France invests $1.74 billion in a clean energy makeover

In an ambitious push to further its agenda to become a clean energy economy, France will invest $1.74 billion (1.35 billion euros) over the next four years in the development of renewable energy technologies and biofuels. The French Environment and Energy Management Agency will distribute the funds as both subsidies and low-interest loans, supporting efforts in research demonstration, pre-commercialization experiments and testing. This current program is just one of many France has implemented over the past several years in support of green technology. Two major environmental laws—Grenelle 1 passed in 2008 and Grenelle 2 passed earlier this summer—have set the stage, providing millions of dollars in funding for research on such key issues as climate change, biodiversity, environmental risks, urban planning, waste and energy generation.

While the majority of France’s clean energy presently takes the form of nuclear and wind power, the $1.74 billion will go a long way towards cultivating many other vital clean energy sources, including solar, marine and geothermal. Carbon capture and storage projects as well as biofuel development will also be targeted. France has set a goal to generate fully 23 percent of its electricity via renewable energy sources by 2020.

Hawaii's ultimate renewable energy source: the Pacific Ocean

The Hawaiian Islands have long been revered for their beautiful beaches and the countless ways to enjoy their waters, from surfing to sailing to snorkeling. Now, scientists at the University of Hawaii’s National Marine Renewable Energy Center have discovered yet another way to use the Pacific Ocean: to generate renewable energy.

Hawaii’s researchers have determined that the temperature difference between the Pacific Ocean at depths and on the surface on the western side of the islands is ideal for employing a technology called ocean thermal energy conversion. The technology works by placing a heat engine along the ocean’s thermocline (layers of water which differ in temperature). As the heat in the warmer water of the surface flows down its concentration gradient towards the cooler water at depths, it spins a turbine in the engine and generates a steady supply of electricity. In this way, solar radiation is converted into renewable energy.

Though ocean thermal energy conversion has been in existence for nearly 50 years, it is rarely employed due to the fact that it is often not cost-effective. However, Hawaii’s unique position adjacent to a steep thermocline off its western shores leads researchers to believe it just may be the ultimate renewable energy source.

Windy City wind

Chicago, known as "the windy city," has found a new way to employ one of its most abundant resources in the form of the first wind-powered parking garage. Parking lots are usually associated with negative impacts on cities, taking up space and creating the "heat island effect," a temperature increase found in urban areas as a result of an abundance of paved surfaces. However, the newly designed Greenway self park in Chicago will offer much more than just a place to park your car.

The parking lot will be powered 100 percent by vertical wind turbines and provide a list of other services, including:

* local and sustainable building materials
* a green roof and rainwater cisterns for irrigation
* high-efficiency glass
* recycling programs
* energy-efficient lighting
* programs to encourage the use of energy efficient vehicles
* electric car charging stations
* air quality initiatives
* tips for Greener Living in the lobbies
* Zipcar and I-Go car sharing vehicles

The architects of HOK believe the design will change current perceptions held by parking lot users while educating the public on ways to conserve energy.

India taps into its massive solar potential

As a country that enjoys copious sunshine for most of the year, the subcontinent of India is an ideal place to harvest solar energy. Yet until recently, its utilization of solar energy as a component of mainstream energy generation has lagged behind many other countries, in part due to cost: a unit of electricity generated using solar energy is typically three to six times as expensive as one generated by conventional energy sources. But not for much longer. Under India’s new National Solar Mission plan, the country will invest upwards of $19 billion over the next decade to bring solar energy technologies to the forefront. The plan calls for the development of an installed capacity of fully 20,000 megawatts of power, a major increase over the current installed capacity of nearly zero. The plan also mandates that that all government-operated buildings and hospitals use solar energy.

In addition to its abundance of sunlight, solar energy is also an ideal energy source in India due to the distribution of its population and the design of their homes. With many villages spread out and off the grid, solar energy offers even remote villages the ability to generate electricity. As well, because many homes in India are constructed with flat roofs, they are primed for capturing the energy of the sun efficiently.

Private firms are also joining the market, which will help the country achieve its ambitious goals for solar energy even more quickly. The company Blackstone has alone invested $300 million.

Electrically charged water vapor as a power source

The principle of electroneutrality, which is widely accepted by chemists, explains why factory workers receive shocks from steam leaking out of boilers. The theory states that water vapor has a charge that is electrically neutral, even after coming into contact with the electrical charges on microscopic particles of dust and other materials in the air. However, new research from Brazil has data that may modify that theory.

Fernando Galembeck, a Brazilian chemist, is leading a team that claims their new data shows that water in the atmosphere picks up an electrical charge. Galembeck does not refute the principle of electroneutrality, but believes he has shown evidence that water coming in contact with airborn substances that have a charge will itself become charged.

What does this mean for renewable energy? Galembeck believes this discovery can pave the way for the development of hydroelectrical devices: systems that can trap and route the charges from atmospheric water vapor to homes and businesses where it can be converted to power. These devices will also drain electricity from the air, reducing lightning strikes.

China's rare earth affect

Rare earth elements are critical to protecting the environment by reducing emissions through renewable energy technologies. However, their extraction is also a detriment to the environment. Currently, China is by far the number one exporter of rare earth elements, which the rest of the world depend upon to produce hybrid cars and wind turbines, among other renewable energy technologies.

Recently, however, China has decided to slash export quotas of rare earth elements to protect the future of its environment. China plans to reduce its export quotas from last year by nearly 40 percent, a move that has importing countries worried. The move will drive up global prices for the rare earths, also negatively impacting the Chinese market.

Despite the move, China will remain the world leader in rare earth element extraction and exportation. China controls 95 percent of the recoverable reserves of rare earth elements, most of which exist in inner Mongolia.

In search of a miracle – U.S. invests in high-risk, high-payoff research for renewable energies

The United States federal government will invest $400 million over the next two years in search of new, renewable energy technologies that could result in high-payoff discoveries. Research is underway through the newly created Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy and is focused on what Secretary of Energy Steven Chu calls “the hunt for miracles.” High on the list of priorities is the quest to develop new batteries and fuels for vehicles that will enable them to run hundreds of miles a day on electricity generated from clean sources or fuels extracted from things like trees and garbage.

Both university labs, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as private start-up firms like FastCap Systems and Agrivida will be involved in the project. Exciting technologies are in the works, and before long we may be generating gasoline and jet fuel from genetically-modified plants.