January 4, 2008

A small central Illinois town got some big news: It has been chosen as the site to build a 21st Century power plant that advertises itself as virtually emissions free and able to sequester and bury carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming.

"FutureGen" -- as the project is known -- won't come cheap. It's a nearly $2 billion investment funded mostly by American taxpayers, and roughly double that of the early estimates. In the end, though, proponents say that it is an essential undertaking, noting that coal is used to produce the preponderance of this country's electric generation and that every effort must be made to make it cleaner. It's particularly true as the global community grapples with how to reduce heat trapping emissions.

January 2, 2008

It may be the final stretch of the Bush presidency. But it's just the beginning of new discussions to achieve more aggressive greenhouse gas cuts -- ones that would reach beyond the Kyoto Protocol that ends in 2012.

Talks among 192 nations ended last month in Bali, Indonesia that lay out a broad framework by which they would cut their heat trapping emissions. While no hard targets were set, the agreement does compel all nations to negotiate more precisely their plans beginning in 2009. For their part, developing countries such as India and China that have increasing emissions would receive assistance from richer nations as well as easier access to Western technologies to increase power plant efficiencies and reduce auto emissions.

12/13/2007 - Farmington Hills-based Lumecon LLC said Wednesday that it had won a contract with the city of Ann Arbor to supply more than 1,000 LED retrofits in the city's move to 100 percent LED street lighting downtown.

Lumecon was founded earlier this year as the sales and marketing arm of Relume Technologies Inc., which was founded in 1994 as an LED research and development company.

The Relume LED retrofit system is based on XLamp LEDs from Durham, N.C.-based Cree Inc.

The city's contract was awarded after a 25-fixture evaluation installation showed a 50 percent energy savings and a 3.8-year payback on the initial purchase and installation price of the new lamps.

December 12, 2007

China's nuclear program may be a harbinger of things to come in the industry. That nation, which now uses coal to fuel two-thirds of its electric generation, says that its eventual goal is to obtain a third of its power from nuclear energy.

Mainland China has eleven nuclear power reactors in commercial operation -- six of which it has brought on line since 2002, five currently under construction and several others in the works. The aggressive build-out is a response to its reliance on coal and the clean air issues it is creating there. Without change, it will assuredly impact its bustling economy. Unlike western nations, China is unfettered politically with respect to forging ahead with its nuclear expansion. Its experience is therefore going to weigh heavily on the path that developed nations will take.

December 7, 2007

Liquefied natural gas could overflow with prosperity. But, real risks are present.

Stranded gas found in pockets around the world can be frozen, transported and then re-gasified in areas where natural gas shortfalls persist. Right now, that LNG provides about 2.8 percent of this nation's natural gas, a figure that the U.S. Department of Energy is predicting to increase to 16 percent by 2030.