ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories researchers are moving into the demonstration phase of a novel gas turbine system for power generation, with the promise that thermal-to-electric conversion efficiency will be increased to as much as 50 percent — an improvement of 50 percent for nuclear power stations equipped with steam turbines, or a 40 percent improvement for simple gas turbines. The system is also very compact, meaning that capital costs would be relatively low.

Research focuses on supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO2) Brayton-cycle turbines, which typically would be used for bulk thermal and nuclear generation of electricity, including next-generation power reactors. The goal is eventually to replace steam-driven Rankine cycle turbines, which have lower efficiency, are corrosive at high temperature and occupy 30 times as much space because of the need for very large turbines and condensers to dispose of excess steam. The Brayton cycle could yield 20 megawatts of electricity from a package with a volume as small as four cubic meters.

via How Green Is Your Real or Fake Christmas Tree? – NYTimes.com.

I have not researched any of the claims in this blurb.

Chevron Energy Solutions CES, a Chevron subsidiary, is the nation’s largest installer of solar energy systems for education institutions. Over the past decade, the company has developed hundreds of projects involving energy efficiency and renewable power for education, government and business customers in the United States. In 2009, Chevron Energy Solutions was named by Fast Company magazine as one of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies” and one of the top five “Most Innovative Clean Energy Companies.”

via Solar | Energy Sources | Chevron.

via New Approaches to Wind Power in Massive 10MW Turbine Design.

Check ‘em out on the web (see link below)

You are invited to put your feet up, peruse our web site and enjoy the selection offair trade, locally made and greenhousehold products and gifts from around NH and the world. If you prefer to visit us in person, we are located at Downtown Portsmouth at 603 766 8111 76 Congress Street, Portsmouth, NH, and Downtown Nashua at 603 881 9111 204a Main Street, Nashua, NH.

via 1 World Trading Co..

via Synthetic Gasoline Is Created From Biomass and Solar Power.

Concentrated solar energy is most commonly used for electrical power generation. However, a Colorado company, Sundrop Fuels, has a unique approach to the production of biofuel by that marries the mirrors and tower of concentrated solar power with their process for the production of bio-based fuels.

Instead of burning biomass for the energy needed to create biofuel, Sundrop uses concentrated solar as their energy source to gasify a range of feedstocks including agricultural waste, energy crops, and wood waste. The Sundrop process can produce a range of fuels including gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel. Many other biofuel processes produce ethanol which has a lower energy density than other fuels, meaning that more of it must be used for an equal amount of work. (Flex-fuel cars get fewer miles per gallon from ethanol than from gasoline, but the ethanol fuel costs less per gallon, and the ethanol is not derived from petroleum.)

Sundrop uses the high temperatures from the concentrated solar array to vaporize the biomass feedstock and form syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. As with other biofuel processess, the syngas is the basic building block which is turned into useful fuel.

Sundrop’s process has other efficiencies that provide additional benefits. By using solar energy, the process yields 100 to 125 gallons of fuel per ton of biomass, which is more than twice what other biofuel producers obtain. The process also requires far less water, needing only a half gallon of water per gallon of fuel produced, versus 6 or 7 gallons required in other systems. The process also creates electrical power from the waste heat generated in the reaction tower.

One of the only significant drawbacks that the Sundrop process faces is the distance between areas with excellent solar access (and few cloudy days) and ready sources of biomass.

The Sundrop process is expected to be able to create gasoline, without subsidies, for less than $2 per gallon. The company is constructing a pilot plant and aims to have a full, commercial-scale plant with a capacity of 100 million gallons by 2015.

via The Super Strength of POLLI-Bricks – Bricks Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles! | greenopolis recycling rewards.

via Vitality – Yahoo! News.