Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Seaweed can be a potential raw material for biofuel

                 Green fuels have typically been made from palm oil or corn. But now there’s growing evidence that seaweed might fit the bill as a raw material for biofuel, and one Indian entrepreneur is hoping to exploit it. Shrikumar Suryanarayan, chairman of Chennai-based Sea6 Energy Private Ltd., set up his company in 2010 to look at the feasibility of turning the green algae into fuel.
So far, the venture is starting small. Mr. Suryanarayan has raised $655,500 from investors, including India’s Department of Biotechnology -which is keen for the country to boost its production of green fuels – and some individual investors.
“Why don’t we look at the sea for producing bio fuels ” Mr. Suryanarayan, a professor at India’s prestigious Institute of Technology Madras and a former senior executive at Biocon,  a leading Indian biotechnology company, says he asked himself a few years ago.
Turning seaweed into a commercially viable green fuel is a long shot. Until now, the green algae has not been used for biofuels because few organisms can consume the sugar that seaweed produces – a necessary step to producing ethanol known as fermentation.
But Mr. Suryanarayan says his company has successfully been able to turn red seaweed into ethanol in the lab through a fermentation process which uses normal yeast. “We’ve shown that we can convert it to ethanol without relying on any genetically modified bacteria,” he says.
Other researchers have been looking at genetically modifying bacteria in the lab to make it more effective at fermenting sugar into ethanol. In January, the journal Science published a study by researchers from Berkeley, California, who said they’d genetically engineered a bacteria that could feed on the sugars in seaweed and turn them into ethanol. The research could reduce the cost of turning seaweed into ethanol.
The benefits of producing green fuel from seaweed are large. It’s fast-growing and doesn’t use up scarce water resources during its production – a major benefit in drought-plagued India. It can be grown cheaply on the edge of India’s long coastlines. And it doesn’t take land away from other food crops like rice or wheat. (Some critics of biofuels made from corn, palm oil or sugarcane say their production takes up land that would otherwise be used to grow food, pushing up prices.)
India today makes most of its biofuel from sugar-cane. But that crop is also in demand from alcoholic beverage makers and paint producers, which has reduced its availability for green-energy production. Lack of land and water resources also has dimmed the prospects for green fuel.
That’s why India’s been unable to meet a target of producing 5% of its total fossil fuel needs from green energy. Today, biofuels account for only 3% of total fuel use. India’s biofuels target for 2017 is an ambitious 20% — something that seems impossible to achieve through biofuels derived from sugarcane.
Of course, seaweed-derived biofuel production won’t happen overnight. Mr. Suryanarayan isn’t expecting to get a pilot production plant up and running for two years. He’s hoping to later partner with large Indian or foreign energy companies to scale up commercial production.
The main challenge for Sea6 Energy is to turn what it’s shown on land in the lab – that seaweed can be turned into fuel – into a reality at sea as well. The company is working with Denmark-based Novozymes A/S NZYM-B.KO +0.68%, a biotechnology company, to  find a way to more quickly break down carbohydrates from seaweed into sugars that can be fermented.
Mr. Suryanarayan says there are advantages to red seaweed over other seaweeds that make it a good bet for a commercial biofuel enterprise. For one, it grows at a high yield per hectare – about 100 tons per hectare or almost double the yield of some land-based plants.  That will make it easier to produce the massive amounts of biomass needed to make commercially-viable amounts of ethanol. The idea is to produce the ethanol in the sea, obviating the need to use scare water on land.
Sea6 Energy has developed structures that could allow farmers to grow seaweed in deeper waters rather than shallow seas, a technology that could greatly boost production of the biomass.
What’s more, Mr. Suryanarayan says, biomass from red seaweed can be used for other purposes, such as in the production of cosmetics. That means the company can proceed with stage one of its project – growing the seaweed – without the risk that the biomass is wasted.

Wind mills around Kudankulam produce more power than nuclear plant

Not far from the agitation against the nuclear power plant, thousands of windmills around Kudankulam are calmly rotating to produce power  drawing from nature.The combined capacity of wind turbines on the 120km stretch from Kanyakumari to Tuticorin  where the anti-nuclear plant protests are centred  is much more than some estimates say nearly double the 2,000MW capacity of the two reactors being commissioned at Kudankulam.
The corridor with its ideal geography between sea and hills and winds from advancing and receding monsoons is the hub of wind energy form the country’s highest concentration of windmills.

Andhra Pradesh solar policy – What it means to industries, domestic and other segments


The AP solar policy announced last week created significant buzz. At EAI we have gone through the policy and detail and provided a distilled summary and analysis of what the policy means to the two key segments – industrial/commercial and domestic. We have also provided an analysis of indicative returns investors in this policy could look forward to.
Salient Points
1. Target - 1000 MW by 2017 is the goal
2. Feed-in-tariffs? – No mention of feed-in tariffs or mechanism for determining tariff (only REC method & wheeling, banking, open access dicussed; perhaps on purpose?)
3. Incentives - A whole host of incentives depending on motivation for producing solar power:
  1. No wheeling & transmission charges, electricity duty, cross-subsidy charges for 3rd party sale/captive use to entities within state through 33 kV lines subject to industry demand staying within contracted limits. For those outside the state though, wheeling & transmission charges/Open access charges will apply as determined by the APERC.
2. This policy makes provision for sale of electricity to other states as well
3. Sale of Power to EB: Through REC Mechanism (Pooled power price will be paid to developers; this price is Rs 2 at the moment). RECs will  be issued after the required procedure of accreditation by state accreditation agency & registration with the central agency.
Furthermore, on incentives:
-    VAT paid for all the inputs will be refunded by the commercial tax department.
-    Industries department will refund stamp duty & registration charges for the land purchased for setting up solar projects.
-    All projects developed with the above incentives will be eligible for REC benefits.
-    Injection into the grid for captive consumption on premises will also be considered for the issue of REC.
4. Duration of incentives – These incentives will apply for 7 years for projects commissioned by June 2014.
5. Loss charges - Wheeling & Transmission losses, Open access charges & losses will be borne by developers.
6. Banking – 100% banking is permitted from January to December. There can be no banking of energy produced for consumption on the same day. Banked energy cannot be consumed/ redeemed between February-June and also between peak hours of 6:30-10:30 PM. Banking charges are 2%. Energy banked cannot be carried over to the next year.
7. Evacuation infrastructure - In matters of grid connectivity & evacuation infrastructure, this policy follows other states’ policies in that the evacuation line from the interconnection point to grid substation would be laid by the APTRANSCO/DISCOMS at the cost of the project developer. Alternatively, the developer can lay the lines themselves by paying supervision charges to the APTRANSCO/DISCOM. NREDCAP will be the state government nodal agency for clearance, facilitation and implementation of proposed solar policy.
Implications of the policy  for the commercial and domestic sectors
This policy is commercial consumer-centric focusing on providing maximum incentives to industries that capitalize on the abundance of solar power in the state. These incentives make it easier & cheaper for them to produce and consume their own power by:
  • Allowing them to use the state’s infrastructure for transportation of power at no transmission charges (only losses will be applicable).
  • Banking at 2% with the state electricity board to use when required
for the next seven years.
Waiving open access cross-subsidy surcharges will spur the investment in solar power for sales to 3rd parties making it easier & cheaper for industries to tie up with solar project owners and buy power for use providing energy security that isn’t present at the moment.
The policy also makes it easy and beneficial for industries to install captive power on premises since the AP government is willing to consider these entities for the issue of RECs.
The policy also invites investment on captive plants from other states making provisions for inter-state wheeling that is lacking in many of the other states.
It does not provide much in the way of benefits for residential consumers.
Indicative Returns for Investors
The AP policy offers the option of generating and feeding solar power into the grid in exchange for the average pooled cost of power from the state (Rs 2 presently). In addition, RECs will be issued for generation of renewable solar power. The floor price for this is at Rs 9.3 per unit. Together, revenues in the order of Rs 11.30/unit would be available to the generator under this scheme making payback possible in 8-10 years subject to certain assumptions regarding the APPC price and the REC price which implicitly assumes the continuance of the REC mechanism past 2017.
On-premises captive solar plants promise to offer a great alternative to using diesel generators which are widely prevalent for use in the case of power failure.
Owing to the removal of cross-subsidy surcharges, the viability of 3rd party sales will be vastly improved providing further impetus for the development of solar projects to cater to various industries.

BBMP to pay farmers Rs. 66 a tonne of wet waste to covert it into manure


The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) claims to have found a unique solution to the city’s waste problem. It will pay farmers Rs. 66 a tonne of wet waste to compost it and use the manure in their fields.
A resolution to this effect was passed by the BBMP council on Saturday. BBMP Commissioner Rajneesh Goel said he had written to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) seeking permission to deliver organic waste to farmers and the board had okayed it, directing the BBMP to deliver 20 tonnes per acre per year.
“There is lot of demand for organic waste. The city generates 1,500 tonnes of wet waste on an average. We can send it to farmers in a 100-km radius around the city. It will be transported free of cost. Interested farmers may contact the BBMP,” Mr. Goel said.
The BBMP will sign a memorandum of understanding with the farmers. “The waste will take just 3 per cent of an acre to be composted. This is a win-win situation for both farmers and BBMP.”
Earlier in the council, the garbage issue once again was hotly debated. Opposition leaders alleged that under the new tenders, there was bias in allocation of pourakarmikas in wards represented by them. Opposition Leader M.K. Gunashekar termed it “unscientific” and claimed the number of pourakarmikas allocated for wards represented by BJP councillors was higher than that allocated for wards represented by those from Congress and Janata Dal (S). Subhashnagar councillor T. Mallesh blamed the officials for this and sought to know on what basis the allocations were made.
Garbage tenders
Mr. Goel said the garbage tenders were yet to be opened. “After they are, they will be sent to the Standing Committee for Taxation and Finance and then to the council. Reallocation can be done at both these levels.” There was a provision to increase manpower and machinery by 25 per cent under the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act.
Shanthinagar MLA N.A. Haris sought rehabilitation of residents of EWS Quarters who were not the original allottees. To this, Mr. Goel said the High Court had clearly directed the BBMP to allot houses only to the original allottees.

Researchers at Utah State University develop biofuel from waste produced by industrial cheese industry

Scientists say you can run your diesel-powered vehicle in future on fuel brewed from the watery waste of mass-produced cheese.
A team of researchers at Utah State University has claimed to have created a bio diesel fuel out of the waste produced by the industrial cheese industry.
"The smell is fun, especially when the engine is warm," the Los Angeles Times quoted Mike Morgan, a Utah State biochemistry undergraduate who recently drove a dragster that runs on the fuel.

To make the fuel -- called yeast biofuel -- the scientists start by mixing microbes (yeast) into the watery yellow liquid left over when industrial cheese makers make cheese.
The liquid is mostly sugar lactose, since the cheese- makers already pulled the fats and proteins out to make the cheese.
The microbes convert the sugar into oil in a process similar to how humans convert the sugar from candy bars into fat, the report said.
"However, the microbes are more efficient at turning sugars into fats than we are," said Lance Seefeldt, a Utah State biochemistry professor who led the project.
The scientists then pull the lipids (fats) out of the pasty microbe concoction and turn that into biofuel.
The good news is that there is a lot of cheese waste in the process of producing cheese.
Seefeldt said just one cheese plant can make as much as one million gallons of liquid cheese waste a day.
From that, he estimates his microbes could make 66,000 gallons of fuel, which also produces a sweet exhaust that smells like fresh-baked bread.
Seelfeldt said he thinks a company could bring the biodiesel fuel to market in five years.

Trial run of Delhi’s second waste-to-energy plant in Ghazipur soon

Waste to wealth: The Ghazipur landfill near the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border is several storeys high now. (file photo) — Ramesh Sharma 
Delhi’s second waste-to-energy plant in Ghazipur is set to begin pilot runs by the end of October. The first one is in Timarpur Okhla.
“The 12 MW plant, with Belgian technology, is set to become a landmark for the sector in the Indian market,” Mahesh Babu, Managing Director, IL& FS Environmental Infrastructure and Services Ltd (IEISL), told Business Line.
The plant has generated widespread concerns among civil society and local inhabitants over its impact on the local environment and health of residents in the vicinity.
But allaying these concerns, Babu said IEISL would undertake an area development plan once output begins.
“Today there is a greater health issue, as the dumpsite is growing...it has reached as high as a 10-storey building, surrounded by a fish, meat, flower and milk wholesale market….People are literally sitting on an urban time bomb,” he added.
According to Babu, about five million tonnes of waste is dumped in Ghazipur. “We are working with the municipality and the Government on the problem in an eco-friendly manner,” he said, and added that one problem in India was that there was no payment at the gate level.
“The processor (of waste) is not paid anything, only its collector is paid. As a result, waste is dumped, raising health concerns such as contamination, dust, vector-borne diseases and so on,” he said.
IEISL said it had a scientific way of processing every aspect of waste – biodegradable, inert and combustible. The biodegradable waste is converted into compost, the inert waste (construction and demolition debris) is turned into blocks and kerb stones.
“It is the combustible waste, such as paper, mattresses, and rubber, that we are using to produce recycled products and energy,” said Babu, adding that the purpose was to ensure that only 20 per cent waste remained, and the rest was recycled.
But Babu also admitted that the model was not ‘completely there’ right now. “We are trying to create a model that is viable, sustainable and compliant. We are making a lot of investments to meet Euro norms, and wish the Government would judge us on our output and give us incentives. “If solar is being pushed, why not this, as this is also protecting the environment,” he said.
Once power generation begins, scheduled for December 2013, IEISL will be free to sell 50 per cent of it, as 50 per cent is for sale to BSES at a fixed price of Rs 3 a unit. “We are hoping to sell it to malls and corporates etc which are willing to pay a premium for green power,” he added.
The company is also in talks on waste-to-energy plants in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Andhra Pradesh solar policy – What it means to industries, domestic and other segments


The AP solar policy announced last week created significant buzz. At EAI we have gone through the policy and detail and provided a distilled summary and analysis of what the policy means to the two key segments – industrial/commercial and domestic. We have also provided an analysis of indicative returns investors in this policy could look forward to.
Salient Points
1. Target - 1000 MW by 2017 is the goal
2. Feed-in-tariffs? – No mention of feed-in tariffs or mechanism for determining tariff (only REC method & wheeling, banking, open access dicussed; perhaps on purpose?)
3. Incentives - A whole host of incentives depending on motivation for producing solar power:
  1. No wheeling & transmission charges, electricity duty, cross-subsidy charges for 3rd party sale/captive use to entities within state through 33 kV lines subject to industry demand staying within contracted limits. For those outside the state though, wheeling & transmission charges/Open access charges will apply as determined by the APERC.
2. This policy makes provision for sale of electricity to other states as well
3. Sale of Power to EB: Through REC Mechanism (Pooled power price will be paid to developers; this price is Rs 2 at the moment). RECs will  be issued after the required procedure of accreditation by state accreditation agency & registration with the central agency.
Furthermore, on incentives:
-    VAT paid for all the inputs will be refunded by the commercial tax department.
-    Industries department will refund stamp duty & registration charges for the land purchased for setting up solar projects.
-    All projects developed with the above incentives will be eligible for REC benefits.
-    Injection into the grid for captive consumption on premises will also be considered for the issue of REC.
4. Duration of incentives – These incentives will apply for 7 years for projects commissioned by June 2014.
5. Loss charges - Wheeling & Transmission losses, Open access charges & losses will be borne by developers.
6. Banking – 100% banking is permitted from January to December. There can be no banking of energy produced for consumption on the same day. Banked energy cannot be consumed/ redeemed between February-June and also between peak hours of 6:30-10:30 PM. Banking charges are 2%. Energy banked cannot be carried over to the next year.
7. Evacuation infrastructure - In matters of grid connectivity & evacuation infrastructure, this policy follows other states’ policies in that the evacuation line from the interconnection point to grid substation would be laid by the APTRANSCO/DISCOMS at the cost of the project developer. Alternatively, the developer can lay the lines themselves by paying supervision charges to the APTRANSCO/DISCOM. NREDCAP will be the state government nodal agency for clearance, facilitation and implementation of proposed solar policy.
Implications of the policy  for the commercial and domestic sectors
This policy is commercial consumer-centric focusing on providing maximum incentives to industries that capitalize on the abundance of solar power in the state. These incentives make it easier & cheaper for them to produce and consume their own power by:
Allowing them to use the state’s infrastructure for transportation of power at no transmission charges (only losses will be applicable). Banking at 2% with the state electricity board to use when required for the next seven years.
Waiving open access cross-subsidy surcharges will spur the investment in solar power for sales to 3rd parties making it easier & cheaper for industries to tie up with solar project owners and buy power for use providing energy security that isn’t present at the moment.
The policy also makes it easy and beneficial for industries to install captive power on premises since the AP government is willing to consider these entities for the issue of RECs. The policy also invites investment on captive plants from other states making provisions for inter-state wheeling that is lacking in many of the other states. It does not provide much in the way of benefits for residential consumers. Indicative Returns for Investors
The AP policy offers the option of generating and feeding solar power into the grid in exchange for the average pooled cost of power from the state (Rs 2 presently). In addition, RECs will be issued for generation of renewable solar power. The floor price for this is at Rs 9.3 per unit. Together, revenues in the order of Rs 11.30/unit would be available to the generator under this scheme making payback possible in 8-10 years subject to certain assumptions regarding the APPC price and the REC price which implicitly assumes the continuance of the REC mechanism past 2017.
On-premises captive solar plants promise to offer a great alternative to using diesel generators which are widely prevalent for use in the case of power failure. Owing to the removal of cross-subsidy surcharges, the viability of 3rd party sales will be vastly improved providing further impetus for the development of solar projects to cater to various industries.

Hydrogen fuel cell technology for coast guard ships in Canada


HALIFAX — The Canadian Press
The federal government has issued a tender calling for the design of low-emission Canadian Coast Guard ships that would incorporate hydrogen fuel cell technology.
The three offshore fisheries science vessels are intended to replace four aging coast guard ships and would be stationed on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. They are part of the fleet under Ottawa’s $33-billion national shipbuilding procurement announced last year.
The tender said the government plans to spend about $332,000 to look into integrating hydrogen fuel cell technology into the new ships, which would be constructed at the Seaspan Marine Corp. shipyard in Vancouver.
Zuomin Dong, a professor in the mechanical engineering department at the University of Victoria, lauded the move as a great step for marine technology in Canada.
“Hybrid technology is for sure, no doubt beneficial,” said Mr. Dong in an interview.
When compared to a traditional vessel, fuel cells have significantly lower emissions, improved fuel economy and produce less noise, the tender said.
Mr. Dong said when vessels are cruising at sea, diesel engines are highly efficient. However, when the ship glides into port, the engines are not operating at full power and their efficiency can drop to less than 50 per cent, he said.
“The emissions can double or triple. It just goes up and up.”
Fuel cells, which continuously convert hydrogen fuel into electricity, have made a mark in the automotive industry, but have yet to break into the commercial marine sector.
“Canada is the leading nation in hydrogen fuel cell technology,” said Mr. Dong.
“To apply it to marine … you open the market – open a new window of commercial opportunities to this industry.”
The Public Works contract proposes a hybrid fuel cell and diesel electric propulsion system to power the ships. The tender closed last week.
Federal officials did not return messages Friday, but the government’s intention was to award the contract to the Ontario-based Alion Science and Technology Canada, according to the tender.
Public Works is required to issue a tender signalling other suppliers that may be capable of meeting the requirements.
The tender said the aim of the project is to install a hydrogen fuel cell in the range of 1,500 kilowatts. But Mr. Dong warned that may be a stretch unless the government is willing to fork over millions of dollars.
“This translates into a very, very high cost. That is a concern I have,” said Mr. Dong.
He said based on similar technology the university has developed, he believes each hydrogen fuel cell system would cost more than $6 million.
“There are technical challenges. Those challenges will be identified during the design process.”
The tender anticipates some of those challenges. Fitting a fuel cell and its associated systems into a vessel without taking up too much space will be difficult, it said. It also cited fuel storage as a potential issue.
Construction of the ships is expected to begin in 2013 as part of Seaspan’s $8-billion contract to build seven non-combat vessels.
The ships would conduct fishing and acoustic surveys of fish and collect information on the distribution and biology of marine species, among other tasks.
Two of the 55-metre vessels are intended for the Atlantic coast, while the other would be stationed in the Pacific.
It’s not the only marine fuel cell initiative being pursued in the country.
Last year, the University of Victoria was awarded $13.3 million from the British Columbia government to refit a coast guard vessel into a hybrid fuel cell and plug-in research ship, but the project has been delayed, said Mr. Dong.

Bosch responds to solar exit rumours

Bosch has sent mixed signals about coverage that it may be about to withdraw from the solar industry. The company has distanced itself from the headlines, but equally has not denied them.

The German "Financial Times Deutschland (FTD)" ran the headline "Bosch threatens withdrawal from solar". "The title was a creation of the FTD," Bosch said in a statement. The basis for this header was the speech made by Bosch board head Franz Fehrenbach during the award ceremony for "Strategist of the year".

He apparently claimed that "the continuing unpredictability of conditions as a crucial source of irritation for every strategy." Refering to photovoltaics and the energy revolution, he added that significant investment in solar is necessary, however, "such investments also need investment security" according to a Bosch statement.

Simulating with Proteus

https://youtu.be/GDxYzqvTcnI