Humans are hogging the Sun's energy.

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Solar Companies Beat Economic Slump...

Silicon Insider: Solar Companies Glow Despite Economic Slump
Feb. 15, 2008 - First Solar Inc. and SunPower Corp. Ride High on Solar Energy Innovation

Here's a toast to the superiority of pragmatists over idealists. Of entrepreneurs over bureaucrats. And most of all to those buzz-cut, buttoned-down engineers and scientists of a half-century ago who thought they were just making cheaper transistors – and now may help save the world. Amidst all of the gloomy – or, at best, hesitant – corporate financial news of the last few weeks, one industry sector literally seems aglow: solar. And therein lies an interesting morality – or more accurately, amorality – tale.

Just this week, First Solar Inc., a Phoenix-based solar module manufacturer with a design center in Ohio and a big manufacturing plant in Germany, announced spectacular quarterly numbers. For the fourth quarter, company earnings were $63 million, up nearly 800 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Meanwhile, revenues only quadrupled to $201 million. Not surprisingly, company stock jumped 30 percent, to nearly $230, on the news. These are the kinds of numbers you see in small electronics start-ups, and usually during booms – not an infrastructure equipment company at the beginning of an economic downturn.

And First Solar wasn't alone. The company's announcement set off a surge in most other solar power stocks as well. My favorite (for reasons I'll soon explain), SunPower Corp., currently has a market cap of $3.2 billion, but recently reached a peak valuation of $10.4 billion – and seems to be headed in that direction again. SunPower is majority owned by Cypress Semiconductor. And, of course, Cypress is run by one of my favorite people, T.J. Rodgers. Even if you know nothing about Silicon Valley or the semiconductor industry, you've probably heard of T.J.

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Granny's Investment Tip: Move yer Halliburton stock into Solar Panels R' Us.

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Biodiesel affecting food prices...

Choosing Between Food and Fuel
Feb 22, 2008 - With Biodiesel Sales Small but Growing, Crushers Face a Tough Decision

One oilseed crushing plant in eastern North Dakota is switching from soybeans to canola. A few miles away, farmers are banking on a bright future with beans, with plans for a crushing plant of their own. The situation in the Red River Valley illustrates the paradoxical state of the nation's biodiesel industry, and the decisions facing crushers over whether to refine oil for food or fuel. On one hand, only a quarter of the current production capacity is being used and the number of new plants coming on line has slowed dramatically. On the other, biodiesel sales volume continues to rise, and government mandates call for even more biodiesel use in coming years.

Northwood Mills LLC in Northwood is not giving up on refining vegetable oil, but it is drastically changing its focus. Instead of crushing soybeans for the biodiesel market, it's switching to canola for the food market. Part of the reason is a decline in the Canadian hog industry that has been a primary market for the plant's soybean meal, a byproduct used for animal feed. General manager Clarence Leschied said the company also has soured on soybeans. "The demand (for vegetable oil) from the biodiesel sector has just about disappeared, whereas canola going into the food market still has good demand," he said. "We've just seen the margins on soybeans deteriorating."

Leschied said other plants also might switch from the energy sector to the food sector. "U.S. biodiesel capacity is only running at about 25 percent," he said. Amber Thurlo Pearson, a spokeswoman for the National Biodiesel Board, confirmed the percentage. She said biodiesel producers are going through "a rough patch" because of rising vegetable oil prices. But she believes many of the nation's 171 plants were built large accounting for much of the unused production capacity in anticipation of growth sure to come.

More ABC News: Choosing Between Food and Fuel

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More warming = more CO2 = more warming...

Study: Arctic Tundra Could Become More Susceptible To Fire And Release Even More CO2
Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - Research from ancient sediment cores indicates that a warming climate could make the world’s arctic tundra far more susceptible to fires than previously thought.

The findings are important given the potential for tundra fires to release organic carbon – which could add significantly to the amount of greenhouse gases already blamed for global warming. Montana State University post-doctoral researcher Philip Higuera is the lead author on the paper, which summarizes a portion of a four-year study funded by the National Science Foundation.

Higuera and his co-authors examined ancient sediments from four lakes in a remote region of Alaska in and around Gates of the Arctic National Park to determine what kind of vegetation existed in the area after the last ice age, 14,000 to 9,000 years ago. By looking at fossilized pollen grains in the sediment cores, Higuera and his co-authors determined that after the last ice age, the arctic tundra was very different from what it is now. Instead of being covered with grasses, herbs, and short shrubs, it was covered with vast expanses of tall birch shrubs.

Charcoal preserved in the sediment cores also showed evidence that those shrub expanses burned – frequently. “This was a surprise,” Higuera said. “Modern tundra burns so infrequently that we don’t really have a good idea of how often tundra can burn. Best estimates for the most flammable tundra regions are that it burns once every 250-plus years.” The ancient sediment cores showed the shrub tundra burned as frequently as modern boreal forests in Alaska – every 140 years on average, but with some fires spaced only 30 years apart.

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[waltky]

Surprising CO2 study...

Will Carbon Emissions Be Irrelevant To Future Climate Change?
Monday, April 28, 2008 - Are climate change and carbon emissions inextricably linked? New research published in Carbon Balance and Management suggests that this may not be the case, although it may be some time before we reach this saturation point.

The land and the oceans contain significantly more carbon than the atmosphere, and exchange carbon dioxide with the atmosphere. The amount of CO2 emissions absorbed by the land or the oceans vary in response to changes in climate (including natural variations such as El Nino or volcanic eruptions). So current theories suggest that climate change will have a feedback effect on the rate that atmospheric CO2 increases; rising CO2 levels in turn add to global warming.

The link between the carbon cycle, and human effects caused by emissions, energy use and agriculture, may only be relevant for the next 'several centuries,’ suggest Igor Mokhov and Alexey Eliseev from the A.M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics RAS, in Moscow, Russia. The authors used a climate model known as IAP RAS CM to study how feedback between our climate and the carbon cycle changes over time. In their simulations, the authors assumed that fossil fuel emissions would grow exponentially with a characteristic timescale from 50 to 250years.

In their models, Mokhov and Eliseev found that although climate–carbon cycle feedback grows initially, it then peaks and eventually decreases to a point where the feedback ceases. If we succeed in slowing down the rate of emissions, the peak would be reached much later. However, a steep increase in emissions would bring the peak in coupling between climate and carbon emissions even closer. The authors suggest that we are heading inexorably towards the saturation peak, irrespective of how quickly we get there: “Even weak but continuing emissions lead to eventual saturation of the climate–carbon cycle feedback,” Mokhov and Eliseev explain.

Source

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Aussies discovery new solar material...

Cheap solar power is coming
Friday 30th May, 2008 - It has been called the holy grail of the modern era: cheap solar energy. And scientists say it may be within our grasp soon.

A Queensland University team has grown the world's first titanium oxide nano crystals that are likely to revolutionise the way solar energy is harvested and used. Creating these highly efficient miniature crystals with large reactive surfaces was thought of as impossible by most scientists. Max Lu, who led the study, said they were a step closer to the holy grail of cost-effective solar energy with their discovery. 'Highly active surfaces in such crystals allow high reactivity and efficiency in devices used for solar energy conversion and hydrogen production,' said Lu.

'Titania nano-crystals are promising materials for cost-effective solar cells, hydrogen production from splitting water, and solar decontamination of pollutants. 'The beauty of our technique is that it is very simple and cheap to make such materials at mild conditions.' Lu said it wasn't just renewable energy where this research could be applied. 'These crystals are also fantastic for purifying air and water,' he said. 'The same principle for such materials to convert sunlight to electricity is also working to break down pollutants in water and air.

'One could paint these crystals onto a window or a wall to purify the air in a room. The potential of applications of this technology in water purification and recycling are huge.' Lu said it would be about five years for the water and air pollution applications to be commercially available, and about 5 to 10 years for the solar energy conversion using such crystals. Details of the project have been published in the latest edition of the journal Nature.

Cheap solar power is coming

[waltky]

$1b is still just a small fraction of what solar should be...

GE sees solar becoming $1 bln business
Mon Jun 2, 2008 - General Electric Co. expects its nascent solar-energy business to hit the $1 billion annual revenue mark over the next three years or so, with its key challenge to make the green energy source less costly, the head of the unit said on Monday.

"I'm very optimistic about solar. I think it will be a billion-dollar business for GE sooner rather than later," said John Krenicki, president and chief executive of GE Energy, which has businesses ranging from gas turbines to nuclear power to windmills. Asked about how long it would take the solar arm to hit that mark, Krenicki told the Reuters Global Energy Summit: "In a three-year time horizon, which is kind of our planning period right now."

The unit, which sells photovoltaic cells that can be used to convert the sun's rays into electricity, currently has over $100 million in revenues. Rocketing energy prices -- U.S. oil futures CLc1 last month topped $130 a barrel for the first time -- and concern about climate change have spurred global interest in alternative sources of energy, including solar and wind. Still, a big hurdle for many green energy sources is the high cost.

That is the biggest concern GE's solar business is facing, Krenicki said. "If you think about the solar that's on the market today, it's six, seven times more expensive than wind," Krenicki said. "Solar requires material science breakthroughs, which is something that GE is good at."

More GE sees solar becoming $1 bln business | Special Coverage | Reuters

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Is solar worth the initial start-up costs?...

Is Solar Power Really Practical?
July 7, 2008 : Harnessing The Sun's Energy Is Becoming More Popular - But Experts Question Its High Cost

It's freezing in the Contessa Foods plant in Los Angeles, where workers process, package and ship tons of frozen vegetables, fish and meat each day. “It’s almost like putting 200,000 refrigerators … in one place,” said John Blazevich, CEO of Contessa Premium Foods. And it’s powered primarily by the sun. An array of paper-thin solar panels rolled across a roof the size of two football fields has helped cut Contessa's energy use, CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports.

“In half, which is significant for an operation that requires so much energy,” Blazevich said. “It can be done and we did it.” Diana Ungerleider put solar panels on her roof last year. They not only got her meter spinning, but, as she says: “it’s actually spinning backwards, meaning that the electricity being generated ... is feeding back into the grid." But her head spins every time she gets an electric bill.

“So, last year you paid $220 for a two-month period?” Whitaker asked. “Right,” Ungerleider said. “And this year only $14?” Whitaker asked. “Right,” she said. “I’ve saved, like, I think, over $1,000 in one year.”

Known for fun in the sun, California more than all the other states combined, is now putting the sun to work. At a Napa winery, the sun ripens the grapes and provides all the electricity. “This is going to become a launching pad,” said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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[waltky]

Can Plug-In Hybrids Ride to America's Rescue?...

Can U.S. Catch Up on Plug-In Hybrids?
July 19, 2008 - Engineer Behind Many Electric-Car Advances Says Oil's Days May Be Numbered

If the United States breaks its oil addiction, a measure of thanks will no doubt be due to Andy Frank, who some have dubbed the "father of the plug-in hybrid" car. Laboring in near anonymity in his garage-style laboratory on a leafy byway of the University of California at Davis campus, Frank has for three decades focused on developing plug-in-hybrid technology. With his students, he has built nine plug-in vehicles since the 1990s, winning several vehicle contests sponsored by the Department of Energy and automotive companies.

Even so, Detroit showed little interest in the idea of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) -- until recently. With $4-a-gallon gasoline killing SUV sales, big automakers like General Motors, Ford and Toyota have begun to talk about a future with plug-in hybrids -- or even futuristic fuel-cell cars -- instead of SUVs. Plug-in hybrids go much farther on a single charge than an ordinary hybrid. Some converted Toyota Prius plug-ins get the energy equivalent of 100 miles (or more) per gallon and travel nearly 40 miles on electricity alone before a gasoline engine kicks in for longer trips. With their hefty battery packs, such hybrids can be plugged into a socket in the evening for a charge.

Since 78 percent of American commuters drive 40 miles or less each day, a plug-in driver might need only to fill up his tank with gasoline a half-dozen times a year. It's a game-changing concept that's won over many energy-security hawks and even environmentalists who had been married to futuristic fuel-cell vehicles, but now see plug-ins as a here-and-now way to fight global warming as well as freeing the U.S. from imported oil.

More ABC News: Can U.S. Catch Up on Plug-In Hybrids?

Granny says, "Dat's right...

... an' den we gonna tell dem Arabs to sift sand with a fork."

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Turnin' sawdust into biofuel...

Scientists achieve chemical breakthrough that converts sawdust into biofuel
July 19,`08 : A team of Chinese scientists has made a chemical breakthrough that efficiently turns the lignin in waste products such as sawdust into the chemical precursors of ethanol and biodiesel.

In recent years, the twin threats of global warming and oil shortages have led to growth in the production of biofuels for the transportation sector. But as the human digestive system will attest, breaking down complex plant molecules such as cellulose and lignin is a tricky business. The biofuels industry has relied instead on starchy food crops such as corn and sugar cane to provide the feedstock for their reactions. But that puts the industry into direct competition with humans, and food prices have risen as a result.

A second generation of biofuels could relieve the pressure on crop production by breaking down larger plant molecules. But cellulose makes up only about a third of all plant matter. Lignin, an essential component of wood, is another important component and converting this to liquid transport fuel would increase yields.

However, lignin is a complex molecule and, with current methods, breaks down in an unpredictable way into a wide range of products, only some of which can be used in biofuels. But now, according to a report in New Scientist, Yuan Kou at Peking University in Beijing, China, and his team have come up with a lignin breakdown reaction that more reliably produces the alkanes and alcohols needed for biofuels.

More Scientists achieve chemical breakthrough that converts sawdust into biofuel

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Not in the foreseeable future...

So far, hydrogen-powered cars are fuel for future thoughts
20 July `08 : Taken your hydrogen-powered FreedomCAR out for a spin lately? Nope? Well, there is plenty of time to sign up for one, suggests a National Research Council report that pegs 2020 for the arrival of the mass-market fuel cell vehicle.

That's the best case scenario, of course, assuming technology, government, industry and the public all cooperate on bringing hydrogen cars to the nation's highways. "The use of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles can achieve large and sustained reductions in U.S. oil consumption and CO2 emissions, but several decades will be needed to realize these potential long-term benefits," says the NRC report.

Fuel cells combine hydrogen with a chemical catalyst to make electricity and water exhaust. In contrast, the nation's 235 million cars and light trucks burn about 44% of the country's oil and release about 20% of its industrial carbon dioxide emissions. All told, transportation represents about 5% of the U.S. contribution to global warming, but spikes in the price of gas have sharpened interest in alternatives to gasoline, such as biofuels and hydrogen.

In 2002, then-Energy Department chief Spencer Abraham unveiled the $1.2 billion FreedomCAR effort, which partnered DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors and others in a research push for fuel cell cars. The CAR in FreedomCAR stands for "Cooperative Automotive Research" and the Freedom meant freedom from oil imports, greenhouse gas emissions and "Freedom for Americans to choose the kind of vehicle they want to drive, and to drive where they want, when they want," according to the Energy Department.

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