Climate Capitalism

For congress, it has been all about health care and the economy in recent months. However, an article in the NYT today suggest there may be some motion on climate change legislation as the major players in the energy industry start taking sides.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/business/energy-environment/19fuel.html

A quick follow-up on my June 15th post.  Matthew Wald, of the New York Times reported that Dow Chemical and start-up Algenol Biofuels have teamed up to create ethanol from Algae growing in salt-water.   Dow is interested in finding an alternative to natural gas for plastic production.  The article discusses options for placing algae bio-reactors next to coal power plants which should clean up the coal and help to produce very pure CO2 that can be used for plastic production.

Read the full article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/business/energy-environment/29biofuel.html

Peter Henderson of Reuters reports on Microsoft futurist Craig Mundie.  Mundie promotes conservation but also predicts that nuclear power will play a major role in meeting 21st century “green” energy needs.

Mundie mentions traveling wave reactors which is a sub type of breeder reactors.  Also see Adam Smith’s December, 8th, 2008 post: IFR Technology, the Holy Grail of Clean Energy? about the related Integral Fast Reactors (IFR.)  Breader reactors are still largely theoretical, but do promise to help solve another 21st Century problem… what to do with all that 20th century nuclear waste.

I was curious to learn a little more about the state algae as a sustainable source for bio-diesel.   I’d heard it was very efficient source of oil, especially compared to agricultural mainstays like corn and soybeans. I’d also heard claims that it could grow in places less desirable than Iowa such as raw sewage or even space.

A few things I did learn:

Problems

There are some challenges using algae as a economically viable fuel source.  Here is a quick summary of what I found:

From: http://www.oilgae.com/blog/2006/10/three-big-problems-with-algae.html

• Energy intensive to harvest
• Naturally occurring (less-oil rich) species of algae will crowd out preferred species in open-pond systems
• Cost of mitigating potential ground-water contamination

• In a open pond design, since only the top 1/4 in of water in a pond will receive enough light, algea production, like any other land based crop, is limited by surface area.
• Optimum production requires consitent tempatures. Even sun-rich locations like New Mexico had problems due to low night-time temperatures.
• Lab cultures did not always grow in outside ponds.

21st Century Bus Stop?

When I first read Candace Lombardi’s article “In Italy, futuristic bus stops to blend practical, chic” about the twenty-first century bus stop, “EyeStop”, I thought I’d stumbled onto a straggler from April Fool’s day or possibly the antics of The Yes Men.

Upon further investigation, it appears that Apple inspired name is not a fictitious marketing spoof ala the iProduct, but an actual collaboration between MIT, the province of Florence and the local transit authority, ATAF.

The “EyeStop” project is part of MIT’s SENSEable City Laboratory which is exploring the “increasing deployment of sensors and hand-held electronics in recent years,” and exploring “a new approach to the study of the built environment.”

A guest submission by our friends at: ProgressiveKid. This article was originally published on Oct, 29, 2008 at: http://www.pkonaledge.com/2008/10/29/clean-coals-dirty-little-secret/

By Sarah Lane, ProgressiveKid

Both President Obama and his former opponent John McCain endorsed “clean coal” as an important element of their energy plans. But “clean coal” is a fairy tale with a very bad ending, as in the Big Bad Wolf eats and digests Little Red Riding Hood and belches out a black cloud afterward. (continue reading…)

Time reporter Michael Grunwald reports that developer and former Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys player, Syd Kitson, has unveiled plans for a Florida green community for as many as 45,000 inhabitants.  The plans feature a photovoltaic solar power plant, a smart grid, and a variety of energy efficiency strategies.

Click this link to see Kitson’s feature-filled website for Babcock Ranch - Southwest Florida’s City of Tomorrow.  Other than the overabundance of Segway machines highlighed in the concept video, the City looks very cool.  It will be interesting to see if he can actually pull it off.

Jeremy Hsu of Space.com has an interesting article out today about a project for creating a nuclear fusion reaction using 192 giant lasers focused on a pea-sized fuel pellet at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California.  NIF’s process differs from other experimental fusion reaction methods, which involve containing the intense heat generated by the reaction by suspending it in a magnetic field.  According to the article, the reaction is contained as a result of the fuel being consumed by the reaction quicker than it can expand outward.

Hsu’s article does not address several key practical questions about the technology, what will it cost and will it be capable of generating more energy than is needed to create the reaction in the first place?  Another article by Adam Hadhazy of Scientific American, however, quotes a lab spokesperson as saying that the lab expects the process to generate a net positive amount of energy, which apparently would be a first for fusion reactions.   An ignition test reportedly scheduled for 2010 would involve the use of 500 trillion watts of energy to power the lasers. 

So, whether this is the holy grail of clean energy technology or just a really expensive demonstration of Galactic Imperial power remains to be seen.

Ever hear about Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) Technology?  Mercury News contributor Steve Kirsch says it’s an old nuclear technology that offers a clean energy solution now.  The process involves reusing old nuclear waste as fuel.  Here’s some more links on IFR: 

PBS Frontline interview with Dr. Charles Till.

National Center for Policy and Public Research Q&A with George S. Stafford, Ph.D.

U.S. DOE Newton Ask a Scientist archive entry on IFR technology.

Dr. Charles Till article entitled Plentiful Energy and the IFR Story.

StrongForce.org definitions for next generation nuclear technologies.

Archived newsgroup discussion between Dr. Gregory Greenman and others.

Technical paper on IFR and proliferation resistance by Harold F. McFarlane of Argonne National Laboratory.

Wikipedia entry on IFR.

Atomic Insights blog entry on IFR.