By John DeFore

For everyone puzzled at recent energy-independence speeches that seem to focus as much on building new electric lines as on solar research or wind power, a new report helps make one inconvenient truth clear: Without new infrastructure, switching to non-carbon power could make our electric system far less reliable than it is today.

The report was compiled by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a self-regulatory organization focused in part on ensuring that power transmission stays blackout-free from coast to coast.

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By John DeFore

The latest edition of an annual report by the International Energy Agency was released this week, and while the news may not be unexpected, it’s unsettling nonetheless.

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By Barbara Kessler

Biomass technology promises what few other alternative fuel schemes can: energy from waste. Given the controversial use of corn (and other food crops) for biofuel, which is turning out to be less of a greenhouse gas saver than once thought, waste is looking pretty attractive.

A new plant in Central Texas, dedicated last week, promises to take sewage waste, organic garbage, grass clippings and manure, and convert them into gasoline.

Initially the plant, designed as a large-scale demonstration project, will use forage sorghum as its base material. Forage sorghum, unlike other varieties grown to produce sorghum seed for food products, does not steal directly from the human food chain. It is used as feed for cattle, but even so, it’s more renewable than corn because about twice as much (5-7 tons) can be grown per acre.

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By John DeFore

While biofuel proponents struggle with concerns that some of their favored technologies — like those turning corn into car fuel — literally take food out of the mouths of the poor in pursuit of fossil-fuel independence, scientists are pursuing alternatives that not only won’t interfere with the global food supply, but actually clean up after it.

A new study published in the Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology claims that renewable bioethanol can be squeezed, not out of olives, but out of the seeds we spit out of them.

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By John DeFore

In the quest to ween cars and trucks off oil, alternative-fuel schemes may be heading for a roadblock they haven’t fully considered: water.

Public discussions of alternative fuels have rarely if ever touched on how much water might be needed to produce such fuel on a large scale. But researchers in Texas warn that it may be much more than you’d expect.

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By Harriet Blake

It all comes down to leadership.

Pundits from former Vice President Al Gore to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, agree - the technology to develop clean energy and curb global warming is available. What’s needed are lawmakers with the mettle to put it into action.

“We’re committed to changing not just light bulbs, but laws. And laws will only change with leadership,” said Al Gore, launching the We Campaign earlier this year.

Now, a new report, Energy [R]evolution: A Sustainable World Energy Outlook from Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) reaffirms this concept:

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By Tom Kessler

When it comes to energy, everyone knows the U.S. is in hot water. Now the federal government intends to do something about it.

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne yesterday announced a plan to make more than 190 million acres of Federal land in 12 western states available for development of geothermal energy resources, an initiative that “could increase electric generation capacity from geothermal resources ten times over.”

The plan would produce 5,540 megawatts of new electric generation capacity from geothermal resources by 2015 — enough to power 5.5 million homes. The plan, known as the Final Geothermal Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, also estimates an additional 6,600 megawatts by 2025 for a total of 12,100 megawatts – enough to power more than 12 million homes.

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By Barbara Kessler

Future energy literally rose above fossil fuel-generated power at a site in Pennsylvania where officials celebrated the opening this week of the Casselman Wind Power Project near Garrett, Pa., southeast of Pittsburgh.

Eight of the 23 turbines sit atop the site of a former coal mine.

“Pennsylvania is rapidly becoming a leader among states that are developing renewable and alternative energy sources and implementing advanced energy efficiency and conservation technologies,” said Governor Edward G. Rendell at the opening ceremony.

Rendell noted that the project will help create jobs, reduce dependence on foreign oil and improve the environment.

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An overwhelming 86 percent of Coloradoans want to limit subsidies for oil shale production and hault new coal-fired power plants, according to a newly released poll.

The survey of 600 Colorado adults conducted by Opinion Research Corporation also found support for
federal and state investment in wind and solar energy, enhanced energy efficiency, and highly fuel-efficient vehicles. The study was conducted for TheCLEAN.org and the Civil Society Institute, and was released by Western Colorado Congress, a community action alliance focused protecting and enhancing the quality of life in western Colorado.

Key findings of the poll include:

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By Catherine Colbert

Aging wind turbines - some installed more than 20 years ago - are getting a second wind. Towering gracefully among California wind farms, an estimated 10,000 machines are slated to be replaced by more modern and much larger wind turbines.

Instead of laying these wind soldiers to rest, a Massachusetts company is focused on breathing new life into them through what it has coined “The Ultimate Recycling Project.”

Aeronautica Windpower, as part of its business as a wind turbine and tower manufacturer, harvests the better machines from the field and refurbishes them to give them a second life. The firm likens the modern windmills to aircraft, as they’re stripped down to their frames and rebuilt with newer technologies and reporting capabilities to fly for another 20 years.

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By Tom Kessler

The battlefield cry “charge” is taking on new meanings. Portable fuel cell systems from SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG won first and third prizes in the U.S. Defense Department’s inaugural Wearable Power Competition, the DOD announced.

Nearly 170 designs competed in the event, which was established by Department of Defense Research and Engineering to “encourage innovation in energy systems carried by personnel during field missions.” The systems, attached to a military vest, were required to provide 20 watts of average electric power, have peak-power capability up to 200 watts and weigh no more than 8.8 pounds.

The M-25 Portable Fuel Cell from DuPont and SFC, won the $1 million first prize. The AMI team from Ann Arbor, MI, won the $500,000 second place prize. SFC and partner Capitol Connections LLC of Middleburg, Va., took third place and $250,000 for their JENNY fuel cell.

These portable devices are used to power a range of field equipment that includes GPS navigation systems, communications equipment, computers and robots. The devices weigh up to 80 percent less than conventional power sources.

The winners were announced Oct. 4 at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

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strong> By John DeFore

Business types, evidently, feel they know all they need to know about Tempe, Ariz., firm First Solar, a nine-year old company being called “the Google of solar.” In a year and a half, investors drove its stock price up from $25 to $250. But aside from reports that this year’s sales are projected to hit $1 billion, what exactly do they know?

The company is highly secretive about its innovations, it seems, going so far as to refuse to speak with journalists. Now, an in-depth story in IEEE Spectrum Online attempts to get to the bottom of how, as the journal says, “within five years, this company’s thin-film solar cells could compete with coal.”

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