the world to curb its environmental and energy abuses. We have the resources and the talent to find other ways to improve on how we obtain energy, yet we are not taking that responsibility. President Trump has undermined our nation’s responsibility to the rest of the world to commit to carbon reduction and environmentally sound energy production, save for the most current commitment of the Worldwide Trillion Tree planting. He has intentionally chosen not to create a plan for curbing emissions and improving environmentally sound projects for the future; it is not even on the radar. The fact that America’s leader has failed to take responsibility for our energy consumption and does not care about the environment will have long-term consequences world wide. The earth will remain long after man is gone. Just how long that will be is dependent on what we do now. * Andrew Wheeler, former attorney for Murray Coal, lobbied for the annexation of Bear’s Ear National Park to mine coal, is now head of the EPA; 85% of this park is slated for mining use.
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I’m just taking a Greyhound on the Hudson River line. Cause I’m in a ... I’m in a New York state of mind. — Billy Joel, 1976 In our initial 12 Progress Reports, the focus has been on what countries were doing about alternate energy, mostly good, except for Russia. This month it will be about our states. I am happy to report that all of America’s states are making efforts to go green. Solar and wind are rapidly becoming mainstream. Next month, we’ll look at federal efforts and how we compare to the rest of the world. States’ rights and responsibility Texas leads the nation in wind power and California in solar. Iowa is second in wind with Oklahoma third; North Carolina is second and Arizona third in installed solar power. It is difficult to discern the true net affect that combined solar and wind has had on the total energy scheme in the United States. Texas, known more for oil and a being a “wild catter” state, for example, has its own independent power grid run by ERCOT that comes under much different rules of operation than other grid systems. Texas leads the nation in wind by a huge margin of 16 gigawatts, almost three times that of Iowa. California holds the lead in solar by a large margin, nearly five times that of North Carolina. However, the solar farms of one state may be less effective than another due to the natural availability of sunshine; another state could have less installed power yet produce more energy. Simply put some states are limited by nature as to the use of wind and sun. In some southern states it’s very overcast so it may not warrant the implementation of solar panels. In other areas the wind is not sufficient or the terrain limits the speed of the wind. Curiously, states with the most coastline and states in the middle of the country do the best with wind. Keep in mind sunny areas that are cold produce about 20 percent more energy than sunny areas that are hot, using the exact same solar cells! So why is our state so great? What makes New York special is that we are making the most with the least. New York provides the opportunities now and has a plan for the future. NY is not so solar or wind abundant as other states, but we are making the best of it. In previous columns, I had to admit to loathing most politicians, especially when it comes to technology. However, the Cuomo administration hits it out the park with its now enacted energy law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. This law provides numerous incentives with existing utilities to work out the cost benefit to installing solar vis a vis solar and farms and wind farms. The utilities win because they receive the cost benefit of the up front costs of building new facilities and the public wins by savings created by the return on investment of these solar and wind farms. There is the issue of using farmland, but there is a contingency of solar grazers that still keep it a farm. These are, in fact, sheep that do an excellent job keeping the grass around the solar panels down while becoming wool and lunch for their owners. The bill has goals and routes to achieve them. New York has awarded a total of approximately 4,700 megawatts of new, large-scale renewable energy contracts since March 2018 through three separate solicitations, a globally significant advancement in renewable energy in just two years. Collectively, these projects will provide enough renewable energy to power up to 2 million households and meet nearly 10% of New York’s electricity needs by 2025. CLCPA The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act is an ambitious act to bring NY to one of the highest clean energy standards in the nation by 2040. It also is intended to create jobs and encourage clean energy through wind and solar installations. The law mandates that: • 70 percent of the state’s electricity must come from renewable energy by 2030; • 100 percent of the state’s electricity supply must be emissions free by 2040; • 9,000 MW of offshore wind must be installed to serve New Yorkers by 2035; • 6,000 MW of solar energy must be installed to serve New Yorkers by 2025; • A statewide goal of reducing energy consumption by 185 trillion British thermal units (BTUs) from the state’s 2025 forecast through energy efficiency improvements; • 3,000 MW of energy storage capacity must be installed to serve. The CLCPA kicks off its first big wind projects: The Empire Offshore Wind Project and the Sunrise Off Shore wind Project. Much preparation is required to set wind turbines offshore in a federal jurisdiction. It takes two years just to clear the hurdles. I spoke with one of the offshore project’s spokesmen to ask if they have looked into Lake Ontario. Wind experiments were conducted at the James Fitzpatrick nuclear power plant 1985, and the wind turbine averaged 111% over the anticipated output over time. A survey also was done about placing wind turbines in Lake Ontario, and 70% of the participants were in favor of doing so. The spokesman said he would get back to me. These two projects will produce about 1.7 gigawatts of power. Energy Sector Innovation Credit ActYou may have read about Congressman Tom Reed’s legislation in Thursday’s Finger Lakes Times. I would like to add one thing to that story: this is one of the few bills that addresses the issue of storage for alternate energy systems. In a prior column I mentioned that energy storage is the missing link to success transitioning to complete separation from conventional power plants. This increase need for energy storage will spawn increased interest in building better and cheaper batteries. I quote here from Congressman Reed’s website, “Tax provisions designed to benefit specific energy technologies or resources have been part of the U.S. tax code for decades. The Reed bill is notable because it will create technology-neutral production and investment tax credits to incentivize the deployment of ‘first-of-a-kind’ clean energy technologies on the electric grid. Further, this bill includes a natural ramp-down based on total percentage of national electricity generation, thus supporting innovation without fostering dependence on public financial support. The Reed bill will allow federal investment to spur innovation and help to advance the deployment of the technologies of tomorrow.” Harbec Plastic — the NY Eco Business role model Harbec Plastics in Ontario, N.Y. is one of the very few companies that has the kind of wind turbine output that can serve the business’ electrical power needs. Bob Bechtold is the owner and visionary who created the NY Eco Business model. Hopefully it will be followed by many businesses to come. Bechtold did this years before the subsidies and other incentives were in place. It is one of the very few turbines that gets it wind off Lake Ontario, which is a “hot spot” for wind. His vision should be the model for all business to come. In conclusion The good news is that across the board alternate energy is growing at a fast pace and all states have programs in place to at least open the door for its growth. New York along with Massachusetts, as it turns out, are the most progressive. It is great to see the bipartisan work by Congressman Reed’s office and the diligence of the office of Gov. Cuomo to make this all happen. Please encourage your representative to vote for Congressman Reed’s bill. Everyone has their political views, but this one topic that must have everyone’s undivided support and we can all say with pride, “I’m in the New York state of mind." This month, we look at a number of successful businesses providing a valuable community service in energy. Alternate energy is now cost effective and a smart investment. I interviewed a number of Yates and Ontario county constructors who provide solar and geothermal energy to over a thousand customers and have reduced the carbon footprint substantially. This, by far, is my brightest feature! Pun intended. I thought I would begin with a local effort in my hometown of Penn Yan. There are a variety of services and users in the field of alternate energy. Most notable here are geothermal and solar. For a small town we have a significant interest in alternate energy with many local installations of geothermal and solar. As for installers, we have Moravec Geothermal Well Drillers, Dailey Electric and Qwik Solar. At Moravec Geothermal, I spoke with CEO Kevin Moravec and asked about the size, scope and average time of a project. The size of a geothermal site is based on the BTUs or Therms a customer is looking to replace based on usage. The scope depends upon the size of the property. With sufficient land a horizontal system that does not require long vertical drilling can be used, but in tighter quarters, a deep drill well or vertical system is called for. With a vertical system, the planning and preparation drilling is the first step. The typical depth is fairly deep, about 300 to 400 feet. In Penn Yan one has to drill deeper to reach higher temperatures than say in southern Pennsylvania. Then an inch-and-a-half pipe is lowered into the hole and a loop is formed to capture the energy exchange. After the drilling is complete, the processing equipment is installed. I next spoke with Ryan Dailey at Dailey Electric and its role in completing a project. Heat exchange is done via a heat pump, which Dailey Electric installs along with corresponding electric power and the electronic controls. I say heat exchange because just as a “heat” pump provides heat, it also can provide cooling with the same well. Heat pumps have been around for a long time. Improvements recently came in motor and pump efficiencies, but for the most part, there have been no big changes except for adapting techniques of variable capacity system. Without getting into the science of heat exchange, suffice to say that variable capacity systems have improved geothermal by about 20 percent, thereby adding to its already noted value. Geothermal future is red hot What I learned from Kevin and Ryan is that geothermal may be the inevitable future of home heating because gas lines in the state are showing signs of deterioration. A New York Times article reported that natural gas leaks nationwide lose about 2.3%, though due to the tens of thousands of miles of gas lines, it is very difficult to measure. The Environmental Defense Fund — or EDF — is working on a project called MethaneSat, which will use LiDAR and Infrared technology to detect gas leaks from space. Its anticipated launch is 2022. With the cost of repair of these gas lines, installing geothermal becomes a better alternative. It may come to the point where geothermal installation per home will be cheaper than replacing the pipelines. Couple this with a carbon reduction of approximately 10 tons per year, its a no-brainer. Solar • Qwik Solar, Penn Yan has done over 1,000 installations in New York. I had an interesting chat with Dan Lewis who told me that Qwik Solar also has made some solar farm installations that allow people to go solar without installing them on a roof or property. Qwik Solar panels are made by Panasonic, which makes the guarantees more effective as Panasonic is likely to be around for the next 25 years while other solar cell manufactures may not be. Plus these panels are around 20% efficient with a 90% yield after 10 years of operation. This is key too because not all panels can make this claim. Solar panels do degenerate over time but at these rates they are likely to outlast the owners. This does not take into account the return on investment. In most cases solar can repay itself in 7-10 years. • Solar Home Factory and Solar Village, Geneva is unique in that it offers solar homes as a complete package. It features “Net Zero” energy homes as turn-key operation. I spoke with owner Ryan Wallace about his projects. Solar Home Factory factors in the net carbon affect of construction. Communal solar is actually the most efficient use of solar energy because all the energy use of each appliance is the same. Ryan’s Solar Village is an idea of the future today. • Hunt Country Vineyards, Branchport has one of the largest projects I looked at. It has 348 solar panels for electric power and eight 375-foot wells for geothermal operation. Hunt Country has taken an extra step in supplying its store with locally produced goods to reduce the shipping costs and its carbon footprint. Its operation produces 120,000 kilowatt hours of electricity with its solar panels, reducing fuel consumption by 5,500 gallons. Is it all worth it? The annual energy costs saved amount to nearly $40,000. The capital cost will be paid in less than 10 years and the rest is a steady income and savings. There several other vineyards and wineries replacing their carbon footprint as well, notably Wagner Vineyards, Dr. Franks and, Eagle Crest. I hope to get out there soon. • MM Electric, Geneva has installed a 50 kilowatt system, and I spoke with owner Matt Shumway. He has an outdoor array of solar panels and his return on investment is only four years. With the business incentives and meter rewind, he will save $800 a month and have a significant capital improvement investment. I asked about snow accumulation, and he said it is not a major problem because when it snows there’s little available energy collected anyway. Once it stops snowing, because the solar panels are black and collect heat, that heat melts the snow where it is contact with the panel. • Los Gatos, Penn Yan is a bed-and-breakfast on Route 14A North just as you are leaving Penn Yan. It means “The Cats,” and I spoke with the new owner Charlie Franks, a former solar installer himself. His 86-panel array is unique because the arrays are split up and one is at a curious angle. There are 64 panels on the ground facing up at approximately a 22-degree angle. The remaining 22 panels are mounted on the roof of the main building at a 60- degree angle. Optimal solar panel angle is about 45 degrees at this latitude. The reason for the 22-degree — the trees that are directly south of the path of the solar panels. To make the best of the situation was to model the optimal solar index angle and use the roof while not cutting the trees. Having a B-and-B and solar maximizes the energy use from the solar arrays. Megawatt projects There are some other proposed solar projects, such as the 80 megawatt unit for Waterloo. At a cost of $95 million — an installed price of about $1.10 a watt — these are solar fields that offer the consumer the option of purchasing solar produced electricity without having the panels directly installed on their roofs or property. This one-fourth the cost of nuclear power and less than 1 percent of security and maintenance costs of a nuclear plant. However, large solar farms are met with resistance by various neighborhood groups that are not pleased to have these solar fields in their vicinity. A number of groups have expressed displeasure with the large Waterloo project by NextAmp. I would like to ask if a gas-fired or nuclear power plant would be a better alternative? Conclusion Having an energy efficient system today is not only a step in the green direction but it makes “cents.” In my very humble opinion, if I were starting out today in life I would build my house to face south and place as many solar panels on the roof as possible. I would have a geothermal heating and cooling system as well. If I lived in a city area I would opt for a communal setting like Solar Village. It’s not just about the environment. It makes economical sense. It’s like having your cake and eating it, too! To sit with elders of the gentle race, This world has seldom seen They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed — “Kashmir” by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, 1974 We don’t see much about India in the media. On the world’s stage China is front and center. India, like China, has endeavored to be a leader of the world. India, like China, has problems: poverty, large population, environmental compromise. China is second to the United States in Gross Domestic Product, or GDP. China has only 8 percent more population than India but three times the land mass, a large portion of which is desert. China’s population growth rate is declining while India’s is rising. In less than 10 years, India’s population will exceed that of China. China has 100 percent access to electricity while India has under 80 percent. Conversely India is heavily reliant on coal to produce electricity and continues to import more, while China is quickly reversing its use of coal to natural gas. Just a few weeks ago, Russia completed the gas pipeline to China that is predicted to supply over 50% of China’s energy needs. India does not have this kind of access. The continent of Africa is India’s closest repository of energy assets it needs. Water is the weak link for both countries. India has to chose renewable in solar and wind for that reason, as all other energy technologies require water. India has a plan India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy provides data regarding the progress in the non-conventional energy sector. India must import about 35 percent of its energy needs and simply does not have the energy reserves that other nations do. Even if it had the resources, it would be unable to provide the water necessary to mine these resources. India also lacks the delivery system for natural gas. According to “India Times,” 89% of all households use bottled liquid petroleum gas, or LPG. To give you an idea of the shear number of bottles used, if stacked end to end, they would exceed the length of India’s 75,000-mile railroads by almost 19,000 miles! This also indicates a rather large infrastructure issue, aka where are the gas pipelines? Biomass makes up the rest of the heating for households. A large portion of this biomass is the dried portions of organically reprocessed food of cows. This reprocessed mass is then collected, dried and repurposed for heating and cooking. As a grateful American, I would like to point out that this is a practice unfamiliar in the U.S. The coal mined in India required the decimation of a significant portion of the forested land in India. This required the burning of vast tracks of land and the removal of an indigenous tribe. Where have I heard this before? If India is to aspire to world prominence, it will have to import much more than its current 35%. The plan, however, is to add 175 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2025. This will be primarily solar, wind, geothermal and nuclear.* This is indeed a challenge, or as perhaps Dickens may have dubbed it, a great expectation. India faces many obstacles namely meeting the projected budgets with tariffs expected on solar panels not presumed prior to the commitment. The country has done much in the way of offshore wind farms. The problem here becomes one of getting the energy from its source to where it’s needed efficiently. *I have a difficult time relaying that nuclear fuel now falls under the category of “renewable energy” sources. It’s a stretch for sure. Renewable energy classification is becoming a legal terminology, hence a circle is about to be squared as phraseology meets marketing. Renewable energy is now being defined as an energy source that can be repurposed or renewed after its initial use or is in constant supply — i.e. the sun and the wind. It is being argued that U-235 — the current nuclear fuel used in U.S. reactors — is renewable. Nuclear power is looking to make a comeback. Maybe this whole topic needs to be addressed in a future columns. The infrastructure India’s densely populated area coupled with its limited land area also posits another issue: the infrastructure. How will the energy get where it is needed? India’s roads are about as crowded as one could image and then some. Its highway system goes back almost 5,000 years. It was imperative then to develop connections from one major city to another. In 1990 India undertook a major highway development that rivaled the U.S. It is now second only to the U.S. in road mileage, but keep in mind India has five times the population of the U.S. Now, however, India has to take this one more giant step to deliver water, food, and fuel to everyone. The aforementioned example of the numerous bottles of LPG is indicative of my concern not only of a fuel transport issue but also of a safety concern. Delivering energy has its issues no matter how much resource is available, for several reasons. There are intrinsic losses. In America, 6 percent of our electricity is lost by the time it gets to your service entrance. The further the distance the greater the losses. This is problematic more so for India. For example, in this case, how much energy is expended transporting the 384 million canisters of the aforementioned LGP for refilling? How much electricity is lost over the power lines from the ocean wind turbines? The wind turbines in India are far from the main cities. In fact, some whole cities were created so to be close to these turbines to utilize the energy more efficiently. Adding to the problem: How much energy is lost in transit from distant solar farms? Without roofs, solar panels are more likely to be installed in “solar farms” as opposed to being mounted on roof tops. This creates two problems: long transmission lines and the amount of area needed to mount these solar panels in a country where space is at a premium. In my very humble opinion all solar panels should be mounted wherever possible on all available south-facing roofs first before building solar farms. What about nuclear power? It can be built wherever there is access to water and takes much, much less area. This reduces the aforementioned issues of land use and transmission distance substantially. Five nuclear plants are currently under construction and 18 are slated for completion by 2025. GE, which is currently holding on by a thread, and Westinghouse, which already closed its doors, are or were the two largest builders of nuclear power reactor and turbines. These were the majority manufacturers of reactors and turbines for the early nuclear industry. Now this colossal business failure, opens the door for the Russian reactors. Their history is spotty at best. Their NRC is nothing like our NRC. In conclusion India wants to move ahead in energy production. It has a plan. The plan makes sense. The plan is necessary. However India must overcome the added unexpected costs and overcome the logistics that other countries don’t have, which is a lack of infrastructure and space. India has the will and it has the talent. It has had a valued math culture long before the first writing of the Hebrew scripture. Will India pull off the near impossible for the good of all? I guess we can sit and wait and all will be revealed. ALTERNATE ENERGY: Progress Report No. 11 — Indonesia and Brazil: When capitalism goes awry10/27/2019 Oh people, look around you The signs are everywhere You’ve left it for somebody other than you To be the one to care — Jackson Browne, “Rock Me On the Water,” 1978 Ann Landers, an early-day newspaper help columnist, responded to a reader about the economies this way: Socialism: You have two cows. Give one to your neighbor. Communism: You have two cows. Give both to the government, and they may give you some of the milk. Fascism: You have two cows. You give all of the milk to the government, and the government sells it. Nazism: You have two cows. The government shoots you and takes both cows. Anarchism: You have two cows. Keep both, shoot the government agent and steal another cow. Capitalism: You have two cows. Sell one and buy a bull. While markedly over-simplified it has brought us to this month’s story: a tale of two countries. I put Brazil and Indonesia in the same boat because their predicament is the same and a major issue on the world stage: The exploding exploitation of natural resources to grow the economy. A major portion of which is ironically biofuels from sugar cane and palm oil. Unfortunately, both countries share the honor of being the largest centers of biodiversity in the world, which is being compromised by the destruction of their rain forests by chainsaw and fire making them rank high among the carbon polluters of today. America set for the world the example and benefit of a powerhouse economy. Our freedom to discover and create new devices propelled our country like none other before. Now this “model,” as it were, has been used with great success by countries like our rival China, for example. China is adopting capitalism whether they want to define it as such or not. The third world is catching on as well. African nations are reaching double-digit growth rates. South America too is moving forward. The theory of capitalism says that through self-motivation and self-benefit, everyone benefits. I am a recipient of capitalism. All Americans are better off because of this driving force and so too will the rest of the world. So to the rest of the world, we must ask the question, “Success at what cost and long-term benefit?” The exploitation of indigenous people whose land is being taken away, the poor barely making a living working long hours under dangerous conditions, and the exploitation of the land at the expense of the environment is taking place in Brazil and Indonesia at unprecedented pace. The irony of the dilemma is in part due to the manufacture of biofuels from sugar and palm oil. A brief energy history, first Brazil Brazil is the fifth largest land area country in the world and produces nearly 80 percent of its energy from renewable sources. It has the world’s second largest hydroelectric dam, which provides 20% of its electric power. Brazil took a posture of raising sugar cane to make ethanol in the late 1970s due to the price and availability of gasoline. So to ensure their independence from foreign oil, huge sugar plantations were built. Brazil had everything it needed for a successful sugar crop — a very high solar index, plenty of water, and plenty of land. One problem: It had plenty of land with plenty of trees. So deforestation continues today. Approximately 6,000 to 9,000 square miles of rainforest are taken every year. Brazil also is producing palm oil, which is used in biofuels and fuels. Making room for sugar and palm oil is having a devastating effect on the environment. While much of the land is being used for farming, a significant portion of that farming is to make fuel. Now Indonesia Indonesia is the fourth largest country by population in the world. It is comprised of over 17,000 islands, only two which hold the majority of the rain forest. Its major energy exports are coal, palm oil and petroleum fuels. Its forests have been reduced by 50% since 1900 and will be expended by 2050 at the current rate of deforestation. Current estimates are that 2.4 million hectacres of forest are destroyed every year, a little less than the state of Maryland. Palm oil is a significant export and a significant portion of Indonesia’s GDP. The destruction process and the economic manifestation of the rainforest is a major employer of Indonesia’s poor. The country’s rapidly rising economy has caused additional environmental problems. Namely the rapid volume of undisplaced groundwater. This has caused and continues to cause the new infrastructure to begin sinking then collapsing. This sinking of the land mass also cause the shorelines to recede, thus bringing the ocean and its force to bear ever closer to the main population centers. The cost of capitalism Brazil and Indonesia both are emerging Third World nations. The rainforests are their cash cow and a major driver to prosperity. However, the questions are will it last and at what cost? The cost is the massive loss of biodiversity which will be forever. Our earth’s atmosphere for life depends on the right mix of gases. This is necessary because all species have evolved with this platform; a slight change in the amount of oxygen or nitrogen or carbon dioxide could conceivably wipe out every living creature. This does not even take into account climate change. Industrialization benefits the whole world so does the maintaining of our ecosystem. It’s not politics; it’s simply real life. So often today we hear the term socialism bantered around as a negative, almost akin to communism, while capitalism is branded as the super hero. The truth is we need both capitalism and socialism. If I could entertain you with this concept: capitalism is like the booster rocket on a spaceship, propelling the space vehicle out of earth’s gravity. Once out of earth’s gravity, then it’s a matter of control. America is long out of the gravity stage of the economic hardship. We are at a platform where we have to plan how these new projects and adventures in discovery serve everyone. This is socialism. We know better that mindless exploitation is wrong and has consequences. America has exploited her resources and has committed crimes against humanity in that misguided quest of manifest destiny, crimes such as slavery and genocide of the American Indian. The current exploitation of the rainforest will be Brazil’s and Indonesia’s crime against the earth and humanity. The majority of logging and burning is illegal but there is little enforcement. There are criminals with weapons who threaten the indigenous people to take their land, just like America did only 120 years ago. The repairs for the removal of the rainforests are incalculable. The species that will go extinct will be irreplaceable, the trees and the fauna will take decades to replace, the carbon damage also incalculable, and the damage to carbon sequestrating or absorption by the lack of trees also incalculable. The damage to the infrastructure, water systems roads and building also incalculable. The rage of the indigenous people will be incurable. Conclusion: In my ever so humble opinion It is a shame that with all the knowledge, experience, technological and business know-how, we allow these systems of exploitation to carry on. When it is clear that the temporary economic gains will be washed away by the resulting damage, damage that will have to be repaired to protect lives and property. How can this double negative of carbon waste happen at a time when carbon sequestrating is absolutely critical? How can we allow this to happen when there are clearly other choices? There are choices that would provide just as many economic opportunities as better pay without the excess damage done by the burning and harvesting of the forests. All for the profits over a relatively short period. Is this justified or is this capitalism gone awry? Moroccan deserts have the highest insolance in the world. Insolance is the solar index, the rating that indicates the amount of solar radiation that hits the earth. This is not to be confused with my youthful insolence upon which adults frequently commented; after all, wasn’t that why my father called me Sonny? But seriously folks, of all the game-changers this series has discussed, this will be the biggest — powering the world by the deserts of Africa. According to an article in the Guardian 2011, during the summer of 1913, in a field just south of Cairo on the eastern bank of the Nile, an American engineer named Frank Shuman stood before a gathering of Egypt’s colonial elite, including the British consul-general Lord Kitchener, and switched on his new invention. Gallons of water soon spilled from a pump, saturating the soil by his feet. Behind him stood row upon row of curved mirrors held aloft on metal cradles, each directed toward the fierce sun overhead. As the sun’s rays hit the mirrors, they were reflected toward a thin glass pipe containing water. The now super-heated water turned to steam, resulting in enough pressure to drive the pumps used to irrigate the surrounding fields where Egypt’s lucrative cotton crop was grown. It was an invention, claimed Shuman, that could help Egypt become far less reliant on the coal being imported at great expense from Britain’s mines. Shuman went on to write in Scientific American in 1913: “The human race must finally utilize direct sun power or revert to barbarism.” In 1986, German particle physicist Gehrard Knies calculated that the sun radiates more energy onto the world’s deserts in six hours than humans could consume in a year. The enclosed color image from space by the German Aeronautic Center, or DLR, demonstrates proportionally just how little area is needed from a wasteland to provide energy for the whole world. Herr Professor Knies pursued this venture to later form Desertec. Just think of what could have been, and could still be. No hydrofracking. No selling of national parks to mine coal. Just land that few animals, nor any man, could or would ever want to live on, yet used to produce energy. Morocco has some very big ambitions. The biggest is being the energy provider to Europe. Morocco believes that it can provide a substantial export to Europe’s electricity needs by 2050, enough to factor as part of its economy. The average Moroccan solar day is about 10 hours long. Morocco has the best solar areas in the world, even better than parts of Arizona, which has the largest insolance in the USA. Morocco has the right type of sand as well. It is a denser sand that doesn’t blow around as easily as its counterpart in the Sahara. Ergo, it’s more stable to set the reflectors on and keep the dust off. Now, the Moroccan deserts’ once-arid wastelands may be come the world’s most important site to combat global warming. How’s that for irony! This type of solar power is called Concentrated Solar Power, or CSP. Reflectors To reflect or not to reflect … that is the question. Properly maintained CSP plants will retain most of their output essentially forever. On the other hand, photovoltaic cells will lose about 30 percent over their stated lifetime of 25 years. CSP plants use basic materials like steel, glass, and aluminum, while photovoltaic cells require super-pure silicon, and some higher efficiency units use cadmium and germanium. Another advantage a CSP plant of this magnitude has is it can store large volumes of heat that can be used at night. This plant will provide 3-4 hours of off-sun electricity. However, CSP does have limitations. These are its capital costs, its dependence on large tracts of land, and its advantageous ability of latent energy storage maybe replaced by the advent of better battery technology. Photovoltaic can be placed on existing buildings, reducing the size of photovoltaic farms. And, all centrally located solar farms have the issue of power distribution. How can the power get from the deserts of Morocco to the cities of Europe efficiently? The emerging technology for this support is called HVDC, or high voltage direct current. Suffice it to say HVDC will make power transmission as efficient as we know today. Room-temperature super conductors are a long way off, and their materials most likely would not be cost effective. But for solar farms in the desert, where there is almost no permanent life, solar farms make sense. Storage Reflected power is economical and practical in this neck of the desert because of the ability to store latent heat that is used at night. Since Morocco has a lot of sunny days, it works. Most of the Moroccan solar power will generate heat first, then electricity. There is a mix of photovoltaic in their solar farms. Cost But I wonder … since mirrors have been around for centuries, as heat-concentrating effects of using mirrors (uneventfully) by Archimedes and the screw pump by Archimedes, the invention of the steam engine by Alexander Hero 2,000 years ago, why wasn’t this in place then? Did I digress? Back to solar-concentrating power. This Moroccan initiative, the Ouarzazate Solar Power Station Project, will cost $9 billion for 2.1 gigawatts. This is just about the cost of two nuclear plants. It also takes an enormous amount of space. This current plant, also called the Noor (Arabic for light) Power Station, is almost the size of Manhattan. However, we essentially pay for nuclear plants twice, when they’re assembled and again when they need to be disassembled. Plus, the radiated components must be securely stored for 250,000 years, another cost. Mankind as we know it hasn’t even been around that long. Security As for security, I don’t believe terrorists are going to attempt to sabotage a CSP plant, especially one of this size. If they did they would not get far, nor could they do much damage. Any damage would not have lasting consequences. CSP does not have to worry about a cyberattack per se. It does not require round-the-block, 365-days-a-year security. It does not require refueling. It does not require 250,000 years of secure storage of any radioactive waste. Human error, the cause of all three major nuclear accidents, could not, in CSP’s case, cause substantial damage or serious harm to the environment. Even then, the chance for consequential human error is about zero, except for handling the hot stuff, in this case molten salt. Nobody cries over spilled salt! Maintenance For CSP, the maintenance involves maybe a periodic cleaning with a squeegee, but there is the issue of providing a medium to catch the heat and a medium to cool the steam for the turbine. Water for the Noors plant is pumped in from hundreds of miles away. Dry-cooling techniques that cool the steam for reuse are more in effect today. The early CSP units used wet cooling, which actually used more water than coal plants for cooling. The carbon trade-off is off the charts, but please don’t stare into the reflectors, as it might be the last time you see anything. DESERTEC TREC, the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation, created DESERTEC in 2003. DESERTEC was a large-scale project supported by a foundation of the same name and the consortium DII (Desertec industrial initiative) that was created in Germany. The project was aimed at creating a global renewable energy plan based on the concept of harnessing sustainable power from sites where renewable sources of energy are more abundant, then transferring it through high-voltage direct current transmission to consumption centers. All kinds of renewable energy sources are envisioned, but the sun-rich deserts of the world play a special role. There are several projects in Morocco. Conclusion This project has far-reaching implications: a positive and significant change for global warming, a model for future power production around the world (don’t forget China has vast tracts of desert land), heat-storage technology that will advance, as well as given advancements in HVDC central power transmission. HVDC is another topic for another day, though. The vastness of this adventure and the prospect of worldwide emulation ensures electricity as the most robust form of energy for humans. Electric cars will be the mainstay, and hydrogen, or another, safer, fuel made from electricity, will supply our aircraft. Not to mention this project uses land that has no use by any other creature except perhaps through song, like Sting’s botanical anomaly but metaphoric “Desert Rose.” On the political side, Russia has been jerking Europe’s chain for decades by withholding natural gas. Maybe Vladdy should think twice about harassing Europe; otherwise, he and his country will be putting its natural gas where the sun don’t shine. Every real estate agent will say the best value is based on three things “location, location, and location.” Alternate energy should have, as its three-tier mantra for best value, “infrastructure, infrastructure, and infrastructure.” And so begins this month’s column. Norway is embarking on a new infrastructure. An underground and underwater highway system that is unparalleled, given its length and depth. Norway also is working on electric ships and becoming the hub of battery manufacturing to power them all with a focus on zero emissions. All are funded from a not so auspicious source. The Vikings and a brief note on Norway Nearly half of Norway’s land mass is within the Arctic circle, Ironically, the country’s first settlers came to farm. Shipbuilding came much later and so did the Viking raids that ironically originated from England. Norway has six times the coastline than it has land borders. In another irony, its economy was largely supported by oil, which was discovered in 1969 and briefly was the largest single reservoir in the world. Norway has a population of less than 6 million and is quickly making moves to ensure that it will be carbon neutral by 2030. In this series labeled “Progress Report,” I want to make it clear that I am not writing only about the amazing projects that various nations are working on but the mindset and cultural distinction of the particular country that values progress and the environment above purely economic gain or what I call “ease of access,” such as building a road through estuary because it’s easier rather than circumventing it to preserve nature. Or taking a national treasure such as a federal park and turning it into a coal mine for an energy company that was a political supporter. Superhighway E39 Norway is modifying route E39 which connects it to Denmark and runs along the western seaboard up to the Arctic Circle. The current route is picturesque and rugged and in places, dangerous Anyone who has ridden along “Highway 1” in California will have an idea as to how dangerous E39 can be if you are not careful. The parliament of Norway is undertaking a major renovation of this route. The goal is to eliminate the ferries — all seven of them — and replace them with tunnels and bridges. It will give new meaning to the term “bridge and tunnel crowd.” A study of the Norwegian coastal terrain even to the untrained observer demonstrates some acute engineering challenges, however. As I study this project it seems that there is not a definite plan as to how these bridges and tunnels will end up being constructed. The options can be better explained graphically if you go to “YouTube” and type www.vegvesen.no/Europaveg/ e39romsdalsfjorden/inenglish/ video I take the easy way out because 1) Why reinvent the wheel 2) This is cutting edge technology and 3) since I have trouble drawing a straight line it’s much better the reader check out the graphics. This video can explain these marvels of engineering that includes “floating suspension bridges 4km (2.3 miles) long suspended underseas tunnels 24km long and 1200 feet deep.” So now that you have taken a peak at this engineering marvel you might ask what does this have to do with alternate energy? A good question indeed! As aforementioned, the key to good alternate energy systems are threefold “infrastructure, infrastructure, and infrastructure.” The big energy benefits will be reduced travel time by nearly 50% from 21 hours to 11 hours Also there will be less travel time due to increased access yielding a greater thru put in less time. More commerce and less maintenance, what a concept! The journey will be safer. When this project is complete it will serve as a model for future infrastructure that will lead to more energy savings and keep positive energy progress moving forward. Battery operated ships Technology motivated by irony Norway has some of the world’s largest gas and oil fields. In Europe they are second only to Russia in the production of petroleum products. The country is about the size of California, but it supplies 25% of the natural gas for Europe. It also is developing battery operated ships. So where is the irony? A large part of Norway’s economy is from its gas and oil. The need for oil and gas brings ships in and out of the fjords of Norway. This has brought also a marked increase in greenhouse gases. The oil and gas produced by Norway has created 10 times the greenhouse gases produced by Norway as a country. Enter The Future — the future of The Future of the Fjords that is. The Future of the Fjords is the name of the passenger ferry currently in operation in Norway. Battery operated craft of this type are what Norway and its host of high tech startups are envisioning. The vision includes a more ecofriendly version for shipping obtained by designing more streamlined hulls, propellers, battery charging systems, and lightweight and energy dense batteries. Greenhouse gases produced by the ships that come and go by the beautiful and rugged landscape of Norway leave the highest concentration of sulfur dioxide in one area. Diesel fuel of ships is not as clean as the diesel fuel used for land vehicles. The acidity is affecting the countryside. The shipping industry, from which we all benefit, would rate No 6 as a country in carbon emission. At present there are about 60 commercial electric ships of this capacity and Norway has built the majority of them. Norway has an ambitious goal of being carbon neutral by 2025. Giga Battery Park and conclusion On the horizon, just as this column goes to press, Norway is considering building the largest battery manufacturing facility in Europe with a vision of expansion across the Lapland or as it is known today, the “Nordic Hub.” This ambitious project would be a combined effort of Finland, Sweden and Norway. The hub would combine the resources of Finland, the technology of Sweden and the abundant hydropower of Norway. Oh, I forgot to include another energy factor, Norway produces 96% of its electricity from hydro. I am looking forward to the new generation of batteries, ship building technology, and infrastructure for which Norway is blazing the trail. In my “progress reports” over the past few months, I mainly have featured countries that have alternate energy innovations. This month’s column is about a different kind of innovation in alternate energy. The challenge is to bring alternate energy to a country that lacks the infrastructure and the resources but desires to be part of the 21st century. For examples of progress in general, Rwanda has a “no” plastics law, 56% of the members of parliament are women, there is a massive effort to reforest its land, and the country is committed to clean and green. That got my interest right away. The Central and East African nation has a booming economy at 8% growth for the last 15 years. The innovation in alternate energy here is how the present will meet the future. I have always held that, going forward, alternative energy is the key to world peace and prosperity. This theory in part is reflected in the “Access to Energy in Rwanda” written by the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs as follows: Global challenges such as unequal economic development, poverty, uncontrolled international migration and lack of food security are increasingly seen as directly related to climate change, environmental hazards and demand for energy. Energy monopolization is the source of most of the world’s current problems. The nations causing the most problems are countries with oil as their key export. Venezuela,Iraq, Iran, and Russia all want to hold the sword of Damocles over the heads of those who need fossil fuels. Take away the need for oil then the servant becomes the master. Alternate energy creates energy independence. Nations that are playing catch up are best led into the future by building a smart infrastructure. It is best we help these nations become energy independent.The U.S., the Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, among others are funding the new projects inRwanda. Rwanda is special because it is starting with a clean slate, so to say. It has a progressive mindset and optimism. Without that, you have nothing. After years of civil unrest, Rwanda is getting itself back together. It is just gearing up to supply its electricity. What makes this fortunate for them is they do not have a controlling energy infrastructure. Therefore, they are encumbered by a return on investment on existing structures. However, the planning is crucial not just to Rwanda but someday will direct how other nations or regions without an energy infrastructure can build their energy systems. Rwanda, like most of Africa, is resource rich. It has water and natural gas. It doesn’t have much electricity, only 218 MW of electric power for 12 million people. Only about 35% of the population has some electricity. To put this into perspective, this gives each person in Rwanda enough electricity to charge a cell phone and watch TV for an hour or so per day. Another perspective: Pennsylvania has approximately 12.8 million people and its power output is approximately 44 GW. This is about 200 times the amount that Rwanda has for the same population. Yes, Rwanda has a long way to go. Just bringing electricity to the country is only part of the next challenge. The people of Rwanda are poor. Most have learned to do without for so long. The annual household income is less than $900 a year. Electricity is one item that is largely imported with high tariffs. Questions remaining What energy system is best? Solar, hydro, or geothermal? What about backup power? Turbine or diesel generators? Is household solar more effective than a universal grid system? Will the running of power lines be necessary? Should these lines be run overhead or buried? Will the general public be able to afford the appliances that use the electricity? The current household consumption is only 11KW a month, so how do you plan with a consumption so low? Will things change when demand outstrips supply? Rwanda’s solar index is significant with a yearly potential of 66 terawatt hours. This alone would supply most of Rwanda’s energy needs, at least when it is sunny. It has abundant water resources and some geothermal power. Large battery backup for municipalities are being tested in the U.S. Such units are a few years away. Bloom boxes should be considered here.They are akin to fuel cells but can run on natural gas. Gas turbines are relatively efficient and can provide the backup power and do so rather quickly. It would be great if solar could be available for each family or household. Regional power production has many benefits. It is more efficient as less power is lost in transmission. It allows for regional control of pricing as well. However, Rwanda is also concerned about building its industrial base. The majority of exports now are agricultural. Rwanda’s GDP is growing at the rate of 8%. A good stable source of electricity is needed to attract and maintain industry. In conclusion Rwanda is typical of many of the developing nations. Having a reliable supply of energy is its main challenge today. Solving the challenge is difficult as the financial resources to make it work are scarce; in other words, the need is there but the capital is not. Not to mention the general public does not have the things that we take for granted such as household appliances and lighting. The UN has addressed this issue as follows: Access to renewable energy is recognized as contributing substantially to sustainable development, and the United Nations General Assembly has designated the current decade as the Decade of Sustainable Energy for All.Having a stable source of electricity but also the mobilization of international awareness and resources to improve access to energy, and the strengthening of the knowledge base of national governments concerning the linkages between poverty, renewable energy and climate change. Rwanda possesses the character needed to succeed. Its leadership is more stable than others similarly situated. With the help of nations like the Netherlands and the U.S. and the oversight of the UN, Rwanda stands to be one of the most progressive nations ever. Other such nations hopefully will harness the mindset and hopefully will follow the stewardship of Rwanda. If it is successful, then every other small struggling country can model this beacon of hope. If we could have the best of both worldsWe’d have heaven right here on earth— Van Halen “5150” album, 1986 John Donne, 16th century English cleric and poet, wrote, “No man is an island unto himself ...”While this rings true today, cities can be those islands. This month’s progress report is about a very ambitious project taking place now in Hungary, where a vacant lot that will become a city will be a truly self-sustaining island unto itself. The origins and importance of cities The concept of a city has been around since the time of the Sumerians nearly 5,000 years ago. Kish was one of the first cities and a model for more to come. The early humans were foragers, moving from one source of sustenance to another. Eventually they arrived at a point in human development with agriculture and a place, Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia, means land between two rivers More people could survive better if the facilities are nearby and obtainable. The existential view of nature could be explored. Knowledge could be obtained, stored, and passed on. “City states” began and centers of learning such as Rhodes, Athens, most notably Ionia, arose along with a wealth of knowledge: the speed of light, the earth was round, the universe was huge. From there, civilization exploded. Today we have the marvel of Singapore and now a new concept in city life on the banks of the Danube. The sustainable city The Hegyeshalom-Bezenye Project is the best of both worlds. Last month Hungary issued a statement that it will create a sustainable city, Hegyeshalom-Bezenye, at its northwest border with Slovakia and Austria. It is a lofty undertaking, intended not only to be a self-contained environmental chamber but an economic one as well. The focal points will be greenhouse complexes for the year-round cultivation of peppers, tomatoes, aubergines or kitchen herbs. Europe’s largest onshore sh farming will be done here as well as commercial processing, including cold processing; there will be storage and a logistics center in addition to modern, family-friendly residential areas with schools, shopping centers and hotel and conference centers. The city will process its own waste water and provide fresh water collection. Hungary has enlisted the rms of Fakt AG and E.ON Business Solutions to undertake the planning of the city. But that’s not all! There’s more The new city also will feature a self-contained economic model as well. It will employ 5,000 people within its, as you will, doors. The city, with neutral carbon emissions, will rely mainly on solar and biogas energy and will create permanent jobs in greenhouses, said Nikolai Ulrich, a member of Fakt’s board of directors. When completed, Hegyeshalom-Bezenye will have around 1,000 homes, restaurants, hotels, railway stations, shopping facilities, as well as schools and training units. The project is based on a sustainable water management policy that aims to avoid lowering groundwater levels.Cooling facilities will be carried out through geothermal plants. A clean infrastructure and horticultural project emphasizes “how a piece of land and vision can create a green business and a common social venture,” said Ulrich. Fakt and its partners say the project will serve as a model for other conversion sites across the continent, including coal regions that will move to clean energy. A word from their sponsors Hubert Schulte-Kemper, CEO of Fakt AG: “With the project we want to set a standard for the sustainable integration of work and living in Europe. We increase the value added so that the people in the region profit directly from it. To build a future-oriented energy supply, we have E.ON as a partner who can develop an optimal energy solution for every scale.” Alexander Fenzl, Country Head Germany of E.ON Business Solutions: “Customers and society demand innovative, sustainable solutions that change our way of life and work today. We support our partner Fakt with sustainable, reliable and yet affordable energy solutions that are essential for shaping the living and working spaces of the future.” E.ON will develop, implement and operate the climate-friendly energy infrastructure for electricity, heat and cooling for this major project in the border triangle of Hungary-Austria-Slovakia. Conclusion This site could easily set the standard for sustainability of the human race. It is are cognition that resources are not infinite and neither are we. In my humble opinion, this is the route we must take. I hope the data achieved from this model will convince the world we need to be responsible for our footprint on life and we can’t just walk anywhere we please. Germany has been looking for new ways to enhance its goals for a carbon neutral environment. Today there is a 6.2-mile stretch of highway for testing the viability of an overhead power transmission line to power cargo trucks electrically. The energy use will be half of the conventional diesel fuel and the emissions are zero from the truck, according to the Siemens Company, the engineering firm behind it all. The e-highway of the future is being tested in Germany. However, this is only a test. A test using the “Autobahn” between Darmstadt and Frankfort for the next three years to determine its suitability for future transportation on a more universal scale. Siemens has been testing off-road for years prior to implementing the Autobahn directly at an unused airfield outside of Berlin. Darmstadt Technical University will collect data of the ecological and economic impact in real time of this “test strip” on the Autobahn. The motivation behind this project is to eliminate the exhaust produced by large cargo vehicles in congested areas and to reduce the dependency on foreign oil. This power grid will charge the on-board batteries during longer hauls. How it works It’s similar to a trolley car but with some twists. We’ve all know the famed trolley cars of San Francisco. You may have noticed a flexible X-shaped device that connects between the top of the trolley and the overhead power lines. It looks like the X you see on each side of a large baby carriage. This X device is called a pantograph. It connects the electricity from the power lines to the trolley car. This powers the electric motors that drive the trolley cars. Here starts the twists: Trolley cars have a set pattern determined by the rails they travel on. They generally travel at between 15-30 mph. They do not need to be steered as they are guided by the permanently installed rails. They do not have to continually connect, disconnect and reconnect with the power supply. Because trolleys go slow on a predetermined path it makes the control much easier and the overall design so much simpler. Therefore maintenance is greatly reduced and more easily accessed. Not so with the new e-highway infrastructure and the trucks. These trucks must be multi-fueled, in this case diesel and electric. They must have a more robust pantograph. A pantograph that can sense where the overhead power lines are at 55 miles per hour. The pantograph also must sense the alignment needed to attach and detach at highway speed. The infrastructure is everything for this project. It requires a very sturdy overhead power line that has to be resilient in all kinds of weather — not only wind, snow, ice and rain but also hot and cold. The reason temperature is so critical is that the power lines have temperature constants that apply to the wire’s expansion and contraction. In hot weather those lines will expand and cause drooping, and in the winter the lines will contract, becoming taut. The drooping may make the connections and the surface contact for electrical conduction difficult and inefficient while in extremely cold weather the line could snap upon access. Also it is necessary for these wires to have structural support for icing. You may recall the James Bay Project, a 30 Gigawatt hydroproject where the wire support towers went down like dominoes during the ice storm of 1998. The wire drew taught from the cold, and the weather conditions were just right for an ice buildup that caused line after line to snap or take down these huge towers. This would be a catastrophe for a power line, laying down on a highway, with 690 volts at the end of the cable. The next big problem is synchronizing the power surge as multiple trucks get “on line” (as it were). I have contacted Siemens regarding this and their public relations person is on vacation until Monday, the day after this column will run, so I will report back as a footnote in my next column. Next is the issue of traffic. So the overhead power must accommodate any sudden change in traffic. When power of this magnitude is turned on or off repeatedly and — unlike our trolley cars — unpredictably and instantaneously it puts an enormous strain on the source and the conductors on the pantograph. This means that the power sources must be conditioned to handle this which adds to the cost and taxes the reliability of the system long-term. I have worked with Siemens high-power equipment and have been impressed with its innovation, performance and reliability. If anyone can do it, it’s Siemens. In conclusion There is much more I would like to comment on, as Germany is experiencing a large transition in its infrastructure due to the need to accommodate an ever-increasing number of vehicles using its highways. Germany, as a large metropolitan country, has the highest percentage of renewable energy as the sum total of national energy consumption at roughly 36%. It was first in creating the early infrastructure, though it came at great cost. Now, Germany will have to refinance its new infrastructure first before any of the e-highway becomes mainstream. This would have to be accompanied by corporations changing their fleets completely over to hybrid systems. This could only be done gradually. There is always that risk that something new and better will come along. The Germans, in terms of the best of “extreme” technical innovations, have been first. The problem is being first has its downside. This is where Germany has run into problems. Successful initial technologies are always expanded upon and improved both in quality and cost. Solar panels for commercial use have doubled in output in the last 30 years and have reduced in costs from over 10.00/watt to under .75 watt. So being first is not always best. This is every industry’s nightmare: When to embrace the latest technology. I hope for the best in the e-highway, but I do see some severe limitations long-term. I can only hope otherwise for Germany. If the country is successful, all of us will benefit. Remember America’s attempt at a similar innovation was started with the High Speed Train Act. It was signed into law in 1965. I promise not to make fun of Amtrack — Amtrack the train of yesterday meeting the needs of the people of the day before. I’m sorry I just couldn’t resist. |
AuthorJames Bobreski is a process control engineer who has been in the field of electric power production for 43 years. His “Alternate Energy” column runs monthly. Archives
February 2020
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