Solar Sunday is my weekly roundup of renewable energy and energy efficiency news from around the web.
One oft-heard, if rather feeble, critique of solar power goes something like, “what happens when the sun isn’t shining? You’ve got to have some other power source available to come online to take up the slack.” Fair enough. Even in the sunniest places there still is night, there still can be rain or dust storms which cause the panels to become so dirty that capacity is reduced. Pacific Gas & Electric is addressing this concern with two new solar thermal-biomass hybrid power plants.Renewable hybrid technology from Portugal
PG&E announced yesterday that it will be contracting with Portuguese manufacturer Martifer to build two plants near Coalinga, California with a total capacity of 106.8 MW. It is expected that the projects will supply enough power for 75,000 homes in northern and central California.
Solar Houses made out of fabric ! ! !
If architect Sheila Kennedy gets her way, textiles will soon be able to take the sun’s energy and turn it into electricity. Kennedy is an expert in the integration of solar cell technology in architecture. And, her team from KVA Matx has designed the Soft House, a structure that can create close to 16,000 watt-hours of electricity by transforming household curtains into flexible, semi-transparent, solar collectors.
Queen Elizabeth is an Air-Head
The Crown Estate of England knows which way the wind blows and has decided to acquire the prototype of the world’s biggest wind turbine, Clipper’s 7.5 megawatt MBE turbine, also known as the Britannia (pictured above is Clipper’s Liberty model, which produces 2.5 megawatt).The previous record was held by the Enercon E-126 wind turbine which is rated at 6 megawatt (pictured below), but can produce around 7 in real world conditions. While the Enercon is land-based, the Britannia will be located in deep waters near the UK. This makes sense because the marine interests of The Crown Estate include almost the entire UK territorial seabed out to 12 nautical miles , about 55% of the UK’s coastal foreshore, and rights to lease seabed for the generation of renewable energy on the continental shelf within the Renewable Energy Zone which extends out to approximately 200 nautical miles..
Chicago’s city skyline is about to be graced by a stunning new super-structure that will rise above its shore like a helical seashell. Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the 2000 foot Chicago Spire will be the world’s second tallest building upon its completion in 2011. The halcyon monolith is beautiful example of biomimicry, taking cues from the spiraling structure of the nautilus. It’s an iconic spire with a timeless form that will take strong future-forward steps with a projected LEED gold rating.
Green Politics is Good Politics
Hey, this green thing’s catching on! Not that anyone reading this likely needed convincing that solar power’s a good thing, but a new survey shows that a lot of other people now think similarly. According to the SCHOTT Solar Barometer report a whopping 98% of Independents, 97% of Democrats and 91% of Republicans think that developing solar power is in the vital interests of the United States. On the flip side of this, only 3% of people surveyed thought that favoring coal was a good direction for the country to head. Additionally, a near-equal amount of Democrats (72%), Republicans (72%) and Independents (74%) thought that extending federal tax credits were a good way to encourage further development of solar. Granted this is a survey conducted by two groups with an overt economic stake in the results, but the figures are certainly compelling.
Oil goes Green, like actually green
THIS is one biofuel that lives up to its green billing in more ways than one. It’s an emerald-green crude oil, produced by photosynthesis in algae, which could fuel cars, trucks and aircraft – without consuming crops that can be used as food.“This product can go right into today’s oil pipeline,” claims Jason Pyle of Sapphire Energy in San Diego, California, which developed the fuel. He says the “green crude” is similar in quality to naturally occurring crude oil. It is produced as a by-product of photosynthesis by a genetically engineered strain of algae, housed in tanks of treated waste-water and exposed to sunlight. The tanks can be placed on non-arable land.
Gasoline, diesel and jet fuel have already been refined from the green crude, and the company aims to produce 10,000 barrels per day within five years.
Tags: architecture, biofuel, politics, solar power, solar sunday, wind power
