The Evolution of Saab: After Filing For Bankruptcy, Iconic Swedish Company Now Only Producing Electric Cars
By Climate Guest Blogger on Jun 15, 2012 at 11:32 am

Saab, the Swedish automaker left for dead after being jettisoned by General Motors in 2010, has been purchased by National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS). The company plans to turn Saab into an electrical vehicle maker.

NEVS is owned by Kai Johan Jiang a Chinese entrepreneur educated in Sweden, and Sun Investments, a Japanese company. The plan, according to NEVS is to “meld Swedish car design and manufacturing know-how with Japanese electric vehicle technology to promote premium electric vehicles in China.”

The goal, according to comments made Wednesday at the announcement of the purchase, is to design an electric vehicle for sale in China based on the existing Saab 9-3 small sedan platform using Japanese-made batteries. The car would go on sale in late 2013 or early 2014. Meanwhile, a team of roughly 200 designers — far fewer than the 3,000 employees Saab employed until recently — would be working in Trollhatan, Sweden, site of the Saab factory, on an entirely new vehicle.

Some analysts have questioned the acquisition, particularly the use of the 9-3 as the model for the first electric car:

“Because of the challenges of battery capacity, most electric cars were small and designed for city driving, while the Saab 9-3 was a midsize car, something that could leave it with a short driving range in its usual environment.”

But the shift for Saab is an illustration of the broad changes that car companies are....

Shibuya museum showcases last photo of loyal pooch Hachiko


Owner Yaeko Ueno, front row, second from right, and workers at Shibuya Station pray for the repose of “Chuken Hachiko” (Loyal Dog Hachiko) in Tokyo on March 8, 1935. (Provided by Shibuya Folk and Literary Shirane Memorial Museum)

By KAZUYA OMURO/ Staff Writer
Pretty much everyone who has visited Japan knows the story of Hachiko, a dog revered for its incredible loyalty to his owner, even long after his master's death.

Now, a museum in Tokyo is showcasing an exhibition of a snapshot of the Akita dog taken immediately after Hachiko's death in 1935.

Measuring 12 centimeters by 16 centimeters, the photograph can be viewed at the Shibuya Folk and Literary Shirane Memorial Museum in Shibuya Ward until July 22 as part of the "Shin Shuzo Shiryoten" (Exhibition of newly stored materials).

As the story goes, the dog, whose name was Hachi, waited at Shibuya Station every day for its owner, Hidesaburo Ueno, a professor of agriculture at the University of Tokyo, to return from work, and continued to do so for 10 years even after Ueno's death.

According to the museum...

Qmilch

Qmilch is a natural textile created from milk. Searching for an alternative to traditional chemically-treated fabrics, German microbiologist and fashion designer Anke Domaske developed a process that transforms the casein protein from milk into a biocompatible textile.
Qmilch has a texture similar to that of silk, and is...

James Lovelock: The UK should be going mad for fracking
Scientist James Lovelock is the man behind Gaia theory, and once predicted doom for our climate. He discusses nuclear (good), wind power (bad) and why fracking is the future

...

"Adapt and survive," he says, when asked why he has decided to move. After more than three decades living amid acres of trees he planted himself by hand, he and his wife Sandy have decided to downsize and move to an old lifeguard's cottage by the beach in Dorset. "I'm not worried about sea-level rises," he laughs. "At worst, I think it will be 2ft a century."

Given that Lovelock predicted in 2006 that by this century's end "billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable", this new laissez-faire attitude to our environmental fate smells and sounds like of a screeching handbrake turn.

Indeed, earlier this year he admitted to MSNBC in an interview reported around the world with somewhat mocking headlines along the lines of "Doom-monger recants", that he had been "extrapolating too far" in reaching such a conclusion and had made a "mistake" in claiming to know with such certainty what will happen to the climate.

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Nestled deep into an armchair, Lovelock brushes a biscuit crumb from his lips, and lowers his cup of tea on to the table: "I'm neither strongly left nor right, but I detest the Liberal Democrats."

...

Report: U.S. Solar Power Shines, Will Increase 75 Percent This Year
CARL FRANZEN JUNE 15, 2012, 6:02 AM 515

A new report on the state of the solar industry in America indicates that despite a global oversupply and a potential trade war with China, the U.S. solar industry had its second-best quarter ever in terms of installations, during the first quarter of 2012.

The number of installations, 506 megawatts worth, enough to power just over 350,000 homes, was bested only by the fourth quarter of 2011, which saw a whopping 708 megawatts worth of solar installed.

On top of that, the report, drafted by clean-energy market analysis firm GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association and released Tuesday, a trade group, forecasts that total U.S. installed solar power will increase 75 percent his year alone, with 3.3 gigawatts-worth of solar power installed, compared to the 4.4 gigawatts that are currently installed in the country and were added over years of development.

“This will be by far the largest year we’ve ever had for solar in the U.S.,” said Shayle Kann, vice president of research at GTM, in a phone interview with TPM. “Relative to expectations, the first quarter was very strong. We saw both the commercial and residential markets grow.”

Indeed, commercial solar installations, those put in place on corporate properties...

Fukushima Watch: Looking for New Nuclear Revenue — A Spent Fuel Tax?
By Mari Iwata

The town of Genkai on Japan’s western island of Kyushu is one of many in this country whose livelihood depends on the nuclear reactors it hosts. Since those reactors have been shut down for nearly six months, with no restart in sight, the town is proposing another way of squeezing revenue from the power plant: tax it.

That at least was the idea proposed by Hideo Kishimoto, Genkai’s mayor, in a municipal parliament session on Monday. One specific suggestion: a tax on the storage of the Genkai plant’s spent nuclear fuel rods.

“We can’t avoid a future drop in revenue, so we have to think of new taxes in order to maintain services for residents,” Mr. Kishimoto was quoted as saying in local media.

Genkai’s revenue problem is acute. All of the four nuclear reactors in the Genkai power plant are now offline — as are Japan’s 46 other reactors — as utilities hold off on restarting them to assuage public fears raised by the Fukushima Daiichi accident in March 2011. The Japanese government is expected to order the first two back online since the accident on Saturday.

The idling has pummeled finances at small, out-of-the-way communities...

Wind Energy PTC Snubbed In Congressional Talks On Tax Extenders
by Laura DiMugno on Thursday 14 June 2012

The Senate Finance Committee met this week to discuss the importance of extending expired or soon-to-expire energy tax provisions. Based on similar recent hearings, expectations were that the production tax credit (PTC) for wind energy would figure prominently in the talks.

Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., led off the hearing hoping to spur a conversation on how reforming the tax code could reduce the nation's reliance on fossil fuels and add more wind power to the mix.

"We are still too reliant on fossil-based energy resources - 94 percent of the energy used in the transportation sector comes from oil," Baucus said in his opening remarks. "Only 10 percent of our electricity consumption is generated from renewable or clean energy resources. Our country needs a diverse energy sector like we have in my home state of Montana."

However, the two-hour discussion was dominated by talks about support for the oil and gas industries. One panelist - Harold Hamm, CEO of oil giant Continental Resources - defended tax breaks for oil, saying it gave the industry the opportunity to “try and fail, and try again.”

The wind industry, however, has not been afforded that opportunity...

Senator To Push Congress Every Morning For Wind Energy PTC Extension
by NAW Staff on Wednesday 13 June 2012

Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., one of the most vocal congressional supporters of an extension of the production tax credit (PTC) for wind energy, is stepping up his PTC push.

Udall - who co-sponsored a bipartisan bill in March to extend the PTC for an additional two years - says he will open every morning's Senate session with a speech urging his colleagues to review and extend the PTC. He will also discuss how the PTC affects each state and the implications of failing to pass the tax credit.

"It is one thing for Congress to take the time to consider a new proposal and have an open, honest debate, but the production tax credit is widely supported, will create jobs and has already helped our economy grow," Udall said in a statement.

"Until Congress acts, businesses here and across the country will shed jobs and take our economy backward,” he added. “Americans have had it with dysfunction and inaction on Capitol Hill. It is unacceptable for Congress not to pass this commonsense and badly needed piece of legislation. I plan to remind my colleagues of that every morning until the production tax credit passes."

Udall noted that the PTC has helped attract clean energy businesses to invest in ...

Microsoft, Sprint Urge Congress To Extend PTC For Wind Power
by NAW Staff on Wednesday 13 June 2012


Microsoft and Sprint have joined the push for an extension of the production tax credit (PTC) for wind energy.

The companies wrote a letter to congressional leaders, urging them to extend the PTC. Microsoft and Sprint are the largest "wind customer" companies to call on Congress to extend the PTC, ranking 37th and 90th, respectively, in the Fortune 500, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

They join 15 other major U.S. companies and consumer brands - including Starbucks, Nike, Campbell’s Soup, Staples and Yahoo! - which signed a similar letter in February.

“The PTC has enabled the wind industry to slash wind energy costs - 90 percent since 1980 - a big reason why companies like ours are buying increasing amounts of wind energy,” the letter states. “Failure to extend the PTC for wind would tax our companies and thousands of others like us that purchase significant amounts renewable energy and hurt our bottom line at a time when the economy is struggling to recover.”

The companies warned Congress that “eliminating the PTC will sharply increase prices for wind energy and particularly affect the many large and influential companies that are already committed to buying and using wind energy.”

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...

It is a truism of nuclear power that the fuel cost is inconsequential to the overall cost of the electricity generated. If that's the case, why are subsidies needed for the manufacturing process of that fuel?

Markey, Burgess Call For GAO Investigation of DOE Support for Near-Bankrupt USEC
Jun. 12, 2012 --
Precarious financial situation, contravention of laws, inaccurate national security benefits underscore risk for bailout of nuclear enrichment company


WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressmen Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-Texas) today wrote the Government Accountability Office (GAO) calling for an investigation of the Departments of Energy’s (DOE) continued support for the floundering United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC). In their letter to the GAO, the lawmakers point to USEC’s inability to avoid insolvency in the absence of continued DOE bailouts, most recently in the form of $44 million in assistance so that the company could continue work on USEC’s flawed centrifuge technology and tens of thousands of tons of free uranium transferred from the Energy Department to stave off an immediate shut down of its Kentucky enrichment facility. Additionally, the Congressmen cite the recent credit downgrading, technical problems, and inaccurate assertions about the national security benefits as reasons why the nuclear enrichment program may never reach full commercialization.

“We’ve been told this earmark is all about avoiding risk to our national security, but the real risks of this nuclear bailout is for taxpayers who will be on the hook for questionable government handouts that are worth more than the entire company,” said Rep. Markey. “The GAO should immediately commence an investigation into DOE’s ongoing support for USEC before we throw more money at a company whose junk bond status and junk technology make it better suited for the budgetary junk heap.”

“The Department of Energy has been harming the uranium mining industry for years, dumping excess uranium tails into the market to prop up a failing company that couldn't stand on its own feet. As a result, thousands of miners from Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, Utah, and others, have had their livelihoods put in jeopardy,” said Rep. Burgess. “It is time the Department of Energy is held accountable for their activities. This GAO report will be the first step in bringing justice for an industry still damaged by Department of Energy policies.”

...

In the letters, Reps. Markey and Burgess request the GAO’s investigation to examine issues including:
- The assertion that the USEC program is needed in order to fulfill a national security need ...

Press Release
12 June 2012

UK Government-backed body invests in Isentropic’s revolutionary, low cost energy storage system.

The ETI is investing £14m ($22m) in Isentropic’s project to build a Pumped Heat Electricity Storage (PHES) system.

Segensworth, Hampshire, England, 12 June 2012:

Isentropic Ltd, a private UK company announces that the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has provided project funding and an equity investment, together totalling £14m ($22m). The funding is to build a full scale demonstrator of its revolutionary, low cost energy storage device - called Pumped Heat Electricity Storage (PHES). Isentropic will use the funds to develop and deploy a 1.5MW/6MWh electricity storage unit on a UK primary substation owned by Western Power Distribution in the Midlands region.

The ETI, a partnership between the UK Government and six leading international energy and energy technology companies, has previously commissioned 36 renewable and low carbon projects worth £138m. However, this is the first time it has made an equity investment in any of the companies it has funded.

Isentropic’s PHES technology has the potential to dominate the large-scale electrical storage market because it offers the prospect of being the lowest cost solution to the intermittency problems of renewable energy sources, such as wind. The technology is environmentally friendly, has no geographical constraints, is compact and can demonstrate a round trip efficiency of 75%.

James Macnaghten, Isentropic’s CEO, says: “The equity investment and project funding by the ETI and its corporate partners represents a huge vote of confidence in our unique Pumped Heat Electricity Storage (PHES) technology. We believe this project will allow us to demonstrate our leading position in the fast growing energy storage market.

“According to Lux Research’s report, “Grid Storage under the Microscope: Using Local Knowledge to Forecast Global Demand”, the global demand for grid storage will reach $113.5 billion by 2017, from a $2.8 billion market in 2012. I believe this timely investment could allow us to fulfil our mission to become the global leader in this fast growing industry.”

Dr David Clarke, ETI Chief Executive, says: “Isentropic are innovators in the field of electricity storage. Our investment strategy here is two-fold. Firstly we are providing financial support to allow the company to develop this technology further and staff up accordingly. Secondly we are using our position to expand the testing of this new UK technology to seek to identify the large-scale deployment potential to help provide affordable clean and secure energy solutions for the
future.”

Philip Bale, Western Power Distribution Project Engineer for the Midlands area, says: “Western Power Distribution is pleased to be working with Isentropic to develop this innovative form of energy storage. We are looking forward to demonstrating the storage device at one of our primary substations. We believe that distribution scale energy storage could be used to improve the future operation of the distribution network.”

Ends

$22M for Potential Breakthrough in Energy Storage: Isentropic Energy
Could Isentropic Energy’s pumped-heat electrical energy storage disrupt the large-scale electrical energy storage market?
ERIC WESOFF: JUNE 12, 2012


It's cliché to claim that large-scale energy storage is the holy grail or missing link of renewable energy.

But the problem remains -- energy storage technology is too expensive. Haresh Kamath of EPRI's Technology Innovation Group has said, "Storage is a great idea -- except for the cost." Steve Berberich of the California ISO recently said of energy storage, "It's good stuff, but it's expensive, and we have to find business cases."

Today, the only economical method of storing energy at a large scale is pumped hydro (pumped hydro accounts for almost all large-scale electricity storage) or compressed air energy storage (CAES). Unfortunately, both of those technologies require easy access to an immense airtight underground cavern or a couple of large reservoirs.

Back in 2010 we covered a U.K.-based firm, Isentropic, that claimed it could change the cost structure of energy storage. Today, the firm announced a large funding event to get it to demonstration scale.

The U.K. government-backed...

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/22M-for-Potential-Breakthrough-in-Energy-Storage-Isentropic-Energy/

The long, hot summer without San Onofre's nuclear power
By Karin Klein
June 11, 2012, 4:20 p.m.

San Onofre's two nuclear-power units have been down for months and will stay that way for months more. Late last week, Southern California Edison officials acknowledged that after early hopes that the reactors would be running safely in time for the summer energy load, it isn't going to happen. They'll have a plan by midsummer for reopening Unit 2, but then the plan will have to go through the lengthy regulatory process. And no one seems even remotely confident of when Unit 3 might return, and if it does, at what level of power? (Unit 1 was closed years ago.)

The problem stems from the huge bundles of tubes that are an integral part of the new steam generators for which ratepayers recently shelled out $671 million. In February, it was discovered that many of the tubes -- especially in Unit 3 -- were wearing thin despite their newness, a result of vibration that caused the closely bundled tubes to rub against each other. These tubes don't get replaced like a hose in your car; they have to be plugged when there's a problem, and if enough of them are plugged, the reactor cannot run at full power.

Two retired natural-gas generators in Huntington Beach have been brought back to life to help see the region through the hot days of summer. That, plus a conservation program, should prevent brownouts, utility officials say -- unless there's a bad heat wave. But the gas plants are a stopgap measure; they can't stay online for more than a few months. Some environmentalists are saying that San Onofre should simply remain closed, though it produces 19% of Edison's power. Running at reduced power wouldn't eliminate the vibration, Friends of the Earth contends, and the risk isn't worth it.

Meanwhile, the license for the plant expires in 2022. Edison officials said they haven't decided whether to apply for a 20-year extension; that decision would need to be made by 2017 to go through the application process.

The company says...