Tawanai

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Energy Energy

Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) has plans to provide electricity to 7874 remote villages in Sindh and Balochistan. About 6,968 of these villages are located in Balochistan. According to P&D sources, the National Rural electrification programme is the main project being implemented by Wapda to provide electricity to the villages of all the four provinces in the country.

The Solar Energy projects are to supplement the initiatives of the Wapda and is proposed to be implemented in the areas where electricity cannot be supplied through national grid due to technical, financial and economical hindrances, the sources added.

They said that the villages selected for supply of electricity through renewable energy technologies are located beyond 20-km radius of national grid and therefore provision of electricity through renewable energy technologies is the only solution.

A programme for electrification of remote villages of Sindh and Balochistan through solar energy was prepared by Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) on PM’s directive, they added. AEDB, they said developed four PC-1s for Rural Electrification through renewable energy in Sindh and Balochistan costing Rs 1167.73 million, which were approved by the CDWP on March 21, 2006.

Source: Business Recorder

Consumers, Electricity, Energy

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during a visit to Pakistan last month, announced $125 million in new aid to upgrade power stations and transmission lines, part of a broader effort to reduce power shortages. Washington hopes such support will help Pakistan’s government make tough decisions, including unpopular increases in electricity tariffs, said one official. The International Monetary Fund’s quarterly report from July 31 on Pakistan’s economic performance recommended three price hikes. The first was on October 1 and according to the IMF, there is agreement for two more.

The United States expects to complete a review on how to spend $7.5 billion in proposed aid for Pakistan by the end of this month, with an early focus on the country’s decrepit energy sector, senior US officials said on Wednesday. Chronic power shortages are a big political issue in Pakistan. They undermine growth potential, economists say, and weaken support for the fragile civilian government.

US officials involved in the review declined to say how $1.5 billion a year in new funds would be allocated but made clear that infrastructure projects, particularly electricity, was an important part of the review. “Energy will be a major focus,” said one senior official. The aid has been signed into law but Congress has yet to appropriate the money. “It (energy shortages) affects people, it affects people’s perception of their government and manufacturing and jobs – everything,” added the official, who according to State Department rules asked not be quoted.

Last month, a US delegation travelled to Pakistan to work out priorities in resolving the energy crisis. The issue is seen as a test of Pakistan’s government, which is battling militants and helping the United States in its fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Source: Business Recorder

Consumers, Energy, Investment, Pakistan, Policy aid, foreign aid, IMF, US

Pakistan’s oil import bill has declined to $3.076 billion in first four months of current financial year against $4.856 billion in the corresponding months of previous year, registering 36.65 percent negative growth.

The import of both crude petroleum products and manufactured ones declined 49.21 and 27 percent, respectively during the months under review, Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) reported on Thursday.

Import of manufactured products came to $2.003 billion in the July-October against $2.744 billion in the same months of previous year. Crude petroleum products totaled $1.072 billion in the said months over $ 2.112 billion in the same period of previous year. The falling import of oil products gave much relief to government in the form of less spending on import that otherwise created grave difficulties for the government when import bill was touching its highest levels in the history of the country. Analysts said that fall in the import of petroleum products were mainly attributed to sharp decline in its price globally.

On month-on-month basis, import of oil grew 29.38 percent over the preceding month of September and when compared with the same month of previous year, its import fell by 10.68 percent.

Energy, Oil, Pakistan

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Energy Energy

One way to wean ourselves from oil is to come up with renewable sources of transportation fuel. That means a new generation of biofuels made from nonfood crops.

Researchers are devising ways to turn lumber and crop wastes, garbage and inedible perennials like switchgrass into competitively priced fuels. But the most promising next-generation biofuel comes from algae.

Source: Saferenviroment

Algae grow by taking in CO2, solar energy and other nutrients. They produce an oil that can be extracted and added into existing refining plants to make diesel, gasoline substitutes and other products.

Algae grow fast, consume carbon dioxide and can generate more than 5,000 gallons a year per acre of biofuel, compared with 350 gallons a year for corn-based ethanol. Algae-based fuel can be added directly into existing refining and distribution systems; in theory, the U.S. could produce enough of it to meet all of the nation’s transportation needs.

But it’s early. Dozens of companies have begun pilot projects and small-scale production. But producing algae biofuels in quantity means finding reliable sources of inexpensive nutrients and water, managing pathogens that could reduce yield, and developing and cultivating the most productive algae strains.

Source WSJ

Clean Technology, Energy, Environment, Renewable Energy biofuels

Everybody’s rooting for wind and solar power. How could you not? But wind and solar are use-it-or-lose-it resources. To make any kind of difference, they need better storage.

Source: AEP

Battery packs located close to customers can store electricity from renewable wind or solar sources and supply power when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. Energy is collected in the storage units and can be sent as needed directly to homes or businesses or out to the grid.

Scientists are attacking the problem from a host of angles—all of which are still problematic. One, for instance, uses power produced when the wind is blowing to compress air in underground chambers; the air is fed into gas-fired turbines to make them run more efficiently. One of the obstacles: finding big, usable, underground caverns.

Similarly, giant batteries can absorb wind energy for later use, but some existing technologies are expensive, and others aren’t very efficient. While researchers are looking at new materials to improve performance, giant technical leaps aren’t likely.

Lithium-ion technology may hold the greatest promise for grid storage, where it doesn’t have as many limitations as for autos. As performance improves and prices come down, utilities could distribute small, powerful lithium-ion batteries around the edge of the grid, closer to customers. There, they could store excess power from renewables and help smooth small fluctuations in power, making the grid more efficient and reducing the need for backup fossil-fuel plants. And utilities can piggy-back on research efforts for vehicle batteries.

Via WSJ

Electricity, Energy, Solar, Wind battery packs, Lithium ion

Keeping coal as an abundant source of power means slashing the amount of carbon dioxide it produces. That could mean new, more efficient power plants. But trapping C02 from existing plants—about two billion tons a year—would be the real game-changer.

Source: Vattenfall

Carbon dioxide is removed from smokestack gases and compressed. It’s then pumped deep underground and stored in porous rock formations.

Techniques for modest-scale CO2 capture exist, but applying them to big power plants would reduce the plants’ output by a third and double the cost of producing power. So scientists are looking into experimental technologies that could cut emissions by 90% while limiting cost increases.

Nearly all are in the early stages, and it’s too early to tell which method will win out. One promising technique burns coal and purified oxygen in the form of a metal oxide, rather than air; this produces an easier-to-capture concentrated stream of CO2 with little loss of plant efficiency. The technology has been demonstrated in small-scale pilots, and will be tried in a one-megawatt test plant next year. But it might not be ready for commercial use until 2020.

Via WSJ

Clean Technology, coal, Energy, Environment, power, Renewable Energy

Electrifying vehicles could slash petroleum use and help clean the air (if electric power shifts to low-carbon fuels like wind or nuclear). But it’s going to take better batteries.

In a lithium-air battery, oxygen flows through a porous carbon cathode and combines with lithium ions from a lithium-metal anode in the presence of an electrolyte, producing an electric charge. The reaction is aided by a catalyst, such as manganese oxide, to improve capacity.

Lithium-ion batteries, common in laptops, are favored for next-generation plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles. They’re more powerful than other auto batteries, but they’re expensive and still don’t go far on a charge; the Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid coming next year, can run about 40 miles on batteries alone. Ideally, electric cars will get closer to 400 miles on a charge. While improvements are possible, lithium-ion’s potential is limited.

One alternative, lithium-air, promises 10 times the performance of lithium-ion batteries and could deliver about the same amount of energy, pound for pound, as gasoline. A lithium-air battery pulls oxygen from the air for its charge, so the device can be smaller and more lightweight. A handful of labs are working on the technology, but scientists think that without a breakthrough they could be a decade away from commercialization.

Via: WSJ, Diagram Source: EDSRC.

Cars, Innovation battery, car

Cross Post from TelecomPk.net

Telecom companies in Pakistan are one of the major power consumers and in addition to the increasing cost of electricity, they also face the challenge of lack of access to the electricity grid in rural areas to supply power to base stations. A few pilot deployments of  solar powered base stations were luanched earlier.Now Telenor Pakistan and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) have signed an agreement that will provide NSN’s off-grid site solutions that use solar energy to power Telenor base station sites in rural and remote areas. This is expected to result in substantial cost savings for Telenor Pakistan along with the social benefits that come with using renewable and clean energy.

Nokia Siemens Networks will design the sites, taking into account local solar mapping, site landscape and other factors to maximize the use of an abundant, clean, and natural energy source. Nokia Siemens Networks’ Green Energy Control will help deliver a sustainable solution while optimizing operating costs.

The solar-powered sites will be implemented using Universal Services Fund (USF) that was awarded to Telenor Pakistan in 2009. USF-based contracts aim to provide access to mobile services for underserved and unserved areas of Pakistan. Telenor Pakistan, till now, has been awarded three USF contracts for Mirpurkhas, Malakand and Bahawalpur region.

“It’s important that we connect the world in such a way that not only maximizes benefits for consumers and businesses, but also ensures the welfare of our planet,” said Saad Waraich, the Pakistan country director for Nokia Siemens Networks. “Providing communications to rural areas will become increasingly important and we believe renewable energy will be the first choice for such installations. In fact, the majority of base station sites installed by us by 2011 will use this form of energy. We are especially proud to partner with Telenor – a definite trend setter for the use of environmental technologies in network expansion.”

The GSMA has estimated that more than 75,000 new off-grid sites will be built each year through 2012 in developing countries. About 80% of the energy in a typical mobile telecommunication network is consumed by base stations. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power offer a reliable alternative to sites with limited or non-existent electrical grid access. Nokia Siemens Networks has already deployed more than 360 sites that exploit renewable energy and has over 25 years of experience in implementing solar-powered sites.

Source: Nokia Siemens Press Release

Clean Technology, Consumers, Electricity, Energy, Pakistan, power, Solar base stations, nokia siemens network, off-grid, telenor