This science buff wants to solve energy crisis

This science buff wants to solve energy crisis
June 29, 2013
For over a year, this 14-year-old has been obsessed with one quest: producing ethanol from rain tree fruits.

Inspired by one of his mentors who works in the field of alternative energy, he wanted to find a brand new method to produce ethanol so it could be mixed with conventional fuels and used in automobiles, says Aman Malali, a Class 10 student at the Kendriya Vidyalaya, Yeshwantpur.



He believes that his research can lead to alternatives or solutions to the fuel crisis. His project was among the top 90 shortlisted for the Google Science Fair 2013 from across the globe.

Possible And Profitable Action On Climate Change: Danish Minister Praises Obama’s New Plan

Possible And Profitable Action On Climate Change: Danish Minister Praises Obama’s New Plan

By Martin Lidegaard, Guest Blogger on Jun 26, 2013 at 4:13 pm

President Obama’s Climate Action Plan is promising. Curbing global warming will demand serious action from all of us. Needless to say, US leadership makes a great difference. Denmark is a mouse compared to the US elephant, but our experience proves that the President’s Plan is indeed possible and can be profitable. Over the past 30 years, the Danish economy has grown steadily, while energy efficiency has kept our energy consumption at the same level in absolute terms.

Lower Greenhouse Gases In The Coal Sector

The US will impose regulations for new and existing coal-fired power plants. That is good news and absolutely critical if the world is to stay below a 2 degree Celsius rise in global temperature, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). IEA proposes limitations on inefficient coal-fired power plants. In Denmark we will phase out coal completely and move towards a fossil-free power and heating system by 2035. This means that no new coal plants will be built and existing capacity is being retrofitted to biomass and other sources.

More Renewable Energy In The Mix

The US will use federal lands for renewable energy aiming for an additional 10,000 MW by 2020. That is good news as well. Denmark has long had wind as a major part of the power mix and with the recent national Energy Agreement half of our electricity consumption will be supplied by wind in 2020 while we still have electricity prices – excl. VAT and energy tax but incl. Public Service Obligations (PSO) for supporting renewables – below the European average. Wind power is a good long term investment because the marginal price pr kWh is next to nothing once the turbines are up and the blades are spinning. With a free power market wind is actually driving down power prices. And renewable energy delivers local jobs and economic growth.

Innovative People's Technologies by Anumakonda Jagadeesh

Throw It Out And It Powers Your Home: Puerto Rico Turns To Garbage For Renewable Energy

Throw It Out And It Powers Your Home: Puerto Rico Turns To Garbage For Renewable Energy

By Matt Kasper, Guest Blogger on Jun 13, 2013 at 4:16 pm

Puerto Ricans will soon be turning their trash into renewable energy. On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced its final approval of an air permit for a 77 megawatt EfW plant, owned by Energy Answers International, a first for the U.S. island territory.

The $650 million facility, which will be built in three years in the town of Arecibo, will create thousands of direct and indirect induced jobs, and turn more than 2,100 tons of garbage a day into renewable electricity for more than 76,000 homes on the island. Creating domestic renewable energy is a major necessity since Puerto Rico’selectricity is overwhelmingly derived from imported petroleum, natural gas, and coal.

Top 12 Ways to Transform Biofuels Using Materials Already Around Us

Top 12 Ways to Transform Biofuels Using Materials Already Around Us

June 04, 2013
Jim Lane, Biofuels Digest Great ideas abound for new feedstocks and novel infrastructure. We admire so many of them: jatropha, carinata, switchgrass, sweet sorghum, blender pumps, systems-at-sea, and so much more.

But what about technologies that bolt-on a different processing unit, but keeps everything else the same. Or uses an abundant, odious and low cost feedstock?

That’s a frugal fuel. In these nefarious economic times, why not make do with what’s already in place?

Here are our Top 12 ways to transform biofuels using materials — usually waste by-products, or lower-value materials — already around us.

12. Glycerine

There’s a small market for glycerin as a building block material, but it has been overwhelmed by the supply coming from some biodiesel operators who have been producing a pure enough glycerine for sale into the industrial glycerin market — many biodiesel operators haven’t been able to produce it at sufficient purity and it has been distributed at very little value into the feed market, or even landfilled.

Then, along come numerous technologies aimed at converting glycerine from a low-value product into a high-value target material, such as isoprene (the main ingredient in synthetic rubber).

PM: India to double renewable energy capacity by 2017

India's Prime Minister Vows to Double Renewable Energy Capacity 

By Jeff Postelwait, Associate Editor, Electric Light & Power |  April 18, 2013 

India will seek to double the amount of renewable energy it can generate to 55 GW in the next four years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in his inaugural address. 

"It is proposed to double the renewable energy capacity in our country from 25,000 MW in 2012 to 55,000 MW by the year 2017. This would include exploiting non-conventional energy sources such as solar, wind power and energy from biomass," Singh said. 

These initiatives were announced as part of the prime minister's presentation of India's 12th Five Year Plan. 

Developed countries are the ones best poised to help meet the challenge of climate change, he said, adding that India has set a goal of cutting its energy use by 20 to 25 percent by 2020 by increasing its energy efficiency. 

Another measure the prime minister called for is an international research and development center for solar energy. This National Institute of Solar Energy could be operational by 2015, he said. Research into solar thermal and solar photovoltaic would be part of this initiative. 

The price of producing solar power was cut in half over the past two years, he said, going on to acknowledge that fossil-fired power generation, such as coal power, is still less expensive. The difference, he said could be made up for with subsidies. 

About 87.5 percent of India's electricity is generated from non-renewable sources. Coal constitutes 57 percent of India's installed capacity. 

In December 2011, over 300 million Indian citizens had no access to electricity — most of these residents are from rural areas. 

This article was originally published on Electric Light & Power and was republished with permission. 

Comment by Anumakonda Jagadeesh 

We,People involved in the Renewable Energy research and promotion welcome your statement, “India will seek to double the amount of renewable energy it can generate to 55 GW in the next four years”. 

Here is an action plan for India on Renewables: 

Biofuel and Biogas for Power Generation: 

Agave is a care – free growth plant which can be grown in millions of hectares of waste land and which produces Biofuel. Already Mexico is using it. Another Care free growth plant is Opuntia which generates Biogas. Biogas can be input to generate power through Biogas Generators. Biogas generators of MW size are available from China. Yet another option is Water Hyacinth for biogas. Water Hyacinth along with animal dung can produce biogas on a large scale and then power. In Kolleru lake in Godavari and Krishna Delta in Andhra Pradesh it is available in 308 Sq. Km for nearly 8 months in a year.

Wealth From Waste - Lawyer Weekly