Good News for the New Year
Good News for the New Year
January 3, 2014 by Taylor Studios
To get my mind off the Arctic cold wrapped around the Midwest in the first days of 2014, I dug into news stories from last year about sustainability and the environment. Yes, there was bad news, no doubt, but there was also a lot to celebrate. Clean energy had a great year, with some of the highlights sketched out online in an article available on and .
Solar Salts
First off is a story that ties into one of the topics I covered this year, . A commercial solar energy plant went online in Arizona with a molten salt energy storage system that allows it to produce electricity for up to six hours after the sun goes down. As you may recall, the salt solution is heated to high temperatures during the day by the concentrated solar power, then stored in well-insulated tanks. When the sun goes down, the molten salts are used to generate steam for the turbines. The effective implementation of this technology means that solar power can start providing energy on demand in the same way that coal and natural-gas fired power plants do.
Power Under Water
From the desert, we head to the ocean. The waterways and coast of Maine have seen that harness water movement to generate electricity. The Ocean Renewable Power Company has developed three different turbine configurations, one for shallow river bottoms, one for deeper river bottoms and shallow tidal areas, and one for oceans sites of greater than 80 feet deep. The deeper site device (shown in the photo below before installation) will float while tethered to the ocean floor and is intended to be stacked to increase electricity production.
Wind Above the Waves
Living amongst land-based windfarms, it is strange to think they are rivaled internationally with turbines in the ocean. Water-based windfarms are a crucial part of Europe’s alternative energy landscape, but until recently they have been limited to shallower waters. The pylons that hold the turbines have been blasted into the seabed, which limits the water depths they can be used in to 60 meters (almost 200 feet). A Norwegian company named Statoil has developed a wind turbine mounted on a floating platform. A hub of five turbines, creating a combined 30 megawatts, will be set up off the coast of Scotland in waters 100 meters (more than 325 feet) deep. If successful, these floating turbines could greatly increase the electrical production of coastal areas near deep waters.
A Better Turbine
GE is one of the biggest wind turbine producers worldwide, and in this very competitive market, it has introduced the 1.6/1.7-100 line of turbines. Supposedly able to produce 20-24% more power than similar turbines in its class, the Brilliant line combines improvements in turbine design with two innovations. First, these turbines use a grid-scale battery system that can store power for short periods. Second, they use a control system that can predict both momentary spikes in energy demand and when the wind will be blowing. Combined, these features can do for wind power what the molten salts do for solar power – provide power on demand.
These are only four items from the article, but I get a huge boost knowing that progress is happening, that we’re getting that much closer to a future fueled by alternative energy. If you have a great bit of sustainability news, link to it here so the word can spread!