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Physicians Scientists & Engineers for Healthy Energy
Every Landfill Could Have a Solar Lining
Analysis by Amy Dusto
Mon Feb 28, 2011 12:03 PM ET
Massachusetts, New Jersey, Hawaii and Colorado are among the growing number of states finding a new use for capped landfills. Instead of letting the tens of acres turn into an unusable wasteland -- suitable perhaps as a backdrop for a movie set in a futuristic dystopia -- these states are installing solar panels.
In Canton, Mass., for example, Southern Sky Renewable Energy is installing a 15-acre field of solar panels atop the town's 40-acre landfill. The project, expected to generate up to $70 million in savings and revenue over the next 25 years, will be the largest solar photovoltaic facility in New England to date. Not only that, but Southern Sky estimates that the project will create 25 temporary construction jobs and 90 permanent jobs.
PLANETGREEN: Do You Know Where Your Trash Goes? MIT Does. Watch the slideshow.
Building a solar panel farm on this otherwise unusable land is a great idea for many reasons, points out getsolar.com:
... if formerly home to industrial activity, is sometimes in close proximity to electricity transmission lines. Both factors help reduce project costs, which is good for both developers and electricity buyers. Moreover, making use of marginal land is often preferable to using high-value land that could otherwise be used for farming or other productive activities.
The state's Solar Renewable Energy Certificates program, which has the goal of producing 250 megawatts of solar power by 2017, has inspired more than the Canton project; the Massachusetts towns of Fairhaven and Greenfield are also building solar arrays on their landfills.
Bill S-2126 in New Jersey is inspiring similar projects in the Garden State, as well. It makes it possible to build solar power facilities -– or wind farms, due to a recent amendment -– on top of landfills. Just six out of the 90 acres of landfill in Glouchester, NJ, will soon be powering 1,100 homes for an whole year, according to the blog at getsolar.com.
http://news.discovery.com/tech/a-every-landfill-could-have-solar-lining-110228.html
Fox News - Trash Today, Electricity Tomorrow,
Thanks to Landmark Solar Energy Farm
Remind me why we are still fracking when wind and solar are ready to go
Remind me why we are still fracking when wind and solar are ready to go
by TXsharon on October 14, 2011
Right now, today, solar and wind energy is ready to power the West. And, the article on Think Progress says that by 2026 solar and wind could power the entire nation.
How does 10 million jobs sound? How does 10 million jobs WITHOUT man camps, strip joints and prostitution sound? How does an energy source that is cheaper than fossil fuels sound? How about not depleting and polluting our water, soil and air?
When I moved to my new home and signed up for my electric service, I chose the option of having 100% of my energy come from wind and solar. It costs a little bit more but it's worth every penny.
Sure, we have a lot of newly discovered hydrocarbons in all the shale plays across the nation. But please remember that most of those hydrocarbons are not recoverable and, what is recoverable, causes irreparable damage to the environment.
We can take a new direction.
How does it feel to have some hope? Let's give subsidies to renewable energy and tax the hell out of hydrocarbons. Let's work like hell to push for solar and wind.
UPDATE: Speaking of new directions.
The Rodale Institute has released a report showing that organic farming kicks Monsanto to the curb.
Organic farming is far superior to conventional systems when it comes to building, maintaining and replenishing the health of the soil. For soil health alone, organic agriculture is more sustainable than conventional. When one also considers yields, economic viability, energy usage, and human health, it's clear that organic farming is sustainable, while current conventional practices are not.
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Tim Ruggiero October 14, 2011 at 9:11 am
My neighbor had me talked into buying a windmill-About $13K to install, and with an average of $350 a month in electric bills now, would have it paid off in just a few years. After that, the juice is FREE. Low maintenance, no spills, no leaks, no emissions, no truck traffic, no ruined roads, no bad air, no loss of property, no contaminated water. Unlike natural gas, there's no 'production drop', no workover rigs, compressor stations, pipelines, metering stations, dehydration units. And, also unlike frack gas, solar and wind actually ADD value to your property. The choice is easy- compressor station or wind mill? Of course, we do not have either a windmill or solar now, and will not be ever-at least not at this place. Our home is an Aruba Petroleum industrial waste site.
Canton dump may soon be a solar powerhouse
January 31, 2011|Kay Lazar, Globe Staff
A Canton landfill closed for more than two decades will soon be transformed into New England’s largest solar electric development, officials are expected to announce today.
Approximately 24,000 solar panels installed across 15 acres — think 11 football fields — would be able to power more than 750 homes, its developers said.
The project, which is expected to open in the fall pending one last regulatory hurdle, would be three times larger than any other solar facility up and running in New England, according to state energy officials.
“It’s a significant development and, we hope, a harbinger of things to come,’’ said Robert Keough, spokesman for the state’s Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
Hundreds of closed landfills across the state sit idle as communities debate what to do with them. The materials used to cap and enclose the pollution within landfills do not allow for any development that would bore deep into the ground.
State energy officials have been trying to encourage communities to consider solar projects for these sites because the installations basically sit on top of the land.
Until now, most solar installations in Massachusetts and across New England have been designed for rooftops, which limits their size and potential to generate power. But the one in Canton, a 5.6 megawatt array, will not have such constraints.
“This landfill is one of the few in the Commonwealth that has the size and topography to be able to site a facility as large as 5.6 megawatts,’’ said Frank McMahon, a principal at Southern Sky Renewable Energy, the new Boston-based company that is developing the installation.
McMahon said the company formed last year and this is its first renewable energy project.
Southern Sky approached the Town of Canton last spring about the idea, which sounded to town leaders like manna from mountains of trash. Or, as Selectman John J. Connolly puts it, “a grand slam for us.’’
The town had previously rejected several other ideas for the landfill, which has been closed since 1989, including baseball fields and a new public works facility.
“The land was just going to sit there forever,’’ Connolly said. “This is a no-brainer.’’
Over the past nine months, various town boards reviewed and signed off on the $25 million project, and no residents have raised objections, Connolly said.
The project has also received the green light from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, Keough said.
The final deal between the company and the town means that Canton could net about $16.3 million from Southern Sky over the course of the 25-year contract, which includes the land lease, rebates for power generated from the site, and savings on the town’s electric bills.
We have to pinch ourselves to make sure it’s real,’’ Connolly said.
The money, which is expected to start coming in later this year, would probably mean the town can avoid laying off teachers, firefighters, and police, Connolly said, a prospect now facing many other communities.
The solar project must clear one last checkpoint: NStar must approve Southern Sky’s application to connect its solar-powered installation to the region’s electric grid. Engineers must assess whether NStar’s equipment in that area can handle the power generated at the facility.
If upgrades are needed to make the connections compatible, the developer must foot that bill, said NStar spokesman Mike Durand.
The review can take several months.
“We turn it around as quickly as possible, but with all the interest in renewable energy lately, we have gotten many more projects than we used to,’’ Durand said. “We like that, but it tends to create a pipeline backlog in some cases.’’
McMahon said the company expects to start construction before the months-long utility approval process is completed and aims to have power flowing by October or November.
McMahon said Southern Sky is now eyeing another large swath of land in Southeastern Massachusetts that would allow the company to build a solar installation more than twice the size of the one in Canton, capable of generating approximately 12 megawatts.
He declined to identify the community but said the site is on an “environmentally challenged piece of land, not a landfill.’’
The company expects to announce details in about three weeks.
Beth Daley of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Kay Lazar can be reached at klazar@globe.com
Solar Energy
BrightSource Energy is an Oakland, California, corporation that designs, builds, finances and operates utility-scale solar power plants that deliver clean, low-cost solar energy to utility and industrial customers worldwide at prices that compete with fossil fuels.
Greentech Media ranked BrightSource as one of the top 10 greentech startups in the world in 2008.[1]
History
BrightSource was formed with seed capital from VantagePoint Venture Partners. It secured $115 million in additional corporate funding from its Series C round of financing in May 2008. This brings the total the company has raised to date to over $160 million. Investors include Google.org, BP Alternative Energy, Morgan Stanley, DBL Investors, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Chevron Technology Ventures, Statoil Venture, and Black River.[2]
BrightSource Industries (Israel) Ltd., formerly named Luz II Ltd.,[3] is a wholly owned subsidiary of BrightSource Energy, Inc. Based in Israel, BrightSource Industries is responsible for solar technology development, plant design and engineering.
In March 2008, BrightSource entered into a series of power purchase agreements with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) for up to 900 MW of electricity.[4] BrightSource is currently developing a number of solar power plants in Southern California, with construction of the first plant planned to start in 2009.[dated info]
In February 2009, BrightSource contracted to sell power from seven solar power towers in the Mojave Desert to Southern California Edison (SCE). The plants will have a combined capacity of 1,300 MW, producing 3.7 billion kilowatt-hours per year. The first 100 MW plant, part of BrightSource's 400 MW, 3,900-acre (16 km2) Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, could be operating by 2013.[5][6][7] The total cost of the Ivanpah project will be $2.2 billion.
In 2010, BrightSource hired Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to begin preparations for a public offering in 2011. Its fourth round of equity financing in May netted $150 million, bringing total equity financing to $330 million to date.[8]
In April 2011, BrightSource filed with the SEC to raise up to $250 million in an initial public offering.[9][10]
Coyote Springs Development
BrightSource Energy has plans to build a 960 MW (1,290,000 hp) solar thermal power plant in Coyote Springs and would be on line by 2012.[11]
http://www.brightsourceenergy.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrightSource_Energy
May 3, 2011
BrightSource IPO Could Spark Clean-Tech 'Gold Rush'
By COLIN SULLIVAN of Greenwire
SAN FRANCISCO -- BrightSource Energy Inc.'s plan to go public this year could spur a wave of clean technology startups looking to follow suit if investors flock to the solar developer in large numbers, experts say.
The Oakland-based company recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to start the initial public offering process, following the example of others in "clean tech" that have raised cash over the past few years for fledgling technologies that have yet to prove their mettle.
Last year's blockbuster IPO in the United States was Tesla Motors Inc., which saw its stock price surge 40 percent on its opening day to deliver more than $225 million to the electric carmaker on the first day of trading. Amyris, Gevo and Ameresco have also fared well, confirming a global trend that saw 93 clean-tech companies raise a combined total $16.3 billion worldwide in 2010, according to the Cleantech Group.
But many expect the BrightSource offering to surpass the pace set by Tesla, even if the company's executives have capped the stock available at $250 million. More important perhaps than the cash raised will be the tone a solid performance sets for other firms eyeing the same move, especially in the solar power space and for a company like the biofuels developer Solazyme Inc. also looking to go public this year.
Nat Goldhaber, managing director of Claremont Creek Ventures in Oakland, said a monster showing by BrightSource could spark a "Google effect" that leaves investors as enthusiastic about pioneering energy firms as they have been about information technology.
"I think it's going to be a hot one," Goldhaber said. "If it's very successful, I think perhaps we might get a little bit of a gold rush."
Goldhaber justifies his enthusiasm by citing the company's flush pipeline of projects to follow construction of a solar thermal plant in the Mojave Desert, which is backed by a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the Energy Department. And though it looks like solar photovoltaics may have more of a future than concentrated solar, Goldhaber thinks BrightSource has the right technology to make large-scale renewables work.
"Their technology is interesting and unique and capital intensive," he said, noting that BrightSource has managed to weather a difficult permitting process, political pushback and other challenges. "I think it's starting to feel kind of warm and fuzzy."
Concentrated solar vs. PV
Though not quite as bullish, others agreed that the company will likely do well. Erik Straser, a general partner at Mohr Davidow, a top Silicon Valley venture firm, said BrightSource is positioned to help push along an IPO market that rebounded last year.
Straser cited the announcement last week by French oil producer Total SA that it had dropped $1.4 billion into SunPower Corp., a solar panel manufacturer based in San Jose, Calif. And he noted that BrightSource is among the first large-scale renewable producers to toy with going before investors, giving it a unique first-in-class status.
"This is a first-in-a-category company," Straser said. "To date, those in general seem to do well."
He added: "If you are a fund manager, and you have an allocation in this area, this could be one of the few ones you could buy."
Others expect BrightSource to show well but cautioned that the company's brand of sun-powered electricity -- what is called concentrated solar -- could be met with a less enthused response from Wall Street than some would anticipate.
Peter Asmus, a senior analyst at Pike Research in San Francisco, argued that the drop in prices for solar panels (PV) means distributed, rooftop solar has become increasingly attractive. And PV does not have to deal with the local headaches that utility-scale concentrated solar (CSP) has come face to face with land acquisition challenges, power line shortages, water supply problems, endangered species and vocal environmentalists.
BrightSource, Asmus said, "is one of the few [CSP] companies I am still optimistic about."
"I think it is going to be successful," he said, but only because its technology -- a centralized solar thermal tower -- departs from other CSP outfits looking to use rows and rows of parabolic troughs to generate power, he argued.
"There are some people now saying that maybe CSP has missed its opportunity," Asmus said. "There are some people sort of saying, 'You guys missed your window.'"
Still others suggested the combined cheapness of natural gas and dropping price of solar PV means gas-fired plants built in concert with solar panels might be the way to go. But even if that pattern emerges, every analyst interviewed for this article said BrightSource has separated itself through its unique technology and ability to build strong connections in the business community.
"This is a good company," said David Cheng, one of two directors of research at the Cleantech Group. "I think, generally speaking, good companies will go public no matter what."
Straser sees the same dynamic at work: "I think highly of this team. There are a lot of people rooting for this one to win."
Looking forward
Cheng also noted that solar thermal has storage capability where solar PV does not, so if BrightSource proves its model to be efficient, that could "validate a sector that can generate liquidity for investors and wealth for entrepreneurs."
"This is a marquee name and a marquee project," he said. "I think it's going to do well."
Goldhaber said another factor to watch is how BrightSource does in the months after the IPO. Tesla, for instance, fell back significantly after the initial rush but has lately settled well above its IPO asking price.
"It speaks well to the resilience of post-IPO values," he said. "At least Tesla does. If we see a good pop on the offering day and some resilience in the value of shares post-IPO, I believe we'll see renewed interest in additional IPOs."
Outside of BrightSource and Solazyme, a number of other U.S.-based clean-tech companies may be looking to file IPOs this year. Ice Energy, Silver Spring Networks, Fisker Automotive Inc. and Bloom Energy Corp. have been among the companies rumored to be eyeing a public offering, and Goldhaber listed SolarCity, SunRun or OPower as likely candidates.
More broadly, global activity seems likely to surpass movement in the United States. The largest IPO by far last year was for Enel Green Power, which is the renewable energy unit of Italian utility Enel. The company raised $3.6 billion on the Madrid Stock Exchange.
The Cleantech Group noted that the "vast majority" of IPO action was in China, which accounted for 63 of the IPOs (or 68 percent) completed in 2010. The second largest IPO of the year was for China Goldwind, a wind turbine manufacturer that raised $917 million on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the Cleantech Group said.
Copyright 2011 E&E Publishing. All Rights Reserved.
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Abiotic Oil
Addressing the theory in circulation that oil is not solely of organic origin, but that there may be another mode of origin as well from deeper in the crust, involving magma.
See also Peak Oil
Sterling's Preface:
There is a substantial body of evidence to support this theory. That does not negate, however, the quest for getting away from dependence on fossil fuels. The greenhouse gasses produced by the burning of such will continue to be a pressing matter that must be addressed. Now that the world has achieved a consciousness about how we treat our planet, this news that we are not so far from depleting our oil reserves is a welcome breath of fresh air, removing some of the panic effect that can foster unrest.
Supporting Evidence, Briefly
Supporting Evidence, Briefly
Oil being discovered at 30,000 feet, far below the 18,000 feet where organic matter is no longer found.
Wells pumped dry later replenished.
Volume of oil pumped thus far not accountable from organic material alone according to present models.
In Situ production of methane under the conditions that exist in the Earth's upper mantle. (PhysicsWeb; Sept. 14, 2004)
More at the link below……..
http://freeenergynews.com/Directory/Theory/SustainableOil/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJdNqYeVwX4
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