I am doing a report on diffirent energy options and solutions to energy problems, i would like to get some eg?

Question

I am doing a report on diffirent energy options and solutions to energy problems, i would like to get some eg?

Answer 1

i am a contracted installer for greenalliance in nsw, australia..

check out the program that is run here and it is for free..

have a look at www.greenalliance.com.au

Answer 2

I would look at what they are doing with wind energy in Europe. Germany, Denmark, Holland etc.



  Many people would like to see the energy grid be more distributed as opposed to centralized power.   Roof top solar, which is getting more efficient, as costs go down can contribute  a good portion.  

  Methane capture from landfills, sewage treatment plants and animal and farm waste

eliminates some of the methane emissions from these sources and produces energy.  It can be burned or used in fuel cells.

A company called Fuel Cell Energy has utility scale fuel cells for power plants that can run on methane or natural gas.

The use of plug in hybrid vehicles would be beneficial.  See the information at Plug in Partners.

http://www.pluginpartners.org/

Solar power plants in the southwest could be a form of more centralized use of solar power.  

They are being built in California and Arizona now.

All three power companies in California are negotiating with companies that build solar thermal power plants.

Lots of stories at Green Wombat

http://blogs.business2.com/greenwombat/

Companies that build solar thermal power plants.

http://www.ausra.com

http://www.infiniacorp.com/main.php

http://www.skyfuel.com/

http://www.solucar.es/sites/solar/en/ind...

http://www.esolar.com/

http://www.brightsourceenergy.com/

Infinia uses a large reflecter dish that focuses light on a stirling heat engine to produce electricity.  These are 3-4 megawatt units that can be indiviually sited, or used in large solar farms.

The rest use solar trough or solar tower designs.

Here's what Ausra says.

"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."

"Solar is one the most land-efficient sources of clean power we have, using a fraction of the area needed by hydro or wind projects of comparable output. 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."

geo thermal, wave are others.  PG%E in California has contracted for their first wave power farm off the Northern California coast.



  We need to have the alternative energy tax credits extended to help these technologies get up to scale.  

from Green Wombat

"The United States could lose more than 116,000 green collar jobs and forgo $19 billion in green tech investment in 2009 if Congress fails to extend two tax credits crucial to the renewable energy industry, according to a new study."

"In recent months, PG&E has signed deals for more than a gigawatt of electricity — enough to light more than 750,000 homes — with solar power plant developers. Such power purchase agreements can take more than a year to hammer out and the permitting and construction of a solar power station can take another three to five years."

"The solar thermal industry is in its infancy but utilities like PG&E (PCG), Southern California Edison (EIX) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SRE) have signed several contracts for solar power plants and negotiations for gigawatts more of solar electricity are ongoing."

"The first solar power plants in California won't go online until around 2010 but the construction and operation of those projects are expected to create thousands of jobs. Like the PV industry, solar thermal companies are dependent on the investment tax credit to attract the big money it takes to finance the construction of billion-dollar power plants. The loss of the investment tax credit would hit California particularly hard."

"Navigant projects an even bigger crash for the wind industry should the production tax credit expire, with installations falling from 6,500 megawatts to 500 megawatts in 2009 with the lose of 76,800 jobs. The wind industry has been continuously buffeted in recent years as Congress has allowed the production tax credit to expire repeatedly only to resuscitate it. In the past, the expiration of the tax credit has resulted in a 73% to 93% drop in the wind market, according to Navigant."

Posted by Todd Woody

"Representatives from Silicon Valley tech giants, Wall Street investment banks and utilities signed a letter sent to the congressional leadership late Wednesday urging the long-term extension of the 30 percent investment tax credit as well as the production tax credit for the electricity produced by solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable energy systems. Among the signers urging action by March 1 are executives from Google (GOOG), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Applied Materials (AMAT), Credit Suisse (CS), Wells Fargo (WFC), venture capitalists Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and utility San Diego Gas & Electric, a subsidiary of energy giant Sempra (SRE)."

Posted by Todd Woody