Hybrid Living

Solar is a highly efficient way to heat water. Combine it with underground storage, and a year-round system can be created where the system can cover heating requirements in the winter and cooling in the summer. The Dutch company Ooms Avenhorn Holding BV has taken this concept and moved it a step forward with the Road Energy System^® (RES).

Rather than putting tubes on a rooftop, RES lays the collection system within concrete — think the black asphalt of a road or runway. The piping connects to undeground storage areas. Remember the last time you walked on black asphalt on a sunny August day and you understand the heat being transferred into the water in the pipes. This water is then transferred into the storage area. On demand, in cold weather, the hot water is used to heat buildings and to keep the road above freezing. After cooling, the water is moved into cold storage to provide air conditioning for summer months. A year round solar/geothermal heating/cooling system for both the road and buildings. The renewable combo greatly reduces electricity requirements (and thus pollution) and the cooling/heating of the road reduces maintenance requirements (and lowers/eliminates deicing and plowing requirements in winter).

And it is deployed. "Solar Energy collected from a 200-yard stretch of road and a small parking lot helps heat a 70-unit four-story apartment building in the northern village of Avenhorn. An industrial park of some 160,000 square feet in the nearby city of Hoorn is kept warm in winter with the help of heat stored during the summer from 36,000 square feet of pavement. The runways of a Dutch air force base in the south supply heat for its hangar."

Solar is a highly efficient way to heat water. Combine it with underground storage, and a year-round system can be created where the system can cover heating requirements in the winter and cooling in the summer. The Dutch company Ooms Avenhorn Holding BV has taken this concept and moved it a step forward with the Road Energy System^® (RES).

Rather than putting tubes on a rooftop, RES lays the collection system within concrete — think the black asphalt of a road or runway. The piping connects to undeground storage areas. Remember the last time you walked on black asphalt on a sunny August day and you understand the heat being transferred into the water in the pipes. This water is then transferred into the storage area. On demand, in cold weather, the hot water is used to heat buildings and to keep the road above freezing. After cooling, the water is moved into cold storage to provide air conditioning for summer months. A year round solar/geothermal heating/cooling system for both the road and buildings. The renewable combo greatly reduces electricity requirements (and thus pollution) and the cooling/heating of the road reduces maintenance requirements (and lowers/eliminates deicing and plowing requirements in winter).

And it is deployed. "Solar Energy collected from a 200-yard stretch of road and a small parking lot helps heat a 70-unit four-story apartment building in the northern village of Avenhorn. An industrial park of some 160,000 square feet in the nearby city of Hoorn is kept warm in winter with the help of heat stored during the summer from 36,000 square feet of pavement. The runways of a Dutch air force base in the south supply heat for its hangar."

In the United States, traditional hydropower (dams) provides roughly 10% of the electricity. Traditional hydro plants, in many cases, are a century+ old with embedded technology that is far from 21st century in terms of productivity for every gallon that passes by. Thus, opportunities exist for taking existing hydropower facilities and making them more productive with the existing water resources. And, there are literally thousands of dams and spillways across the country that do not have existing electricity production. But modernization operations can cost millions and take years to go through regulatory processes to seek to minimize environmental impacts (or, in the case of old facilities, perhaps to reduce environmental impact). The hydro industry often comments that the hydro regulatory process is more difficult than nuclear power’s.

Is there, however, an opportunity for getting a quick 3-7% increase at existing hydropower facilities and to put electricity production at some non-power producing dam sites with a far easier regulatory process, low per-kilowatt installation costs (with, then, near-free fuel), and do so quickly? Until yesterday, at WIREC, the options didn’t really seem apparent. Now, however, my head is whirling with the possibilities.

Hyrdo Green Energy has developed a hydro-kinetic power system that can be placed in-stream for generating power, for example, along rivers without the massive installation requirements of a dam and, thus, minimal implications on the river’s natural flow. Their approach got some attention a couple years ago and seemed quite Energy COOL at the time. They mount their system on a barge, lowering the turbine into the water, rather than building from the river bottom (or damning the river), and generate power from the river’s current. The barge enables moving the system (as it makes sense or is required) and also provides a platform for any required maintenance. Hmm. This looked of real interest as a way to quickly establish power generation on rivers around the world at relatively low cost and in a distributed fashion.

A specific application of their technology, one that they are actively pursuing for a test program in Minnesota, seems potentially quite valuable as some Silver Dust to help change the energy equation. Rather than putting the system somewhere on a river, for example, independent of existing infrastructure, Hydro Green will be putting one of their systems in the spillway of an existing dam. What are some of the benefits of this approach?

• It is reusing a resource, gaining more power from the water that has already generated power. This is a quick "boost" to the plant’s energy efficiency.
• The dam has existing infrastructure (such as transformers, power lines) that can be used to move the power ‘to market’.
• Permitting processes are, as mentioned above, a real nightmare for hydro projects. As this is within a spillway, the licensing process is different, within the existing plant’s "capacity," and thus lowering the cost/time for getting permitted. [Note: fast permitting isn't necessarily "good," but work through the negatives here. The only serious one (and it does matter) seems likely to be the potential impact on fish survivability for fish that have gone through the dam and are disoriented coming through the turbine. Thus, this merits better understanding and evaluation before this technology is deployed on a massive scale.]
• If it works (as promised), this is a quite fast way to increase clean power production from existing facilities with (it seems on the first blush) minimal (if any) environmental impact.

The French rail system (SNCF) has added a calculator for travel carbon emissions, offering up the ability to compare prices and carbon loads for travel by rail, air, or personal vehicle. L’Ecocomparateur enables one to know how long the trip will take and the consequences for the pocket and the climate for that trip.

Will you be willing to take a few hours longer in travel to save $50? How about if that will also cut your travel emissions load by 200 lobs or more? The trip Toulouse-Paris, for example, comes up with these figures:

• Train: 57.90 Euros; 5 hours, 13 minutes; 9 kg CO₂
• Plane: 222.20 Euros; 1 hour, 30 minutes; 180 kg CO₂
• Car: 201.47 Euros; 6 hours, 46 minutes; 272 kg CO₂

Time priority, this says take the plane. Money and carbon load: enjoy your train ride. Now, the behind the scenes rule sets for the analysis are worth exploring. (See here for the methodology for calculating emissions.) The system actually has a bias against trains (and cars) because there is no calculating for the difficulties and hassles for traveling by plane.

By experience, one can arrive at the Gare (train station) in Toulouse 2 minutes before the train and get on board (almost missed that one). The days of running through the airport like OJ Simpson, without a huge security line, are long gone.

Add another hour to the flight simply for the security issues. In addition, the train leaves/arrives in center city and the car at the doorstep, the plane far out of town, requiring additional transport, additional time and money to get where you’re going. Thus, oddly, the SNCF has given some advantage to the planes.

Via AutoBlogGreen.

Energize America has long had a FeeBate incorporated into it to encourage a more rapid move toward more fuel efficient, lower polluting vehicles. Charge a sliding FEE on low mileage, high polluting vehicles and give a reBATE to high mileage, low polluting vehicles. Balance this such that the collected Fees pay a good share of the reBate costs.

Slowly, the FeeBate concept is gaining momentum around the world. Earlier this month, the French government announced a FeeBate system with the "Ecological Bonus" applying to vehicles with low CO2 emissions. The highest bonus, 5000 Euros (roughly $7500) applies to super-low emitters, less than 60 g de CO²/km which includes electric vehicles (especially in France, with so much of the electricity from nuclear power).

The worst offenders will pay penalties of 2500 Euros. And, the regulations are planned with a constant strengthening, with 5 g de CO²/km reduction in each category every two years.

In terms of bonus, the following is the initial regulation:

• 1000 € for cars emitting less than 100 gCO2/km: (Think very small car, like the Smart)
• 700 € for vehicles emitting between 101 and 120 g CO² ;
• 200 € for emissions between 121 and 130 g CO²/km.

And, the penalties:

• 200 € for vehicles with emissions between 161 and 165 g CO²/km ;
• 750 € for emissions between 166 and 200 g CO²/km ;
• 1600 € penalty fo remissions between 201 and 250 g CO²/km (Mercedes E-class, for example) ;
• 2600 € for emissions above 250 g CO²/km. (VW Toureg)

Trade-ins will be favored. Show up with a car over 15 years old and there is 300 € that the government will put on the table to retire the car.

Energize America has long had a FeeBate incorporated into it to encourage a more rapid move toward more fuel efficient, lower polluting vehicles. Charge a sliding FEE on low mileage, high polluting vehicles and give a reBATE to high mileage, low polluting vehicles. Balance this such that the collected Fees pay a good share of the reBate costs.

Slowly, the FeeBate concept is gaining momentum around the world. Earlier this month, the French government announced a FeeBate system with the "Ecological Bonus" applying to vehicles with low CO₂ emissions. The highest bonus, 5000 Euros (roughly $7500), applies to super-low emitters, less than 60 g de CO₂/km which includes electric vehicles (especially in France, with so much of the electricity from nuclear power).

The worst offenders will pay penalties of 2500 Euros. And, the regulations are planned with a constant strengthening, with 5 g de CO₂/km reduction in each category every two years.

In terms of bonus, the following is the initial regulation:

• 1000 € for cars emitting less than 100 gCO₂/km: (Think very small car, like the Smart)
• 700 € for vehicles emitting between 101 and 120 g CO₂ ;
• 200 € for emissions between 121 and 130 g CO₂/km.

And, the penalties:

• 200 € for vehicles with emissions between 161 and 165 g CO₂/km ;
• 750 € for emissions between 166 and 200 g CO₂/km ;
• 1600 € penalty for emissions between 201 and 250 g CO₂/km (Mercedes E-class, for example) ;
• 2600 € for emissions above 250 g CO₂/km. (VW Toureg)

Trade-ins will be favored. Show up with a car over 15 years old and there is 300 € that the government will put on the table to retire the car.

Adelaide, Australia, has become the home for an all-electric city bus, the Tindo. The icing on the cake: The Tindo (aboriginal word for sun) will get its electricity from a $AU550,000 solar PV system on Adelaide’s central bus station. Even better: Rides are free as part of Adelaide’s public transport system.

Urban driving, with clear and limited daily travel, can be an excellent opportunity for electric vehicles. And the Tindo should have more than enough range to handle its bus routes.

With an operational range of 200 kilometres between charges under typical urban conditions, the air-conditioned solar electric bus is able to carry 27 passengers, with 25 seated and two wheelchair spaces.

In addition to carbon-free operations, the basically noise-free operations also carves into urban noise pollution.

Made by Designline International in New Zealand, the solar electric bus doesn’t have a combustion engine, which makes it very quiet and ideal for Adelaide Connector Bus service operations in both residential neighbourhoods and busy City streets.

The local government sees this as a staking out of a leadership position globally. According to Lord Mayor Michael Harbison:

Tindo and the solar recharging system at the Adelaide Central Bus Station represent a significant investment by the Council, in association with the Adelaide Solar City program, into building an environmentally sustainable City for the future.

Hat tip to AutoBlogGreen.

SkySails seeks to adapt advances in kite design and understanding to the merchant marine (and luxury yacht) fleets. As per SkySails founder, Stephan Wrage, "I thought the enormous power in kites could somehow be utilised."

The initial actual cargo ship, the 9,775 ton Beluga SkySails, is about to go on its maiden voyage. This looks real although this is been a long anticipated event. (It had been scheduled to launch this past summer.) The claimed expectation is that the system should cut fuel costs by 10-15 percent. The cost for that fuel efficiency: between $700,000-$3.5 million of capital investment per ship.

As per the SkySails site,

SkySails are wind propulsion systems for modern shipping. By using a SkySails system ship operation will become more profitable, safer and independent of declining oil reserves.

 

The planned product range contains towing kite propulsion systems with a nominal propulsion power of up to 5,000 kW (about 6,800 HP). On annual average fuel costs can be lowered between 10-35% depending on actual wind conditions and actual time deployed. Under optimal wind conditions, fuel consumptions can temporarily be reduced up to 50%.

 

At the current oil price a SkySails propulsion creates approx. just 1/3 of the cost of a conventional ship diesel.

The SkySail will go up to 300 meters above the ship to capture the stronger winds at altitude. This first kite is 160 square meters. The next two, for deployment on new Beluga ships in 2009, will be double that size (320 square meters), and the next generation will be 600 meters.

This could decrease costs (and emissions) dramatically, maybe to the tune of over 50 percent of the ships fuel requirements.

Just a few days ago, the first domestically developed and produced Chinese hybrid vehicle rolled off the assembly line.

"It took us 6 years to develop this hybrid and it marks the beginning of mass production of hybrid vehicles at our company today," said Xu Liuping, the president of Changan Automobile at a celebration ceremony.

The Jiexun is claimed to have 20 percent lower fuel usage than conventional vehicles with tailpipe emissions that can meet advanced EU-IV standards.

According to Xu, the Jiexun

"the Jiexun-HEV was a major component of the "electrified automobile program" in the state backed high-tech plan, known as the 863-Plan. With a development period of six years, the car had finally become a mass-produced model with internationally-advanced technologies. "Expect the Jiexun to get some press at next year’s Olympics, with the manufacturer already committed to donated ten Jiexuns to the Olympic committee.

In terms of business levels, Changan Automobiles plans to invest 300 million yuan ($40.7 million) for hybrid technology breakthrough research and to implement volume production. Consider that amount for a moment. Would that even cover exective bonuses at any of the Big Three, let alone the R&D and production enabling costs for a new technology?

Cost: Estimated to be 50 percent that of a Prius. At 150,000 Yuan, this translates to a little over $10,000 for a marketed Jiexun … which has four doors … which meets European pollution standards … Is the Jiexun headed toward Europe (and the United States) post Olympics press?

Hat tip to Celsias, AutoBlogGreen, and The Auto Channel.

Project Better Place is an initiative "to make scalable electric transportation a reality on a global scale and reduce the world’s dependency on oil." That is a strategic concept that is truly meriting applause. Shai Agassi, former executive at SAP AG, Europe’s largest software company, is the sparking energy behind PBP, who "has an audacious idea—some may call it foolhardy—to change they way electric cars are sold and maintained."

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The basic concept: his company will own the batteries and rent them out to car owners. Driving on the road and need a recharge? Stop in at a charging center, take a few moments to exchange batteries (and take a pee), and get back on the road again.

Shai has some $200 million in investments that say that he can make this vision a reality.

The latest news: Project Better Place is targeting 100,000 electric vehicles in Israel, within the next two years. The likely builder: Renault. A key benefit in the marketplace: Israel to make electric car production tax fee. (As to that last, considering that Israel charges an 84 percent purchase tax on gas cars and 30 percent on hybrids, that no-tax situation provides a real advantage.)

Hat tip to AutoBlogGreen.