Google plans to build huge solar energy system for headquarters

Google plans to build a massive solar-electricity system to help power parts of its Mountain View, Calif., campus that it says will benefit both the environment and its bottom line. The system, to be built by EI Solutions, will use 9,212 solar panels and have a total capacity of 1.6 megawatts, or enough electricity to supply 1,000 average California homes. That will satisfy 30% of the campus' peak electricity needs.

The installation at Google's headquarters, known as the Googleplex, will begin next month and will be completed in the spring. It will be the largest solar-power system ever constructed at a U.S. corporate campus and one of the largest on any corporate site in the world, EI Solutions said. The solar panels, which cover an area equal to about four acres [16,187 sq m], will be installed on the roofs of some campus buildings and double as shading for cars in parking lots. Most of the panels will be made by Sharp Electronics.

The system will work seamlessly with the power grid, allowing Google to draw more energy from the grid when the panels aren't providing enough power due to a lack of sun. It will also allow Google to sell the utility power at times when the panels generate too much energy. Andrew Beebe, president of EI Solutions, said companies are becoming increasingly interested in solar power as their electricity bills mount and the costs of solar power decline. Corporate America is reaching a tipping point where "people are making these decisions on an economic basis," he said.

(2006-10-17 23:45:54 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

World's biggest underwater gas pipeline opens between Britain, Norway

channelnewsasia.com :

The biggest underwater gas pipeline in the world, transporting Norwegian gas 1,200 kilometres under the North Sea to Britain, has been officially opened by the prime ministers of both countries. The Langeled pipeline is expected to supply one fifth of Britain's total gas requirements in the coming decades. Construction of the pipeline by Norwegian firm Hydro began in 2004 and gas began flowing unofficially about two weeks ago.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair praised the project, saying it was a crucial step towards securing his country's energy needs. He said: "In the future, energy security will be almost as important as defence to the overall security of the country's interests. Three or four years back when we began we did not even ourselves quite fully appreciate the significance of today's event. The combination of rising energy prices, worries about energy security and climate change are creating a completely different context." Blair added that over the next 10-15 years Britain would move from a position of 80-90 percent self-sufficiency in oil and gas towards being a net importer of 80-90 percent of its needs.

- Did you see that last line?

(2006-10-17 23:22:17 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Chrysler struggles to shift unsold inventory

news.yahoo.com :

DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group is meeting resistance in its efforts to shrink its inventory of unsold vehicles, the Wall Street Journal reported. Chrysler warned in September it will report a loss of $1.5 billion for the quarter - more than twice what it had previously forecast. Some of the big dealership chains and many smaller dealers around the United States say they already have too many Chrysler vehicles and won't take more, according to the Journal.

(2006-10-17 23:14:36 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

Hazy days and palm oil

So the PSI hit 130 in Singapore yesterday on the 5-6 pm readings. If you think you've had it bad, this report says that, in Indonesia :

The Pollution Standard Index (PSI) has already reached the dangerous level (300 - 550), and on 2 October, the highest PSI at 913 was recorded in Pontianak ...

Always one to look into possible root causes, the first thing I can think of is palm oil. Crude oil prices have been going up (to put it mildly) these past few years. Which led Malaysia and Indonesia to turn to biodiesel in order to make a few extra bucks. Malaysia has realized the food-for-people/oil-for-cars trade-offs and has taken a step back from its biodiesel plans. Apparently, Indonesia has gone ahead - way ahead :

The Indonesian government has announced plans to plant nearly two million hectares of oil palm plantations in the middle of the Borneo rainforest. In order to realise these mega plantations, which will occupy a total surface area half the size of the Netherlands, much tropical rainforest will be cleared, causing an ecological disaster in the area.

Another report notes that :

Most of this mountainous region, part of the "Heart of Borneo", still holds huge tracts of forests. WWF stresses that infertile soil and steep areas prevent the development of oil palm plantations. Research carried out in 2004 by the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in the Heart of Borneo area, showed that out of 200 sample sites, none were suitable for the cultivation of oil palm. "It doesn't make commercial or conservation sense to rip the forest out of the Heart of Borneo to plant a crop which cannot grow in mountainous conditions," said Dr Mubariq Ahmad, Chief Executive Director of WWF-Indonesia.

Hmm.

(2006-10-17 17:23:38 SGT) [Env] Permalink

A Second Look at Nuclear Power

issues.org :

Renewable energy production has been constrained by physical limitations that have resulted in consistently high costs, because the energy that renewable energy technologies collect is both diffuse and intermittent. The one resource that might have made a difference is nuclear power. Many Americans remain concerned about questions of safety and the disposal of nuclear waste, as well as nuclear proliferation and economic viability. The real advantage of nuclear energy is its potency. One pound of uranium contains the energy equivalent of roughly one million pounds of coal. Such potency means that nuclear power's energy potential is vast. It also means that nuclear's environmental impact is inherently low.

A growing number of enlightened environmental leaders are beginning to appreciate the role that nuclear power might play in achieving environmental sustainability. In a recent appeal to his fellow Greens, James Lovelock wrote: "We cannot continue drawing energy from fossil fuels, and there is no chance that renewables, wind, tide, and water power can provide enough energy and in time." Voicing his concerns about greenhouse gases, he concluded, "we have no time to experiment with visionary energy sources: civilization is in imminent danger and has to use nuclear - the one safe, available energy source - now or suffer the pain soon to be inflicted on our outraged planet." Patrick Moore, a founder of Greenpeace, subsequently followed suit, stating that "nuclear power is the only nongreenhouse-gas-emitting power source that can effectively replace fossil fuels and satisfy global demand."

It is now increasingly obvious that resources should not be given an environmental pass simply because they are renewable. Large hydro, for example, has come into disfavor because dams flood large areas of land, often eliminating communities or scenic beauty, and destroy fish habitat. Similarly, geothermal sites are often located in wilderness areas that environmentalists do not want to disturb. Even the current environmental favorite, wind, is being challenged because of bird kills, aesthetics, and land use.

Renewability per se should not be the issue; sufficiency for the foreseeable future with minimal environmental impact should be. Renewable sources are certainly one part of the answer, but nuclear power is another. Nuclear power is the one energy resource currently capable of displacing fossil fuels on a large scale as well as promoting other environmental goals: minimizing pressure on land use and the accompanying environmental problems of resource recovery, and avoiding atmospheric emissions that contribute to global climate change and health problems.

(2006-10-17 13:36:33 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Bush cautions against complacency as gasoline prices fall

cattlenetwork.com :

With gasoline prices falling across the country, President George W. Bush warned against becoming complacent about the need to cut the nation's reliance on oil. "We're too dependent on oil. Low gasoline prices may mask that concern," Bush told a government-sponsored energy conference in St. Louis. "This country's got to use its talent and its wealth to get us off oil," Bush said, adding that the government's role is largely to prod new investment. He called for the research and development tax credit, which currently expires yearly, to be made permanent, and touted the government's use of tax credits to promote hybrid vehicles, new battery technologies, and ethanol.

Bush outlined other components of his energy strategy - investment in biodiesel, encouraging hydrogen fuel cells, finding new oil and gas sources through offshore drilling, and promoting nuclear, solar and wind power. "Now's the time to accelerate the expansion of nuclear power for the sake of national and economic security," Bush said.

(2006-10-17 12:49:42 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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