Solar-Powered Farm From a Box is a Compact Farm Kit that Feeds 150 People

29.12.2016

Two acres of land is enough to farm a sustainable food supply for as many as 150 people, and now a San Francisco startup is making it even easier to get that farm growing. Farm From a Box is a shipping container kit that holds all the essentials for setting up a two-acre farm (except the land, of course). Founders Brandi DeCarli and Scott Thompson got the idea after working on a youth center in Kenya where shipping containers were being used to substitute where infrastructure lacked. That project didn’t address food insecurity, though, which led DeCarli and Thompson to found their own venture specifically for that purpose.

Farm From a Box is a kit designed to make it easier for all types of organizations to start growing sustainable food. Nonprofit humanitarian agencies, schools, community groups, and even individuals can buy a $50,000 kit, which comes with a complete water system including a solar-powered pump and drip irrigation system. Together, those features help conserve water by using it more efficiently, delivering water directly to the roots of growing plants. All of the kit’s components are solar-powered, so the kit also includes 3 kW of solar energy capacity which is enough to power the water pump as well as WiFi connectivity that makes it possible to monitor the farm conditions remotely. Because the built-in solar power technology generates more than enough energy to power the farm’s equipment, the farm is suitable to run completely off the grid.

All the prospective farmer needs to have is viable land, of course, and seeds. Luckily, the Farm From a Box team realizes that farming is largely about skill and science, so the kit also includes three stages of training materials on sustainable farming, farm technology and maintenance, as well as the business of farming. In a recent interview with Smithsonian Magazine, DiCarli explained that the farm kit was designed to “act as a template” and that it’s possible to “plug in” components that specifically fit the farm’s local climate and the farmers’ needs. Those options include internal cold storage, to help preserve crops between harvest and consumption or sale, and a water purification system, if needed.

So far, Farm From a Box has deployed one prototype at Shone Farm in Sonoma County, California. A project of Santa Rosa Junior College, the farm is part of a larger outdoor laboratory in which students learn how to cultivate crops in drought conditions, and then the harvest is used to supply the farm’s own community-supported agriculture (CSA) program as well as the college’s culinary arts program. DiCarli said the Shone Farm prototype turned out to be “more efficient than we had even planned,” with “really high” production and energy output. Farm From a Box has a number of other potential sites lined up already, in Ethiopia, Nepal, Bhutan, and Afghanistan, as well as additional test farms in California and a veteran-partnered site in Virginia.

Source: inhabitat.com

KfW First Development Bank to Sign Master Agreement with Green Climate Fund (GCF)

29.12.2016

On the occasion of the Green Climate Fund’s board meeting, KfW recently signed a master agreement with the GCF. The complex agreement governs the rights and obligations of the GCF, the accredited institutions and their implementation partners, and is a major prerequisite for implementing specific projects.

“Signing this agreement is an important milestone in our further cooperation with the GCF, which can now enter its active stage. We are proud to be the first major international development bank to have negotiated this hurdle,” says Dr Norbert Kloppenburg, Member of the Executive Board of KfW Group.

The Green Climate Fund is to become a key instrument in funding the resolutions of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. The GCF works with accredited institutions to provide projects in developing countries with grants and loans. KfW has been accredited in 2015 as one of the first international institutions to finance GCF climate projects.

In the meantime, the GCF now has commitments from numerous countries for more than USD 10.3 billion, of which USD 1.2 billion has already been pledged for projects. So far, one project proposed by KfW to the GCF has been approved: the climate adaptation project in Bangladesh. This project will see the building of 45 new cyclone protection shelters along Bangladesh’s coastline in three of its poorest districts, while 20 other shelters are to be “climate-proofed” and 80 km of storm-proof access roads constructed. Further GCF projects of KfW in developing countries are currently in the pipeline, e.g. a water supply project in the Simiyu region in Tanzania.

Source: kfw.de

Taxi GPS Data Could Unsnarl Traffic in Developing Regions, World Bank Says

29.12.2016

taxi-cab, New-York, USA — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

In most cities, some portion of that traffic has typically been made up of taxis and, more recently, cars linked to ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft. But could these cars help solve the traffic problems they have seemingly created?

That’s the goal of the Open Transport Partnership, a program led by the World Bank and ride-hailing services Easy Taxi, Grab, and Le Taxi, which let users hail cabs using smartphone apps. It seeks to use GPS data from taxis to decrease traffic congestion in developing countries, according to VentureBeat.

The initiative builds on a pilot program launched in the Philippines in April, with the goal of demonstrating how real-time traffic information could address congestion. That program used anonymized GPS data from 500,000 Grab drivers to illuminate traffic patterns.

A similar model will now be applied to other ride-hailing services in additional countries, including Brazil, Colombia, and Malaysia.

Driver data from participating companies is shared with local agencies to “develop better, evidence-based solutions to traffic and road-safety challenges,” a World Bank statement said.

The program makes use of data that already exists, potentially providing officials with insight into urban traffic patterns without having to undertake costly dedicated data-collection projects.

A coordinated program on this scale has not been attempted in the U.S., but Uber has experimented on supplying data to cities for analysis.

Google-owned Waze also provides real-time traffic information to users through its app, performing a similar function for those individual users as the Open Transport Partnership does for city governments.

Source: greencarreports.com

China to Cut Solar & Wind Tariffs as Costs Continue to Fall

29.12.2016

China’s price regulator announced this week that it will cut tariffs paid to solar and wind projects in order to reflect the continuing decline in project costs.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance communicated news from China’s national price regulator and economic planner, which on Monday announced it would reduce the amount of money it pays to newly completed wind and solar projects for their electricity. The cuts to tariffs for solar will be by as much as 19%, and by as much as 15% for wind, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). This will reduce subsidies paid to new wind and solar projects by approximately 6 billion yuan annually, or around $863 million.

The NDRC has also encouraged local authorities to continue to make use of auctions to select renewable energy developers, in an effort to keep prices low.

Renewable energy costs haven’t only been falling in China, with dramatic cost declines around the world. A report from GTM Research in early December revealed that solar prices had already fallen 33.8% since the first half of 2016, and expects solar costs to continue to decline. Wind costs also continue to decline, especially offshore wind which has fallen 22% as a result of competitive bidding — a figure which is only likely to fall further at the next census, given recent low-price auction wins in Europe.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Renewables = 25% Of UK Electricity Generation In 3rd Quarter, Met 60% Of Scottish Needs In 2015

29.12.2016

renewables, obnovljivi izvori — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

Electricity generated by renewables has accounted for 25% of the UK’s total electricity generation for the third quarter according to government figures, while the same report reveals that renewables accounted for nearly 60% of Scotland’s electricity needs in 2015.

New figures published by the UK’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy in its Energy Trends December 2016 report show that renewables’ share of electricity generation increased to 25% in the third quarter, up from 23.6% a year earlier. Specifically, offshore wind electricity generation increased by 3.8% and onshore wind generation increased by 19.4%, accounting for 3.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) and 4.6 TWh respectively.

Solar PV increased its share by an impressive 30%, growing to 3.5 TWh up from 2.7 TWh due to increased capacity. Unfortunately, keeping renewable energy’s contribution from soaring even higher, bioenergy fell by 14.5% due to outages at the Drax power station.

All told, with renewables accounting for 25%, the remainder was made up with 25% from nuclear energy (which you can fight over whether it’s a good or a bad thing), and gas with 43.6%. Coal only accounted for 3.6%, down from 16.7% a year earlier.

“The Government took the right decision when it announced the phasing out of coal, and its confidence in low carbon generation has been repaid by growth in the sector,” said Maf Smith, RenewableUK’s Deputy Chief Executive.

“Renewables are now part of our energy mainstream, helping us modernise the way we keep the lights on by building new infrastructure for the generations to come. Wind is playing a central role as a reliable part of our new modern energy system, delivering reliable low carbon power at low cost.”

The Energy Trends report also highlighted the impressive role renewable electricity generation is playing in Scotland. According to the report, renewable energy produced enough power to meet 59.4% of Scotland’s electricity needs throughout 2015 — up from 49.7% in 2014.

“These figures are great news for Scotland,” said Jenny Hogan, Director of Policy at industry body Scottish Renewables. “They underline the disproportionate contribution that Scotland is making to the UK’s efforts to clean up our energy system.

“We know that to fight climate change we must reduce the amount of carbon emitted by our energy sector, and renewables are doing just that.”

Source: cleantechnica.com

Strengthen Cooperation on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

29.12.2016

UN Environment Deputy Executive Director, Ibrahim Thiaw and the Secretary-General of the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, Patrick I. Gomes signed recently, in the margins of the joint ACP-EU Parliamentary Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that aims to reinforce the collaboration between the Secretariat of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP Secretariat) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) in the field of environment and climate change.

The MOU with the ACP Secretariat has been updated to align with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as other key international agreements such as the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the SAMOA Pathway. In addition, it recognizes UN Environment’s strengthened regional mandate, as agreed in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in 2012.

“This is a very important moment for UN Environment and for our relationship with the ACP countries and its Secretariat,” Mr. Thiaw said at the signing. “Our collaboration under the terms of this new Memorandum of Understanding will help consolidate and further develop our cooperation on environment and climate change in the context of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.”

The Secretary General of the ACP States said “The ACP Secretariat is happy to strengthen its collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme and we look forward to implementing concrete activities over the next few years to the benefit of the ACP Member States.”

The MoU supports a coherent, comprehensive and integrated approach towards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and will focus on a number of areas, including, inter alia policy, capacity-building, knowledge sharing, the green economy, climate change and the sustainable management of natural resources.

The ACP Secretariat and UN Environment have been working together many years on a wide range of programmes, projects and activities, and this MOU will enhance this long-term relationship while at the same time focus on the priorities of ACP Member States and in particular Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries and landlocked countries in Africa.

Source: unep.org

EBRD Finances Krumovgrad Gold-Silver Mine in Bulgaria

29.12.2016

EBRD to become shareholder in Canadian investor Dundee Precious Metals to promote highest industry standards. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is investing C$ 43.7 million (approximately US$ 32.7 million equivalent) in the development of the Krumovgrad gold and silver mining project in south-eastern Bulgaria to promote the highest industry standards.

The Bank is acquiring up to a 9.99 per cent equity stake in the project developer, Dundee Precious Metals, an international investor active in Bulgaria and other countries.

The company, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, specialises in gold and copper mining and processing. It entered the Bulgarian market in 2003 with the acquisition of the Chelopech gold mine. The EBRD has been supporting the upgrade and development of this operation, bringing vital investment and best practices to the sector.

Expanding its activities in Bulgaria, Dundee Precious Metals is planning to invest US$ 184 million in the Krumovgrad open-pit mine, where the introduction of digital and technological innovation will transform key aspects of mining.

The investment will enhance efficiency and safety through an advanced telecommunications system based on the “internet of things”, where equipment can send, receive and analyse data to optimise costs and manage risks. It will also pioneer an integrated waste-management facility, a high level of waste reuse and recycling, and a state-of-the art flotation process for ore processing and metal recovery. The mine is expected to be operational by the end of 2018.

Eric Rasmussen, EBRD Director for Natural Resources, said: “Dundee Precious Metals is a longstanding partner of the EBRD in Bulgaria. By becoming its shareholder we are taking our cooperation to the next level. This ever-closer partnership will enable us to work together to further raise standards in the mining sector, focusing on innovation, sustainability and employment opportunities.”

Rick Howes, President and CEO of Dundee Precious Metals, commented: “We are very pleased to be building on our existing partnership with the EBRD. We view this strategic investment as a strong endorsement of our Krumovgrad project and the environmental and social responsibility practices at our operations. Our board and senior management team look forward to the EBRD’s continued support as we explore opportunities to grow our business and advance our Krumovgrad project toward commercial operation in the fourth quarter of 2018.”

Mining, quarrying and metal processing are a key sectors of the Bulgarian economy. They account for around 20 per cent of the value of annual industrial output and 12 per cent of yearly exports. The mining and quarrying sector directly employs approximately 26,000 people and is a significant source of employment through related industries.

As a shareholder of Dundee Precious Metals, the EBRD will work with the company to attract talent to sustainable mining in Bulgaria. The Bank will promote partnerships with local colleges and universities to introduce apprenticeship programmes and encourage young people to pursue mining careers. It will also promote employment and training opportunities for women in this traditionally male-dominated sector.

Supporting foreign investors who bring technological innovation to the economy and provide employment, especially in regions that need an economic boost, is a priority for the EBRD in Bulgaria.

In 2016 the EBRD has invested €620 million in the Bulgarian economy. In the years ahead, the Bank will aim to keep the level of investment at about €200 million annually in response to local demand.

To date, the EBRD – one of the largest institutional investors in Bulgaria – has invested over €3.4 billion in more than 230 projects in the country. Some 80 per cent of the Bank’s investments in Bulgaria are in the private sector.

Source: ebrd.com

Madrid Bans Half of Cars from Roads to Fight Air Pollution

29.12.2016

Madrid has ordered half of most private cars off the roads on Thursday to tackle worsening air pollution, a first in Spain.

The restrictions will operate between 6.30am and 9pm and will be re-evaluated daily depending on pollution levels. The city council said in a statement: “vehicles with even-number registration plates will be allowed to drive around on even-number days and cars with odd-number registration plates on odd-number days”.

The measure is activated when levels of harmful nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere go above 200 microgrammes per cubic metre in at least two measuring stations for two days running, and if the air is unlikely to clear imminently.

There are exceptions to the ban, such as for mopeds, hybrid cars, those carrying three people or more or used by disabled people. Buses, taxis and emergency vehicles are also exempt.

“It’s not about traffic restrictions but about the important issue of public health,” deputy mayor Marta Higueras said. “Lots of people suffer from breathing problems and are very affected by pollution.”

With 3.2 million residents and 1.8m cars, Madrid often suffers from bad bouts of pollution. The move to ban half of cars is level three on a scale of four anti-pollution measures. Level four bans taxis from the city, except those that are hybrid cars.

The measure implemented by the city hall, which has been led by an alliance of leftist groups since 2015, sparked criticism from the conservative Popular party (PP) which ruled Madrid for nearly a quarter of a century and governs at the national level.

Íñigo Henríquez de Luna, a PP spokesman in Madrid’s local parliament, called the move “ideological” and said authorities should do more to encourage residents to avoid using their cars rather than punish them.

The anti-pollution measures were implemented by former PP mayor Ana Botella just before municipal elections in May 2015.

Source: theguardian.com

Tesla’s Next Supercharger Could Charge Electric Cars in Mere Seconds

28.12.2016

Elektromobil, Tesla, punjač — Photo-ilustration: Pixabay

When it comes to electric vehicles becoming the norm, many people scoff at the idea of having to plug in their cars and wait around for the batteries to recharge. But Tesla CEO Elon Musk may have a solution in the form of a next-gen Supercharger capable of recharging a Tesla vehicle battery in mere seconds. Over the weekend, Musk hinted (on Twitter, of course) that the Supercharger V3 would serve up at least 350 kW, which is more than twice the output of current Superchargers on the Tesla network.

The teasing began when another Twitter user asked Tesla‘s head idea man when solar panels would be installed on the existing Supercharger stations, to which Musk said, “There are some installed already, but full rollout really needs Supercharger V3 and Powerpack V2, plus SolarCity. Pieces now in place.” When Electrek writer Fred Lambert wondered whether the V3 chargers would hit the 350 kW mark, Musk laughed it off, implying he may have something even more powerful in mind. “A mere 350 kW … what are you referring to, a children’s toy?” Musk tweeted in response.

Tesla’s current Superchargers are already the fastest electric car battery-charging units on the planet, capable of recharging a car battery in minutes rather than hours, but there is always room for improvement. The current Superchargers top out at 150 kW, so if V3 can offer up 350 kW (or more, as Musk may have been suggesting), Tesla drivers won’t have to wait around while their car batteries get juiced up. Instead, the new Superchargers could potentially be capable of charging the batteries in just a few seconds, a practice recently named “flash charging.” If such charging speeds could be obtained without sacrificing performance, Tesla drivers will be able to recoup tons of time, especially on long-distance journeys.

And, if the Supercharger V3 is installed at stations across the US, a cross-country Tesla road trip will be even faster. Given how eager some Tesla drivers are to set records, we bet it will only take a few days after the install until someone beats the current coast-to-coast record.

Source: inhabitat.com

Spanish Energy Firm Buys Two Biomass Facilities

28.12.2016

Spain’s Ence – Energía y Celulosa on Dec. 15 said it will buy Spanish utility Endesa’s stake in two biomass plants.

“This operation constitutes a new step in fulfilling our Strategic Plan, which plans to achieve 383 MW of installed capacity in biomass generation by 2020,” Ence CEO Ignacio Colmenares said in a statement.

Ence said that the two plants — Enemasa and La Loma — mainly use olive stones (biomass derived from the treatment of the olive for oil extraction), abundant in the surroundings of the installations, and have a total power of 32 MW. Together the plants are expected to reach an estimated net production of 175 million kWh in 2016.

According to the company, the two power plants began commercial operation in 2003 and they have advanced systems for the minimization of emissions.

Source: renewableenergyworld.com

Indonesia’s steady progress in tackling fossil fuel subsidies

28.12.2016

Many countries use fossil-fuel subsidies to advance particular goals – whether political, economic, social and environmental. Common justifications range from reducing energy poverty, redistributing wealth, or protecting jobs.

But in many cases, the net effects of fossil fuel subsidies are negative. In practice, subsidies introduced for social reasons, such as price controls on household fuels or support for coal mining to protect jobs, often carry large financial, economic and environmental costs.

In Indonesia, the consequences of persistent under-pricing of energy have been acutely felt. Thanks to low energy prices, rising incomes and low interest rates for vehicle loans, the demand for vehicles – mainly cars and motorcycles – has grown rapidly over the past decade. Transportation accounts for nearly all of the subsidised fossil-fuel consumption.

But Indonesia is taking action. The so-called “big bang” removal of subsidies in early 2015, along with efforts to target remaining subsidies to poor households and low oil prices, have been successful in significantly reducing the amount of subsidies. Spending on fossil fuel subsidies in 2016 is projected to amount to less than 1% of GDP, versus more than 3% in 2014.

Fossil fuel subsidies are not new in Indonesia. Subsidies were introduced around the time of independence in 1949 and by the 1960s accounted for nearly 20% of fiscal expenditure. The sharp devaluation of the currency during the Asian crisis of the late 1990s further ratcheted up their cost. By 2014, the economic value of fossil fuel subsidies in Indonesia amounted to $27.7 billion.

One consequence, immediately visible in the capital Jakarta, is chronic congestion. This comes with its own costs, including air pollution, negative health effects and reduced productivity. All this creates additional carbon emissions and undermines progress towards the government’s ambitious carbon emission goals.

But the partial removal of subsidies has yet to be fully implemented. Progress has been hampered by opposition to change from entrenched interests – a mix of household consumers, industry and trade lobbies.

IEA analysis has shown that the best way for policies to succeed involves a fully-fledged political and communications strategy that sets out the costs of subsidies and the benefits of savings to other sectors that will directly benefit citizens. Along with opinion surveys, focus groups and other discussion forums, the government can identify changes to expenditure that are widely supported. Finally, Indonesia can remove the link between social assistance programmes and energy pricing and policy, implementing more targeted social programmes.

The government of Indonesia has until recently, struggled to develop convincing political narratives for reform. For the sake of the economy and the environment, this may now be changing.

Source: iea.org

Tesla & Panasonic Finalize Agreement To Begin Solar Manufacturing In Buffalo, New York

28.12.2016

An agreement has been finalized between Tesla and Panasonic to begin manufacturing solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules at Tesla’s new plant in Buffalo, New York, according to a new blog post from the company.

The solar PV production at the facility initially won’t include the recently unveiled “solar roof” products, it should be noted. However, that is in order a little further down the line.

“When production of the solar roof begins, Tesla will also incorporate Panasonic’s cells into the many kinds of solar glass tile roofs that Tesla will be manufacturing. All of these solar products will work seamlessly with Tesla’s energy storage products, Powerwall and Powerpack. Production of the first PV modules will begin in summer 2017, and will ramp to 1 Gigawatt of module production by 2019.”

As Tesla and Panasonic begin production, Buffalo will continue to expand Tesla’s American manufacturing base and create thousands of new jobs in the coming years. Tesla reaffirms SolarCity’s commitment to create over 1,400 jobs in Buffalo — including more than 500 manufacturing jobs. Panasonic, with its technological and manufacturing expertise in PV production, will also work with Tesla on developing PV next generation technology at SolarCity’s facility in Fremont, CA.”

Importantly, as part of the new agreement, Panasonic will actually be covering required capital costs in Buffalo and Tesla has agreed to a long-term purchase agreement commitment.

It’s interesting to see the companies continue to deepen ties. Some of those reading this may not be aware that Panasonic actually wasn’t in a great position financially just a few years back. While the Tesla partnership is still in its infancy so to speak, I bet that company execs are quite happy to have stumbled upon it.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Lightsource Renewable Energy Launches £600m Solar Buyback Program

28.12.2016

UK-based renewable energy developer Lightsource is looking to diversify its revenue streams through a new program which will invest up to £600 million over the next five years in buying up solar assets from homes and businesses.

Under the proposed scheme, Lightsource would offer the owners of both residential and commercial rooftop solar arrays a lump sum for their installation, which will see Lightsource take ownership of those solar arrays and garner the company the payments they receive under the feed-in tariff (FiT) program. According to the company, “the original owner would continue to receive power free of charge” from the solar arrays, while Lightsource will take over the operations and maintenance side of the installations “for the remainder of the FiT payment period.”

Lightsource says it has already purchased more than 1,000 solar installations in the UK, accounting for more than 2.25 megawatts (MW) of capacity, under its buyback scheme, and is now looking to acquire more solar installations that were operational before the FiT rates were cut in early 2012.

“There’s no question that solar PV is a sound investment. Our buyback scheme offers early adopters the chance to realise an immediate substantial return on their investment today with the added benefit of continued free solar electricity. In return for the FiT payment, we operate, maintain and insure the system – taking the hassle and cost out of any necessary future repairs.” – Nick Boyle, CEO at Lightsource.

According to Lightsource, buyback schemes such as its own, or other alternative ownership structures, “could prove particularly attractive to commercial owners of solar arrays” beginning next year, due to “government plans to increase business rates for firms that own and operate solar systems.” One way around those rate hikes would be to have the solar arrays owned and operated by a third party that would still generate solar electricity for use on-site, as the solar electricity would be considered “mainly for export.”

As solar subsidies and rate structures continue to change, solar companies may need to look at new ways to diversify their revenue streams, including through buyback schemes such as this one, but Boyle maintained “the solar sector was still well positioned.”

“For Lightsource and the energy industry as a whole, I can see huge changes happening in the future, as technologies across solar and IT combine to create genuinely smart homes and businesses. These technologies are already changing the way that we live and work – and the application of energy management systems and batteries will revolutionise the energy industry making it cheaper and cleaner for everyone.”

Source: cleantechnica.com

First US Petcoke-To-Methanol Plant With Carbon Capture Tech Gets DOE Loan Guarantees

27.12.2016

On the shortest day of 2016, the US Department of Energy announced that it has made the “first ever offer for a conditional commitment” of loan guarantees under its Advanced Fossil Energy project to Lake Charles Methanol, LLC, for a petcoke-to-methanol facility.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) offered up to $2 billion in loan guarantees to help finance the facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana, as announced on December 21st. The operation, which will not only be the first of its kind in the US, but will also be the first methanol facility in the world to use carbon capture technology, will then become “the world’s largest industrial manufacturing carbon capture facility.”

In the transition to a cleaner and more sustainable economy, helping to finance a fossil fuel methanol plant may not seem like an obvious choice for the DOE’s LPO, as the cleantech sector is more likely to cheer on the success of loan guarantees in the solar industry than in the fossil fuel sector. But seeing as these loan guarantees are coming under the aegis of the Advanced Fossil Energy program, it’s a total no-brainer, at least as far as the project qualifying under Section 1703 of Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act. The wording in the act gives the DOE authorization to issue loan guarantees for projects that “avoid, reduce or sequester air pollutants or anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases; and employ new or significantly improved technologies as compared to commercial technologies in service in the United States at the time the guarantee is issued.”

Petcoke certainly seems like a good fit for cleaning up, as it’s a byproduct of the petroleum refining industry, and one that is often exported to other countries, where it is burned instead of coal (and where it emits 5 to 10% more CO2 than coal on a per-unit-of-energy basis). According to the DOE, this petcoke-to-methanol facility is designed to emit 36% less greenhouse gases than typical methanol facilities (on a lifecycle basis), and will capture 77% of its carbon emissions, with an estimated annual sequestration of 4.2 million metric tons of carbon.

One of the other key reasons that the LPO made the conditional offer of loan guarantees to the project is that the DOE believes that carbon capture and storage technology “is on the cusp of commercial-scale deployment” and the loan guarantees “could play a role in helping to bridge the funding gap for CCUS so this technology is financed by private lenders in the future.”

It’s not quite ‘clean,’ but it’s cleaner than other methanol facility alternatives, and it certainly seems to fit under the ‘all of the above’ energy policy umbrella.

However, in an extremely ironic twist, the sequestered carbon captured by the lake Charles Methanol facility “will be transported via pipeline to southeast Texas for use in enhanced oil recovery (EOR).”

Source: cleantechnica.com

Colorado, Nevada, & Utah to Develop Interstate EV Charging Network

27.12.2016

An electric vehicle charging network covering the major travel corridors of the states of Colorado, Nevada, and Utah will be developed by a coalition of the governors of the states in question, going by a joint public announcement from the group.

The plan is for the 3 governors to work together in 2017 to develop complementary plans for the development of an electric vehicle (EV) charging network through the 3 states — specifically, for the development of a charging network along “Interstates 70, 76 and 25 across Colorado; Interstates 70, 80, and 15 across Utah; and Interstates 80 and 15 across Nevada.”

The plans call for the charging network to eventually connect over 2,000 miles of highly traveled highway.

“This initiative recognizes that our states will continue to lead the country in the electric vehicle market,” stated Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. “Our residents and the millions of visitors to our states will be able to drive electric vehicles from Denver to Salt Lake City to Las Vegas — from the Rockies to the Pacific.”

The Governor of Utah, Gary R Herbert, provided a complementary statement: “Regional collaboration is a key driver to fueling our future transportation options. By working together, we can minimize costs, ensure technological consistency, and serve as laboratories of innovation.”

The move is part of a broader push in the states in question to incentivize the adoption and use of electric vehicles. Colorado, for instance, currently offers unmatched incentives (as far as the US goes) — with a $5,000 tax rebate being on offer for the purchase of an electric vehicle. That’s a tax rebate by the way, not a credit — meaning that even if you don’t have a $5,000 tax liability in the state, your vehicle purchase price can still be reduced by $5,000.

While incentives like that certainly don’t hurt, the reality is that another primary barrier to wider electric vehicle adoption is currently lack of charging infrastructure — and, in particular, fast-charging infrastructure. The new announcement and plans show that the governors of Nevada, Colorado, and Utah, are aware of this. (Obviously, the notes above are for electric cars in general — with Tesla, charging infrastructure isn’t much of a barrier but the barrier to adoption is basically high purchase prices).

Source: cleantechnica.com

Photo: electreck.co

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