It's Now or Never

Increasing demand versus tight belt supply is now – more than ever – pushing efforts to harness alternative energy

Some sectors argue over the term. Others put forward clashing purposes. The rest argue it might be too late to look for replacements, citing cataclysmic events (from longer droughts to heavier rainfall to severe flooding to increased health-related concerns, among others) that cost properties and lives.

Whatever the agenda is – now is the time to ensure security, pursue reforms, and mobilize majority of society to prepare the near future with the use of alternative energy.

TO USE OR NOT TO USE

Opposing views surround alternative energy. 

For instance, the definition of what is and what covers alternative energy varies. What was regarded as alternative energy sources has changed significantly. There are also issues regarding dominant sources of energy because of the wide gamut of energy options and the differing goals of their advocates. To call one an energy source alternative can be controversial.  

One thing is sure though – alternative energy must be produced without the harmful effects of burning fossil fuels. Mitigating carbon dioxide emissions (the major contributing factor of climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states) is pushed forward across nations. 

Sustainable alternatives must be ready, as conventional energy sources are not here forever. Currently, there are four varieties of alternative energy sources. Sun’s heat and light is being harnessed now as a potential source. Energy produced by the wind is also generating acceptance. The combination of water and the Earth’s heat produce geothermal energy. Water is also harnessed to generate hydropower.    

Citing such, what makes an energy source the best alternative? Here, we highlight best case examples of how solar and wind power can be the be energy for the future.

ENERGY FOR THE FUTURE

THE ANSWER IS ‘BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND’:

Use Modern Energy – Now

Singer, song-writer Bob Dylan is right when he wrote Blowin’ in the Wind. Translate this to the fact that the wind is now regarded as viable, alternative energy. Denmark’s Vestas, a global provider known for its widest serial-produced turbine range; producer of nacelles in 15 global locations, and delivers controllers from five locations in Spain, China, and Denmark, has put forward the use of wind as the “modern energy.”

TRUSTING THE WIND

Wind power has become competitive. It already achieved its technological maturity – it has become viable in terms of price and a sound business investment.  The 2006 report by Emerging Energy Research also points out that land-based wind power is slightly more expensive than electricity from a new coal-fired power station – and its cost is equal to electricity from a new natural gas-fired plant (not considering the CO2 emissions’ cost).

Wind power is also predictable, another quality Vestas cites. Although wind turbines do not run at full capacity for 365 days annually, the same is such for conventional energy pl ants. In Denmark, for instance, the wind power already meets 1/5 of the population’s overall needs – and this country has achieved such using less than 20% of its actual wind resources. Denmark gets all of its electricity from its 5000 wind turbines on very windy days.

Wind power is independent – it is an unlimited energy source indigenous to every country. With energy becoming an increasingly political issue for every country, with each of them need to import power to fuel their economies and homes, thus the desire to become more energy independent.

Wind power is fast – wind power plants can start producing energy very quickly. The Vestas wind power plant, for example, can be up and running in a year, which is much faster than

Above all, wind is clean. It does not produce CO2 and other harmful gases. It also does not use up the already scarce water. A Vestas V90-3.0MW wind turbine produces the same amount of electricity as 13,000 barrels of oil each year. 

THE BEST BET OR NOT?

Many are still skeptical about the potential of wind power as an alternative energy source, considering that less than 1% of the world’s power consumption comes from wind turbines. 

But Vestas is optimistic, as it expects that the current wind power share will grow to 20% by 2020. For instance, targets for renewable power for EU (20%) and China (15%), and with the US expected to follow similar targets, mean that installed capacity is set to rise from 75,000MW to about 1 millionMW in 2020, an equivalent of more than 20% annual growth for these economies.

With its 20% market share, Vestas becomes the biggest player in the global wind power market. Concentrating on being the experts in modern energy (as how the company refers to wind power), Vestas has improved its output 100 times over since it put up its first turbine in 1976. More than 20,000 people work continuously to upgrade its turbines, making them the most efficient in the market. In 2008, it opened its largest Research and Development (R&D) center in Aarhus, Denmark, housing more than 500 engineers. It also has plans to open R&D centers in Singapore, Chennai, India, and Houston, US. 

Last March, it opened Vestas Services Philippines, Inc., which supports its global team with IT operations, including surveillance, service desk, operations, support, and programming, making it the biggest IT hub in Vestas outside Randers, Demark. "The opening of our IT hub in the Philippines will make it possible for Vestas IT to streamline its global IT services throughout Vestas' business and enable us to operate out IT reliant business areas more efficiently," says Vestas Wind Systems A/S Chief Information Officer Torben Bonde. 

Vestas has also already installed a cumulative 33MW capacity in the northern province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines. "We like to have the [use of] wind energy to be on a par with oil and gas [use]," says Vestas Asia Pacific President Sean Sutton. He adds that they aim to increase the wind energy capacity in the country to 417MW by 2013.

THE SUNSHINE OF OUR LIVES:

Solar Energy Systems for the Future

The March 2010 Floyd Associates’ Solar Power Industry Report cites that the market for solar power is broad and, more importantly, sustainable as the demand for power continues to grow in developed and developing markets. 

Further, the report cites that there are currently over 1.6 billion people living in 5 million villages around the globe with no electricity. “Africa, Asia, and Latin America have impressive solar resources that have yet to be capitalized on and that can potentially fill the supply shortage dominating the global power market,” the report cites. 

Spain (the global leader in Concentrated Solar Power [CSP], and where there are roughly 400MW of CSP systems, mostly parabolic trough, under construction), Italy, France, South Africa, Portugal, Greece, Germany, and Jordan, among others, are utilizing their untapped solar resources through feed in tariffs that make solar electricity more economically feasible. North Africa also has impressive solar resources, as feasibility studies show that North African power plants could provide about 15% of Europe's electricity needs.

CHEVRON’S SUNNY SHARE

Sunlight can be converted into other forms of energy (such as heat and electricity) using photovoltaic cells made from silicon alloys. Swinging energy prices have fueled interest in alternative energy source such as solar power, which can help alleviate

Regarded as the US’ largest installer of solar energy systems for educational institutions, Chevron Energy Solutions (CES, a Chevron subsidiary), has developed hundreds of projects involving energy efficiency and renewable power for education, government, and business customers in the US.  Its largest K-12 solar and energy efficiency project in the US is the San Jose Unified School District – designed, built, and operates the 5.5MW system at 14 district sites. It is pegged to save the district more than USD25 million and lower CO2 emissions by more than 100,000 metric tons – equal to planting more than 1,400 acres (5.7 sq. km.) of trees.

They also did a similar project in North America, at the Contra Costa Community College District, California. CES built a 3.2MW system, including photovoltaic panels mounted on 34 parking canopies at three campuses and installed several energy efficiency measures. This effort is expected to save the district more than USD70 million over 25 years.   

CES also completed last year the nation’s largest energy-efficiency and solar electric system for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Designed to produce 1.2MW of renewable energy, it has 6,720 solar panels at Metro’s central maintenance facility for buses. It is expected to cut the facility’s yearly USD1.1 million energy bill in half and reduce its purchase of utility power and reduce carbon emissions by more than 3,700 metric tons.

CES collaborative effort with Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., in Bakersfield, California completed the Solarmine, the 500KW, 6-acre (24,800 sq. m.) facility to help power oil field operations. The amorphous-silicon solar panels are good candidates for commercial roofing and other large applications that require flexibility and resilience. Similar project also began construction in 2009 in San Joaquin Valley. The solar-to-steam demonstration project is injected into the wellbore to make heavy oil less viscous and easier to extract.

BRIGHTER OR DIMMER HOPE?

Many argue that solar power is an inconsistent energy source since sunlight only appears for 12 hours a day. Not to mention that this inconsistency requires large surface area coverage to be viable, since a solar panel installed on a home rooftop may not be sufficient to power certain parts of the house. 

But CES has only bright prospects. At its global headquarters in San Ramon, California, it installed a solar demonstration project designed to test current and emerging solar technologies for facility planning and potential future use at Chevron facilities. On the East Coast, CES collaborated with the University of Buffalo on the installation of a 73.5KW photovoltaic system. It also develops projects for the federal government, like the 910KW US Postal Service’s largest solar power and energy-efficiency project at its mail-processing center in Oakland, California. 

For its pioneering efforts, CES was awarded a master contract by the U.S. Department of Energy to work with federal agencies to reduce energy and water consumption and increase the government's use of renewable energy. In 2009, it was named by Fast Company magazine as one of "The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies" and one of the top five "Most Innovative Clean Energy Companies."

SOURCES | http://www.floyd-associates.com/; http://www.chevron.com/; http://www.solarenergy.org/; http://www.vestas.com