Technology

Oregon State University and its Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center recently announced submission to the federal government of a plan outlining construction and operation of a wave energy test site off of the Oregon coastline.

The facility would be built seven miles west of Seal Rock in Lincoln County, and when complete it would be the first full-scale wave energy test site in the U.S. connected to the electrical grid.

OSU’s 1,000-page test site plan details not only how the wave energy site would be built and run, but also measures that would be taken to minimize potential environmental impacts to local marine fisheries and other resources. The plan is part of the university’s draft license application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an independent agency that regulates electricity transmission.

Work that went into creating the project plan was paid for largely with dollars from a $35 million U.S. Department of Energy grant received by the university in December 2016. The state of Oregon also is backing the project.

Wave energy converters are among the devices the Energy Department is researching to generate energy from the ocean. Other examples include tidal and current energy converters as well as ocean thermal energy conversion technologies. These devices are collectively referred to as MHK technologies.

If the university’s application is successful and the wave energy test site becomes operational, likely sometime in 2021, it is designed to have a maximum output of 20 megawatts of electricity under optimal conditions. That is enough power for roughly 20,000 homes.

Burke Hales is an Oregon State University professor and the chief scientist for the wave energy project, which began more than five years ago with the work of a Newport-area site selection team. Despite the relatively mature technology at the heart of wave energy, construction of such facilities for permanent use has, to date, been cost-prohibitive, he said.

“That’s the big issue – money, money, money,” Hales said.

Since those early days, OSU has gone through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s alternative licensing process, which requires collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders.

Hales said the test site would be a proving ground for companies involved in manufacturing wave energy conversion devices. Currently, several are available in the marketplace.

Industry sources show these devices range in design from point absorbers, which capture wave motion, to attenuators, which resemble articulated snakes and are designed to respond to wave curvature. There also are devices that are open to the ocean on the bottom and use oscillating water columns to drive a turbine and generate power, and there are hybrid devices using one or more of these techniques.

“It will allow the developers to come to us to test their devices in a full electrical grid state,” Hales said. “We’re building the infrastructure that allows the people who build the energy devices to connect to the grid. Regardless of how the developers choose to produce wave energy, it doesn’t matter; we’re just providing the infrastructure.”

According to Department of Energy documentation, the test site would be six nautical miles west of Seal Rock in Lincoln County in waters ranging from 213 to 256 feet deep. It would be around two square nautical miles in surface area.

When finished, the site would hold four test berths, each capable of operating either an individual device or an array of devices – up to 20.

Power generated at the site would be transmitted to facilities onshore via four undersea cables that would be buried and run through conduits. Expectations are that the site would have a 25-year life span.

As for construction, Hales said it would actually be fairly simple.

A set of commercial buildings would be built onshore at the point where undersea electric cables connect to the wave energy devices at the shoreline.

Then there is the seabed excavation and boring required to emplace the electric cables beneath the sea floor. Only a handful of contractors across the globe carry out this type of heavy work, Hales said.

OSU is working with 3U Technologies, a Texas-based firm offering design and engineering in many areas, including submarine cables, to find a contractor for the project. As part of its support, the company is providing transmission cable design, delivery and installation planning, as well as cable route selection.

The company did not return calls seeking comment.

The total cost of construction would likely be around $15 million, Hales said.

“It’s actually really simple,” he said. “There (would be) sea cables that are buried in the sea floor. They (would) run about 20 kilometers into a set of buried splice vaults, which are like giant underground manholes.”

There, the four-inch-thick cables would feed up to 36,000 volts of raw power from the wave energy devices into the terrestrial conversion facility so it could be directed into the wider electric grid.

“We take what are likely to be complicated and diverse types of energy in terms of voltage, frequency and power,” Hales said, “and we convert that to a form that is compatible with the grid.”

OSU already has extensive experience in similar projects, having installed a series of undersea cables connecting ocean-based observation platforms with facilities onshore.

“People have been laying big undersea cables across the Oregon shelf for decades,” he said.

Two years’ worth of environmental studies have been carried out to date. Project managers like Hales now believe the wave energy concept can be carried out safely with little adverse effect on the marine ecosystem, including the potential impact of noise on marine wildlife.

“We’re taking a lot of those things into consideration,” Hales said. “But once the cable is in there, once it’s buried on the sea floor, there isn’t that much of an impact. So it’s really a matter of how much disruption will the construction cause? We think it’s pretty minor.”

At this point, FERC regulations require a 90-day period to allow submission of public comments. OSU will then be in position to submit a final application, likely late this year. If approval were given, university officials expect construction of the test site infrastructure would begin in fall 2019, Hales said.

One of the easiest ways for a household to save energy and money is to install energy-efficient light bulbs in as many sockets as possible. But, according to a new University of Michigan study, the low-income households that benefit most from these savings have a harder time finding CFL and LED bulbs than do households in more affluent neighborhoods. They pay more money for them, too.

For the study, a team led by Tony Reames, assistant professor at the School for Environment and Sustainability and director of the Urban Energy Justice Lab, canvassed 130 stores across Wayne County, Michigan, which encompasses Detroit and surrounding suburbs. Graduate students Michael Reiner and M. Ben Stacey conducted much of the on-the-ground data collection.

The researchers tracked prices and availability for inefficient incandescent and halogen light bulbs as well as high-efficiency CFLs and LEDs at five store types: large big-box retailers (Home Depot, Walmart); hardware stores; variety stores (Family Dollar, Dollar General); pharmacies; and small retail stores (mini marts, corner delis, and liquor stores).

The survey found high-poverty neighborhoods lacked the large retailers offering lower prices and wider selection. CFL and LED bulb prices and availability differed across the county, but more limited availability and higher prices were the norm in high-poverty areas. The most expensive CFLs and LEDs were found at pharmacies and small retail stores located in low-income urban neighborhoods.

In the poorest areas tracked in the study, with 40 percent or more of households living below the federal poverty line, none of the small retail stores carried LEDs. Meanwhile, 92 percent of the same stores carried energy-wasting incandescent and halogen bulbs.

Researchers found a $6.24 mean price difference between incandescent and halogen bulbs and LED replacements in the poorest areas. Perversely, incandescent and halogen light bulbs were less expensive in the high-poverty neighborhoods.

A just and fair energy transition

For Reames, the results are a clear example of one of the equity issues confronting low-income families. The study was inspired by the body of research documenting another of those inequalities: the lack of affordable fresh fruits and vegetables in poorer urban neighborhoods.

“The ability to benefit from the transition to more energy-efficient lighting is not equitably distributed, and those disparities raise energy justice concerns,” Reames said in a press statement.

Lighting accounts for about 20 percent of the average household’s monthly electricity bill. Replacing inefficient incandescent and halogen bulbs with LEDs should be one of the simplest steps a family can take to lower its carbon footprint and save money at the same time.

But because low-income households are less likely to have access to personal vehicles, it’s not as easy to comparison-shop for more affordable lighting options. These carless shoppers, as well as those lacking access to public transit, are therefore more likely to depend on nearby stores where LEDs may not even be stocked.

An additional disadvantage for low-income households is that in-store utility rebates used to encourage the sale of energy efficient light bulbs are less likely to be found at retailers in high-poverty neighborhoods.

“Poorer communities aren’t even able to benefit from this lightbulb rebate or discount program that they end up paying for through their rates,” Reames told Greentech Media in an interview.

A study published by Reames’ team last year found that for every $1 spent on utility energy-efficiency programs targeting low-income Michigan customers, up to $4.34 was spent on programs targeting non-low-income customers.

More of the energy savings accrued to the higher-income customers, too. The study found that for every 1 kilowatt-hour saved in low-income homes under the energy efficiency programs, up to 22 kilowatt-hours are saved in non-low-income homes.

Addressing disparities

In the interview with GTM, Reames suggested potential solutions to address the disparities documented in the Wayne County survey:

• Utilities and state regulators need to ensure equity in lightbulb rebate discount programs.
• Utilities and other key stakeholders should partner with small retailers in high-poverty neighborhoods to expand access to LED bulbs.
• Utilities should invest in educational materials and marketing campaigns targeting small-retail store owners and their customers.

Reames added that utilities need to do a better job of giving their customers access to information on the availability of energy-efficient lighting. On the website for ComEd, the utility serving Chicago, he said, customers can enter their ZIP code to access a list of nearby retailers that sell discounted LED bulbs. The website for the utility serving Detroit, DTE Energy, meanwhile, just provides a list of participating retailers where in-store rebates are available for LED bulbs.

Reames is convinced that lack of access to high-efficiency lightbulbs is not limited to low-income areas of Detroit.

“If we assume that because of development and segregation by income and race, and how that influences where stores are located, this could be something that is common in other metropolitan areas,” he said.

Fresh Energy, a nonprofit organization based in St. Paul, Minnesota, just published researchby environment policy research fellow Jen Fuller that replicated Reames’ study on a smaller scale in the Twin Cities market.

Fuller conceded she needed a larger sample size — she visited nearly 40 stores — but nevertheless concluded that “more lighting options were available at larger retail stores, which were less likely to be located in lower-income areas.”

She added, “Lower-income households disproportionately face barriers of time and mobility to access affordable and efficient lighting options.”

A 10-fold increase in the ability to harvest mechanical and thermal energy over standard piezoelectric composites may be possible using a piezoelectric ceramic foam supported by a flexible polymer support, according to Penn State researchers.

In the search for ways to harvest small amounts of energy to run mobile electronic devices or sensors for health monitoring, researchers typically add hard ceramic nanoparticles or nanowires to a soft, flexible polymer support. The polymer provides the flexibility, while the piezo nanoparticles convert the mechanical energy into electrical voltage. But these materials are relatively inefficient, because upon mechanical loading the mechanical energy is largely absorbed by the bulk of the polymer, with a very small fraction transferred to the piezo nanoparticles. While adding more ceramic would increase the energy efficiency, it comes with the tradeoff of less flexibility.

“The hard ceramics in the soft polymer is like stones in water,” said Qing Wang, professor of materials science and engineering, Penn State. “You can slap the surface of the water, but little force is transferred to the stones. We call that strain-transfer capability.”

Almost three decades ago, the late Penn State materials scientist Bob Newnham came up with the concept that the connectivity of the piezo filler determined the efficiency of the piezoelectric effect. A three-dimensional material would be more efficient than what he classified as zero-dimensional nanoparticles, one-dimensional nanowires or two-dimensional films, because the mechanical energy would be transported directly through the three-dimensional material instead of dissipating into the polymer matrix.

“Bob Newnham was a legend in the field of piezoelectrics,” said Wang. “so everybody in the ceramic community knew of his approach, but how to achieve that 3-D structure with a well-defined microstructure remained a mystery.”

The secret ingredient to solve the mystery turned out to be a cheap polyurethane foam dusting sheet that can be purchased at any home improvement store. The small uniform protrusions on the sheet act as a template for forming the microstructure of the piezoelectric ceramic. The researchers applied the ceramic to the polyurethane sheet in the form of suspended nanoparticles in solution. When the template and solution are heated to a high enough temperature, the sheet burns out and the solution crystalizes into a solid 3-D microform foam with uniform holes. They then fill the holes in the ceramic foam with polymer.

“We see that this 3-D composite has a much higher energy output under different modes,” said Wang. “We can stretch it, bend it, press it. And at the same time, it can be used as a pyroelectric energy harvester if there is a temperature gradient of at least a few degrees.”

Sulin Zhang, professor of engineering science and mechanics, Penn State is the other corresponding author on the paper that appears in Energy and Environmental Science. Zhang and his students were responsible for extensive computational work simulating the piezoelectric performance of the 3-D composite.

“We were able to show theoretically that the piezoelectric performance of nanoparticle/nanowire composites is critically limited by the large disparity in stiffness of the polymer matrix and piezoceramics, but the 3-D composite foam is not limited by stiffness,” said Zhang. “This is the fundamental difference between these composite materials, which speaks to the innovation of this new 3-D composite. Our extensive simulations further demonstrate this idea.”

Currently, Wang and his collaborators are working with lead-free and more environmentally friendly alternatives to the current lead-zirconium-titanate ceramic.

“This is a very general method,” said Wang. “This is to demonstrate the concept, based on Bob Newnham’s work. It is good to continue the work of a Penn State legend and to advance this field.” Additional authors on the article, “Flexible three-dimensional interconnected piezoelectric ceramic foam based composites for highly efficient concurrent mechanical and thermal energy harvesting,” are co-lead authors Guangzu Zhang, formerly in Wang’s group and now at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China; and Peng Zhao, a doctoral student in Zhang’s group. Other contributors are Xiaoshin Zhang, Kuo Han, Tiankai Zhao, Yong Zhang, Chang Kyu Jeong and Shenglin Jiang.

Support for this work was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the National Science Foundation of China, and the National Key Research and Development Program of China.

This forum brings together the world’s top energy officials to promote and discuss a wide range of policies and programs that will promote the transition to a global clean energy economy.

But frequently the definition of “clean energy,” as Secretary Rick Perry pointed out last year, does not include nuclear energy—the world’s second largest source of low-carbon electricity, following only behind hydropower.

Vietnam is addicted to coal. Its economy has grown over 6%, on average, since the turn of the century, among the fastest of its Southeast Asian peers, yet that growth is fueled by coal, the most polluting fuel source on the planet. This April, however, the decarbonization movement was given a boost of international recognition, as the esteemed Goldman Environmental Prize for grassroots advocacy was awarded to the first Vietnamese recipient, 42-year-old clean energy champion Nguy Thi Khanh, who hopes to end Vietnam’s reliance on coal and persuade the country to take a greener approach.

Built on coal

With a population a tad larger than Germany’s, Vietnam is in transition to realizing its centrally-planned government’s ambition for almost half of GDP to come from the high tech sector. Its top exports are broadcasting equipment, integrated circuits and computers. To power that transition, electricity demand and supply has grown over 12% a year in the last two decades; more recent growth (2010-16) has been in the 11% range, which illustrates the energy-intensity of GDP growth.

The government’s revised power development plan calls for demand growth for electricity to 2030 to continue in the high single-digit range. Coal is a critical fuel source, and one of the largest contributors to global warming. Vietnam’s per capita carbon emissions quintupled from 1990 to 2013. Global warming is a major threat to Vietnam, where rising sea levels are predicted to swallow up nearly half of the Mekong Delta, the source of much of Vietnam’s food, in coming decades.

Vietnam and Indonesia in Southeast Asia, along with China and India, are ground zero for decarbonization because most of the world’s new coal plants are being built there. According to the government’s current national plan, electricity generated from coal will rise five-fold between now and 2030, and GHG emissions will rise markedly. This is at odds with Vietnam’s national pledge to the Paris climate accord, which targets 8% emissions reduction by 2030, which they say could rise as high as a 25% reduction with international support, such as financing for renewable energy.

Coal-fired plants in Vietnam contribute to more premature deaths annually than in any other country in Asia, save Indonesia, a Harvard study found. Air quality in big cities is as bad as that of Beijing’s, according to GreenID. In 2017, the city of Hanoi enjoyed just 38 days of clean air the entire year, with contaminant levels four times those deemed acceptable by the World Health Organization . Forty percent of rice production is at risk from sea level rise, according to Vietnam’s climate accord pledge, which highlights the vulnerability of the Mekong Delta and major cities.

There is a growing groundswell of popular opinion in Vietnam against new coal plants like the giant Long An Power Center near Ho Chi Minh City. It is being reported, even by the heavily-censored Vietnamese press.

Changing attitudes

When last month the esteemed Goldman Environmental Prize was awarded to 42-year-old clean energy champion Nguy Thi Khanh, the first Vietnamese recipient of this prestigious prize, international recognition was brought to both her and her cause.

She and two others founded Vietnam’s Green Innovation and Development Centre (GreenID), an NGO focused on demonstrating the viability of sustainable energy solutions for Vietnam, in 2011. The prize, awarded to recipients on six continents, will bring significant exposure and financial support to the work that Ms. Khanh and GreenID, in combination with 11 other NGOs under the banner Vietnam Sustainable Energy Alliance, are doing to lessen coal’s share in the overall power mix.

Ms. Khanh experienced the devastating effects of coal emissions firsthand, growing up in the rural village of Bac Am, where a coal plant fouled the air, and residents developed cancer at alarmingly high rates. Among her accomplishments, Ms. Khanh is noted for having stepped forward after several massive coal-related disasters, organizing community response, and going on television to bring the facts to light.

The Goldman Prize press materials highlight Ms. Khanh’s use of science-based arguments to show “how expensive and risky coal was as a primary source of fuel.” Recommendations stemming from reports she and GreenID produced led to Vietnam revising its Power Development Plan (currently in effect) to include more than twice as much renewable energy capacity as a proportion of total installed energy capacity in 2030 than originally planned (from 9.4% to 21%) and revising down its share of coal-fired capacity by 9%, from 52% to 43%. Coal’s share of the energy mix is currently 33%. Hydropower’s share is 38% and will fall to 17% by 2030 under the current plan.

Forward thinking

Vietnam leads ASEAN in hydropower, generating 45% of all hydropower energy in the region, though as a power source, Ms. Khanh and other experts agree it is largely tapped out. Existing projects have serious ecological costs, and dams upstream in China, Laos and Cambodia threaten biodiversity in the Mekong River Delta region.

Despite considerable progress, Ms. Khanh and her group continue to push ahead. To make the case for more renewables in a yet-to-be-released 2020 government plan, she uses scenario analysis to demonstrate that under a business-as-usual scenario, Vietnam’s carbon emissions will rise about 8% a year by 2030. In a scenario in which current renewable energy prices and the negative health effects of coal are priced in, GreenID shows that investing in renewable energy is actually more cost-effective than coal, and emissions in this scenario are far lower. Steve Hellman, MD at Energy Impact Partners, a private equity firm that partners with utilities, commented on GreenID’s report, “While we acknowledge that serious externalities like pollution should be factored in…even without that consideration renewable energy (in Vietnam presumably solar and biomass, but also wind) is simply less expensive and more appropriate, particularly when paired with energy storage. We no longer live in a world with a false choice between affordable energy and a clean environment. Today the clean alternative is also the least expensive.”

In her acceptance speech for the Prize, wearing a red silk áo dài, or traditional Vietnamese tunic, Ms. Khanh took the podium to remind the world that “Vietnam’s energy future is at a crossroads,” and that “every decision and every dollar invested today will be felt in Vietnam and in our Earth’s climate for decades to come,” and that Vietnam had the choice to move away from over-reliance on coal and large hydropower. She implored banks and others to be mindful of the impact of their lending. “Our movement calls on international governments and corporations to stop investing in financing coal in Vietnam and help us move away from a high carbon future,” she said, stressing that there were many profitable opportunities to finance renewable energy in Vietnam.

“The future of society and nations cannot be decided by only one person like Mr. Trump,” she said. “Building consensus is important everywhere and for all nations. As citizens of the Earth, we need to continue to use science-based evidence and legislation and any potential avenues to shout our voice, and to build strong alliances among different stakeholders to convince our leaders, and take action before it is too late.”

Scientists have overcome a design flaw of solar panels by allowing them to collect energy in both the rain and sun. Now, almost any home can install solar panels. So even if you live in a rainy area, you can use solar panels to produce electricity for your home. This innovation could change renewable energy completely.

What are hybrid solar panels?

Hybrid solar panels, also called all-weather solar panels, generate electricity from both the sun and the rain. These panels install on a rooftop to capture the sun during the day. When rain falls, the solar panels continue to generate electricity from the force of the falling rain on their surface.

Compared to sunny days, rainy days have 90 percent less sunlight. With less sunlight, the solar panels produce an equal drop in electricity. Hybrid solar panels overcome this downside of standard solar panels with triboelectric nanogenerators. These transform rain into electricity when the sun does not shine as brightly. While not as efficient as solar cells, these nanogenerators can supplement the power produced.

With these new panels, people whose local weather patterns once restricted them from getting solar panels can now enjoy this green energy feature for their homes and businesses.

How hybrid solar panels work

This is not the first attempt to create all-weather solar panels, but it is the first successful attempt. Older designs sandwiched insulation between the solar cells on the bottom and the triboelectric nanogenerator on top. This style, however, blocked too much sunlight from reaching the solar cells, defeating the purpose of an all-weather solar panel.

The design from Soochow University in China has the nanogenerators and solar panels using the same electrode, creating a more efficient, thinner model that works well, rain or shine. Though still in the testing phase, this model could be available to the public within three to five years. But another group of Chinese researchers has developed another all-weather solar panel.

The second group from Yunnan Normal University and Ocean University of China created a single-layer model. They hypothesized graphene infused into the top of the solar cells would split the ions of the raindrops into positive and negative. The interactions between these oppositely charged ions would produce electricity. Sadly, this model remains in the design phase. With increased research, however, it could become a second option.

Who benefits from hybrid solar panels?

Until now, those in northern climates with more rain than sun had to contend with nonrenewable resources for electricity. With hybrid solar panels, anyone in the world can enjoy the benefits of renewable energy. And thanks to nighttime rains, these panels could work all the time rather than ceasing electricity production after dark. In the future, hybrid solar panels will produce electricity for homes and businesses, reducing the use of nonrenewable resources.

When more homes and businesses generate their own electricity, they no longer become beholden to electric utilities. Additionally, they will save thousands of dollars a year by not having to pay a power bill. Though the investment in solar panels seems significant, many see a return on the investment if they get adequate sunlight. With hybrid solar panels, even more places will be able to realize these savings.

Hybrid solar panel blockades

Currently, these hybrid solar panel designs are not ready for home and business use. Researchers still need to find ways to increase the efficiency from rain and sun. Current solar However, the efficiency of the Soochow University design was 13 percent, which makes it a viable alternative to standard solar panels.

At the moment, the Soochow University design is able to convert 13 percent of the energy produced by sunlight into usable energy. Comparatively, current solar panel designs convert 10 to 15 percent of the sun’s energy into electricity. Thus, the new design is a viable solar panel solution. Collecting energy from rain is something the team would like to develop further. Electricity efficiency from its triboelectric nanogenerators was not reported and the graphene model had an efficiency from rain around 6.5 percent.

With a rising demand for renewable energy sources, though, research may hurry to make this possible. The two teams from Chinese universities are not the only ones researching renewable electricity resources. Other more efficient designs of hybrid solar panels may be on the horizon.

As solar panels increase in efficiency and become closer to the ideal hybrid design of electricity creation in rain or shine, homes and businesses all over the world will be able to install them. The future will be much cleaner with these hybrid solar panels on most of homes and businesses.