MIT Entrepreneurship Center, Entrepreneur in Residence and the Moderator of the Cleantech panel at the recent MIT Venture Capital Conference, William Aulet talks about innovation in the energy sector, the future of cleantech and the electric car.
The green-tech industry is caught between two strong forces.
The article describes about green technologies and the challenges they face — It will be quite a while before these issues are resolved.
Unlike software or Internet start-ups, most clean-tech businesses–be they automotive start-ups or renewable-energy manufacturers–need a lot of capital to succeed. They also need long-term, supportive policies, which are often victim to politics and economic swings.
Chevy Volt
And so it went in 2008. Driven by high oil prices and climate concerns, the beginning of the year was marked by a surge in green investment, with venture capital expected to top $3 billion this year. By the end of the year, there were troubling signs, linked directly to falling oil prices and the financial crisis that took hold in the autumn.Tesla Motors, the high-profile electric luxury carmaker, provided perhaps the most drama among start-ups. After hitting delays, it finally began shipping the $109,000 Tesla Roadster. But Chairman Elon Musk took over the CEO position, laid off staff amid cash-flow problems, was forced to scrap plans for going public, and delayed its second car.
Detroit’s Big Three–under unaccustomed pressure from start-ups–pleaded with Washington for “bridge loans” (also known as a bailout) and promised to accelerate delivery of electric and other fuel-efficient cars.
Due in two years, General Motors’ Chevy Volt had high expectations heaped upon it when it was officially unveiled at GM’s 100th anniversary, although there are many other electric cars under development.
Oddly, Washington’s bailout of the financial sector also aided the renewable energy industry, most favorably, solar. After multiple failed attempts, tax credits for wind, solar, and geothermal energy were extended.
On the technology front, utility-scale solar thermal plants that use heat to make electricity will reappear in the U.S. Southwest after a long hiatus.
According to an article from Economist, Australian scientists have been using silver to redirect the light that falls onto the surface of a cell in such a way that all colours are efficiently absorbed. The question is: how’s that going to help with making Solar energy more affordable? The report says that the quantity of silver is so small that its worth it.
When struck by light, the electrons in an atom of silver vibrate in a way that causes them to radiate small amounts of light themselves. If the atom in question is in a small particle on the surface of a piece of silicon, the result is what is known as a surface plasmon. This is a type of electromagnetic wave (ie, the same type of wave as a light wave). However, as its name suggests, it runs parallel to the surface of the material that is propagating it, rather than penetrating this material.
By travelling horizontally in this way, a plasmon passes through more of the solar cell’s silicon than any incident beam from the sun could. In effect, the cell has been turned on its side and made much thicker. That gives it the opportunity to absorb, and thus convert into electricity, most of the red light falling on it, as well as the blue. Indeed, Dr Catchpole and Dr Polman report in Optics Express that their system increases the absorption of red light tenfold—bringing the efficiency of thin cells much closer to that of the traditional sort.
The UET Alumni Association organized a technical seminar and panel discussion titled “Pakistan’s Energy Needs” in Potomac, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC. The seminar was held on October 11, 2008 and it was attended by about fifty participants associated with the energy field.
The focus of the seminar was to build on collective experiences of the panelists, each a recognized authority in their areas, to put forward constructive ideas that can help Pakistan meet its energy needs in a timely manner utilizing established and alternate sources. A total of five panelists participated in the seminar. The panelists and the titles of their presentations are as follows:
Organizers of the seminar included UETAA officers Mr. Saeed Rana, President; Mr. Irfan Malik, Vice President; Mr. Abdul Hai Shaikh, Secretary; and Mr. Amir Khwaja, Treasurer. The panel discussion was moderated by Mr. Salman Sheikh, also a UET alumnus.
More information is available at UET Alumni organziation website.
The post takes a look at the energy crisis in pakistan and the concerns raised by different sectors of the society and published in the media. I’ve listed number of articles from different news papers and a few sites etc.
In this 2007 article from NEWS, the situation is predicted to get even worse! The article is more of a criticism rather then a comprehensive problem solving note. It states the past unlawful decisions took by the government officials. Its just an article with educating people with the redefined and previously stated claims of the top officials. The figures are comprehensively given to exact measures but then again it adds more to the problem rather then the problem solving matter it self. The article also discusses the claims done by WAPDA and then again changing the strategies adding much more expense to the projects and lessening the chances of future stability.
Here’s another discussion from the defense forum site . The post mainly focuses on the oil, gas and water issues and explains it self how the growing needs in future are going to take the economic growth down. It encompasses on the political instability in the Baluchistan region resulting in the extreme shortage of gas. The industrial supply is mainly closed or very little of it is available so the industrial sector is facing a very hard time dealing with such problems. In the future the conditions are going to be worse as the percentage of consumption of oil, gas and water are to be doubled.
In this news report, the government’s point of view is expressed. The minister of water and power Mr. Raja Parvez said on account of the extreme water and electricity crisis nationwide. He makes statements that ” keeping in view the situation, the government is bringing in rental power generation units and maximizing generation from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to augment the existing supply. A debt of Rs400b had created problems for the power generation sector out of which Rs260b are receivables of the eight power companies while Rs140b has to be paid to the oil companies. The power generation companies had no money to pay to the oil cos due to which the situation went from bad to worse.
He said a debt of Rs400b had created problems for the power generation sector out of which Rs260b are receivables of the eight power companies while Rs140b has to be paid to the oil companies. The power generation companies had no money to pay to the oil cos due to which the situation went from bad to worse, he added.
DAILY TIMES reports about help from Germany. The article states how Germany is going to help Pakistan recover from the threats of worse economic and energy crisis. He also added that efforts are to be made to increase the two way trade. Speaking on the occasion many economist and strategists commented that Pakistan being an agricultural state should emphasis on the imports of fruits, vegetables and other agriculture based commodities to help increase the import revenue.The LCCI president said that the foreign investment in Pakistan by Germany, which was $11.2 million in 2001-02, had increased to $2 billion in the year 2007, showing a little improvement and needs to be increased.
There are not many sites dedicated to energy … here’s one but there is not much information here.
Around the world there is need and hope for alternative energy technoloy. There is hope that with the economic downturn, there will be a change in attitude and investment. Here is a report about the prospects of alternative energy industry in the US.
While many small businesses continue to struggle with tight credit and declining sales, one fledgling industry is seeing a boom in investment and sales growth: alternative energy.
Alternative-energy firms are reporting an influx of inquiries and business from a wide range of companies looking to increase their energy efficiency, especially from those that believe the Obama administration will impose stricter regulations requiring them to conserve energy. President-elect Obama has spoken often of the importance of alternative energy, also known as clean technology, and his federal stimulus package is expected to include plans to beef up alternative-energy infrastructure and improve energy efficiency in government buildings. In a speech last week, he called for the U.S. to double the production of alternative energy in three years.
So start-ups across a variety of areas — solar power, biofuels and energy conservation among them — are getting increased financing from venture capitalists and lenders at a time when other small companies are cutting back and being turned away by investors. And many are hiring more staff, boosting marketing efforts and expanding geographically.
Alternative energy “has been the brightest sector in venture capital over the last year,” says Brian Fan, research director at Cleantech Group, an industry trade organization in San Francisco. “Everyone is thinking it’s going to be a big priority of the incoming administration.”
While the overall volume of venture-capital deals sank last year, investments in clean-technology companies totaled $8.4 billion, up nearly 40% from 2007, according to Cleantech Group. In the third quarter alone, venture capitalists poured $2.6 billion into clean technology, a quarterly record. In the fourth quarter, they invested $1.7 billion.
This was reported in The News. An American firm Sheladia would undertake a viability study for generation of up to 10 megawatts (MW) of electricity from solid waste in Karachi under a US-funded project.
Funds for the study would be channelled through Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB), the focal point for promotion of renewable energy resources in the country. An agreement to this effect would be formally inked next week between Sheladia and AEDB.
The firm plans to commence the $325,000 project shortly, which would be concluded in about five months. It has been asked to complete the waste management study, defining the best options for converting it to energy and preparing required tender documents for the power plant. The plant will then be set up under public-private partnership.
AEDB Chief Executive Officer Arif Alauddin, speaking after a briefing held in connection with the feasibility study, said all efforts would be made to get it completed on a fast track.
“It is really encouraging to note that an agreement between AEDB and Sheladia would be signed in a week’s time for conducting the study for producing 5-10MW through solid waste, which will not only expand electricity production sources, but would also make modest contribution to reducing the energy deficit facing the country,” said Richard O’Shea, representing the US Consulate General and USTDA.
Alauddin said it will be the first study of its kind and the project when implemented will become a model waste to energy project for other cities to follow. “Not only such a project will administer local waste, it will also add to power generation, lessen load-shedding and utilise renewable energy resources for increasing the security of energy supply.”
The CEO said AEDB was working on expeditious development of renewable energy resources in the country and the First commercial wind farm established by M/s Zorlu would be inaugurated in about two weeks. Karachi City Nazim, Syed Mustafa Kamal welcomed the AEDB initiative and called it appropriate. He guaranteed AEDB of absolute support of his office to certify that the study is completed in time and is of the topmost eminence.
Mustafa Kamal stated that he considers Solid Waste Management an imperative bustle for Karachi and has been functioning on fast tract on this for some time. He stated that he had set up 8 stations to ensure that the waste is collected in these centres during the day and is transported to the dumping site in the night, where the traffic is thin. Karachi having a population of 18 million produces 10,000 tonnes of solid waste daily. Power generation through waste would not only facilitate cut down the electricity deficit, but would also help in addressing the issues of pollution.
According to Aleternative Energy Board of Pakistan, a global seismic belt passes through Pakistan and the country has a long geological history of geotectonic events. The Geotectonic framework shown above indicates that Pakistan should not be lacking in commercially exploitable sources of geothermal energy. AEDB is working on a preliminary study on technical, economical and market aspects of geothermal utilization possibilities and detailed feasibility studies for geothermal energy utilization. Let’s take a look at what Geothermal energy is?
We have prepared a concise summary of Geothermal power and its use in the world – aggregated from various top sources.
Geothermal power is energy generated by heat stored in the earth, or the collection of absorbed heat derived from underground, in the atmosphere and oceans. As of 2008, geothermal power supplies less than 1% of the world’s energy. Geothermal power requires no fuel, and is therefore virtually emissions free and insusceptible to fluctuations in fuel cost. And because a geothermal power station doesn’t rely on transient sources of energy, unlike, for example, wind turbines or solar panels, its capacity factor can be quite large; up to 90% in practice.
Geothermal has minimal land use requirements; existing geothermal plants use 1-8 acres per megawatt (MW) versus 5-10 acres per MW for nuclear operations and 19 acres per MW for coal power plants. It also offers a degree of scalability: a large geothermal plant can power entire cities while smaller power plants can supply more remote sites such as rural villages.
Geothermal resources range from shallow ground to hot water and rock several miles below the Earth’s surface, and even further down to the extremely hot molten rock called magma. Wells over a mile deep can be drilled into underground reservoirs to tap steam and very hot water that can be brought to the surface for use in a variety of applications. Geothermal power is generated in over 20 countries around the world including the United States, Iceland, Italy, Germany, Turkey, France, The Netherlands, Lithuania, New Zealand, Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Russia, the Philippines, Indonesia, the People’s Republic of China, Pakistan, Japan and Saint Kitts and Nevis. Chevron Corporation is the world’s largest producer of geothermal energy.
A global seismic belt passes through Pakistan and the country has a long geological history of geotectonic events. Several projects are on the roll these days which include Remote Sensing Studies, geothermal geology, geothermal hydrogeology, hydrogeochemical Studies, geophysical Studies and preliminary Study on Technical, Economical and Market Aspects of Geothermal utilization possibilities and detailed feasibility studies for geothermal energy utilization. Projects like these if being managed and properly financed by Pakistani government should result in a major solution for meeting the energy shortage.
A 2006 report by MIT, that took into account the use of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), concluded that it would be affordable to generate 100 GWe (gigawatts of electricity) or more by 2050 in the United States alone, for a maximum investment of 1 billion US dollars in research and development over 15 years. The MIT report calculated the world’s total EGS resources to be over 13,000 ZJ. Of these, over 200 ZJ would be extractable, with the potential to increase this to over 2,000 ZJ with technology improvements – sufficient to provide all the world’s present energy needs for several millennia. The key characteristic of an EGS (also called a Hot Dry Rock system), is that it reaches at least 10 km down into hard rock. At a typical site two holes would be bored and the deep rock between them fractured. Water would be pumped down one and steam would come up the other. The MIT report estimated that there was enough energy in hard rocks 10 km below the United States to supply all the world’s current needs for 30,000 years.
Conservation, Consumers, Economics, Electricity, Energy, Environment, Gas, Renewable Energy, Uncategorized
Business Monitor International, a reputable research firm, has released the following report and forecast about Pakistan’s power sector. The country tenth out of 11 countries in the region.
Energy News