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  • E.T. Explorer
  • 3 Comments

  Apr 23 08:55 AM
  I hear a lot of hype on Solar wind and Geothermal and Wave power. It is like going to fetch water at the river or well with a bucket full of holes. Who is making a good bucket to hold the energy for when it is needed? Certainly Hydrogen is interesting but is it efficient? What about Thermal salt storage? If they are that good why no one gives us the real lowdown as to loss, efficiency, cost and real estate footprint required for deployment, not to mention red tape by government? Any suggestions anyone?

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  • Mark Henwood
  • 11 Comments
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  Apr 23 09:42 AM
  VanEck has a Solar EFT in registration. Since the universe of companies is limited the ETFs will be essentially the same. I hope their offering has a lower cost than Claymore's 65 BP.

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  • frflyer
  • 95 Comments
  • My Website

  Apr 23 11:37 AM
  ET Explorer The following may be helpful.
  
  
  Scientific American A Solar Grand Plan
  www.sciam.com/article....
  
  www.setamericafree.org...
  A Blueprint For U.S. Energy Security
  
  "Nanosolar’s founder and chief executive, Martin Roscheisen, claims to be the first solar panel manufacturer to be able to profitably sell solar panels for less than $1 a watt. That is the price at which solar energy becomes less expensive than coal.
  With a $1-per-watt panel,” he said, “it is possible to build $2-per-watt systems.
  According to the Energy Department, building a new coal plant costs about $2.1 a watt, plus the cost of fuel and emissions, he said."
  from www.grinzo.com/energy/.../
  
  Stirling Energy systems builds solar thermal power plants, using a stirling engine as generator. They claim to achieved a high of 35% efficiency - solar to electricity on a clear winter day in Arizona.
  
  "The same acre can produce 10 times as much energy from wind as it can from corn ethanol, 180,000 miles per acre per year. But both corn ethanol and wind power pale in comparison with solar photovoltaic, which can produce more than 2 million miles worth of transport per acre per year." www.ecogeek.org/conten.../
  
  www.ausra.com
  
  "Solar thermal power plants can store energy during daylight hours and generate power when it's needed. Ausra's power plants collect the sun's energy as heat; Ausra is developing thermal energy storage systems which can store enough heat to run the power plant for up to 20 hours during dark or cloudy periods."
  
  "Solar thermal power plants such as Ausra's generate electricity by driving steam turbines with sunshine. Ausra's solar concentrators boil water with focused sunlight, and produce electricity at prices directly competitive with gas- and coal-fired electric power."
  
  "All of America's needs for electric power – the entire US grid, night and day – can be generated with Ausra's current technology using a square parcel of land 92 miles on a side. For comparison, this is less than 1% of America's deserts, less land than currently in use in the U.S. for coal mines."
  
  That's in line with the land use estimates in the Sci Am article.
  
  "There are areas in Denmark and Germany who use more than 40 percent of their electricity from wind. From what I have read, they are less concerned about the intermittency than we are in the United States even though we aren't at 1 pecent yet. Why? Because we are told by the fossil fuel guys, hey, can't use wind, can't use solar, what about the intermittency. If wind gets up to 40 percent of the electricity we use and solar gets up to 40 of the electricity we use, the other percents of electricity we need can be made up from the fossil fuel plants that are still there. If they are run less at full power, they can last a long time. That can be your electricity `battery.'"
  gristmill.grist.org/st...
  
  From the Sci American article
  
  "The greatest obstacle to implementing a renewable U.S. energy system is not technology or money, however. It is the lack of public awareness that solar power is a practical alternative—and one that can fuel transportation as well. Forward-looking thinkers should try to inspire U.S. citizens, and their political and scientific leaders, about solar power’s incredible potential. Once Americans realize that potential, we believe the desire for energy self-sufficiency and the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions will prompt them to adopt a national solar plan"
  
  "Hamilton Sundstrand, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. [NYSE: UTX], and US Renewables Group have formed a new entity, SolarReserve, to commercialize the concentrated solar power tower technology and corresponding molten salt storage system developed by Rocketdyne. This renewable technology will enable utility-scale solar power generation. It is designed to meet a utility's needs with a single installation capable of producing up to 500 MW of peak power."
  
  "Due to the unique ability of the product to store the energy it captures, this system will function like a conventional hydroelectric power plant, but with several advantages. We will have the capability to store the sun's energy and release it on demand. This product is more predictable than water reserves, the supply is free and inexhaustible, and the environmental impact is essentially zero."
  Lee Bailey, managing director of US Renewables Group (USRG)
  
  "Hamilton Sundstrand's Rocketdyne segment will provide heat-resistant pumps and other equipment, as well as the expertise in handling and storing salt that has been heated to more than 1,050 degrees Fahrenheit. . . .
  According to the company, molten salt loses only about 1% of its heat during a day, making it possible to store energy for long periods of time. The salt is a mixture of sodium and potassium nitrate."
  From the WSJ
  
  "Like nuclear plants, coal plants tie up great gobs of capital during their extended construction periods. For the sponsors of such projects, the shifting sands of economic uncertainty can spell financial disaster, as many a utility learned the hard way during nuclear's fiscal meltdown."
  
  "In contrast, solar, wind, and conservation all have shorter lead times, a fiscal advantage not sufficiently appreciated, especially in uncertain economic environments like the present. So in addition to loving these options for being "green," planners can also love them for being "just in time."
  gristmill.grist.org/st...
  
  And here's how Americans are missing out by giving miniscule subsidies to renewables while handing money to oil companies by the fistful.
  
  Abu Dhabi to invest in solar power plants
  
  "Abu Dhabi is not content to just sell you the oil that fuels your SUV; now its going to sell you sunshine to keep your lights on and power your electric car when the internal combustion engine goes the way of the buggy whip. Masdar, the oil-rich emirate’s $15 billion renewable energy venture, and Spanish technology company Sener on Wednesday announced a joint venture called Torresol Energy to build large-scale solar power plants in Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the United States."
  
  The irony is too rich to leave unsaid: A leading oil producer invests billions in carbon-free energy while a leading consumer of fossil fuels - the United States - continues to subsidize Big Oil while offering only tepid support for green technology. It is inevitable that climate change will foster the rise of renewable energy - the only question is which countries and companies will profit from the new energy economics. It is entirely possible that the U.S. will trade energy dependence of one kind - on Middle East oil - for another - on Middle East and European solar technology - in the era of global warming. It’s no coincidence that most of the solar energy companies with contracts to build utility-scale power plants in California and the Southwest have overseas roots - Ausra hails from Australia, BrightSource was founded by American-Israeli pioneer Arnold Goldman, Solel is based in Israel and Abengoa is headquartered in Spain." from Green Wombat blogs.business2.com/gr.../
  
  There is much dis-information out there, understating the potential of alternative energy. And ignoring the real costs of oil, coal and nuclear. Especially oil- to see what the hidden costs of oil are, go to these links.
  
  www.setamericafree.org...
  www.monitor.net/monito...
  www.progress.org/2003/...
  www.eoearth.org/articl...
  
  
  

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  • unbroke
  • 7 Comments

  Apr 23 05:32 PM
  Nice comments! One more thought: with new nanotech from Altair (ALTI), lithium ion batteries potentially could store excess power and release it quickly. AES is investigating this idea, as is Advanced Battery Technologies (ABAT).
  unbroke
  

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  • mgkapnas
  • 3 Comments

  Apr 29 12:03 AM
  I think TAM wil be a winner.

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