Green Energy

Britain, the birthplace of coal power, has for the first time, produced more electricity from zero-carbon sources such as wind, solar and nuclear than from fossil fuel plants.

Britain was the first G7 country to commit to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 and in November will host the United Nations’ international climate talks in Glasgow.

“As we enter a new decade, this truly is a historic moment,” said National Grid Chief Executive John Pettigrew, referring to the company’s latest data.

The data shows wind, solar, hydro, nuclear and imports produced about 48.5 per cent of Britain’s electricity in 2019 while fossil fuels such as coal and gas contributed about 43 per cent. The rest came from biomass.

Renewable power produced more than a quarter of the country’s electricity in 2019, up from only 2.3 per cent in 1990.

Britain’s windy coastlines in particular have proved to be an ideal host for large wind projects, with the northwest coast of England home to the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Orsted’s Walney Extension.

California homebuilders rushed in recent months to get building permits before new rules kick in Jan. 1 requiring all new homes to be solar-powered.

TRI Pointe Homes, for example, already has permits for 80% of the homes it plans to build in Southern California in 2020.

Glendora-based CrestWood Communities has permits for 42 homes it plans to build in the new year in Montclair.

And in Irvine — home to numerous new housing projects — building permit applications jumped 600% during the last three months of 2019 compared with the prior two years.

Most homebuilders — particularly large-scale production builders — have been gearing up for the state’s new solar mandate for years, industry officials say.

But many — particularly smaller builders — are rushing to get their 2020 homes grandfathered under the earlier building code in order to keep costs down, ongoing projects uniform or because they’re not ready for the energy upgrade.

Some industry officials have been advising members to pull as many building permits as possible by Dec. 31 to avoid installing solar on their homes.

“I don’t know how much prepared they are in the urban areas. My builders, they haven’t been given the time or the clarity of what compliance constitutes. It’s just a big furball at this point,” said Brian Todd, president and CEO of the Building Industry Association of Tulare and Kings Counties, north of Bakersfield. “My prediction is you’ll see a lot of building permits pulled in the last week or two weeks of December.”

It’s still too early to see if that’s the case. But data shows an uptick in building permits issued in October, even though permits were down for the year as a whole.

For example, permits for single-family homes jumped 10% to 5,239 units in October from the year before, the California Homebuilding Foundation’s CIRB Report shows. But permits were down 8% for the first 10 months of 2019.

Zillow reported a 7% gain in California building permits in October, with increases of 11% in Los Angeles and Orange counties and 38% in the Inland Empire.

Some of those gains may be due to lower mortgage rates. But interviews with builders and industry officials show at least some of that is due to the new solar mandate.

First in nation

State energy and building officials adopted the new building code in 2018, making California the first state in the nation to require solar power on homes getting a permit in 2020 or later.

The vote was the culmination of a decade-long push to make new homes net-zero by the next decade, meaning they would produce as much energy as they consumed over the course of a year.

The new energy code applies to all residences in buildings of three stories or less, including apartments.

The solar mandate followed several rounds of energy-code updates enacted gradually over the years to reduce power consumption and make solar more feasible.

Some builders began experimenting with solar homes as early as 2012, with more and more developers providing rooftop solar panels as an option for the past several years. They long-ago developed marketing with displays in model homes showing how much the more-efficient solar homes save them on their utility bills.

Most of those builders now are ready, industry officials say.

“I haven’t heard of or have spoken to any builders unprepared for the solar mandate,” said Wayne Yamano, a principal with John Burns Real Estate Consulting, a homebuilder advisory firm. “All of the builders who build in California that we spoke to have been gearing up for the solar mandate for quite some time and are ready, with many choosing to be in compliance early.”

Building Industry Association officials around the region echoed that view.

“It’s not even a discussion. Builders will just deal with it,” Borre Winckel, executive officer with the BIA of San Diego County, said in an email. “It doesn’t rate high on the scale of obstacles.”

“The large production builders are very prepared because we knew this law was eminent for over a year,” added Tom Grable, Southern California division president for TRI Pointe Homes and president of the BIA of Southern California.

“It’s very minor,” Grable said. “Solar is a very simple system. … The biggest issue is the cost of the system itself. That can run into $10,000 to $20,000.”

Increased costs

Nonetheless, even builders that are prepared have been pulling building permits early, mainly to avoid having to go back to a city’s plan-check desk to revise the remaining units in an ongoing project.

For example, TRI Pointe’s Southern California division began pulling 2020 permits in August to cut costs next year, said Project Management Vice President Rick Wood.

“It behooves us to get them grandfathered into the 2016 code to save on cost increases,” Wood said.

Other new upgrades effective in January require even more insulation or thicker walls and more efficient heating and cooling systems, Wood said. But solar is the most expensive requirement coming in 2020.

About 80% of the homes TRI Pointe will build in Southern California will be built under the old energy code, said Wood. By 2021, as many as 30% may be built using permits issued in 2019.

Homebuilders are benefitting from a new state law — enacted to help wildfire victims get their homes rebuilt — which extends the life of building permits from six months to a year and allows multiple six-month extensions.

Price also is another factor. In lower-cost, less-urban parts of the state, buyers are more sensitive to the added cost of solar, industry officials said.

For example, a $12,000 solar system adds 4% to the price of a typical new home in the Central Valley, but just 2% to the price of an L.A. County home and 1% to the price of an Orange County home.

“We’re very price sensitive in Kern County,” said David Dmohowski, executive officer for the Kern County Home Builders Association. “The new solar mandate will push the new unit price to around $300,000, and that’s a big concern to our builders. The homebuilders who deal with the starter market, they really struggle with the added cost.”

CrestWood Communities plans to include solar panels on a 17-home development in the San Bernardino town of Grand Terrace called Ladera, said Operations Vice President Terry Kent. But it pulled permits early for a 42-home project in Montclair.

“We’re trying to save affordability,” Kent said. “With all these new mandates, it adds to the cost of a house.”

Central California homebuilders also are far less prepared, said Brian Ennis, president Ennis Builders in Porterville, which averages about two dozen homes a year.

“There’s a lot of unknowns, and we’re trying to figure out,” Ennis said.

Builders of attached townhomes and low-rise apartments face different struggles because their buildings have less roof space.

Roof-top solar could displace air conditioning units, said Sunti Kumjim, vice president of development and forward planning for MBK Rental Living, which is building about 1,700 apartments in six or seven projects throughout California.

“There may not be enough roof area to accommodate multifamily projects,” Kumjim said. “You may have to move air conditioning units to ground level. … Just where to put them all becomes a site-planning issue.”

Ultimately, builders everywhere will have to figure all these issues out, builders said. Solar won’t be an option anymore.

“Solar is the future,” said CrestWood’s Kent, a past president of the Baldy View BIA chapter. “It’s just like the kitchen stove. … It’s going to be standard on all houses now.”

Integrated system simultaneously harvests and stores solar thermal energy with low losses for 24/7 power under all conditions.

Researchers at the University of Houston have designed a device that efficiently captures solar energy and stores it for use by applications for the internet of things (IoT) and industrial IoT. Unlike solar panels and solar cells, which use photovoltaic technology for direct electricity generation, the hybrid device leverages the physics of molecular energy and the accumulation of latent heat to make the collection and storage of energy a 24/7 process, addressing a primary shortcoming of current solar products.

The researchers synthesized the device using norbornadiene-quadricyclane (NBD–QC), an organic compound with high specific energy and extended storage times, as the molecular storage material (MSM), separated from a localized phase-change material (L-PCM) by a silica aerogel to maintain the necessary difference in working temperature.

The common approach for storing solar energy is the use of batteries coupled with photovoltaic systems for both small- and large-scale installations. It is not only electricity that needs to be stored: An equally useful aspect of energy transition is the ability to capture and store solar thermal energy. That goal is not so easy to achieve, however, especially if you need a system that can preserve heat for long periods.

The challenge has spurred a new line of research in recent years that is devoted to the creation of solar storage on demand. The critical point of these systems remains efficiency. The Houston researchers’ development could thus drive decisive change in the thermal-battery sector.

Efficient harvesting and storage of solar thermal energy are essential to exploiting the abundant solar radiation that reaches Earth’s surface. Today’s systems use expensive materials with a high optical concentration, which leads to high heat losses.

The new device is based on a hybrid paradigm that uses daytime heat localization to provide 73% collection efficiency on a small scale and ∼90% on a large scale. In particular, at night, the energy stored by the hybrid system is recovered with 80% efficiency and at a higher temperature than during the day, setting it apart from other state-of-the-art systems, according to a paper published by the researchers in the December issue of Joule.

Classic silicon photovoltaic systems are considered a mature technology that is approaching its theoretical performance limits, though incremental improvements are still being made. At the moment, there is interest in double-sided panels, which take energy not only from the sun but also indirectly from the albedo — the light reflected by rocks, asphalt, or other surfaces.

A lingering disadvantage of renewable sources such as solar- and wind-based power, however, is their intermittency, which requires the use of batteries to store the generated electricity safely and economically so that it is available for use when needed. The University of Houston researchers say their approach could remove a roadblock to the large-scale adoption of solar energy by enabling 24/7 use of solar power in all seasons and under all weather conditions (Figures 1 and 2).

“The high-efficiency harvest is due, in part, to the ability of the device to capture the full spectrum of sunlight, harvesting it for immediate use and converting the excess into molecular energy storage,” said Hadi Ghasemi, Bill D. Cook Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the university and a corresponding author of the paper.

The integrated system also reduces thermal losses because there is no need to transport stored energy through long pipelines.

Technologies to store solar energy at low cost and high efficiency are a critical focus in light of the other developments that are coming to the fore to enable energy security and cope with climate change.

Artificial intelligence, for example, can regulate and optimize flows in smart-grid applications to compensate for solar- and wind-power intermittency and minimize the need to compensate for grid imbalances with thermoelectric power plants.

Enel Green Power North America has started operations at two renewable energy plants in the United States totaling around 318 MW of capacity. The projects include the first 252-MW phase of the Roadrunner solar project in Texas and the 66-MW Whitney Hill wind project in Illinois.

“This milestone emphasizes the scale of Enel Green Power’s capability to develop, build and operate projects across diverse geographies and technologies in the US,” said Georgios Papadimitriou, Head of Enel Green Power North America. “We continue to aggressively pursue opportunities for growth in North America, capitalizing on strong C&I demand for sustainable power and accelerating the transition to a carbon-free economy.”

The 497-MW Roadrunner solar project began construction in February and will be the largest operational solar farm in Texas upon completion of its second phase, expected in late 2020. Once fully operational, the project will sell its energy in a 65-MW PPA with Mondelēz International and a 70-MW PPA with The Clorox Company. Upon completion of the second phase the solar plant will be able to generate approximately 1,200 GWh annually.

Enel Green Power has another six projects under construction including the second 245-MW phase of the Roadrunner solar project and five wind projects. Combined, these six projects represent nearly 1 GW of renewable capacity currently under construction by Enel Green Power in the United States and Canada, all are expected to begin operations in 2020.

By now, everybody has heard of solar and wind energy. You’re probably familiar with hydroelectric energy as well, and maybe even geothermal energy. But few are familiar with osmotic energy.

Osmotic energy plants are fairly rare as one of the key components in their use — a semi-permeable membrane — tends to break down, requiring frequent replacement and driving up operational costs. Now, new research has uncovered a better, more durable membrane that may lead to significantly better returns for this kind of renewable energy.

What exactly is osmotic energy?

Osmotic energy takes advantage of the differences in pressure and salinity between fresh and seawater to generate electricity. Its only waste product is brackish water, which is simply water that is saltier than freshwater but less so than seawater. While it doesn’t generate large amounts of energy compared to other renewable energy sources, it is remarkably consistent. The energy derived from wind turbines and solar panels fluctuates tremendously with the weather, time, and local climate, but osmotic energy works more or less the same year-round wherever fresh and saltwater meet.

Osmosis, in general, is the process by which liquid moves from a dilute to a concentrated solution through a semi-permeable membrane. It occurs in your body all the time, as its critical for fundamental biological processes.

Osmotic power plants typically use one of two major techniques. In pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO), freshwater is gathered in one tank while saltwater is kept in another. In between, a membrane separates the two. This membrane has special properties that only permit freshwater to pass through, but not saltwater. As a result, the freshwater is drawn through the membrane, diluting the saltwater in the corresponding tank but also raising the pressure. From this pressure, we can derive energy.

The other technique, reverse electrodialysis osmosis (RED), takes advantage of the fact that saltwater contains more positive and negative ions than fresh water. Normally, these ions would travel into the freshwater, balancing out the solution. But when harvesting osmotic energy, a membrane can selectively allow only the positive or negative ions to pass through, turning tanks of salt and fresh water into a kind of battery that passively generates electricity.

Inspired by bone and cartilage

But the reason why we don’t see more of either of these plants is because of the membrane. Osmotic membranes are delicate and must retain specific characteristics in order to remain semi-permeable. Exposed to the elements, they tend to degrade over time.

Recent research described in the journal Joule presents a new, durable membrane inspired by bone and cartilage that lasts. This membrane would be used in RED applications.

Bone is a very strong material, but it doesn’t permit the transportation of ions, while flimsier material like cartilage permits ions to pass through easily. A membrane for osmotic energy would require both strength and the ability to transport ions.

Using this as inspiration, the researchers developed a membrane consisting of layers of boron nitride and aramid nanofibers. Boron nitride had shown promise in previous membranes but tended to develop cracks over time. To address this, the researchers investigated the use of a class of synthetic fibers frequently used in Kevlar: Aramid nanofibers. By layering boron nitride and the aramid nanofibers, the researchers had developed a material that was sturdy enough to last while remaining flexible and efficient in transporting ions.

The researchers found that not only does this generate power to a similar degree as commercial RED osmotic power plants, but it also performs for a remarkably long time. They cycled the membrane 20 times, observing its efficiency over the course of 200 hours, and found no drop in performance whatsoever.

Moreover, the membrane can function well in a wide range of pH and temperatures. Other membranes only perform well under specific conditions and need to be regularly replaced, increasing the amount of energy they require to be maintained. Implementing a more durable, longer-lasting membrane in a power plant would mean in effect that the plant could generate more power, as it would require less energy to maintain.

While the study only served as a proof of concept, it does show that we’re getting better and better at addressing the problems with renewable energy. Not only that, but it highlights how much energy available to us is out there — so long as we’re willing to think creatively and look in the right places. With any luck, we might start to see more osmotic energy plants operating at the mouths of the world’s rivers.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan introduced a pair of close-to-production electric prototypes he hopes will propel the nation to the automotive industry’s global stage for the first time. Marketed by a new brand called Turkey Automobile Joint Venture Group (TOGG), the models use technology developed entirely in Turkey.

While Turkey’s so-called national car was originally designed around an older Saab platform, the sedan and the crossover unveiled during a grandiose ceremony have no Swedish genes. They’re both powered by an electric powertrain that places a lithium-ion battery pack directly under the passenger compartment and an electric motor over each axle. That’s a fairly standard configuration in the electric car world; models made by Tesla, Audi, and Jaguar use the same layout.

The state-operated Scientific and Technical Research Council developed the drivetrain, according to Motor Authority. It makes 200 horsepower in its standard configuration, though buyers seeking more will have the option of paying extra for a 400-hp variant. TOGG quoted a 4.8-second sprint from zero to 62 mph, and up to 300 miles of driving range. Here again, the specifications fall in line with comparable offerings made by American and European manufacturers. The recently unveiled Ford Mustang Mach-E offers about 300 miles in its most capable configuration.

Pininfarina, the Italian design house owned by India’s Mahindra, drew both cars. The yet-unnamed models wear sharp, slightly generic-looking sheet metal with proportions penned with an eye on the average motorist’s needs. Stylists decided not to take risks by experimenting with unusual, segment-bending body styles. The door handles automatically extend from the body, like on a Tesla Model S. Once inside, the front passengers face four screens: One for the instrument cluster, one for the infotainment system, one in front of the passenger that displays entertainment menus, and one for the climate control.

“We are not manufacturing cars for our needs alone. We are looking forward to establishing a global brand,” Erdogan announced during the unveiling. Additional details (like pricing) will be released closer to the crossover’s on-sale date.

While Turkey isn’t known for making cars, the nation has manufactured dozens of different models for various brands over the past couple of decades. Turkish automaker Tofas began making the Fiat 124 under license in 1971, and it builds the Ram ProMaster City through a joint venture with Fiat as of 2019.