Rally Monte-Carlo for electric hybrid cars - Clean Racing winner Opel Ampera

posted Apr 16, 2012 3:26 AM by Solar Life [ updated Apr 16, 2012 1:41 PM ]

Rally Monte-Carlo during EXPO EVER Monaco 2012

Opel Ampera on EXPO Ever Monaco

RALLY MONTE CARLO für alternative Antriebe

Opel Ampera hybrid - GM Chevy volt

Der erste Tag der Rallye Monte Carlo für alternative Antriebe stand ganz im Zeichen der Elektroautos mit Reichweite von über 250 Kilometern, der Range Extender, der Hybride und der Autos mit Autogas und Biodiesel: Aus Lugano, Annecy-le-Vieux und Clermont-Ferrand fuhren rund hundert Teams sternförmig auf Monte Carlo zu. Auf dieser ersten Etappe durch die Alpen und die Provence mussten unter anderen Tesla Roadster, Fisker Karma, Opel Ampera, Toyota Prius, Peugeot 3008 HY 4, Citroën DS5 Hybrid zwischen 350 und 520 Kilometer bewältigen.

„Challenge Urban Electric“

Um acht Uhr früh begann die Zeitnahme zur ersten Etappe der „Challenge Urban Electric“ durch die französischen Seealpen. Deren enge Serpentinen und Haarnadelkurven waren schon immer für legendäre Etappen der großen „Monte“-Rallye verantwortlich. Nun sind sie Schauplatz der beiden heutigen Elektro-Wertungen.

Rallye-Legende Christian Geistdörfer, Opel Ampera

1980 und 1984 Co-Pilot des vierfachen Monte-Carlo-Siegers Walter Röhrl und hier mit einem Opel Ampera unterwegs

Die Ergebnisse

Winner: 13. Rallye Monte Carlo für alternative Antriebe das Team Bernard Darniche/Joseph Lambert auf Opel Ampera

Nach drei Tagen, über 520 Kilometern und sechs Wertungsprüfungen siegte im Gesamtklassement der 13. Rallye Monte Carlo für alternative Antriebe das Team Bernard Darniche/Joseph Lambert auf Opel Ampera. In der gemischten Klasse aus Elektroautos mit einer Reichweite von über 250 Kilometern, Range Extender, Hybriden und Autos mit Gas und Biodiesel machte die Erfahrung des dreifachen französischen Rallyemeisters Darniche, der bereits 1979 die Rallye Monte Carlo gewann, den Unterschied. Die „Urban Electric Challenge“ gewannen die Monegassen Pascal Ferry/Aurore Gallet auf Mitsubishi i-MiEV. Mit unserem Renault Fluence Z.E. und der blockierten Straße in der zweiten Wertungsprüfung landeten wir schließlich auf Platz 11, auch weil wir mit 34,6 kWh auf 163,6 Kilometern etwas zu viel Strom als nötig verbrauchen mussten.

In der Sonderprüfung Autoslalom siegten der Franzose Laurent Caro auf einem Honda CR-Z. Beide angetretenen Renault Fluence Z.E. fuhren bis auf die Zehntelsekunde die gleiche Zeit und teilten sich Platz 48 – ein mehr als respektables Ergebnis, da die Elektro-Limousine Fluence Z.E. hinter dem Fisker Karma das längste Modell im Feld der 102 Starter war.

FISKER KARMA hybrid

source:cleanthinking.de | image credit: themotoristblog.com

NASA tries solar space mirriors SPS-ALPHA to microave beam energy to earth

posted Apr 12, 2012 8:08 AM by Solar Life

SPS-ALPHA machine will harvest solar radiation and beam it back to Earth

Cocktail hour for ET? Nasa design to harvest energy from the sun

Solar energy harvester will beam energy to Earth in form of microwaves
Huge solar panel would float in space
Made of thousands of curved mirrors
Solaren Corp

NASA’s announcement comes after regulators in California approved a contract with US firm Solaren Corp to supply space based solar power to a company in the US state as early as 2016.

SPS-ALPHA, or Solar Power Satellite

John Mankins, who runs California based firm Artemis Innovation Management Solutions, said the

SPS-ALPHA, or Solar Power Satellite via Arbitrarily Large PHased Array, could become a reality one day.

PV to Microwave
The inside of the SPS-ALPHA would also be lined with photovaltic panels which convert the sun’s energy into microwaves.

source: dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech

Fossil Shale gas to fire up US air condtions instead of coal, kills US cleantech?

posted Apr 11, 2012 1:56 AM by Solar Life [ updated Apr 13, 2012 2:36 AM ]

Shale gas is a deadly distraction from clean energies cleantech financing

Greenhouse-gas emissions US 12 percent down by 2020 ?

New rules from the Environmental Protection Agency that could come as early as today, has put the country on course to cut domestic greenhouse-gas emissions 12 percent by 2020, on par with what the failed cap-and-trade legislation aimed to achieve

The U.S. is the only industrialized nation that failed to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol

Progress came from an unexpected source: a fossil fuel

As a result of the surge in fracking, natural gas prices are at their lowest levels in a decade,

putting the cost of generating electricity from gas close to or cheaper than coal.

With the increased use of natural gas in the U.S. the Energy Information Administration predicts that in 2035, carbon- dioxide emissions will total 5.8 billion metric tons, a cut of 8 percent from a forecast just last year. That’s also down 40 percent from the prediction made in 2005, before the recession,

In fact, with automobile standards set to be phased in through 2025 and state-level solar and wind mandates, the reductions likely will be even greater than the agency forecast in its model. Auto standards alone will cut emissions by a further 6 percent or more in 2035,

The environmental research group is funded by foundations, government grants and

companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) ???

Hydraulic fracturing, in which chemically treated water is forced underground to shatter rock and let gas flow, has opened up vast new shale-gas deposits to companies such as

Chesapeake Energy (CHK) and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG)

As a result of the surge in the drilling technique, known as fracking, natural-gas prices are at their lowest levels in a decade, putting the cost of generating electricity from gas close to or cheaper than coal. That can mean huge benefits for the climate: Each of the top 10 facilities releasing the most carbon dioxide in the U.S. is a coal-fired power plant.

Coal Versus Gas

Coal’s share of electricity production had already dropped below 40 percent by the end of 2011, the first time it had been that low since 1978, the Energy Information Administration said March 9. The share of natural gas used in power production is likely to grow to 27 percent by 2035 from 19 percent in 2005, while coal is likely to slip to 39 percent from 42 percent last year and 50 percent in 2005, according to agency data.

Water

communities complain that their water is being polluted by the chemicals leaking into wells from fracking. Local opposition has prevented fracking in New York and Maryland as state rules are developed, and the EPA and other federal agencies are considering a series of regulations to force disclosure of the chemicals used during drilling, mandate wastewater cleanup and limit toxic air emissions.

Methane Leakage

Meanwhile, two academic studies question whether natural gas is even better for the climate than coal

Liberated methane gas from fracking destroys Ozone layer

Robert Howarth, a Cornell University professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, published a paper last year that said fracking allowed so much methane to be released during drilling that natural gas ends up doing more climate damage than coal.

source: bloomberg.com

Explainer: Shale gas en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shale_gas

Fossil Shale gas emits Methane

Shale gas emits larger amounts of methane greenhouse gas,

than does conventional gas, but less than coal

Drinking Water

contamination by fracking

Hydraulic fracturing or 'fracking' forces

chemicals into the ground to pry open

trapped gas deposits.

source: thetyee.ca

Maritime communities rally

against shale gas fracking

source: ctv.ca

Fossil Shale gas

The shale gas is a fossil fuel, so shale gas has all the advantages and disadvantages of fossil fuels.

Disadvantages- Their supply is limited, because they are non-renewable. The burning of fossil fuels causes pollution. The price to consumers continues to rise as the less accessible or more costly to produce resources are produced.

Advantages - Fossil fuels are a dependable source. No other source of energy can provide the same power our cars and power plants. Frequently, fossil fuels provide the most economical source of power.

Natural gas is considered by many to be a cleaner burning fuel than oil and coal as it emits less carbon dioxide when burned. (see link).

Now, shale gas is gas that is produced from shale formations. These formations have low flow capacity, so the rock must be broken (fractured) before gas can flow. Generally water is pumped into the wells at high rates to open spaces (fractures) in the rock. Sand or ceramic proppant is used to keep the fractures open.

The advantage to shale gas are numerous. It provides long term employment to the US and other countries. The US gas reserves are in decline, and shale gas is a new source that has great potential. As mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article, new sources of fossil fuels in the US could help to keep the OPEC countries from creating a monopoly on fuel prices.

Now, some disadvantages. Large quantities of water are pumped in. This can reduce the drinking water supply. It is possible the fracturing fluids which frequently contain chemicals will be accidently contaminate natural aquifers that supply drinking water. Small towns are impacted when large fracture trucks go down roads not built to withstand their weight. (see link).

The impact on the environment is controversial. If natural gas is burned instead of coal, then there can be less harm to the environment. Methane is more harmful than carbon dioxide to global warming, but methane is not released to the atmosphere, only the end products of combustion.

Explainer source: wiki.answers.com

view attached PDF EU study shalegas europe

Shale gas drilling released methane more dangerous for Ozone layer than CO2 from coal

Methane leaks also into ground water, water wells exploded in the US

Radioactivity uranium radon

Shale gas well structure water contamination

| Attachments: EU study shale-gas-pe-464-425-final.pdf

VC broken? Shale Gas - How to finance Cleantech? CleanEquity Monaco 2012

posted Mar 29, 2012 11:11 PM by Solar Life [ updated Apr 6, 2012 3:00 AM ]

YouTube CLEANTECHNEWS CleanEquity Monaco 2012 - preclip http://youtu.be/O56hJ8ThGyk

Speaker: Alexander "Hap" Ellis III http://www.rockportcap.com

Report online april-03-2012 outlook MENA region

Award ceremony 2012

Awards Cleantech Cleanequity 2012

H.S.H. Prince Albert II audited the judging process and awarded the prizes

o ArcActive Limited - NewZealand Excellence in the field of Environmental Technology research

o GreenCom Networks - Germany Excellence in the field of Environmental Tech development

o Tendril - US Excellence in the field of Environmental Tech commercialization

The award for Excellence in the Field of Environmental Technology Research Battery

went to ArcActive Limited, a New Zealand company developing a new negative electrode for the Lead Acid battery for use in Start/Stop or Micro Hybrid vehicles. These batteries will enable automakers to significantly improve fuel economy compared to the state of the art AGM batteries, while being cost competitive with AGM.

The award for Excellence in the Field of Environmental Technology Development DER

went to GreenCom Networks, a German company enabling distributed energy management for utilities with its Energy Information Brokerage Platform.

The award for Excellence in the Field of Environmental Technology Commercialization SmartGrid

went to Tendril, a US Energy Platform company delivering end-to-end consumer engagement products, applications and services powered by Tendril Connect(TM) – an open standards-based, secure and scalable platform that takes the complexity out of the Energy Internet.

source: royalcorrespondent.com | prnewswire.com

Sustainability how got it broken ? 250 years ago in England:

Related cleantech News:

o London clean energy talks to draw 22 countries

Ministers from Australia, Canada, Europe and Japan will join counterparts from emerging economies Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates at the April 25-27 gathering, a British government statement said on Tuesday. The European Commission will also be represented.

The talks on speeding development of technologies that limit greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy security will focus on how countries can collaborate on new investment and jobs in areas such as energy efficiency, carbon capture and storage, solar and wind.

source: reuters.com when: April 25-27-2012

o San Francisco Nabs ‘Cleantech Capital’ Title

just named San Francisco the Cleantech Capital of North America.

Even more evidence of San Francisco’s cleantech strength: 11 companies in the Cleantech Group’s Global Cleantech 100 have locations in San Francisco, more than any other city. Those companies include: Adura Technologies, AMEE, Harvest Power, Heliatek, Mission Motors, Nexant, OPower, Project Frog, RelayRides, SCIenergy and SunRun.

source: theenergycollective.com

o Intel’s city of the future: sensors everywhere gigaom.com/cleantech

o Shale Gas video

Shale Gas threat to France’s Nougat Capital Montelimar french-news-online.com

Solar storm March 2012

posted Mar 8, 2012 2:15 AM by Solar Life [ updated Mar 8, 2012 2:18 AM ]

Solar storm March 2012

Impact CME march-8-2012 on earth and Mars

The models also predict that the leading edge of the first CME will reach

Earth at about 1:25 AM EST on the morning of March 8 (plus or minus

7 hours). Such a CME could result in a severe geomagnetic storm,

causing aurora at low latitudes, with possible disruption to high frequency

radio communication, global positioning systems (GPS), and power grids.

Local Beer brewer covers 40% electricity costs with Solar

posted Mar 2, 2012 2:08 AM by Solar Life

Community sustainability movement

Local Owners Use Solar Panels

To Brew Beer in the U.S.

Inside of the Civil Life Brewery in south city owner Jake Hafner

is doing what he’s always wanted. To run his own business, he also wanted to make sure it was green. He figured installing 104 solar panels on the roof of his brewery’s old warehouse was a no brainer. Straight up solar put them in, they also installed a system at Urban Chestnut Brewery in midtown.

The panels went up in August and currently we get 30 to 40 percent of our electrical needs from our solar panel so we have a 25 kilowatt system.”

video link kplr11.com/2012