Montana energy storage project lines up financial partner

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/montana-energy-storage-project-lines-201143688.html

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Construction on a $1 billion energy storage system in central Montana could start as soon as next year after its sponsors said Friday they reached a financing agreement with a Danish firm that invests in renewable energy.

Carl Borgquist, president of Bozeman-based Absaroka Energy, said the involvement of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners of Denmark marks a significant step forward for the 400-megawatt project near Martinsdale.

Next up, he said, is to make arrangements with utilities or others interested in using the Montana facility to complement their own electricity generation.

"That's our last step before we're able to go under construction and start putting concrete and steel in the ground," Borgquist said.

The Gordon Butte Pumped Storage Hydro Project was first proposed in 2010 and is intended to make wind turbines and other renewable energy sources more reliable , by storing the electricity they produce until it's needed.

Described as a "hydro battery," it would use excess power produced by wind farms or other sources to pump water from a reservoir uphill to a second reservoir. The water would be released during periods of high electricity demand, turning hydropower turbines to generate power.

>>>

Zim : 'Hydro-electric pumped storage'.
It is nothing at all like a battery - but it is a
proven technology. Two reservoirs - one on top of
the mountain, one at the base of the mountain. Off
peak hours one pumps the water up the hill. To meet
peak demand the water is ran back down through a
turbine generator set to make the electricity.

We have one in Virginia - Bath County.

>>>
Bath County Pumped Storage Station - Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_County_Pumped_Storage_Station

The Bath County Pumped Storage Station is a pumped storage hydroelectric power plant, which is described as the "largest battery in the world", with a maximum generation capacity of 3,003 MW, an average of 2,772 MW, and a total storage capacity of 24,000 MWh.

Installed capacity‎: ‎3003 MW
Location‎: ‎Bath County, Virginia

Construction began‎: ‎March 1977

Hydraulic head‎: ‎1,262 feet (385 m)
>>>

Mad Poet Strikes Again.

Changing World Technologies

http://www.changingworldtech.com/

Founded in August 1997, US-based Changing World Technologies (CWT) is committed to addressing the problems in the areas of energy and environment. Bringing together the best technical and scientific expertise, CWT's mission is to identify emerging technologies and effect the commercialization of these programs to create energy efficiency without further destroying our delicate planet.
Initially, CWT was founded to work on the development and commercialization of thermal depolymerization technology, sometimes referred to as "thermal conversion process" or TCP. The process copies the earth's natural geothermal activity, when organic material is converted into fossil fuel under conditions of extreme heat and pressure over millions of years. TCP reduces this natural process that takes millions of years, into a couple of hours through the use controlled pressure and temperature. Even heavy metals are transformed into harmless oxides to produce renewable diesel fuel oil from organic-rich waste products.

>>>

(Article does continue. Zim.)
(And, I believe these folks were the pioneers in 'thermal Depolymerization' -
A process by which they were turning waste turkey guts and parts into oil.)

Zim.

Mad Poet Strikes Again.

Climeworks has opened a third plant capturing carbon dioxide from the air

http://qz.com/1407687/climeworks-has-opened-a-third-plant-capturing-carbon-dioxide-from-the-air/

In an upcoming report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is likely to emphasize the need for a slew of techniques to not just cut emissions, but also suck carbon dioxide from the air. Climeworks, a Swiss startup, today (Oct. 1) opened its third such plant in the world.

>>>
Stray foray into the realm of stupidity . . skip that.
>>>

Climeworks has built and operated DAC plants for more than a year. In May 2017, it launched its first one, capable of capturing 900 metric tons annually, in Zurich, Switzerland. The carbon dioxide captured was fed to a greenhouse, which boosted the growth of the plants inside it. Last year, the company began operating the second, capturing 50 metric tons each year, near a geothermal power plant in Hellisheidi, Iceland. The captured gas is injected underground along with water, where it reacts with basalt rocks and turns into rock in less than two years.

Today, Quartz can report for the first time, Climeworks has launched a third plant in Troia, Italy. Each year, it will capture 150 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which will be converted to methane—a major component of natural gas—and used to power trucks running on “green gas.� The process requires hydrogen, which is produced by splitting water using electricity generated by solar panels. The chemical reaction that converts carbon dioxide and hydrogen to methane also releases heat, which is used by the Climeworks plant in a bid to boost overall efficiency of the process.

The third plant is being funded largely through a research grant provided by the European Union.

>>>>>

(Article does continue. Zim.)
(Also note that its third plant was funded by 'government'.)

Mad Poet Strikes Again.

The entrepreneurs turning carbon dioxide into fuels

http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/sep/14/entrepreneurs-turn-carbon-dioxide-into-fuels-artificial-photosynthesis

The race is on to prove that CO2 can be taken from the air and recycled into profitable, carbon neutral fuels. But cost and investment obstacles remain

In an industrial greenhouse about 30km from Zurich, plump aubergines and juicy cherry tomatoes are ripening to perfection. Growing Mediterranean crops in Switzerland would traditionally be energy intensive but these vegetables are very nearly carbon-neutral. The greenhouse uses waste energy from a nearby refuse plant, and carbon dioxide from the world’s first commercial direct air capture plant.

The facility, designed by Zurich-based start-up Climeworks, pumps the gas into greenhouses to boost the plants’ photosynthesis and increase their yield, it hopes, by up to 20%. Climeworks says it will extract around 900 tonnes of CO2 a year from the air.

The company’s end game is not plumper tomatoes but something far more ambitious – proving that carbon dioxide can be recycled from the atmosphere and turned into something useful. If this installation is a success, Climeworks wants to sell its concentrated carbon dioxide to companies producing carbon-neutral hydrocarbon fuels.

>>>

Article does continue. Zim.

Mad Poet Strikes Again.

Scientists Create 'Artificial Photosynthesis' To Generate Clean Energy

http://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/17946-artificial-photosynthesis-clean-energy

There's a race going on at the moment in the science world. Various teams around the globe are all competing to be the first to produce a solid, stable form of artificial photosynthesis that functions exactly like the real deal in plants.

Solar panels are fine and all (they're certainly a lot better than they were a few decades ago) but this form of solar energy collection and storage is inherently flawed. Despite their growing popularity, solar panels are nowhere near as efficient as, say, living plants at turning sunlight into power. For one thing, solar panels are utterly useless when in low light situations, and it's tricky finding ways to adequately store energy from solar cells without too much electricity seeping away over time.

Thus, teams like the one headed by Boston College professor Dunwei Wang are rushing to be the first to find a form of artificial photosynthesis that matches up to the organic alternative. Wang's team now believe that they've cracked the formula, thanks to a special catalyst that - in theory at least - should allow their version of photosynthesis a lot more stability.

>>>

(Article does continue. Zim.)

Mad Poet Strikes Again.

Artificial Photosynthesis Is Solar Energy’s Forgotten Cousin—and It’s Making a Comeback

http://singularityhub.com/2018/02/25/artificial-photosynthesis-is-solar-energys-forgotten-cousin-and-its-making-a-comeback/#sm.000149ts64m03d1bqz21ln3xg4e8a

In an article in Science published in 1912, Professor Giacomo Ciamician noted that “Coal… offers solar energy to humanity in its most concentrated form… but coal is not inexhaustible. Is fossil solar energy the only one that may be used in modern life and civilization?� Later in the article, entitled grandly “The photochemistry of the future,� he remarks:

“Glass buildings will rise everywhere; inside of these will take place the photochemical processes that hitherto have been the guarded secret of the plants, but that will have been mastered by human industry which will know how to make them bear even more abundant fruit than nature, for nature is not in a hurry and mankind is… life and civilization will continue as long as the sun shines!�

More than a century after Ciamician first envisaged artificial photosynthesis as a means of weaning ourselves off fossil fuels, the quest to make it a reality continues, and with a renewed urgency.

While solar panels are straining at the theoretical limits of their efficiency, seeking to break free, there’s still a place for artificial photosynthesis, which was for a long time a forgotten cousin. It seems likely that people will continue to want liquid and solid fuels that can be burned, whereas solar panels can only provide us with electricity.

>>>

(Article does continue. Zim.)

Mad Poet Strikes Again.

Agilyx
Private Company

Agilyx is an alternative energy company that converts waste plastics into synthetic crude oil through an environmentally positive process.

Beaverton, Oregon, United States, North America

Mad Poet Strikes Again.

A New Player In Oil: The Garbage Dump
Mar 15, 2012

http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelkanellos/2012/03/15/a-new-player-in-oil-the-garbage-dump/#5dc6e2197f22

Chris Ulum, chief executive at Agilyx, says he knows a place where crude oil can be extracted economically, easily and in an environmentally friendly manner.

It’s called the municipal dump.

The Beaverton, Oregon-based company cooks dirty plastics into hydrocarbons that can be subsequently converted into diesel, jet fuel or other petrochemicals. The company has produced over 250,000 gallons at its prototype facility over three years.

By the end of 2013, landfill owners on three continents will be producing millions of gallons of fuel with manufacturing modules supplied by Agilyx. Even if oil drops to $65 a barrel, many of these trash barons will be able to turn a profit, he adds. Roughly 8.5 pounds of plastic can generate a gallon of fuel.

“All we are really doing is reclaiming hydrocarbons,� Ulum said. “No one can accumulate waste indefinitely.�

>>>

(Article does continue. Zim.)
Hmmmm . . . 2012 . . Wonder how they've been doing since then?

Mad Poet Strikes Again.

Well ximmer, It looks like he got deleted from ALEAS stupid thread as well. I would like to see him around!!!!!!!!!!

Realist - Everybody in America is soft, and hates conflict. The cure for this, both in politics and social life, is the same -- hardihood. Give them raw truth.

Hiya Captain.
No, I don't own this board . . .
I just found it once upon a time . . thought it might
have promise . . and tried to breathe a little life
into it.

I don't know if it's owner ever bothers to look in
on it or not . . .
Zim.

Mad Poet Strikes Again.

as owner of his thread.................

Realist - Everybody in America is soft, and hates conflict. The cure for this, both in politics and social life, is the same -- hardihood. Give them raw truth.

Looks like ALEA thread banned you. I don't see any recent post of yours. I will board-mark this one!!!!!!!!!!!

Realist - Everybody in America is soft, and hates conflict. The cure for this, both in politics and social life, is the same -- hardihood. Give them raw truth.

Algal biofuel production is neither environmentally nor commercially sustainable

http://theconversation.com/algal-biofuel-production-is-neither-environmentally-nor-commercially-sustainable-82095

Modern biofuels have been touted as a greener alternative to petrol and diesel since the early 1900s. It seems like a good idea on paper, and they do work – but their use and production doesn’t come without problems.

The first generation of biofuels – mainly ethanol made from plant crops – and second generation, derived from plant and animal waste streams, both had environmentalists and others concerned about the competition for land and nutrients between biofuels production and food production.

It was with a lot of hope, and hype, that production of the third generation of biofuels was started. Unlike their predecessors, these biofuels are derived from algae, and so in theory the food vs fuel dilemma of crop-based biofuels would be solved.

. . . (Skip a bunch) . . .

Simulations of microalgal biofuel production show that to approach the 10% of EU transport fuels expected to be supplied by biofuels, ponds three times the area of Belgium would be needed. And for the algae in these ponds to produce biofuel, it would require fertiliser equivalent to 50% of the current total annual EU crop plant needs.

>>>

(Entire article is at the link. Zim.)

Mad Poet Strikes Again.

Exxon Thinks It Can Create Biofuel From Algae At Massive Scale

http://www.fastcompany.com/40539606/exxon-thinks-it-can-create-biofuel-from-algae-at-massive-scale

The oil and gas giant says it could be making 10,000 barrels a day within a few years–a small drop in the amount of oil it produces, but a huge boost in the amount of algae-based biofuel.

In the California desert near the Salton Sea and the tiny town of Calipatria, an acre-size rectangular pond is filled with saltwater and brightly colored algae. The pond is one of several at the site where Exxon Mobil and Synthetic Genomics are taking the next step toward a goal that has been elusive for other companies so far: the production of biofuel at scale.

“The goal here is to get to a sustainable, renewable biofuel that can be cost-competitive with pumping oil out of the ground, but can scale to levels that go far beyond demonstration levels,� says Oliver Fetzer, chief executive officer at Synthetic Genomics. “We see this step as a very important step along the way to scalability.�

>>>

(Article does continue. Zim.)

Mad Poet Strikes Again.

It is Possible to Replace Crude Oil with Synthetic Oil

http://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/It-is-Possible-to-Replace-Crude-Oil-with-Synthetic-Oil.html

Dec 12, 2012, 4:57 PM CST
A team of Princeton researchers led by Christodoulos Floudas, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Princeton, evaluated scenarios in which the United States could power its vehicles with synthetic fuels rather than relying on oil. The team’s conclusion is the U. S. could eliminate the need for crude oil by using a combination of coal, natural gas and non-food crops to make synthetic fuel.

. . . . (Skip a bunch) . . .

“Even including the capital costs, synthetic fuels can still be profitable. As long as crude oil is between $60 and $100 per barrel, these processes are competitive depending on the feedstock.�

>>>

(Entire article is at the link. Zim.)

Personal note :
If the price of oil went high enough . . .
And the U.S. went all out to go 'synthetic' . . .
OPEC could (and probably would) flood the market
with cheap oil and bankrupt the synth-oil companies.

Should we be doing low level R & D on it? Yes.
Zim.

Mad Poet Strikes Again.