Changing Critters in Biofuel

Fox News recently reported on a Massachusetts firm that shows great promise in delivering high-quality and high-volume diesel fuel using water and carbon dioxide. So what's different between this process and algae fuel? The difference is which "critter" is chosen to produce the fuel. Joule Unlimited is using genetically engineered bacteria instead of the more traditional algae to produce bio-diesel.

The company claims that it's process has an annual capacity of up to 15,000 gallons of diesel fuel per acre, per year. Joule also claims that the cost of production amounts to $20 per barrel, once government subsidies are factored in. At the time of this post, light sweet crude oil was being traded at a price of $89 per barrel.

Here is the link to the Fox News Story: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/02/energy-in-america-new-diesel-biofuel-faster-more-efficient-to-produce-says/

Joule Unlimited's web site can be found at: http://www.jouleunlimited.com/

TCC ENE-110 Students Build Solar Array

Tidewater Community College's Alternative Energy Program doesn't just teach theoretical concepts about solar energy. There's plenty of classroom learning, reading from text books and traditional testing, of course. Students also gain practical work experience in building solar arrays.

Some students plan on starting their own businesses in the future. Instructors also provided information about writing a business plans, incorporation basics, planning, estimating,and performing a SWOT analysis.

Wind-power Win Fall For the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes

Our nation’s history with the Indian tribes who were here before most of our ancestors has left much to be desired. Manifest Destiny had many manifestations of evil: callous indifference, intolerance, and bureaucratic incompetence have been the norm. Prime real estate was taken from tribes such as the Lakota, Pawnee, Shoshone, and Paiute and their people were driven to desolate areas that the government considered unfit for cultivation or hunting. However, the same wind that bears down on the inhabitants of the reservation system can now provide a new kind of currency… energy.

The Shoshone-Paiute tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation have lent their support to the new China Mountain wind project that will provide renewable energy (400MW), new jobs, and economic development to the area. Perhaps other tribes of the wind-swept plains can soon benefit from the same thing.

Follow this link to PR Newswire's article on this new development.

2.4 MW solar installation at Pearl Harbor Naval Base

Of my 21 years in the U.S. Navy, I had the good fortune to spend 11 of them home ported in Pearl Harbor. There are many things that I remember about the islands... the beauty, the surf, scuba diving off Electric Beach, rainbows, and lots of sunshine.

Sunshine feels different in Hawaii. It's almost as if it either has a weight of its own or a downward, vertical breeze. Since Pearl Harbor is in a much lower latitude (21 degrees, 20 minutes North), sunlight is much more direct. Because of this high angle of the sun, there is less atmosphere to diffuse its energy. All of these factors combine to enhance the effectiveness of photo-voltaic (PV) arrays.

The following article from PV Magazine reports on a very large PV installation recently completed at Joint Base Hickam - Pearl Harbor:

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/24-mw-solar-installation-at-pearl-harbor-naval-base_100003110/

2.4 MW solar installation at Pearl Harbor Naval Base
03. June 2011, By: Jonathan Gif

DRI Energy and Niking Corp. install SolarWorld photovoltaic panels on five key buildings at the historic US Naval Base.

Five rooftop solar energy systems worth 2.4 megawatts have been installed by the US military, as part of base improvements at the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor now know as Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickham. The project cost $15 million and was funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The solar systems where engineered, procured and installed by California-based DRI Energy working with Hawaii-based Niking Corp. The installation uses solar panels from SolarWorld, produced in their Californian and Oregon facilities. The solar panels have been installed but final configuration will be completed in the coming months.

The solar systems were installed over five buildings including a historic quarters, built in 1927; a headquarters building from the 1940s; and an on-site shopping and supplies center. The power produced will be enough to supply 440 homes.

The installation was part of the US military’s project to increase its energy independence using renewable energy technology that requires no fuel, parts, maintenance and produces no emissions or noise. SolarWorld’s Kevin Kilkelly said that it was gratifying to see the installation help power one of the world’s best know and historic military sites. “In that light, these projects may be the best signs yet of the nation’s embrace of domestic solar technology.”

San Diego Scientists Growing Algae As Next Alternative Fuel

KGTV Channel 10 reports that San Diego has become a center of renewable energy research in the field of algae fuel. Southern California receives a great deal of sunlight, required for aggressive algae growth. Nearby Imperial Valley provides cheap, non-arable land for production. Algae growth requires relatively little water, a good fit for a desert operation.

There is another benefit to algae-based fuel. The entire process is carbon neutral. The formation of algae involves photosynthesis, which converts carbon dioxide into oxygen and stored energy. The resulting oil is refined in the same way as crude oil from wells. Fuel products are very close to the refined products that the consuming public is accustomed to. Once burned, the same carbon is released into the atmosphere as opposed to bringing up fresh carbon from underground. The cycle repeats.

You can read the entire article from KGTV 10 news by clicking here.

Bacterial Breakthrough Could Lead to Cheap, Renewable Bio-Batteries

By Loren Grush
Published May 23, 2011 FoxNews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/05/23/microbial-fuel-cell-technology-science/?test=latestnews

You may not think twice about what goes down the drain in your toilet. But soon, what you're flushing away could turn on the lights in your home.

This unique take on recycling comes from a substantial discovery concerning the way in which bacteria transfer electrical charges -- and it could lead to the development of “bio-batteries” or bacteria-fueled electrodes. Eventually, these fuel cells could take human or animal waste and convert it into usable energy.

“The exciting thing is that we really never understood how the electrons were getting on the surface,” Dr. Tom Clarke, one of the lead researchers on the project from the University of East Anglia, told FoxNews.com. “What happens in this process is that bacteria take in organic carbon molecules and ‘chew’ them inside the cell, which then releases electrons.”

The project -- funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the U.S. Department of Energy -- has revealed how the microscopic molecular structure of bacteria proteins allows for energy transfer.

Multiple layers of proteins inside bacteria essentially act as the cell’s organic power lines, enabling electrons produced within the bacteria to be transferred to the bacteria’s surface. Now that scientists understand what’s happening on the surface, they will be able to produce a cell that can connect to the bacteria.

Then the bacteria can feed off the electrode, and in return, generate electrons.

The process is called iron respiration, but the researchers have colloquially dubbed it "breathing rocks."

“Bacteria have a whole different arsenal of things to breathe other than just oxygen. They can breathe on mineral oxides, so this process of bacteria sitting on rocks and breathing rocks can be applied to electrodes. Bacteria can breathe on the electrodes and produce electrons.”

There have been attempts to harness electricity on the surface of bacteria before, but lacking the knowledge discovered in this project, only small amounts of energy were able to be obtained. Now sizable amounts of electricity can be put towards practical use.