Solar energy in southern Alberta: ‘The best place in Canada to do this kind of work’

By Jessica Robb Global News
Posted July 8, 2021 5:31 pm


WATCH ABOVE: Southern Alberta is known for the wind power, but in the last few years people are starting to look at a different green energy.

Southern Alberta is known for its wind power, but in the last couple of years, there’s been a different kind of green energy drawing attention.

“It’s well known that Alberta has phenomenal fossil fuel resources, but what’s not as well known — and is becoming more well known now — is we also have phenomenal renewable energy resources,” said Dan Balaba, CEO of Greengate Power.





“The solar resource in southern Alberta is as good as the solar resource in Florida for the purpose of producing electricity from the sun.”


When asked to describe Greengate Power, Balaban said they take an idea for a renewable energy project and put in the work that’s required to turn that idea into an operating project.


READ MORE: Renewable energy: Inside Alberta’s wind and solar boom

Amazon recently signed a power purchase agreement with Greengate Energy for their new solar farm, the Travers Solar Project.

“It’s going to consist of more than 1.3 million solar panels spread out over more than 3,000 acres of land,” said Balaban. “To just to give you an idea, a project of that size is capable of producing enough power for 150,000 homes.”

The $700-million Travers Solar Project is under construction in Vulcan County. Construction is expected to produce 500 jobs and be completed towards the end of 2022.

4:08 Largest solar energy project in Canada coming to Vulcan,  Sep 18, 2019

It’s set to be the largest solar farm in Canada, and one of the largest in the world. But, it’s not the first time sunny southern Alberta has brought out the solar panels.

Towns in the region have already, or are planning, to commit to net-zero. They’re using what comes naturally to the area.

READ MORE: ‘It’s the future’: Town of Taber looking at net-zero carbon emissions

“Southern Alberta should be leading the way on developing solar, on developing wind, on developing battery, on developing a green economy,” said James Byrne, a professor from the University of Lethbridge’s Department of Geology and Environment.

“We are the best place in Canada to do this kind of work.”

According to the Business Renewable Centre of Canada, 2021 is already breaking records for Corporate Renewable Energy Deals. All of the deals so far are based in Alberta.

“There’s a real benefit to the communities here,” said Rebecca Nadel, director of the Business Renewables Centre of Canada.

“The tax revenue and so forth that comes from these large projects.

“Alberta’s really taking advantage, having that deregulated market, having these projects all happening in Alberta is, I think, a real benefit I economically and financially to our area.”

READ MORE: Enbridge opens 10.5-megawatt solar facility near Burdett, Alberta

Nadel said the deregulated market allows for direct offtake agreements between buyers and sellers when it comes to renewable energy.

For example, Amazon bought 375-megawatts from the 465-megawatt Travers Solar Project.

“It gives the developer the guarantee that they’ve got a buyer who’s going to be buying that electricity for quite a number of years,” said Nadel.

“And then it gives Amazon the ability to say that they’re purchasing essentially green electricity. So they can talk about meeting their global targets and their Canadian targets of powering their operations with renewable electricity.”

READ MORE: Village of Carmangay the latest in southern Alberta to harness solar power

For Byrne, using solar power is a no-brainer investment.

“Solar lasts,” he said. “Once it’s in place it lasts for 25, 30 years.

“You’ve got that energy and very little degradation from year to year.

“It’s very cost-effective. Your energy costs are fixed for 25 years. It just costs you to build the solar initially, but then it’s a wonderful, wonderful source of clean, green energy.”

Balaban is excited for the Travers Solar Project and what it means for green energy, especially in Alberta.

“This is an example of a win-win,” he said.

“Clearly it’s a win for the environment, but it’s also a win for the economy.

“It creates jobs, it creates municipal tax revenues and an ongoing income source for landowners. But I think it’s also a great look for Alberta as we’re moving into a world where the global energy system is transitioning.

“I think for Alberta to host the largest solar project in the country, one of the largest in the world, is great for our future.”

2:55 Alberta energy industry undergoing green transition

Alberta energy industry undergoing green transition – Apr 23, 2021

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

How ‘unusable’ capped landfill can gain a second life as a solar farm

Michelle Lewis
- Jul. 12th 2021 


Landfill, aka garbage dumps or tips, can, under the right conditions, be converted into solar farms once they’re capped. (Capping means putting a cover or barrier between the contaminated material and the surface.) There has been a nearly 80% increase in landfill solar projects built in the US over the past five years. But there are some factors that first need to be considered.

Putting solar farms on landfill is a great way to generate clean energy on what were previously considered unusable sites, but there are some special factors to consider. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) points out that “it is important to think about PV projects on landfills in terms of an integrated system, not as separate landfill and PV systems.”

Considered factors

Major factors that impact feasibility of solar on landfill sites for both net-metered and utility-scale solar farms include, but are not limited to:
Age of landfill – As the age of landfill cap increases, the rate of settlement is likely to diminish or become negligible.
Useable acreage – Can be estimated using aerial maps, drawings, or actual measurements from a site visit.
Slope – Flat or gently south-facing slopes are best
Cap characteristics – This includes cap depth and components
Landfill maintenance requirements
Liability
Site control – for example, fencing and site restriction for safety purposes
Solar resource – Does the landfill site get ample sun?
Solar access/shading – A site should receive a minimum of six hours of sunlight (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) on the winter solstice
Distance to transmission/distribution lines

There’s also venting and methane recapture infrastructure to think about, as landfill releases methane, carbon dioxide, and non-methane organic compounds.

Solar racks

There are solar companies that are creating products that can be adapted to landfills’ unique needs. For example, landfills that host solar generally don’t allow penetration in the site’s land surface, so mounting and foundation technology must be adaptable and lighter.

Youngstown, Ohio-based Solar FlexRack makes photovoltaic mounting and solar trackers. Its Series B Cast-In-Place mounting technology features customizable blocks, lighter ballasts, and greater flexibility that can successfully hold solar panels on the surface of landfill.

Solar FlexRack installed its Series B mounting technology on a 4.7-megawatt community solar project in Spanish Fork, Utah (pictured above), which will go live this summer. It’s the largest landfill solar project in Utah, at 27 acres. It will generate enough clean energy to power nearly 3,000 homes.

The big picture

When it comes to making solar work on landfill, Gretchen Dolson, renewable energy lead for HDR, an architectural, engineering and consulting firm based in Omaha, Nebraska [via Waste 360], says:

Always begin with the end in mind and know it’s never too early to plan and think of alternate uses, regardless of the type of waste facility. Solar is often viable. But it depends on how the landfill was designed to function and how it was closed.

Read more: Where do solar panels go when they die?

Photo: Solar FlexRack

 

Solar power to become cheaper than nuclear in 2030: Japan gov't estimate

 KYODO NEWS - 24 hours ago - 22:06 | All, Japan

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows a photovoltaic power station in Akaiwa, Okayama Prefecture, western Japan, on June 1, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Solar power will overtake nuclear power as the cheapest source of energy for Japan in 2030 due to the latter's ballooning safety measure costs following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, a government estimate showed for the first time Monday.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry at an expert panel meeting estimated the cost of generating nuclear power will rise about 10 percent from its previous estimate in 2015, while the cost of solar power will drop as it becomes more widespread due to decarbonization efforts.

METI has traditionally emphasized the low cost of power generation as an advantage of nuclear power, but the government is aiming to make renewable energy the country's main energy source as part of its plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, a goal that will be reflected in the basic energy plan to be revised this summer.

The estimated cost of generating nuclear power, which stood at least at 10.3 yen per kilowatt in 2015, has now risen by over 1 yen to at least 11.5 yen due to the implementation of measures required under the country's new nuclear safety rules.

Conversely, the cost of solar energy for commercial use is expected to fall from the 12.7-15.6 yen range as estimated in 2015 to the 8-11.5 yen range, while solar energy for residential use is expected to fall from the 12.5-16.4 yen range to the 9.5-14.5 yen range as the price of panels and related equipment fall amid increased adoption.

The minimum estimates for both onshore wind power and LNG-fired power generation are also lower than that of nuclear power. Onshore wind power is expected to cost at least 9.5 yen, down from the previous estimate of 13.6 yen, while that from gas-fired power plants, whose carbon emissions are about half that of coal-fired power plants, is expected to fall from 13.4 yen to 10.5 yen.

Meanwhile, coal-fired power is estimated to rise from 12.9 yen to the 13.5-22.5 yen range as the cost of measures to curb carbon dioxide emissions increases.

The estimates are based on the assumption that power generation facilities will be built and operated on vacant plots of land, and do not include the cost of acquiring the land itself.

Figures are subject to change depending on how much renewable energy has been introduced in the future, fuel prices, and facility utilization rates, according to METI.

Jul 12, 2021 | KYODO NEWS

New Recycling & Energy Storage Plan Claps Back At Wind Turbine Critics

A new wind turbine blade recycling strategy deploys gravity-based energy storage technology for maximum circular economy impact.

ByTina Casey
Published 21 hours ago ‌


Oh, those pesky wind turbines, running around the countryside cluttering up the landfills with their big old unrecyclable blades. That’s the picture drawn by critics, but not for long. A new scheme is afoot that takes the old blades from a wind turbine and recycles them into new energy storage systems for wind and solar power.

What To Do With Those Pesky Old Wind Turbine Blades

Actually, the wind turbine recycling issue is a bit of a red herring. After all, the fossil energy industry has squeezed who knows how many trillions of tons of raw resources out of the ground, to be used once and never to be replaced, reclaimed, recycled, or reused again, let alone upcycled, unless you count their contribution to global carbon load as a kind of recycling, which is a bit of a stretch.

Nevertheless, the global wind industry is coming of age in an era when public policy and consumer demand are beginning to steer the global economy into a more sustainable, circular form. That pushes wind turbine blade recycling into priority status.
Wind Turbine Blades & The Circular Economy

The typical wind turbine blade lasts about 20 years, which means that a flood of spent blades is about to hit the global market.

Wouldn’t you know it, the US Department of Energy is right on top of the circular economy thing. Last month the agency’s Wind Energy Technologies office ran down some of the wind turbine blade recycling solutions bubbling up through the R&D pipeline and noted that the most effective strategy would be to design recycling and reuse into materials, components, and systems from the very beginning.

“A circular economy for energy materials also means that technology should be engineered from the start to require fewer materials, resources, and energy while lasting longer and having components that can easily be broken down for use in subsequent applications,” the Energy Department explained, citing a new lightening-resistant and erosion-resistant blade coatings developed by the firms Arctura and Resodyn Corp.

In partnership with the firm Arkema, Inc., the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has also been hammering away at a new resin-based turbine blade material that can be reduced to a liquid and reformed into new blades and other items, while reducing labor and energy inputs.

Better Ways To Recycle Old Blades

That’s all well and good for future generations of wind turbine blades, but what about those in operation now?

Yes, what about them? Fiberglass can be recovered from spent blades, but the range of application is limited because recycled fiberglass tends to lose quality.

The Energy Department has an answer for that, too. They are especially excited about a research partnership between the University of Tennessee and the firm Carbon Rivers, which involves a heat-based method for reclaiming fiberglass from wind turbines and recycling it into a high-value material for various industries including aerospace.


Extending the useful lifespan of old wind turbine blades is also part of the Energy Department’s strategy, including the use of drones and other advanced systems for monitoring, maintenance, and repair.
Hey, What About Recycling Wind Turbine Blades For Energy Storage?

Into this picture steps the Swiss energy storage firm Energy Vault, which has crossed the CleanTechnica radar previously on account of its gravity-based energy storage system.

The Energy Vault concept is similar to pumped hydro energy storage. Instead of storing electricity in a lithium-ion battery or other chemical systems, you deploy excess wind or solar power to raise something heavy upwards. When demand for electricity rises, gravity does all the heavy lifting. You allow your heavy thing — water, or in Energy Vault’s case, 35-ton blocks — to fall back to its starting point, and it generates electricity on the way down.

Pumped hydro is not a new technology, and here in the US it still dominates the energy storage field. Its advantages over battery-type systems include holding massive amounts of energy for long periods of time.

The problem is location, location, location. The Energy Department has been working on new pumped hydro technology that could enable the nation to grow the domestic industry, but for now there are few prospects for constructing new pumped hydro reservoirs in the US.

Energy Vault’s block-type gravity system could help resolve the location issue, since it does not require massive new infrastructure and copious amounts of water. All it really needs is 35-ton blocks, and those could be made from just about anything, including wind turbine blades.

Let The Wind Power – Energy Storage Mashup Begin

And, that’s where the company Enel Green Power comes in. The company, which comes under the Enel Group umbrella, has been aiming to hitch its renewable energy activities to new forms of energy storage, and it is very excited about the potential for Energy Vault to provide a home for spent wind turbine blades.

“The benefits of this solution are the same as those of a pumped storage hydro plant, but at a much lower cost, with greater possibility of being replicated in any geographical context and greater efficiency: the Energy Vault technology can even exceed an efficiency level of 80%,” EGP enthuses.

“Moreover, there are clear benefits compared to batteries: a plant of this type is not exposed to storage medium degradation (no need for augmentation over time), risk of fire, has a long lifespan of 30-35 years and its eventual dismantling will not pose particular difficulties, as the blocks are composed of inert materials and are created directly on site,” EGP adds.

Energy Vault already has a 5-megawatt demonstration facility under its belt, and it recently introduced its new “EVx” configuration that requires 40% less height than its former design. Last week the company signed an agreement with EGP to study the feasibility of a system that weighs in at “a few dozen megawatt-hours,” using material from spent wind turbine blades to form the blocks.

EGP anticipates that the study will greenlight the construction plan for a new Energy Vault project, deploying the new EVx design, in the coming year.
So, What About The Birds?

Yes, what about them? Years before the recycling issue popped up, wind power critics (looking at you, fossil energy lobby) were accusing wind turbines of causing birds to die, conveniently overlooking the fact that wind turbines are a relatively small part of a huge problem.

Practically everything that people make causes birds to die, and the worst offenders by far are buildings, overhead power lines, agricultural chemicals, and various devices used legally for hunting, among other things. For that matter, domestic cats — oh, but why beat a dead horse?

The point is that everything is killing birds. The counterfactual focus on wind turbines began about a dozen years ago and it was picked up and promoted by former President Trump, who promoted the wind turbine canard to help propel himself into office the first time.

It didn’t work the second time, which is good news for the birds, because Trump’s first and only administration spent considerable time and energy on tearing the guts out of a treaty aimed at preventing migratory bird deaths related to fossil energy activities among various other circumstances.

Oh well, water under the bridge. Migratory birds are all but certain to get a share of President Joe Biden’s love for all things sustainable, and new strategies have already emerged for reducing wind power’s relatively small share of bird impacts.


Back in 2003, for example, researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory suggested that simply applying different colors and patterns to wind turbine blades could make a difference. That formed the basis for a long term study that recently demonstrated a significant reduction in risk of collision, especially for raptors.

The US Fish And Wildlife Service’s Avian Radar Project indicates that adjustments to wind turbine locations, hours of operation, and lighting can also reduce risks. Automatic shutdown systems triggered by cameras and other remote devices can help, and researchers are beginning to study how today’s generation of larger, more powerful turbines is also contributing to risk reduction.

Follow me on Twitter @TinaMCasey.

Photo: Energy Vault gravity storage system via Enel Green Power.

 

China’s First Floating Wind Turbine Heads Offshore

• TECHNOLOGY

July 13, 2021, by Adnan Durakovic

China’s first floating offshore wind turbine has set sail towards its installation site off the coast of Yangjiang City in Guangdong Province.

 

Source: MingYang Smart Energy

The floating wind turbine will be installed for demonstration purposes at the 400 MW Yangxi Shapa III offshore wind farm developed by China Three Gorges (CTG).

The unit comprises a MySE5.5MW typhoon-resistant turbine developed by MingYang Smart Energy and a semi-submersible floating foundation built by Wison Offshore & Marine.

RELATED ARTICLE

• Posted:about 1 month ago

  China’s First Floating Wind Foundation Sails Out – Photos

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  • R&D

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The wind turbine will now be installed, commissioned, and tested over the next six months, MingYang Smart Energy said.

The MySE5.5MW floating turbine is designed to meet the harsh environment like typhoons and extreme waves in the South China Sea.

This floating wind turbine will also be the first in the world to be connected to a fixed-bottom turbine.

MingYang used its existing offshore expertise to shape the integrated, fully coupled time-domain simulation and modeling of the turbine-floater-mooring system.

On top of that, MingYang developed an advanced floater movement control strategy, enabling the floating turbine to adapt to the complex environment of winds, waves, and currents in the South China Sea, the company said.

The Next Surprise in China’s Wind Sector Could Be More Mergers

By Krystal Chia
July 12, 2021

Envision’s top executive expects to see sector consolidation

Turbine and battery maker is open to public listing in future

China’s wind industry is headed for a bout of consolidation after a record-setting rush of installations, according to the country’s second-largest turbine manufacturer.

There’s rising pressure on the country’s crowded field of equipment producers, despite strong demand, Envision Group Chief Executive Officer Lei Zhang said in an interview. “The competition level is increasing,” he said. “The market will start to consolidate.”

Lei Zhang
Source: Envision Group

The push to add more renewables and a deadline to secure key government incentives drove a surge in wind installations in 2020, when China added almost as much new capacity as the rest of the world combined.


China has the most fragmented wind market in the world, with at least 21 companies supplying onshore wind turbines, according to BloombergNEF. The five largest suppliers, including Envision and Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., accounted for about two-thirds of installations last year.

“The market will become more rational,” Zhang said by phone Thursday. “All the customers are looking for good quality, and at the same time, low-cost turbines.”

Xiangtan Electric Manufacturing Company Ltd. last year sold its wind unit after its market share declined, the first time one of China’s top 10 turbine manufacturers had changed hands.

China is forecast to add about 29 gigawatts of onshore capacity this year, more than any other nation, though still a 46% fall on 2020. Demand for both onshore and offshore projects will accelerate again from 2022 as the nation seeks to meet a 2060 target for net zero emissions, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.

There are also future export opportunities for China’s manufacturers as the global wind sector grows, Zhang said. Nations including Chile, Mozambique and Vietnam, where Envision already has strong market share, are emerging as potential growth markets, the council said in a March report.

Crowded Field

China has the most fragmented onshore wind market in the world

Source: BloombergNEF

Data shows market share for China's top 6 wind turbine manufacturers

China’s producers have become more competitive with global peers after they were forced to innovate to meet last year’s capacity rush, with some manufacturers able to cut the time it takes to make a giant turbine blade to 24 hours from 72 hours previously, said BNEF analyst Leo Wang.

Envision accelerated its own production processes and has identified other areas to help make savings, according to Zhang. Using sensor technology to identify tiny cracks on offshore turbine blades -- which are frequently struck by lightning -- helps prevent long outages. The company has cut maintenance staff at offshore wind farms from as many as 10 people to two, he said.

READ MORE:
China’s Envision to Build Renault $2.4 Billion Battery Plant
Envision Eyes Building Offshore Wind Turbine Factory in U.K.
Nissan, Envision to Create $1.4 Billion U.K. EV-Making Hub

Privately-held Envision, founded in 2007, is “open to the public market,” according to Zhang, though the firm doesn’t have any specific time-frame in mind for a potential listing.

The Shanghai-based company has made a raft of recent announcements on projects and investments, including an offshore wind turbine factory in the U.K. Envision will also spend as much as 2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) on an electric vehicle battery plant in northern France to supply Renault SA, while a unit will set up another facility in Sunderland, in northeast England.

— With assistance by Dan Murtaugh

AUSTRALIA
Plans unveiled for 50GW wind- and solar-to-green hydrogen

13 July 2021 by Craig Richard

Hong Kong and Australian developers plan world’s largest green hydrogen facility near coast of Western Australia

Wind and solar hybrid work well in regions where resources complement each other (pic: Vestas)

An international consortium has unveiled plans to use 50GW of wind and solar PV capacity in Western Australia to produce green hydrogen and green ammonia.

The Western Green Energy Hub would be built across 15,000km2 in the south-east of the state – a region with an optimal diurnal profile for renewable energy, with consistently high levels of wind and solar over a 24-hour period, its developers claim.

It would consist of 30GW of wind and 20GW of solar PV capacity feeding up to 28GW of electrolysers, a spokeswoman told Windpower Monthly.

If built, it would become the world’s largest green hydrogen facility – larger than the 45GW wind- and solar-to-green hydrogen planned by German developer Svevind in Kazakhstan.

InterContinental Energy, CWP Global and Mirning Green Energy claim that the A$70 billion (US$52 billion) Australian project could produce up to 3.5 million tonnes of green hydrogen or 20 million tonnes of green ammonia each year.

They would provide these green fuels domestically within Australia, while the project’s location near the coast would enable international export as well.

This green hydrogen and green ammonia will meet massive future demand from multiple sectors, the developers added. Such sectors include co-firing in power generation – the burning of more than one material at once for power – shipping, heavy industry such as steel, chemicals and mining, as well as aviation.

The developers plan to finance the project themselves and are in talks with potential offtakers in various sectors.

They plan to make a final investment decision after 2028, and believe the first phase – of an unspecified capacity – could be operational by 2030.

Hong Kong-based developer InterContinental Energy and Australian counterpart CWP Renewables will work with first nations land owners on the project, they explained.

Co-developer Mirning Green Energy Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the aboriginal peoples group Mirning Traditional Lands Aboriginal Corporation. It will have a “meaningful” equity stake in the project and a permanent seat on the consortium’s board, InterContinental and CWP explained.
Big plans

InterContinental Energy and CWP Global’s subsidiary CWP Renewables are also working together on a separate 26GW clean energy hub in Western Australia.

However, the Australian environment department recently rejected plans for the second 11GW phase of this complex over potential impacts on wetlands and migratory bird species. The developers are now working to better understand the department’s concerns and amend the project accordingly.

Plan to build world’s biggest renewable energy hub in Western Australia


A site in WA the size of greater Sydney has been chosen for the $100bn project to convert wind and solar power into green fuels

Wind turbines on a property near Merredin, Western Australia. An international consortium has selected a site in Australia’s south-west to build the Western Green Energy Hub. Photograph: Calla Wahlquist/The Guardian

Graham Readfearn
@readfearn
Tue 13 Jul 2021 03.59 BST

An international consortium wants to build what would be the world’s biggest renewable energy hub in Australia’s south-west to convert wind and solar power into green fuels like hydrogen.

The group of energy companies announced the proposal over a 15,000 sq km area that could have a 50 gigawatt capacity and cost $100bn.

An area bigger than the size of greater Sydney has been identified in the south-east of Western Australia with “consistently high levels of wind and solar energy”.


Australia’s export credit agency gave 80 times more to fossil fuel projects than renewables


Guardian Australia understands the Western Green Energy Hub (WGEH) could cost about $100bn.

The project’s 50GW capacity compares to the 54GW of generation capacity of all the coal, gas and renewables plants currently in the national energy market, which includes all states except WA and the Northern Territory. Australia’s biggest coal plant is just 2.9GW.

InterContinental Energy, CWP Global and Mirning Green Energy Limited announced plans for the mega project on Tuesday, saying it wants to build the scheme in three phases to produce up to 3.5m tonnes of green hydrogen or 20m tonnes of green ammonia each year.

Guardian Australia understands the consortium is looking to produce the first fuels from the project by 2030, and will look to construct an offshore facility to transfer fuels onto ships.

The consortium – which includes an Indigenous-owned energy company – said it wanted to tap into a global market for green hydrogen it expects will be worth US$50tn by 2050. About 30GW of the hub would focus on wind, with the rest coming from solar power.

Hydrogen and ammonia produced at the hub would be destined for use in power stations, shipping, heavy industry and aviation.


Environment minister rules huge renewable energy hub in WA ‘clearly unacceptable’


The hub would be larger than a 45GW renewables project announced by German company Svevind Energy and planned for Kazakhstan, reported to be the world’s biggest renewables project proposed so far.

Last month, Australia’s environment minister Sussan Ley rejected a plan for a 26GW hub in the north of WA for “clearly unacceptable” impacts on threatened migratory species and internationally recognised wetlands.

In a statement, Trevor Naley, chairman of the Mirning Traditional Lands Aboriginal Corporation and a board member on the consortium, said: “As First Nations land owners, the Mirning people are excited to hold such an integral and defining stake in this historical partnership with WGEH. This partnership, through robust governance and a seat at the table for Mirning people, will provide opportunities never before available to Indigenous corporations.”

Brendan Hammond, chairman of WGEH said the proposal was “historic on two fronts” for its scale and its partnership with traditional owners.

“It is an honour and a privilege to be involved in this groundbreaking project,” he said.

WA’s hydrogen minister Alannah MacTiernan told the West Australian the proposal was “truly massive” and said the state was positioned to be a major contributor to global decarbonisation.

The newspaper said the consortium had secured a licence from WA’s McGowan government to complete site surveys and research to pursue a business case for the project.

$1.5 million in funding could go to three Wyoming hydrogen project finalists

Jul 12, 2021

The Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station is owned by Black Hills Corp. Three proposed hydrogen projects have been selected as finalists for Wyoming Energy Authority grant funding.Contributed

Three proposed hydrogen pilot projects have been chosen as finalists for grant funding by the Wyoming Energy Authority, pending approval from the state Energy Resources Council.

Ten companies applied for program funding earlier this year, requesting just over $7 million in grants for projects topping a total of $31 million. Combined, the cost of the three selected projects amounts to just over $2 million.

If all three proposals are funded, approximately $1.5 million in project costs will be covered by the program. The companies will be responsible for financing the rest.

Tulsa, OK-based Williams Companies is set to receive the bulk of the grant money — nearly $1 million — for a $1.2 million hydrogen feasibility study in partnership with the University of Wyoming. The study could inform development of a $1 billion hydrogen and synthetic natural gas hub in Wyoming later this decade.

“We’re all-in on Wyoming right now — all-in on the southwestern part of the state,” said William De Los Santos, renewables business development lead at Williams, during the Energy Authority hearing.

When evaluating project siting, the company’s mantra is, “the right partners, the right projects and the right place,” and Wyoming’s existing assets, conveniently located infrastructure, reliable customers and government support of the energy industry make it an ideal place for hydrogen development, De Los Santos said.

More than $450,000 in program funding is earmarked for regional energy company Black Hills Energy, which proposed an $815,000 hydrogen combustion demonstration project at its Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station.

During the first of two project phases, Black Hills Energy will conduct feasibility studies and an engineering assessment of equipment modifications for hydrogen combustion. In phase two, which it hopes to reach by 2023, the company plans to begin combustion testing using blended hydrogen and natural gas.

Jason Hartman, director of power delivery at Black Hills Energy, described the project as an important first step in proving the feasibility of hydrogen development in Wyoming. “We see this as an excellent opportunity to be part of the state’s energy future,” he said.

The remaining $20,000 will go to Jonah Energy, a Denver, CO-based oil and gas developer operating in Wyoming’s Jonah Field. In partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the company will invest a total of $50,000 into a plan for using leftover renewable power to create hydrogen, then convert it into renewable natural gas — a process called biomethanation.

“Many of our customers that buy natural gas from southwestern Wyoming are setting renewable gas goals,” said Howard Dieter, vice president of environment, health and safety at Jonah Energy. The company hopes its plan will give it a stronger foothold in the renewable natural gas sector.

If the plan is found to be feasible, the company could begin work on a 10 megawatt power-to-gas pilot project in 2022.

 

Paid To Poop: How Feces Is Creating “Clean” Energy

By Charles Kennedy - Jul 12, 2021, 12:00 PM CDT

A university in South Korea has designed an eco-friendly toilet that turns waste into energy and cryptocurrency, which university students can use to buy food and coffee on campus.  

The BeeVi toilet was created by urban and environmental engineering professor Cho Jae-weon, who teaches at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST).

“If we think out of the box, feces has precious value to make energy and manure. I have put this value into ecological circulation,” Cho said, as carried by Reuters.  

The innovative toilet has a vacuum pump that sends the waste to a tank underground. The toilet thus reduces water usage and has been called a “super water-saving vacuum toilet.”

In the tank in a lab, microorganisms turn the waste into methane. The gas then powers a hot-water boiler, a gas stove, and a solid oxide fuel cell, providing energy for the building.

The average human waste per day can be converted into 50 liters of methane gas, which could generate enough power to drive a car for nearly a mile, or to generate 0.5 kilowatts (kWh) of electricity, the South Korean professor says.

The eco-friendly toilet can be used by university students to help mine a cryptocurrency Cho has invented, Ggool. The crypto can be used as a payment for food, fruit, coffee, or books at the campus, according to the university.

Every student using the toilet earns 10 Ggool, Korean for honey, a day.

“I had only ever thought that faeces are dirty, but now it is a treasure of great value to me,” postgraduate student Heo Hui-jin told Reuters. “I even talk about faeces during mealtimes to think about buying any book I want.”

Cryptocurrency mining has recently attracted a lot of attention because of the large amount of energy it sucks. Elon Musk, who had said earlier this year that people could buy Teslas with Bitcoin, backtracked on this promise a few weeks later, saying that crypto mining is still largely powered by fossil fuel-derived energy. Most recently, Musk said last month that Tesla may start accepting cryptocurrency again if crypto mining becomes green.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

  

At South Korea‘s Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, students can now defecate to earn cryptocurrency and help power a building.

UNIST urban and environmental engineering professor Cho Jae-weon designed an eco-friendly toilet that harnesses human feces to produce biogas and manure. Dubbed the BeeVi Toilet (a portmanteau of the words bee and vision), the innovative toilet utilizes a vacuum pump rather than water and is connected to an underground tank where microorganisms break down waste.

The microorganisms create methane that can be used as a sustainable source of energy in a variety of ways. An average person defecates 500g a day which roughly converts into 50 liters of methane gas or 0.5kWh of electricity which is enough to drive a car 1.2km (0.75 miles).

“If we think out of the box, feces has precious value to make energy and manure. I have put this value into ecological circulation,” said Cho Jae-weon.

Additionally, students that use the BeeVi Toilet can early 10 Ggool (honey in Korean) a day, a cryptocurrency dispensed by the eco-friendly toilet that can be used on campus to purchase products.

 

Escort services and strip clubs don't increase sex crimes

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS USA

Research News

A new paper in The Economic Journal, published by by Oxford University Press, indicates that the presence of adult entertainment establishments may decrease sex crimes, significantly.

The role of entertainment establishments (strip clubs, escort services, adult bookstores, and adult movie theaters) in communities is controversial. Citizens often view them as centers of vice. While some have suggested that these clubs and services may improve behavior if people use them instead of committing sex crimes, such establishments may reinforce the view of women as objects, leading to more violence against them.

This paper exploits a unique data set of high frequency precinct level crime information from New York City, due to its controversial stop-and-frisk policing policy. The researchers here constructed a new data set to combine the exact location of not-self-reported sex crimes with the day of opening and exact location of adult entertainment establishments in New York City. The crime data includes hourly information on crimes observed by the police, including sex crimes. The data set covered the period from January 1, 2004 to June 29, 2012.

The number of adult entertainment establishments increased signi?cantly during this period, from 76 in 2004 to approximately 280 in 2012. The researchers show that opening these establishments decreases the number of sex crimes committed nearby. They ?nd that the presence of an adult entertainment establishment in a given precinct leads to a 13% reduction in sex crime in the precinct one week after the opening.

The researchers also find that opening adult establishments does not affect other types of crimes, which suggests that the results on sex crimes are not driven by an increased police presence on the streets. This also rules out the hypothesis that these businesses may attract other types of criminals, such as drug dealers. The researchers find no negative effects on bordering precincts, indicating that sex crimes are not moving to other nearby areas.

"Sex crimes, including sexual violence, are a major public health concern," said the paper's authors, Maria Micaela Sviatschi and Riccardo Ciacci. "Apart from the large psychological and physical burden, these crimes also lead to public health issues including unintended pregnancies, induced abortions, and sexually transmitted infections. However, little is known about how to prevent sex crimes, including sexual abuse and rape. This paper studies how the presence of adult entertainment establishments affects the incidence of sex crimes. Surprisingly, we find that within the time studied, adult entertainment establishments decrease sex crime and have no effect on other types of crimes."

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The paper "The Effect of Adult Entertainment Establishments on Sex Crime: Evidence from New York City" is available (at midnight on July 13th ) at: https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueab042.