TMCnet Green Tech Week in Review

In green technology news this week, Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron announced an ambitious offshore wind deal involving 20 global power players; the U.S. Department of Energy offered $5 million in funding this year for plug-and-play solar development; at its factory in Chile, PepsiCo revealed plans to reduce fresh-water consumption; and China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology gave the go-ahead for deployment of hydrogen fuel cells at telecommunications base receiver stations.

In an April 26 speech to delegates at the Clean Energy (News - Alert) Ministerial (CEM3) in Central London, Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron broke news of an agreement by more than 20 major global power players to tap offshore renewables at the North Sea – which he described as “a remarkable European energy asset that has the potential to lead the world in offshore wind and carbon capture and storage.” Industry participants in the Norstec deal – which takes inspiration from the “Desertec” solar initiative – include major offshore wind developers, manufacturers, and a wide range of supply chain companies.  This network will come together during the RenewableUK Global Offshore Wind 2012 conference, June 13–14 in London, to discuss in more detail how the new alliance will operate.

As part of the SunShot Initiative, the U.S. DOE  will offer up to $5 million in funding this year to support the development of plug-and-play solar photovoltaic (PV) systems that can be purchased, installed, and—theoretically— operational in one day. The department envisions that plug-and-play PV platforms could be deployed without special training or tools, and simply plugged into a PV-ready circuit—through which an automatic detection system would initiate communication between the solar energy system and the utility.

Plug-and-play systems already are in wide use in the computer and automotive industries. This effort is part of the DOE’s broader strategy to spur solar power acceptance by reducing non-hardware (or “soft”) costs, such as installation, permitting, and grid interconnection, which currently amount to more than half of the total price of residential systems.  The department plans to make an additional request of $20 million to Congress over the next four years to support these efforts.

Renewable energy is one way for companies to ensure sustainability. However, reusing water can have a positive effect on the environment, too. PepsiCo has opted to use Siemens (News - Alert) Industry Automation Division’s integrated reuse solution to reduce fresh water consumption by as much as 70 percent. The firm is integrating the solution at its snack food production plant in Santiago, Chile. Savings will be achieved by taking water already being used in the production process, removing impurities, and piping the water back into production systems. The reused water will be directed to a number of manufacturing processes. The move is part of an initiative to standardize water reuse methods across PepsiCo’s South American facilities.

In Santiago, most of the wastewater is piped through a starch recovery system and then on to an oil and grease removal treatment. It’s then routed to a Siemens MemPulse membrane bioreactor (MBR) system to separate liquids and solids. This system is monitored remotely by a team at Siemens’ technology center in Waukesha, Wisconsin. After the MBR stage, the water is pretreated before passing through a reverse-osmosis (RO) system and a disinfection process.  The Siemens solution is more advanced than many other wastewater treatment systems, delivering quality water outflow with a smaller carbon footprint.

Telecommunications carrier holding company VelaTel Global Communications, Inc., announced that China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology gave approval this week for use of hydrogen fuel cells at telecommunications base receiver stations (BTS). These fuel cells were developed by VN Tech – a major distributor of hydrogen fuel cells meant to be used for telecommunications, and a company in which VelaTel recently acquired a 75 percent equity interest. Third-party testing of the hydrogen fuel cells at several BTS sites began in March. Conducted by China Mobile and China Telecom (News - Alert), the testing established that f the fuel cells have durability, longevity, and reliability in extreme climate conditions. Completion of the trials is expected in June of this year, in accordance with VelaTel's projected timeline. These trials mark a significant milestone, as they will allow for future sales of hydrogen fuel cell systems to Chinese telecommunications carriers—some of which include VelaTel's joint venture projects. Success with Chinese telecommunications carriers is then likely to lead to sales of the hydrogen fuel cell systems internationally.

In its “State of the Air” report for 2012, the American Lung Association reveals that the air quality in America’s most-polluted cities is at its cleanest since the ALA began issuing its research 13 years ago. Standards set under the federal Clean Air Act have required states to take a number of steps to clean up major air pollution sources —coal-fired power plants, diesel engines and SUVs —and the legislation has worked, cutting ozone (smog) and particle pollution (soot) from the air in urban areas. The news wasn’t all good, however. Despite this progress, the ALA said that unhealthy levels of air pollution still exist and in some parts of the country have worsened; and that than 40 percent of people in the U.S. still live in areas where air pollution continues to threaten their health.

And finally, it looks like a UFO, but it’s actually a prototype of an airborne wind turbine designed to drift aloft at high altitudes. Once launched, it catches stronger gusts than, and generates twice the power of, a conventionally tower-mounted diesel model, at a lower price. Boston-based Altaeros Energies recently completed testing of a 35-foot scale prototype of the Altaeros Airborne Wind Turbine (AWT) at the Loring Commerce Center in Limestone, Maine. The prototype, fabricated in partnership with Doyle Sailmakers of Salem, Mass., achieved several key milestones—among them, climbing 350 feet high and producing power at high altitude Altaeros is developing its first product to reduce energy costs by up to 65 percent by harnessing the stronger winds found over 1,000 feet high and reducing installation time from weeks to days. The AWT (News - Alert) also is designed to have virtually no environmental or noise impact, and to require minimal maintenance.  The firm currently is seeking partners to join its effort to launch the first commercially available high-altitude wind turbine in the world.