Thursday, December 27, 2007
The Year in Energy
Advanced biofuels, more-efficient vehicles, and solar power top the most notable energy stories of 2007.
By Kevin Bullis
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Stem fuels: A big story this year has been the ongoing development of ways to turn biomass, such as the corn stems and leaves shown here, into ethanol and other transportation fuels.
Credit: Bob Allan, NREL
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The Rise of Biofuels
Corn ethanol production has grown so fast, driving up corn prices and driving down the price of ethanol, that some producers are having trouble breaking even. But an energy bill signed into law last week that requires greater use of biofuels will provide new incentives for both production of biofuels and research into new technologies. Reaching the ambitious goals set by the law will require new technologies for transforming biomass into fuel. (See "Oil from Wood," "Breaking Ground on Cellulosic Ethanol," and "BP's Bet on Butanol.") Others are developing ways to convert biomass into hydrocarbon fuels that could be more practical than ethanol. (See "Making Gasoline from Bacteria.") In the current print issue, Technology Review's editor takes a close look at the technology needed to replace a significant part of gas consumption with renewable fuels and the costs of doing so. (See "The Price of Biofuels.")
Cheaper solar panels
Investors are rushing to pour money into solar energy companies to capitalize on an industry that's growing by leaps and bounds. That brought good news for solar technology this year, as the wraps came off a number of technical advances that could eventually make energy from the sun as cheaply as conventional sources. These include new types of panels that use cheaper materials or cheaper manufacturing techniques. (See "Making Cheaper Solar Cells" and "Solar Power at Half the Cost.")
One company in particular, San Jose-based Nanosolar, attracted attention for its decision to build an enormous manufacturing facility for making inexpensive thin-film solar panels (see "Large-scale, Cheap Solar Electricity"), only to see delays in production. But by the end of the year the company had started manufacturing solar panels for its first customer.
Researchers are also investigating more distant possibilities for solar, including using the exotic physics of quantum dots and mimicking the complex chemistry of photosynthesis to help make solar power ubiquitous. (See "TR10: Nanocharging Solar" and "Supplying the World's Energy Needs with Light and Water.")
Managing Carbon Dioxide
Researchers are making progress in finding ways to use carbon dioxide as a source of raw materials for fuel, by taking a cue from biology. (See "Making Gasoline from Carbon Dioxide" and "Turning Carbon Dioxide into Fuel.") But these technologies are still far from eliminating the need to sequester large amounts of carbon dioxide in order to reduce greenhouse emissions. (See "The Precarious Future of Coal.")
Clearing the Way for Alternative Energy
If alternative energy sources such as wind and solar are ever to provide a big chunk of our electricity, we'll need a better system for storing and distributing that power. That's because these sources of energy, unlike coal or nuclear power, are intermittent: solar panels only make power when the sun shines. New battery systems (see "Fixing the Power Grid") and thermal storage systems (see "Storing Solar Power Efficiently") could help.
More-Efficient Vehicles
GM made news this year with its plans for a new electric vehicle that gets extended range, compared to other electric vehicles, from an onboard generator. (See "Electric Cars 2.0.") Other companies are developing similar vehicles. But technologies for boosting the efficiency of conventional internal combustion engines could play a big role in helping automakers meet new fuel economy standards. (See "The Incredible Shrinking Engine" and the blog, "Better Fuel Economy on the Way.")
Comments
solarnano on 12/28/2007 at 6:48 AM
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WWW.BD70.com, has the equipment and know how, to extract oil from algae, 8 times less cost than other systems. One BD70 unit can produce over 1 million gallons of biodiesel a year, and each system can be piggybacked.
This algae biodiesel, besides fuel for diesel transportation, can also be used to generate electricity toward an all electric, no fuel transportation, future. Carbon generated to make electricity can be recycled right back into the algae farm. This system can use land not fit for habitation or growing food staples, anywhere in the world.
This much needed technology is here and now, and can be, and should be implemented quickly to vastly help to clean up carbon emissions, and free the world from its dependence on fossil fuels.
2008, a New Year towards energy independence.
rhapsodyinglue on 12/30/2007 at 5:31 PM
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There are still numerous scientific problems that must be addressed before this technology is anywhere near economically feasible.
You should preface your statements by saying "scientists believe it might someday be possible" or "companies have the goal of achieving" or something similar to let people know that no one has yet produced anywhere near those yields in large scale operation. It would also help if you gave some references for your numbers so that people could judge the credibility of the info. I'm sure it would come as no surprise to you that sometimes people with vested interests in something will exaggerate claims and inflate figures.
solarnano on 12/31/2007 at 12:01 AM
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ChuckInReno on 12/31/2007 at 2:48 PM
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solarnano on 01/01/2008 at 10:15 AM
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Corn produces about 20 gallons of biofuel per acre, soy 45, and palm 750, while data by, www.valcent.net, is showing up 33,000 gallons per acre, with the prospect of more. Who should we subsidizing, food crops or, algae crops that can be grown anywhere in the world without using agricultural land. 90% of algae' body weight is carbon, so algae farms can be placed next to all of the big carbon emitting factories and use their carbon emissions as feed stock. Sure, algae produces carbon when burned, but recycled back into a close loop Vertigro System to grow more algae. Most of fossil fuels, that are largely derived from ancient algae, release carbon into atmosphere to create the climate change and global warming that is fouling the future of our planet.
With other alternative energy resources, now being produced, and in the pipeline, like algae, we have a new direction for the world to quickly wean itself off of war fueled fossil fuels, and stem climate change and global warming. Nothing to lose and nothing, but a prosperous clean sustainable future for all of us, to gain.
Daniel from SA on 01/09/2008 at 4:24 AM
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solarnano on 01/09/2008 at 7:11 AM
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www.konarka.com, professes to mimic photosynthesis with their "Power Plastic". They have received allot of press and awards, but to my knowledge they have not come to market with their product.
I believe that, www.nanosolar.com, has the best thin film solar solution. It is mass produced on a printing press, without silicon, and is now on the market. Its first production of 420 megawatts, is sold out through 2008.
Combine wind, solar and algae and you have a beautiful, clean air, sustainable world, without the need for any fossil fuels!!!
Gaetano Marano on 12/30/2007 at 8:59 AM
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REALLY, I don't understand WHY so many peoples and scientists STILL believe that put solar panels in space (at a VERY VERY HIGH price) is a good way to have CHEAP energy for our planet, that
especially if we consider the (simple) fact that on the Earth there are IMMENSE surfaces where we can put that solar panels (at a FRACTION of the cost of Space, maybe, two-three orders of magnitude!) while only a SMALL part of these unused lands is sufficient to produce ALL the energy we need!!!
also, HOW we can launch that GIANT panels in Space if the "numner 1 space agency" have big problems to just develop a small rocket:
http://www.ghostnasa.com/posts/012arescantfly.html
or try to build it with the MOST expensive parts:
http://www.ghostnasa.com/posts/018srb5nonsense.html
.
rhapsodyinglue on 12/30/2007 at 5:33 PM
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