U.S. teams with India in massive new biofuel project

The U.S. has just launched a five-year, $125 million alternative energy research project with India, aimed partly at developing biofuels from non-food crops. The biofuel project, funded by the Department of Energy and led by theUniversity of Florida, has the goal of managing climate change and reducing U.S. dependence on petroleum products  and that adds an intriguing element of geopolitics and petrodollars to the mix.

Many cooks in the alternative energy kitchen

The new endeavor, somewhat cumbersomely tagged the Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center, (JCERDC), also includes solar and energy efficiency components led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The biofuel component totals about $21 million for a team that includes the University of Florida, University of Missouri, Virginia Tech, Montclair State University, Texas A&M University, Show Me Energy Cooperative, and Green Technologies.

The Indian team is headed up by the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology— but wait, there’s more. The project is part of a larger endeavor that provides for the U.S. to leverage private sector investment in an international fund focused on developing South Asia’s alternative energy resources.

Biofuels over here and over there

Here in the U.S., the new project will give a boost to the ambitious U.S. biofuel program that President Obama announced last year. That program was designed partly to help create sustainable economic growth in rural communities through new biofuel crop farming, transportation and refining operations.

There was also an interesting international potential in last year’s announcement, since it teamed the U.S. Department of Agriculture with the U.S. Navy. The Navy’s role is to serve as an early-adopting market for new biofuel products, helping to build economies of scale that will lower the price of biofuel for the consumer market.

That’s all part of a broad Department of Defense push to wean itself from petroleum, and in terms of Navy operations, that goes beyond a strong domestic biofuel economy in the U.S. It also means developing a strategic chain of alternative fuel providers in countries around the globe where governments and social conditions are more stable than in the Middle East.

Though military strategy is the primary focus, the Navy also plays a major role in global humanitarian efforts, and in order to sustain those efforts a reliable network of fuel suppliers will need to supplant the increasingly risky, price spike-bedeviled petroleum trade (besides, according to the latest offering from Hollywood, you never know where those pesky alien invaderswill strike next).

Connecting the dots to global energy security

The Navy’s interest in global biofuel security was illustrated earlier this year, when top Navy brass visited a biofuel conference in Australia to underscore the Department of Defense’s interest in algae biofuel. With President Obama’s strategic defense plan shifting focus from the Middle East to the

Asia Pacific, it looks like the biofuel partnership with India is another important piece of the puzzle.

As for the mockery that the President met with earlier this year when he enthused over algae biofuel, as a well known figure in Indian history famously said, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you…”

Himachal to invest in electricity production from Pine needles pr

While speaking at a recently held conference on Biomass energy in Delhi, the rural development and panchayati raj minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jairam Thakur laid out the plans of the state to harness the Biomass energy of Pine needles. He said that, Himachal Pradesh has a capacity to produce 260 MW Bio-mass energy.  

Mr Thakur claimed that 8950 square km. of area in Himachal Pradesh comprises of pine forests and about 146 metric tonnes of pine needles can be collected for producing energy. State Government have decided to purchase pine needles from the panchayats at the cost of Rs. 5 per quintal so that it can be utilized for bio energy under Joint Forest Management Exchange Scheme.

The Minister said that the state will setup a bio-mass energy plant for which the state will invite private participation. He said that 7.2 MW bio-mass energy unit had been started in Kala Amb by Ruchira Paper Mill for its captive energy requirements. The use of pine needles will not only help tap into an additional source of energy but it would help reduce the incidents of forest fire during the summers.

Wind power 'can be cheaper' than photovoltaics, study says

Generating wind energy is more than twice as cheap as solar photovoltaic (PV) energy production, a study of alternative energy in six developing countries has found. The findings, published in Nature Climate Change last week¹, could help inform global debates on financing initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries. The authors note that differentiating technologies or countries is one of the reforms under discussion in the Clean Development Mechanism following its experience with nearly 3,500 projects in 70-plus countries.

They commented that there is little available data on the costs of differentrenewable energy technologies in developing countries, and that such information is needed to allocate funding through such mechanisms as the Green Climate Fund  which is expected to raise US$100 billion per year by 2020.  

The researchers, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, studied the baseline costs of current energy sources in Brazil, Egypt, India, Kenya, Nicaragua and Thailand — including the cost of national fuel subsidies  and then investigated the relative costs of switching to wind or solar electricity.

These countries were chosen due to their variety in size, state of economic development and current variation in energy use.

Broadly speaking, the authors said that in 2010, PV electricity costs were 2.2 to 4.5 times higher than wind power in these countries, and that the cost gap between the two technologies could be expected to continue until at least 2020.

"The implication is that the cost of wind and PV generation with that of existing and future conventional power plants must be compared for each country," lead researcher Tobias Schmidt told SciDev.Net. However they found significant national differences in the cost of switching from conventional energy to wind power in the six countries studied. They found that Kenya and Nicaragua would save money by switching to wind because their baseline energy costs are high and their wind costs would be low.

A similar switch from conventional energy would be far higher in Brazil, India and Thailand, and lower in Egypt, due to different national costs relating to wind energy and the varying contribution of high-emission oil or coal plants to total electricity production.

"Fossil fuel subsidies should [therefore] be explicitly included in the calculation, as they raise the incremental cost of renewable energy technologies," Schmidt said, adding that transitioning to renewable energy sources would need to be more gradual in countries where the elimination of fuel subsidies might lead to higher fuel prices and voter anger.

"International funding must help developing countries implement a socially-acceptable phasing out of fuel subsidies and create an attractive environment for clean technology investors," he said.

Oliver Waissbein from the Energy and Environment Group of the UN Development Programme said that "this study nicely demonstrates to policymakers how to make informed decisions about renewable energy opportunities by using detailed, data-driven cost comparisons for generating electricity in individual countries".

Luminous Power Technologies launches new series of solar products

 Power back-up solutions provider Luminous Power Technologies has launched new series of solar products consisting solar charge controller and solar lanterns targeteing rural home lighting market.

The solar lantern provides up to 10 hours backup on highest intensity and up to 16 hours on low intensity in one recharge. The solar charge controller reduces dependency on batteries .

"Our solar product offering includes the affordable Solar Lantern, which ensures connectivity and lighting to rural India and the new Solar Charge Controller with an automatic selection of 12/24 V batteries and Pulse Width Modulation Technology providing upto 98% efficiency. 

Very soon we will be directly getting in touch with the farmers and will educate them about our customized product offerings." Luminous Power Technologies President (Marketing and Sales) Sudhir Kalla said. Luminous will soon offer Interactive Voice Response services to farmers in Uttar Pradesh.

German solar demand surprisingly resilient, biggest builder says

Demand for solar panels in Germany, the world’s largest market for the equipment, may hold up until the third quarter, according to the biggest builder of sun- powered plants. The German government’s plans to cut solar subsidies by as much as 29 percent hasn’t impacted demand as quickly as expected, Bernhard Beck, chief executive officer of Belectric Solarkraftwerke GmbH, said in an interview. “No one would’ve imagined this but so far the volumes are there,” Beck said. “It’s hard to assess.” German solar installations may have more than tripled to almost 1,800 megawatts in the first quarter from a year ago, German Deputy Environment Minister Katherina Reiche said last week. Belectric installed 391 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity globally in 2011, the most of any company, according to California-based market researcher IHS Isuppli.

Bulgaria to focus on small renewable power projects

 To encourage small solar and biomass installations.  Likely to cut incentives for solar energy in July

SOFIA, April 24 (Reuters) - Bulgaria will now focus on small renewable energy projects, Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev said on Tuesday, as the Balkan country tries to avoid a jump in power prices and prevent its grid from overloading due to a surge in bigger projects.

A number of investors including U.S. company AES, South Korea's SDN and Austria's EVN have rushed to take advantage of higher tariffs that Bulgaria began offering in 2007 for power output from renewable projects, with the costs passed through to consumers. Dobrev said the Balkan country was on track to meet its target to get 16 percent of its final energy consumption from renewable energy sources by 2020 and should now shift its focus away from big wind and solar power investors.

"At present, we are exceeding our mid-term green target. The installed renewable energy capacity is over 1,000 megawatts. But by July 1, it will grow by a two-digit percentage," Dobrev told a green energy forum. "From now on we have to concentrate on projects that are most beneficial for the country and for the society. We will be backing small projects," Dobrev said.

Dobrev said the small rooftop solar installations or small biomass and hydro projects were best for the European Union's outdated power grid, because their output is usually consumed on spot, without requiring new power infrastructure. Bulgaria, European Union's poorest member state, already has amended its renewable energy law to slow the surge in solar and wind power projects.

While the country offers plenty of sun for solar energy, government officials say the costs are too high and want to limit its use mainly to small roof panels rather than construction of large solar energy parks. Investors turned to southeastern Europe after countries, including Germany and the Czech Republic began slashing generous feed-in tariffs to rein in booming solar sectors, which raised fears of skyrocketing power prices and grid overload.

Electricity prices are politically sensitive in Bulgaria, where power bills eat away a huge part of monthly incomes, especially during winter months. Sofia cut by 30 percent the preferential prices for energy from photovoltaic installations last July and is likely to further cut the incentive this year, industry officials say.

Bulgaria has about 600 megawatts installed in wind farms and about 400 megawatts in solar energy parks, industry officials say.

IOC to review biofuel business strategy

High costs, uncertain yield, less availability of wasteland are some of the reasons that have compelled Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to review its biofuel business strategy.

At present, there is a question mark over the commercial viability of large-scale jatropha projects unless high-yielding planting material and financial support (Government incentives) are made available, say industry observers.

Jatropha is an environment-friendly oilseed plant that is used to produce bio-diesel.  “The ground reality was different than what was expected. We are now reviewing how to proceedin the business,” Mr A.M.K. Sinha, Director, Planning & Business Development, IOC, said.

However, the company is committed to its ongoing jatropha plantation projects in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Uttar Pradesh, he told Business Line. A review of the Madhya Pradesh projects will be done at the end of 2013-14, while operations of the UP project will be reviewed soon. For the Chhattisgarh project, the investments planned for three years starting 2011-12 is about Rs 16 crore (investments till March 31, 2011 estimated over Rs 8 crore), the Madhya Pradesh project had an investment plan of approximately Rs 1.5 crore (Rs 1.6 crore till March 31, 2011), and Uttar Pradesh about Rs 12.5 crore (Rs 0.2 crore till March 31, 2011).

On the challenges before the company, Mr Sinha said, “Access to land is a big challenge for such projects. As we started on the projects, we found that availability of wasteland is much lower than recorded.”

The next challenge was uncertain yield, he said, adding “we are now in talks with a US-based company, which has developed a high-yield variety of seeds. The company is also planning field trials of pongamia pinnata.”

Mr Sinha said apart from team and skill building, enhanced learning on jatropha curcas plantation with a low-cost model is being done.

Suzlon group bags $387 Mln. new wind turbine orders across Europe

Suzlon Energy Ltd. said its Group-subsidiary REpower Systems SE had obtained wind turbine orders aggregating to $387 Mon. for 276 MW across Europe over a two month period, excluding orders announced separately. These cover various orders secured between February 11 and April 15, 2012 across Italy, France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom.

The product mix includes the latest 3.4104 and 3.2M114 turbines, in addition to MM82 and MM(2 models, the company said. The projects include several wind farms in Germany featuring REpower's latest 3.4M104 and 3.2M114 turbine models, with 3.4 and 3.2 MW of rated power respectively. Other orders will feature turbine of the MM92 and MM82 types.

REpower Systems Chief Executive Officer Andreas Nauen said, "These orders highlight our competitive positioning across highly competitive European wind markets. With our focus on technology and customer centricity, we have the right products and services to lead the growth in the sector." Suzlon Group Chairman Tulsi Tanti commented, "These orders clearly underscore the continuing momentum in the wind sector in developed European markets. With our strong competitive positioning as a Group, we are poised to maintain our strong growth momentum across global markets."

Kerala's wind energy potential underestimated

Kerala's wind energy potential is underestimated, according to experts in the renewable energy sector. While the State's nodal agency for development of wind energy, Agency for Non-conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT), had estimated the wind potential at 600 MW, as per studies conducted by it a few years ago, new studies conducted by private agencies have indicated a higher potential.

Ramakkalmedu in Idukki district with an estimated potential of about 80 MW was identified as the most potential site in the State for developing wind power, according to the Anert study. The survey had zeroed in on 16 potential sites for exploitation of wind energy. These included 10 locations in Idukki district, five in Palakkad district and one in Thiruvananthapuram. The sites in Idukki are Ramakkalmedu, Kailasamedu, Kulathummedu, Parampukettimedu, Senapathi and Sakkulathumedu in Udumbanchola taluk, Kuttikkanam, Kolahalamedu, Panchalimedu and Pullikkanam in Peermade taluk. In Palakkad, the potential sites are Kanjikkode, Kotamala, Kottathara, Nallasingam and Tolanur while the site in Thiruvananthapuram is Ponmudi.

Kerala has an unused potential of at least 2,000 MW wind energy, according to Ramesh Kymal, Managing Director of Gamesa Wind Turbines Private Limited, Chennai, the Indian wing of a Spanish company. Mr. Kymal, who had been involved in the setting up of wind turbines at Ramakkalmedu a few years ago, is convinced that additional capacity generation is possible at the very site as well as other locations in Kerala.

The Ramakkalmedu wind project was meant for producing 25 MW power, but at least 10 times the capacity remains unutilised at the location, Mr.Kymal told . He estimates that 1,500 MW wind power can be generated at Walayar and nearby areas.

His finding is in tandem with a national study done by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a global enterprise based in the U.S.A, in association with Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, on the wind energy potential in the country. A report published recently by the organisation said the potential for on-shore wind energy deployment in India is 20 to 30 times greater than the current government estimate of 102 gigawatts.

However, the assumption is not based on any assessment of land availability. The Berkeley Lab study undertook the assessment of the availability of land using geographic information system (GIS) data on topography and land use and found a significantly higher availability of land, which accounts for the higher estimates.

Meanwhile, Anert is in the process of updating the data on wind energy potential by using modern equipments positioned at a higher altitude. The study is being conducted at eight locations, a top official of Anert told The Hindu .

Data on wind speeds at 80 metre and above are sought to be utilised for modern wind mills.

Earlier, the data on wind speeds at 20 metres were being based for projecting the wind energy potential, as per a study conducted in association with the Chennai-based government body, Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET).

Two high masts capable of collecting wind speed data at 80 metre have already been installed and the information received from them are being analysed. Six more are to be installed at different locations.

Installation of high masts which require staywires to keep them in position, has been posing problems. While the masts could be raised at revenue land, private land-owners have been reluctant to lease out the land for the purpose, the official said.

In fact, the State had been facing the problem of land availability for locating the huge structures of wind turbines.

The wind turbines are set up on huge vertical structures and they need to be transported to the locations, which require good roads. Anert, which had signed a memorandum of understanding with NTPC for generating wind power at Ramakkalmedu, is also finding it difficult to establish additional windmills at new locations there as the terrain requires improved approach road to transport the turbines.

Belectric sets target of 50 MW solar power generation in India

Germany-based turnkey solutions provider for solar power plants Belectric said it targets to achieve 50 MW of solar generation capacity in India by year-end. "We have done 8.5 MW last year here in India, which was pretty much proof of the technology we construct. We now have a programme to set up 50 MW of solar projects in this year," Belectric Global CEO Bernard Beck said. "We shall start rooftop solar projects here. We see a giga watt scale market upcoming in the next couple of years here since solar is a major energy source," he said. The need of the hour in India is to reduce the levelised costs of energy by simplification, standardisation and improving technical efficiency of solar projects, Beck said.

Belectric sets target of 50 MW solar power generation in India

Germany-based turnkey solutions provider for solar power plants Belectric said it targets to achieve 50 MW of solar generation capacity in India by year-end. "We have done 8.5 MW last year here in India, which was pretty much proof of the technology we construct. We now have a programme to set up 50 MW of solar projects in this year," Belectric Global CEO Bernard Beck said. "We shall start rooftop solar projects here. We see a giga watt scale market upcoming in the next couple of years here since solar is a major energy source," he said. The need of the hour in India is to reduce the levelised costs of energy by simplification, standardisation and improving technical efficiency of solar projects, Beck said.

Azure Power to set up rooftop solar power project in Gujarat

Two days after the Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, mooted a rooftop solar power generation policy, Azure Power, an independent power producer in the solar energy sector, has announced plans to develop India’s first megawatt (MW) scale rooftop project in the Gujarat capital. The company would set up a 2.5 MW plant at an investment of Rs 25 crore.

Mr Inderpreet Wadhwa (left), CEO & Founder, Azure Power and Mr H.S. Wadhwa, Chairman, in Gandhinagar on Saturday.

To be set up under the Gandhinagar Photovoltaic Rooftop Program (GPRP), this would be the first project of its kind in India wherein the energy from an aggregated rooftop portfolio would be sold to one off-taker. The project will also be attractive for rooftop owners through a revenue sharing arrangement for 25 years. Power companies having PPAs with the State Government will off-take solar power at Rs 11 per unit and pay Rs 3 per unit to rooftop owners who install solar equipment.

This way cities can become energy generators and power companies selling in cities can meet their renewable purchase obligations (RPOs), Mr Inderpreet Wadhwa, CEO, and Mr D. J. Pandian, Principal Secretary (Energy), Gujarat Government, said here on Saturday.

The model would demonstrate aggregation of 60-plus rooftops under a single project. The concept has the potential to tap into 1,000 MW of rooftop solar power across Tier-I and II cities, they said. Azure Power was selected for this project through a competitive bidding process conducted by the Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI). The projects will include a mix of Government and private rooftops. This programme is expected to encourage public participation and increase solar power generation awareness.

Mr Pandian said the GPRP is expected to revolutionise solar power generation on rooftops in Gandhinagar and then in the State. Rooftop solar installations have a huge market potential in India. Azure Power is targeting to achieve 100 MW of solar power generation capacity by 2014 across India.

Floating offshore wind kit gets spur from U.S., Britain

Britain and the U.S. said they’d fund work on offshore wind generation technologies that work in waters as much as 500 feet deep, a measure aimed at opening vast new areas of ocean to development. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and his U.K. counterpart Edward Davey said their departments will collaborate on ways to spur development of floating platforms for offshore wind turbines that can be stationed in depths beyond 60 meters (200 feet), the limit for traditional structures fixed to the seabed.

“Turbines will be able to locate in ever-deeper waters where the wind is stronger but without the expense of foundations down to the seabed,” Davey said today in a statement from the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

The pact is the first of a series of agreements the U.K. government plans to sign with some of the 23 nations represented at the Clean Energy Ministerial meeting this week in London. Chu and Davy are hosting the gathering, where ministers will discuss practical steps to spread clean energy technologies.

Investors such as Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp. (8002) and pension funds including PensionDanmark A/S are channeling money into European wind projects as governments step up support for weaning utilities off fossil fuels. Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS), General Electric Co. (GE) and Siemens AG (SIE) are building turbines for use offshore.

Offshore Wind

Britain and Germany are leading construction of 35.5 gigawatts of offshore wind plants by 2020, requiring about 127 billion euros ($167 billion) of investment, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The facilities will provide 3.2 percent of the European Union’s electricity demand.

Floating wind systems would put turbines out of sight from land, where residents have objected to sites such as the Cape Wind facility off Nantucket in Massachussets. About 67 percent of Britons favor use of wind power, Ipsos Mori Ltd. said in a release today following a survey of 1,009 adults across the U.K.

“Wind energy is recognized by the majority as having an important role in energy security and reducing carbon emissions,” Maria McCafferty, chief executive of the Renewable UK lobby group, said in a statement. “This sends a clear signal to U.K. ministers who are preparing to introduce the electricity market reform to Parliament.”

U.K. Potential

Britain has about a third of the potential sites for offshore wind farms in Europe, more than any other nation. Traditional offshore wind turbines are fixed to towers cemented to the seabed and are limited to waters shallow enough to support such structures. Many of those will be developed by 2020.

Davey wants to push turbines into deeper waters where winds are consistently stronger. That would require floating platforms for the turbines -- much like the kind the oil industry relies on to tap deposits in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Turbines on floating systems also could be towed to shore for more extensive repairs, saving maintenance costs, Davey said.

“Floating wind turbines will allow us to exploit more of our wind resource, potentially more cheaply,” Davey said. “Britain has more wind turbines installed around its shores than any other country in the world and our market is rated year after year as the most attractive market among investors.”

Combining Programs

Today’s agreement will bring together separate British and U.S. government programs on renewable energy technologies. Britain is offering 25 million pounds ($40.2 million) to contractors who can demonstrate floating offshore wind technology and will pick winners of the funds next year. The program seeks turbines that can generate as much as 7 megawatts of power by 2016. The U.S. has offered $180 million for four demonstration projects, one of which may include a floating wind power system.

Countries represented at the Clean Energy Ministerial include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, the U.K. and U.S. as well as the European Commission.

IISc Bangalore joins GreenTouch to reduce carbon footprint

In a move that could accelerate the process of reducing the carbon footprint, IISc Bangalore has joined GreenTouch.

GreenTouch is a consortium of technology companies (like Alcatel Lucent), non-governmental researchers and academics that focus on communication and data networks, which form the backbone of the Internet. Typically, telecom and cell tower infrastructure companies emit a lot of carbons and are looking at ways to reduce it.

“With the expertise of IISc, we will be able to work at newer ways to reducing this carbon footprint. At present, this is at alarming levels and needs to be brought down by 15 per cent,” said Dr Gee Rittenhouse, Chief Operating Officer of Alcatel-Lucent's Software, Services and Solutions Group.

Students at IISc will work on projects that are specific to GreenTouch that would centre around ways to increase energy efficiency in wireless communication. The former Vice-President of Bell Labs Wireless Research added that carbon emissions emanated by networking equipments such as routers and base station antennas need to be reduced.

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry currently accounts for two per cent of worldwide carbon emissions, and that figure is expected to at least double over the next decade as more people seek to connect with each other, according to analysts. The students in IISc will also work on future architecture of networks.

“Modern day networks are optimised for performance and not energy efficiency. A network optimised for performance and energy implies a very different design and architecture and this precisely what is needed to be sustainable going forward,” said Dr Rittenhouse.

He added that the consortium would bring in technologies such as Large Scale Antenna System (LSAS) that can harness the power of thousands of antennas without increase in additional power.

Growth of Internet usage is expected to drive growth in wireless access usage in India, which has more than 800 million cellphone subscribers.

MSU to build $5M alternative energy device

Michigan State University plans to build a $5 million alternative energy device that will convert waste from its farms and dining halls to energy for powering campus buildings.

Trustees approved the project Friday, along with a broader outline for making decisions about meeting energy needs. Their goal is for MSU eventually to be powered entirely from renewable sources.

Officials describe the so-called “anaerobic digester” as a sealed oxygen-free tank where organic waste will be degraded at an elevated temperature, producing methane for fuel. They say it will be the largest of its type on any U.S. college campus.

The university’s long-range energy plan calls for improving the physical environment on campus, investing in sustainable energy research and development, and becoming a leader in educating others on the topic.

GIBSS wins Sankalp 2012 Award for clean tech

GIBSS, a company focussed on making “buildings zero net energy” with the use of its environmentally and socially responsible demand side technologies, has been awarded the Sankalp Awards 2012 for the most innovative sustainable and scalable company in the Clean Tech and Clean Energy Sector.

GIBSS, with its energy efficient Geothermal, Hot water cogeneration and Lighting systems, helps buildings reduce operational costs by 60-80%. Arun Shenoy, Co-founder, GIBSS, said “Our long term vision is Zero Net Energy Buildings – Buildings that can harvest energy to meet their own demand. The first step in this direction is to reduce and optimize demand so that supply side solutions can be made affordable and commercially viable. Our demand side geothermal, hot water and lighting technologies can reduce energy demand in buildings by 60-80%.”

NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram, Sets Up Biofuel Facility

the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) here has set up a Centre for Biofuels. It will be a nodal centre for research in the field, a spokesman for NIIST said here on Friday.

The centre will also serve as a national facility for exclusive research and development activities in the larger area of bioenergy. It is already involved in research on developing alternative renewable transportation fuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel, the spokesman said.

An 80 kg/batch-capacity pilot plant for ethanol production from biomass including agro-residues and forestry byproducts has been set-up in the NIIST campus.

Gujarat approves funds for India tidal-energy project

The western Indian state of Gujarat plans to spend 250 million rupees ($4.8 million) to help develop the nation’s first project to produce power from ocean tides.

Gujarat approved the funding along with an additional 100 million rupees for a pilot geothermal power project in its budget for the financial year that started April 1, D.J. Pandian, the state’s principal energy secretary, said today.

“After we see how these pilot projects do, then we’ll take a look at developing a policy to attract more investment,” Pandian said in an interview in Gandhinagar.

The state may work with the International Finance Corp., the World Bank’s private-sector financing arm, which is interested in supporting a tidal-energy project with a loan or equity investment, he said.

Atlantis Resources Corp., a tidal-turbine maker backed by Morgan Stanley (MS), is developing a marine energy project in the Gulf of Kutch with the Gujarat Power Corp. with an initial capacity of 50 megawatts.

Scientists Create Hair Thin Solar Cells

Scientists have created solar cells so thin and flexible that they can be wrapped around a single strand of human hair.

The ultra-thin film consists of electrodes on a plastic foil and is only 1.9 micrometres thick, a tenth of the thinnest solar cells present available, according to researchers.

Being extremely thin, light and flexible, they can be used in portable electrical charging devices or electronic textiles worn on clothing, the journal Nature Communications reports.

Tsuyoshi Sekitani, from the University of Tokyo, said: "Being ultra-thin means you don't feel its weight and it is elastic. You could attach the device t your clothes like a badge to collect electricity (from the sun).

"Elderly people who might want to wear sensors to monitor their health would not need to carry around batteries," added Sekitani, according to the Telegraph.

Scientists and consumers in Japan are increasingly turning to alternative energy sources following last year's nuclear crisis in Fukushima.

Hopefully, the new ultra-thin solar cells, which were created jointly by researchers from Johannes Kepler University of Austria and contributors from University of Tokyo, will be put to practical use within around five years.

The research team are now working on increasing the rate at which the device is able to convert sunlight into electricity in order to apply it to specific appliances, as well as exploring an increase in cell size, according to Sekitani.

IIT-B students’ electric car to compete in UK race

Thirty students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay have been busy designing an electric racing car for an international competition to be held in the United Kingdom in July. The car, which is the first such attempt by any student group in India, will compete with 109 cars at the Silverstone Formula-1 racing track.

According to these students, entering the car for an international Formula Society of Automative Engineers (FSAE) competition, in which it would be raced on the famous F1 circuit, is like a dream. “We are yet to name the car. The car will run on electric power, which is green sustainable technology,” said Urmil Shah, captain of the IIT-B formula racing team and a student of mechanical engineering.

FSAE, the biggest educational motorsport competition in Europe, aims at promoting careers and excellence in engineering. It challenges students of universities across the world to design, build, develop and compete as a team.

“In 2009, a chip-powered formula car was designed by students of IIT-B. This time around, we are attempting to make a car that will operate on electric power with the help of lithium polymer batteries. We are expected to design and build a world-class car for FSAE. Electric cars are in, so we decided to be the first students’ group in the country to build such a car,” added Shah.

While racing cars in the US weigh about 220 kg, the IIT-B car weighs 300 kg — around 70 kg more than the formula cars that have won the FSAE so far. “As far as speed and acceleration are concerned, we are confident of having an edge over other cars at the competition. Our car can reach acceleration upto 60 kmph in just 3.5 seconds and can boost up to a maximum speed of 115 kmph, which is the approximate speed that a non-electric car can attain.”

Pure-play carbon credit companies in crisis

The crash in carbon credit prices globally has served a crushing blow to companies operating in this space in India. Firms, whose business models were based purely on profit from sale of carbon credits, have either closed down or substantially downsized their operations. 

A carbon credit is a type of a tradable greenhouse gas emission reduction unit issued to projects under the Kyoto Protocol. One carbon credit is equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) mitigated. A consultant or a trader usually earns a profit from the sale of carbon credits by a manufacturer. With prices falling from around 10-12 euros per unit six-eight months ago to 3-4 euros today, the consultants' profits have slumped by one-fourth. This has forced some of these companies to down shutters. 

Sources said companies which have been impacted by this include Noble India, whose India carbon credit desk was closed down, and Gensol Consultants which has restructured and downsized its operations. "The entire team had to go through a lot of pain during these turbulent times. We have downsized and restructured our operations. But, thankfully, our venture capital partner has supported us through this," said Anmol Singh Jaggi, director, Gensol Consultants, which is now in the process of raising further money for its solar and power trading business. 
However, consultancies which had a more diverse portfolio in sustainability have managed to survive. Sudipta Das, partner (climate change and sustainability), E&Y, said the impact of the price crash on the firm was not large enough because carbon credits form a small part of the firm's sustainability division. 

"There was an initial rush for registering projects under the CDM (clean development mechanism) executive board to get carbon credits, but it was only when a number of applications from India were turned down that firms started facing the heat. Many have either folded up or substantially downsized their operations," said Arvind Sharma, head (climate change and sustainability services practice), KPMG India. 

According to Krish Krishnan, CEO, Green Ventures International, one of the trends that have emerged is that a lot of consultants that were operating in the pure-play CDM space have diversified into allied segments like renewable energy and energy efficiency. 

Many small and medium players are even looking at business opportunities outside India in least developed countries. 

However, the sentiment is unlikely to improve with worst-case scenarios being presented by certain industry reports that state carbon credits could be tending towards an unthinkable "zero" level. "The mindset of Indian companies has changed dramatically. Earlier, they were not even prepared to sell their carbon credit at 15 euros, and now they have given open mandates to sell whenever the price comes to 4 euros," said P Ram Babu, CEO, General Carbon Advisory Services. 

Only a few years ago, a rosy picture was being painted around the carbon credit market. As against the forecast that the business of advisory and consultancy could touch Rs 500 crore in ten years on the back of a strong carbon credit pipeline, the industry today is not even talking about reaching the halfway mark yet.

Siemens says wind industry must cut costs rapidly

The wind industry must cut costs rapidly to stay competitive and boost its unacceptably low margins, the head of German conglomerate Siemens AG's wind turbines business said on Monday.

Rising costs and falling investment in energy infrastructure are threatening growth in the sector, while European manufacturers also face increasing competition from Chinese rivals which are so far focused on their domestic market but are seen as international rivals in the future.

"The wind industry currently faces a very difficult market environment," said Felix Ferlemann, chief executive of Siemens Wind Power, which was the world's ninth biggest wind turbine maker last year according to BTM Consult.

"Price pressure is growing, and, at the same time, governments are under pressure to reduce public spending on the subsidies we still depend on," he told the annual conference of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).

Ferlemann said those and other factors had affected the results of many European wind energy companies.

"Currently, profitability is not always given." he said. "The wind industry struggles with low margins ... This is not a sustainable situation. We are under pressure to reduce costs quickly. And we have made this our highest priority."

His comments came after a report from the EWEA argued wind power had bucked Europe's economic downturn to swell gross domestic product and create jobs but needed more ambitious EU green energy policy and investment in research and development to keep growing.

Ferlemann said the wind sector had to become more competitive with other types of energy.

"We must make it (wind) competitive with traditional energy sources and we must do this soon. Only then can we become independent from subsidies."

To secure its future, the wind industry needs to invest massively in innovation and industrialisation, but shareholders would only endorse that if the industry could operate in a stable, predictable and profitable environment.

In the past, it reduced costs by 40 percent every 10 years. "In the future, we need to be even quicker," Ferlemann said.

EWEA argues the advantage of wind energy is that although upfront costs are high, fuel costs are zero and new nuclear energy, for instance, requires greater investment.