Renewable power

Centralized electrification requires massive amounts of capital [10]. The dispersed nature of houses and low potential demand create little incentive for power companies to provide access to rural areas. In addition, extending the grid may be unrealistic due to transmission line costs or hard terrain [5]. Thus, in rural areas, off-grid and mini-grid solutions make the most sense. Such systems can consist of a single home or several small homes and businesses. The systems can be incremental and scalable and applied to many different conditions and environments [10]. Off-grid and mini-grid options for renewable electricity include solar, wind, clean biomass, and micro-hydro. These options for renewable power will be discussed in more detail below. 

Renewable Power Pathways A Review of The U.S. Department of Energy s Renewable Energy Programs, National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 2000, p. 116. 

They are supported by federal solar power tax credits along with California s Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA) contracts and renewable power subsidies. When these tax credits were interrupted for eleven months in 1991, the plants operator, LUZ, immediately went bankrupt then SEGS, an Israeli government corporation, took over operation. 

Iceland may start with methanol powered PEM vehicles and vessels. The University of Iceland is involved in research on the production of methanol (CH3OH) from hydrogen combined with carbon monoxide (CO) or C02 from the exhaust of aluminum and ferrosilicon smelters. This would capture hundreds of thousands of tons of CO and C02 released from these smelters. If this is combined with hydrogen generated from electrolysis using renewable power, Iceland could cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half. 

Many of these plants may be built before CCS is ready and we will need to use our electricity more efficiently to slow the demand for such power plants, while building as many cleaner power plants as possible. Natural gas is far more cleaner for this power than coal. Generating hydrogen with renewables may be needed in order to avoid building coal-fired plants. More electricity from renewable power would reduce the pressure on the natural gas supply and reduce prices. The United States could have essentially carbon-free electricity before 2050 with hydrogen fuel playing a key role. 

Some studies indicate that higher carbon savings can be achieved by displacing electricity from fossil fuel power stations. Abundant renewable power and the practical elimination of C02 emissions from electricity gen-... 

Table 5.2. Total installed renewables power generation capacity in 2006...

CLEAN ENERGY FROM BIOMASS - The project is addressed at demonstrating the industrial feasibility of the integration of biomass steam gasification with a MCFC for clean and renewable power generation. 

Outside of the U.S., major initiatives in Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Spain and handful of other countries spur on technology research and implementation of renewable power. The European Union set a goal for its member countries to double the amount of power generated by renewable sources... 

Great Lakes Hydro Income Fund Brascan Residential Properties SA (Brazil) Brookfield Homes Corporation Brookfield Renewable Power Inc Longview Fibre Company... 

Formira Power Pack Renew Power Motorola Ventures BASF AG... 

In the first half of the twenty-first century, the fuels used to make hydrogen for transportation could achieve far larger greenhouse gas savings at lower cost, displacing emissions in electricity generation, as several analyses have shown.19 This is true not only for natural gas but also for renewable power in the foreseeable future. 

In DC-based systems, the battery bank acts like a power damper, smoothing any short-term or long-term fluctuations, resulting from the renewable power units or the demand side. Regulation is mainly based on a few battery parameters such... 

In calling out the efficiency costs of alternating current/direct current (ac/dc) power conversion, one advantage of renewable power becomes worthy of note. Renewables generate dc power that can be applied to the dc-using electrolyzer cell stack without inversion. This incremental efficiency advantage associated with renewables may become material as the cost of power from renewables continues to drop. 

However, there does exist a relationship between emissions and electrolysis. Any pollution associated with electricity consumed by the electrolyzer needs to be taken into account. As stated previously, one fundamental appeal of electrolysis is that it creates a path for converting renewable power into fuel. But the low capacity factors of renewables (other than geothermal and hydro power) make an allrenewables case very difficult on an economic basis. Electricity from nuclear plants is also non-emitting on a greenhouse gas emissions basis, but the outlook for additional nuclear plants is uncertain at best. 

Electrolyzers typically operate from grid-quality power, so a new variety of power control and conditioning equipment needs to be developed in order for electrolyzers to operate efficiently from renewable sources. The prospect exists for good efficiency in converting renewable power to hydrogen, insofar as electrolyzers require direct current and renewables generate direct current, so there are no losses associated with ac/dc conversion. 

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