Re: [Biofuel] Major advance in artificial photosynthesis could turn carbon emissions into desirable chemicals
Here's an alternative listing: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150416132638.htm -- ¡Ay, Pachamamita! ¡Eres la cosa más bonita! ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] Major advance in artificial photosynthesis could turn carbon emissions into desirable chemicals
[link not provided as it invokes a malware page - this has been reported to web admin and search engine company] Major advance in artificial photosynthesis could turn carbon emissions into desirable chemicals By Justin Beach, National Monitor | April 16, 2015 New technique is similar to carbon capture and storage, but it stores the carbon in useful products including fuel. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley are reporting what could be a game changing innovation in energy and drastically reduce greenhouse gasses. It is actually, simultaneously, a breakthrough in artificial photosynthesis as well as carbon capture and storage. The system described in the journal Nano Letters has the potential to not only reduce carbon emissions, but to turn carbon into a desirable commodity. The system captures carbon dioxide emissions then uses solar energy and artificial photosynthesis to turn the carbon emissions, that would have gone into the atmosphere, into useful chemical products including liquid fuel, biodegradable plastic and even pharmaceutical drugs. Just like plants use sunlight to turn carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates, the new system would use carbon dioxide and water to make acetate, which can then be put to a wide variety of uses. “We believe our system is a revolutionary leap forward in the field of artificial photosynthesis. Our system has the potential to fundamentally change the chemical and oil industry in that we can produce chemicals and fuels in a totally renewable way, rather than extracting them from deep below the ground,” said Peidong Yang a statement. Yang is a chemist with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division and one of the leaders of this study. The problem, to date, with “carbon capture and storage” is storage. The carbon needs to be stored somewhere and that has the potential to create new environmental problems. By “storing” the carbon in useful products the technique has the potential to completely eliminate that problem and make carbon reduction profitable. “In natural photosynthesis, leaves harvest solar energy and carbon dioxide is reduced and combined with water for the synthesis of molecular products that form biomass. In our system, nanowires harvest solar energy and deliver electrons to bacteria, where carbon dioxide is reduced and combined with water for the synthesis of a variety of targeted, value-added chemical products,” said Chris Chang of Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley, an expert in catalysts for carbon-neutral energy conversions. The system uses silicon and titanium oxide nanowire structures to create an “artificial forest” “Our artificial forest is similar to the chloroplasts in green plants. When sunlight is absorbed, photo-excited electron−hole pairs are generated in the silicon and titanium oxide nanowires, which absorb different regions of the solar spectrum. The photo-generated electrons in the silicon will be passed onto bacteria for the CO2 reduction while the photo-generated holes in the titanium oxide split water molecules to make oxygen,” said Yang. The forest is then populated with microbes that catalyze the carbon dioxide reduction. For the study, the team used the anaerobic bacterium Sporomusa ovata which takes electrons from its environment and uses them to reduce carbon dioxide. “S. ovata is a great carbon dioxide catalyst as it makes acetate, a versatile chemical intermediate that can be used to manufacture a diverse array of useful chemicals. We were able to uniformly populate our nanowire array with S. ovata using buffered brackish water with trace vitamins as the only organic component,” aid Michelle Chang, an expert in biosynthesis. Once the carbon dioxide is reduced, genetically engineered E.coli take over and synthesize the desired chemical products. According to the researchers the S. ovata and E.coli steps could potentially be combined in the future. While this is, potentially, a remarkable and timely breakthrough the technology is not quite ready yet. “We are currently working on our second generation system which has a solar-to-chemical conversion efficiency of three-percent. Once we can reach a conversion efficiency of 10-percent in a cost effective manner, the technology should be commercially viable,” said Yang. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] Mexico: 500, 000 left without drinking water after oil spill
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mexico-50-left-without-drinking-water-after-oil-spill-1496717 Mexico: 500,000 left without drinking water after oil spill By Adam Justice April 16, 2015 10:49 BST As the number of Mexicans without drinking water climbed to roughly half a million on 15 April after an oil spill, authorities in the southeastern Mexican state of Tabasco were moving to get water purification and treatment plants reopened. The trouble began at the end of last week, when trespassers reportedly slashed an oil pipeline, which in turn polluted local waterways including the Sierra River. As a result, four water treatment facilities were shuttered. Pemex, the national oil company, dispatched workers to try and protect drinking water. Any solution, however, is days into an ongoing hardship for locals. "The damage is terrible. Of course we want to avoid the contamination of drinking water processing plants, but the environmental damage is indisputably going to be very big regardless," said Humberto de los Santos, mayor of Centro. The efforts to reopen the water treatment plants began on 14 April, and by 15 April, two of the plants were reopened, according to local media reports. The incident has a taken a toll on locals. "Well, they (authorities) told us to be prepared for water shortage but we didn't think it was going to turn into a chaos. Partly it's our responsibility for leaving everything to the last minute but much of the blame is the Pemex company's," said local resident Ericka Sanchez. The other two plants are slated to open by 17 April. The total clean-up could take as much as 15 days. Local authorities have called on Pemex to foot the bill for the damages. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] Can Other Cities Match Georgetown’s Low-Cost Switch to 100 Percent Wind and Sun?
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2015/04/can-other-cities-match-georgetowns-low-cost-switch-to-100-wind-and-sun [images and links in on-line article] Can Other Cities Match Georgetown’s Low-Cost Switch to 100 Percent Wind and Sun? John Farrell April 15, 2015 This is probably not the first place you’ve read about Georgetown, Texas, the town of 55,000 that will be getting the equivalent of 100 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2017. But few articles hit upon the two key reasons Georgetown was able to make this move when so many other cities with abundant renewable resources (e.g. Tucson, Arizona) are stuck with a majority-coal-fired electricity supply. If cities had these keys, many could obtain 100 percent renewable energy at a surprisingly low cost. Key #1: Local Ownership Just one in seven Americans gets their electricity from one of about 2,000 municipal utilities, but these locally controlled utilities allow a community to chart its own electric future. It’s the key behind Palo Alto’s surge toward carbon neutral electricity, toward Austin’s 35 percent renewable by 2020 goal, and Sacramento’s ability to pursue a 90 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from electricity by 2050. Unfortunately, this local self-determination isn’t enough, because there are many other municipal utilities with only a pittance of renewable energy on their grid system. And that leads to… Key #2: No Contracts The Georgetown municipal utility closed its last power plant in 1945, and has contracted with third parties to provide electricity ever since. With the expiration of its major supply contract in 2012, it was free to sign new contracts. This freedom is what has allowed other utilities like tiny Farmers Electric Cooperative in Iowa to become the number one solar utility in the country. Georgetown didn’t pursue renewable energy for environmental reasons, but simply because it was the best investment for their customers. The 150 megawatts of solar PV and 145 megawatts of wind power will supply as much as double the town’s annual electricity use, ensuring sufficient supply year round even with fluctuations in sunshine and wind, and allow the town to sell the excess into Texas electricity markets. As attractive as the price — which was lower than the town’s current wholesale electricity costs — the solar and wind contracts have zero volatility because they have zero fuel cost, insulating Georgetown electric customers from rising fossil fuel prices. Self-Reliance not Self-Sufficiency It’s worth noting that the solar and wind contracts don’t mean that Georgetown will be completely reliant on the sun and wind. Their grid remains interconnected to the rest of the Texas electricity system, so in periods of zero wind and zero sun, the town can still tap into the ERCOT spot market for power. However, the wind and solar resource tend to balance one another. As the city’s press release notes, “This means that wind power can most often fill power demand when the sun isn’t shining.” A Low Cost Copy? Could other cities follow suit? If they had the two keys that Georgetown did, almost certainly. ILSR’s analysis suggests that path to 100 percent renewable energy is surprisingly inexpensive. Our approach was to analyze the path to 100 percent renewable energy via wind and solar power alone, for the largest municipal electric utility in each state (i.e. cities with Key #1, and hopefully a timeline to obtain Key #2). The following map shows that 15 of the largest city-owned electric companies (mostly in the Midwest) could contract for 100 percent renewable energy at 7.5¢ per kilowatt-hour (kWh) or less. Another 18 could do so for less than 9¢ per kWh. The final 14 could contract for 100 percent wind and solar for 10.3¢ per kWh or less. Detailed assumptions and calculations are shown at the bottom of this post. The map is pretty clear: Georgetown may be the first municipal utility to procure 100% renewable energy (and not just renewable energy credits), but it won’t be the last. As costs continue to fall for renewable energy, many more cities can make the rapid shift to 100% wind and sun. Assumptions Costs The cost of solar and solar resource potential was calculated using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory System Advisor Model, with an installed cost of $2.55/Watt, $20 per kilowatt annual maintenance costs, use of both federal accelerated depreciation and 30% tax credit, financing 100% of the system cost at 8% interest on a 10 year loan, a 5% real discount rate over 25 years, and a 2¢ per kWh margin for the developer. The cost of wind power was calculated by ILSR assuming an installed cost of $1.63/Watt (source), $49 per kilowatt annual maintenance costs, use of federal accelerated depreciation but no tax credits, financing 100% of the system cost at 8% interest on a 10 year loan, a 6% real discount rate ov
