3B. Starting up a worldwide investment program for the further development and application of renewable energy

"The oil and car industry receive together one trillion dollar government support per year. Consequently, we pay all together a 'devastate the planet' tax. But nobody realizes that", says James Martin, technology expert at the Oxford university. One trillion dollar of public money or approximately 2% of the world income that in fact is invested in the destruction of the planet instead of in the reversed process, and then at the same time keep on claiming that renewable energy would not yet be feasible… (Vacature, 12/01/2008, p.12, agenda 2010)

From the perspective of the ECOVA-fund it is logical that (a part of) the resources which will be generated by validating the ecosystem shall be applied especially for a sustainable recovery of the planetary ecosystem, by starting a worldwide investment program for further development and application of renewable energy.

This investment program could also be elaborated as a mixed project in partnership with the private sector and governments. This would offer enormous chances to guarantee the continuity of the energy markets and to satisfy the growing demand for energy by enabling at any moment the maximum feasible switch to renewable energy.

Because of the devastating impact of CO2 emissions on the climate and the planetary environment, and because of the imminent fuel scarcity, it should be clear for everyone that it is necessary to take drastic measures NOW by stepping resolutely into the direction of renewable energy.

That up to now there is a tremendous lack of drastic measures, is directly resulting from the short-term thinking of the dominant economic system and from the related political policy that controls the global society. That there is now a global conscience of the need of resolute, sustainable solutions, is due to Al Gore, who put the warnings en the decades-long work of environmental activists and scientists into the spotlights with 'An Inconvenient Truth', his book and documentary about global warming, and in so doing placed the environmental problems indelible at the top of the international agenda.

* In April 2008 the organization for the conservation of the natural environment WWF presented its new report 'Arctic Climate Impact Science - An Update Since ACIA'. It showed that "the sea ice around the North pole and the ice cap in Greenland are melting faster than thought up to now, that the polar bears have to deal with an increasing amount of difficulties and that the inhabitants lose their traditional manner of life and must move."

According to scientists, the Arctic area is coming "close to its tilting point, the point after which the natural systems as a result of the climate change undergo sudden, fast, possibly irreversible changes that are dangerous for people and nature."

Since 2004 the Greenland ice cap is suddenly melting at triple speed, namely 240 cubic kilometers per year. According to reports of the IPCC "the worldwide sea level will increase by 7.3 meter if the Greenland ice cap melts completely." It is also showed by recent studies "that the sea ice in the North Pole could melt off entirely in the summer of 2013."

Dr. Martin Sommerkom, one of the authors of the WWF report, states that our knowledge of the impact of the climate change limps far behind compared with the changes that we see already now in the North Pole. "That is really dangerous, because some of the changes that are now already in progress, can warm up the Earth even more strongly than what the current models predicts", says Sommerkom. "To prevent big disasters, we must keep the global warming under 2 degrees Celsius. To reach that, the emission of greenhouse gases must be reduced by 2050 with 80% in comparison with 1990." 

(www.wwf.be, 24/04/2008)

http://www.wwf.org.uk/filelibrary/pdf/arctic_climate_report.pdf

http://www.wwf.org/ 

*Can renewable energy sources produce all the necessary energy for the whole world society?

Yes they can!

“Within 6 hours deserts receive more energy from the sun than humankind consumes within a year.”

Dr. Gerhard Knies, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the DESERTEC Foundation

Global company Siemens estimates that an area of 300 square kilometres in the Sahara fitted with parabolic collectors would be enough to meet the planet's entire energy needs. Source

Some more examples:

*Wind energy

Researchers from the Stanford university published an article in the `Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres' of May 2005 in which they stated that just a more efficient application of wind power would already be enough to satisfy to the worldwide need for electric energy. They accomplished measurements at eight thousand different places and put together a global map on which are indicated the places with the generally highest wind speeds. "Winds with a speed of at least 6,9 meters per second at an altitude of 80 meters above the surface are considered to be lucrative.  It concerns wind of class 3, which occur much at the North Sea, the Southern point of South-America, the Australian island Tasmania, and the big lakes in the north of the U.S." The team around Christina Archer and Marc Jacobson pleads for a more targeted application of wind. "They calculated that places with mostly winds of class 3 can produce about 72 terawatt of energy per year. Even if only a small fraction of that wind power can be applied and exploited economically, this must cover the worldwide energy need: 1.6 up to 1.8 terawatt in the year 2000. For the production of 1 terawatt, five hundred nuclear plants or thousands of coal powered turbines are necessary. " (De Morgen, 19 mei 2005, Windkracht kan wereldwijde energiebehoefte dekken)

Studies by the American 'National Weather Bureau' show that Montana, Wyoming, North- and South-Dakota and Colorado, 5 states in the west of the US, together have the wind resources to provide nearly 99 percent of the total annual electrical consumption of the United States (Alaska and Hawaii not included).

Mesa Power, the company of oil-billionaire T. Boone Pickens, is now building the world’s largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle. Pickens "spent $2 billion buying land and 700 wind turbines from General Electric." (Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times, July 27, 2008, Texas to Tel Aviv)

In the meantime more and more efficient wind turbines are developed, such as the Stormblade from the British inventor and entrepreneur Viktor Aleksandar Jovanovic. The Stormblade turbine should have the potential to convert up to 70% of wind power into electricity.

Also smaller wind turbines, the so-called urban turbines, are developed for individual use for houses, shops, etc… Interesting developments are the Hush Turbine from  the Australian  inventor Arthur O'Connor and the modular wind turbine, developed by Graeme Attey, from Australia as well.

Shawn Frayne, a young inventor from Mountain View, California even developed a 'nonturbine wind energy alternative' that he calls the Windbelt. The Windbelt taps the energy of flowing air with a taut, vibrating membrane, coupled with a no-contact, direct-drive electrical generator. Shawn Frayne invented the Windbelt when he was at work on Haiti and noticed that there is a huge need for a small-scale wind energy device that for example could power a radio or LED-lights in houses in the Third World.

The Dutch ex astronaut and physicist Wubbo Ockels is the designer of the laddermill, a promising alternative for traditional wind mills. The laddermill is a new concept that provides a method for exploiting the wind energy at high altitudes (1 - 10 km) and could enable wind energy generation in the order of 50 - 100 MW per mill. "The laddermill consists of a large number of kites on an upward and downward motion. The kites used are of a breed between regular kites and airplanes. Whereas a kite climbs relatively easy, getting a kite down requires a force pulling in the cable. An airplane, on the other hand, requires large engines to gain altitude. Decreasing altitude is much easier, as the aircraft can glide to the ground. The kites used in the laddermill, generally called "kite planes", combine the ascension characteristics of kites with the descending characteristics of an aircraft. By creating a large loop of kite planes ascending and descending, a rotation can be created. In turn, this rotation can be coupled to a generator to create energy." Currently, there are several master students, PhD students and PhD graduates working on the laddermill at the Technological University of Delft , the Netherlands, in the fields of ground station mechanics, lightweight structures and flight mechanics. It is their intention to have a working demonstrator in 2008. They state that the  laddermill project is an extremely multi-disciplinary project and will lead to a radical change in wind energy doctrine.

http://www.lr.tudelft.nl/live/pagina.jsp?id=8d16d19a-e942-45aa-9b52-48deb9312e92&lang=en

Further information on the ladder mill:  www.ockels.nl

Links:

www.stormbladeturbine.com

www.hushenergy.com

http://www.hushenergy.com.au/

http://www.metaefficient.com/renewable-power/rooftop-wind-turbine-prototype-from-australia.html

www.marquisswindpower.com

www.tmawind.com

http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:TMA_Global_Wind_Energy_Systems

http://www.humdingerwind.com/windbelt.html

*Solar energy

In an article in the 'International Journal of Global Energy Issues' Evert de Marchie van Voorthuyzen, former teacher at the State university of Groningen (the Netherlands), calculated that the estimated amount of 3,6 terawatt of electricity that will be needed by the world twenty years from now, could be supplied by means of solar mirrors (high temperature thermal collectors) at a cost approximating the expenses of electricity from nuclear power stations. To generate now the actual annual 1,8 terawatt of global electrical energy requirements by means of solar mirror plants, an investment would be needed of 10,8 trillion euro (16,8 trillion US dollar) (NRC Handelsblad, 19/05/2007, Michiel van Nieuwstad, Wie nú wat aan het broeikaseffect wil doen, kan woestijnen volbouwen met zonnespiegelcentrales. Voor het eerst in 16 jaar verrijzen ze weer.)

Nanosolar from San Jose, California, has succeeded to develop an alternative technology to fabricate very affordable flexible solar cells. For the production of these solar cells a new technique is applied to print the cells. The 'ink' is namely made of 'copper indium gallium selenide' , instead of the traditional but relatively expensive silicon. Nanosolar is the first company which has succeeded in applying this technique successfully. CEO Martin Roscheisen is convinced that with this technology and thanks to the efficient and cheap production process it is possible to build solar panels that produce solar energy for less than one dollar per watt. That is quite a lot cheaper than energy from fossil fuels. Close to Berlin, Nanosolar is building the largest factory in the world for assembling solar panels.

www.nanosolar.com

According to their press release of October 22, 2009, Sharp Corporation has achieved the world’s highest solar cell conversion efficiency of 35.8% using a triple-junction compound solar cell. To read the full article, click here.

Solar water heaters are used for the production of warm water.

Thermal solar energy can also be used in a passive manner for heating houses through direct penetration of the sun warmth. Windows that give on the south in combination with floors and walls that keep the warmth inside the room will be energy-saving. Also sun blinds will be necessary, to prevent overheating at higher temperatures.

According to the European Renewable Energy Council, "it is estimated that in 2020 Solar electricity can provide electricity to over 1 billion people worldwide. It could also provide more than 2 million jobs in production, installation and maintenance." "If adequate support mechanisms are adopted by governments," (...) "solar electricity can be competitive with peak electricity prices by 2010."

www.erec.org

Turning windows into solar panels:

A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, led by Marc A. Baldo, has developed a new technology to turn windows into solar panels. The MIT researchers have created 'organic solar concentrators'. "The concentrator is mixture of two or more dyes painted onto a pane of glass or plastic. The dyes absorb light across a range of wavelengths, re-emit it at a different wavelength and transport it across the pane to the solar cells at the edges. Focusing the light like this increases the electrical power generated by each solar cell by a factor of 40. The advantages are twofold: the dyes greatly increase the power of solar cells, and homeowners are much more likely to incorporate solar glass into their homes." (www.sciencemag.org / Science 11 July 2008: Vol. 321, nr. 5886, pp. 226 - 228)

According to researcher Jonathan K. Mapel, this technology results in a “tenfold increase in the amount of power converted by the solar cells.” Because of its simplicity and ease of manufacture, "the system could be implemented within three years. It could even be added to existing solar-panel systems, increasing their efficiency by 50 percent for minimal additional cost."

(New, Cost Effective Solar Energy Devices from Mit, by Max Lindberg, July 11th, 2008, planetsave.com)

3D solar cells

William Yuan, a 12 year-old from Beaverton, Oregon, invented a new type of 3D solar cells "that could provide 500 times more light absorption than commercially available solar cells and nine times more than cutting-edge 3D solar cells. (...) The 3D cell he invented can absorb both visible and UV light, a fact that scientists struggle to accomplish by complicated technologies." William Yuan is thinking global and is convinced that his invention will have a really positive impact on society and the environment.

(update 23 september 2008)

http://www.greenoptimistic.com/2008/09/18/william-yuan-3d-solar-cell/

Solar energy from asphalt

Road Energy Systems® is a new method for heating and cooling buildings and roads, developed in the Netherlands by Ooms Avenhorn Holding, Tipspit and WTH Vloerverwarming. It comprises an asphalt concrete layer with a reinforced structure and a water-bearing medium.

A latticework of flexible plastic pipes, held in place by a plastic grid, is covered over by asphalt, which magnifies the sun's thermal power. As cool water in the pipes is heated, it is pumped deep under the ground to natural aquifers.

"Asphalt concrete’s dark color has an excellent heat-absorbing property. The water-bearing medium is able to cool the asphalt in summer (energy extraction) and heat it during winter (energy addition). The asphalt collector represents a new way of harnessing solar energy."

"The aim of Road Energy Systems® is to achieve energy savings by using thermal energy stored in aquifers for cooling and/or heating in commercial and industrial buildings, industry, residential constructions, earthworks, civil and hydraulic engineering and the agricultural sector."

"The warm and cold water are separately stored in an underground water-bearing sandy layer (an aquifer)."

www.roadenergysystems.nl

www.ooms.nl

On November 28, 2007 prince El Hassan bin Tallal of Jordan, former president of the Club of Rome, offered a report to the European Parliament in which is stated that sustainable energy installations in North Africa and the Middle East can supply all the electricity required by the European industrialized countries. The report points to the enormous potential of sustainable energy sources in that region. Besides solar thermal power plants (solar mirror plants), wind turbines, photovoltaic panel plants, hydro-electric plants, biomass and geothermal power stations could provide electricity to the European countries by means of high voltage cables. The Sahara alone could generate 250 GWh of electricity per square kilometer by means of solar thermal power plants. This is 250 times more than the harvest of biomass per square kilometer and five times more than the best wind turbine or hydro-electric plants on the same surface. Just like conventional fossil fuel power plants, solar thermal power plants have an availability close to 100%, but with a considerable lower fuel consumption, states the report, which furthermore indicates another advantage of solar thermal power plants: besides electricity they also supply heat. (www.gezen.nl, 08/12/2007, Rijkert Knoppers, Duurzame elektriciteit uit woestijnen)

Prince El Hassan bin Tallal is maecenas of the Trans-Mediterranean Interconnection for Concentrating Solar Power (Trans CPS), a consortium of German and Arab research institutions that now develops technology to make transport of electricity possible over very long distances with an output loss of maximum 10 percent. That sustainable energy could be transported to Europe through a 'cable' under the Mediterranean Sea. (Vacature, 19/01/2008, Agenda 2010 deel 2, 6 kansen en risico’s voor de globale economie, En toen was de olie op…, p.16)

In June 2009 some 15 German companies and institutions have expressed interest in joining a consortium to formalize the so-called Desertec concept. This project calls for a string of solar thermal power plants in the North African desert to provide electricity for European households. This venture is ‘expected to cost 400 billion euro’s (552 billion U.S. dollars) and start providing the first electricity in 10 years.’ Greenpeace welcomes the initiative, calling it ‘one of the most sensible responses to the global environmental and economic problems of our time.’ Participant Siemens estimates that an area of 300 square kilometres in the Sahara fitted with parabolic collectors would be enough to meet the planet's entire energy needs. Source

*Hydrogen

Hydrogen is worldwide considered by many as the new clean fuel that can make us oil-independent and can force the transition to a sustainable global energy supply. "Car manufacturers consider it as a means to get rid of their image of polluters. Others foresee a worldwide energy web in which every individual can produce and sell hydrogen-generated energy." (http://www.vpro.nl/programma/tegenlicht/afleveringen/18004937/, June 2004, De Waterstofrevolutie)

Hydrogen is a clean energy that can be produced with any primary energy source (oil, gas, sun, wind, hydropower, tidal power, ...)

One of the sustainable manners to produce hydrogen is biological hydrogen production in an algae bioreactor. To provide the entire world with hydrogen energy, an algae farm the size of the state of Texas would be enough. And to replace the total petrol consumption of the US by hydrogen, a number of algae farms with a collective surface of 25.000 square kilometers would be enough, what is less than a tenth of the surface used in the US for soya production.

Additionally, nanotechnological research in the field of photosynthesis could lead to a more efficient production of hydrogen by means of sunlight. Also theories exist concerning the presence of hydrogen in the earth's crust, what would enable people to bore for hydrogen, just like there 're still boring today for oil and gas. (Wikipedia, 15/12/2007, Waterstof / waterstofproductie / biologische waterstofproductie)

Yet another sustainable manner of hydrogen production could be to link hydrogen production to wind turbines and solar farms, what also would give an immediate higher output to wind and solar energy. (Vacature, 19/01/2008, Agenda 2010 deel 2, p.16)

Ballard Power Systems is a Canadian company from Burnaby, Vancouver, and is the world market leader in the field of the fuel cell production. Worldwide more than hundred prototypes of cars are being tested that are powered by hydrogen fuel cells made by Ballard Power Systems. The company also developed a cogeneration power unit that is actually in use by 550 Japanese families. The system can convert fuels like natural gas, propane or kerosene into hydrogen. The hydrogen goes to the fuel cell, which produces electricity. The by-product, namely warm water, is stored in a boiler and is used to heat the house. This cogeneration power unit supplies completely autonomous the electricity, the warm water and the central heating (in the houses), reduces the CO2-emission by 40% and could diminish the total energy consumption in Japan by 30%. The Japanese government subsidizes the purchase of these cogeneration power units. (Vacature, 19/01/2008, Stoot waterkracht olie van de troon?)

In the summer of 2008 the FCX Clarity, Honda's new hydrogen-powered car, will become available in small numbers as a lease car for the Californian market. For the hydrogen production Honda has developed the Home Energy Station 4, a home production station that converts natural gas into hydrogen. With the warmth that is released by this station, the house can be heated, and the device can also generate the electricity needed for the household. The complete system realizes a reduction of the CO2 emission with 30%. And if the natural gas is replaced by sustainable energy sources, like for example the new type of solar cells that Honda has taken into production, the CO2 production decreases to nearly zero. One full tank  gives the FCX Clarity an action radius of 430 km.

The British firm, ITM Power, is "in the process of using breakthrough technology to build home hydrogen fueling stations so that consumers can refuel their cars in the comfort of their own garages. ITM Power is building a special facility for the production of these home refueling stations in Sheffield that will go online sometime the second quarter" of 2008.

"The ITM Power fueling station will use an electrolyzer to convert water to hydrogen. The electrolysis unit can use power from the grid or electricity supplied by renewable sources such as wind, solar, ocean power, or geothermal to create hydrogen. If the grid is used, then hydrogen can be created during off-peak hours to minimize costs."

ITM Power has signed an agreement with Roush Technologies, a leading British automotive technology, engineering and development firm that will be responsible for adapting current internal combustion engines to run on hydrogen. This agreement will put the United Kingdom on the fast track to hydrogen cars.

www.hydrogencarsnow.com

www.itm-power.com

In 2007 governor Arnold Schwarzenegger pushed through a law which obliges California to reduce the CO2-emissions by 2020 to the level of 1990. Already by 2010 renewable energy should have a share of 20% in the Californian energy production. Schwarzenegger also wants to build an 'hydrogen highway' of about 8000 km along the Pacific Ocean with hydrogen filling stations for the ecomobiles of the future. (DM Magazine, 10th of may 2008, p. 29)

The Stanford University in Palo Alto, California is one of the places where researchers examine the possibility of biological hydrogen production with genetic constructed bacteria.

American biologist and Businessman, Craig Venter, who founded in 1992 The Institute for Genomic Research, even wants to take a further step and create organisms which both can supply energy and purify the pollution.

The American scientist and CEO of Blacklight Power Inc., Randell Mills, is the inventor of a new primary energy source  and a new field of hydrogen chemistry with broad commercial applications. This invention is "based on a new chemical process of releasing the latent energy of the hydrogen atom, the BlackLight Process. In this process, the electron in an ordinary hydrogen atom is induced to move closer to the proton, below the prior-known ground state to form more stable hydrogen atoms called hydrinos. The large energy released exceeds that required to extract hydrogen from water, such that water may serve as the hydrogen fuel source for the process."

www.blacklightpower.com

On the 28th of May, 2008, BlackLight Power Inc. announced the successful testing of their new energy source. They have successfully developed "a prototype power system generating 50.000 watts of thermal power on demand."
"If you make cheap heat, you can make cheap electricity and if you can make cheap electricity you can make cheap hydrogen (...) The BlackLight Process generates enormous amounts of cheap, non-polluting heat that will replace thethermal power in coal, oil, gas and nuclear power plants that is then converted to electricity.(...)  The hydrogen-burning car has been pos-sible for decades, but there has never been a way to produce cheap hydrogen until today. We are projecting that we will be at the scale of power generation necessary for a power plant to replace the gasoline pumped in a day at a station with hydrogen from water in approximately 24 months," said Randell Mills.

This breakthrough was entirely supported by private capital with no government investment.
www.pressreleases.be

*Compressed air

Cars and generators on air…

Roy L. Meyers, an engineer from Los Angeles, built in 1931 a car with a self developed engine for compressed air which according to a newspaper Article of that time "purred through the streets of the city without it was costing even a penny to the driver for fuel".

In the 1970s the Italian Vittorio Sorgato also designed an impressive car which used compressed air, stored as a fluid, and initially could count on much interest.

Robert Alexander from Montebello, California, acquired on October 14, 1975 the US patent no. 3913004 for an 'hydraulic-and-air system' used in a car which was started up with a small 12-volt engine, after which the system took over the propulsion and reloaded the small loss of electric energy.

In 1979, Terry Miller built the Air Car One with a budget of 1500 dollars . His design showed that it was possible to build a car that runs on compressed air. He patented his invention in 1983, (US patent no. 4370857).

www.freeenergynews.com  Energy Suppression. An Invisible Galaxy Of Inventions, Christopher Bird;

www.theaircar.com, The History of Compressed Air Vehicles