Renewable Energy Race 1.0: Barack Obama vs. Dmitry Medvedev
The improvements made on the renewable energy sector come mainly from the US, and may be used in establishing solar-energy power worldwide. Given this aspects, the United States could experience a fortune comeback of its innovative leadership – if President Barack Obama will take a close look at some details. One of them: Russia also started an impressive offensive on the renewable energy sector, and has the financial power to boost its technology at a global scale. (photo: Fraunhofer ISE/ Germany) by Marita Vollborn und Vlad Dan Georgescu
It’s time for change. So far, everyone – even outside the US – understood the message coming from Barack Obama. But facing rising oil-prices there is a question to be answered: what does this really mean? First of all, the new President will have to realize that the world’s fossil-fuel reserves decline rapidly. “The United States is perhaps the most vulnerable to the coming crisis having farther to fall after the boom years, which themselves were largely driven by foreign debt and inward investment”, wrote the Hubbert Center for Petroleum Supply Studies at the Colorado School Of Mines – seven years ago. The experts concluded in April 2001: “The growing shortfall in oil supply since its own peak of production was made good by soaring oil imports, now contributing more than half its needs, and a move to gas”. But the move to gas doesn’t mean that such a change secures the US energetic interests for the future. Although geologists forecast gas reserves to be available for a longer period then oil, there are concerns regarding climate change aspects, especially the emissions of CO2.
What should President Barack Obama do? He may turn the nations’ scientific power to more solar energy research. There are strong and innovative companies waiting for a change in Americas energy supply – first signs appear evident: Nanosolar, as an exemple, has been selected for a substantial funding award as part of the high-profile Solar America Initiative.
As an example, the Third Wave of solar power consists of US Technology companies addressing the new technological opportunities. Most every of the new companies address one or the other of the above aspects. One of our favourite companies -- Nanosolar -- brings together the entire conjunction of all areas of innovation, each break-through in their own right, “to deliver a dramatic improvement in the cost-efficiency, yield, and throughput of the production of much thinner solar cells”, as the company is describing itself.
Many other companies, like SunPower, First Solar, or General Electric tried to be awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy in the competition. Obama will have to elevate such efforts to a national item. Solar Power could deliver the energy needed at private - and industrial – scale. Change means to tell the people, and the industry, the truth: the era of still existing oil giants and petro-powers is over.
Hot race for hot energy
But the rise of the renewables is global. Only a few weeks ago Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held a meeting on improving the environmental and energy efficiency of the Russian economy. According to the presidential press office, Medvedev pointed out the current lack of incentives to introduce environmental and resource-saving technologies. "As a result, Dmitry Medvedev stressed that obsolete technologies are still in place, which in the end affects Russia’s international competitiveness", writes the presidential press office.
Medvedev called "for immediate measures for improving the energy efficiency of the economy and the environmental situation, including the preparation of a fully-fledged system of standards to determine a project’s impact on the environment, as well as differentiated systems of standards for the quality of water, air and soil for each territory".
The Russian President pointed out the need to change the requirements for energy efficient technologies, buildings, structures, and production generally, as well as improving the system of technical regulation.
Medvedev noted that the 2009 federal budget and that of subsequent years will provide funding for projects related to the use of renewable energy and the introduction of environmentally-friendly and energy efficient technologies.
The response from the US was inevitable and fast. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced projects that will enhance the nation’s ability to realize the full potential of wind power across the United States. The projects include: a new wind turbine blade test facility to be constructed in Texas; a partnership between NREL, DOE, and a state consortium led by University of Houston; a just-signed agreement with Siemens Power Generation to locate and test a commercial-scale wind turbine at NREL’s National Wind Technology Center; and, a new Siemens research and development facility in Boulder, Colo., which will work closely with NREL on advanced wind power technologies.
The announcements were made at a press conference as part of the American Wind Energy Association’s Windpower 2008 Conference at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center.
At the Texas-NREL Large Blade Research and Test Facility on the Gulf Coast at Ingleside, Tex., NREL will provide technical and operational assistance, and DOE will fund up to $2 million in capital costs, for a state-of-the-art facility capable of testing blades up to at least 70 meters, or 230 feet, in length.
The blade test facility is estimated to cost between $12 million and $15 million, and is expected to be completed in 2010. The structures housing the test facilities will be owned and operated by the University of Houston. A similar blade test facility on the East Coast, the Massachusetts-NREL Wind Technology Testing Center at the Harbor of Charleston, Mass., was announced earlier. That facility is a partnership between NREL and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.
In the partnership with Siemens Power Generation, a 2.3 megawatt, SWT-2.3-101 commercial wind turbine will be erected at NREL’s 305-acre National Wind Technology Center, where NREL and Siemens researchers will conduct a full array of tests to evaluate existing systems and develop new ones for next-generation technologies. The work, which will be conducted under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between NREL and Siemens, will encompass power quality, noise emissions, rotor aerodynamics, load factors during normal operation and under severe operating conditions – all with a goal of improving the overall performance of new turbines.
Simultaneous to its CRADA with NREL, Siemens will construct and begin operation of its first U.S.-based wind technology research and development (R&D) center, to be located north of the NREL National Wind Technology Center, in Boulder. NREL has been developing and providing specialized blade testing services as part of its broader wind turbine research and development portfolio for more than 20 years at its National Wind Technology Center.
The special interest online-magazine LifeGen.de reaches more then 74.000 unique users coming from 124 countries worldwide. The magazine is read by the scientific community, by members of political institutions and by major public media. LifeGen.de was founded in 2001 an is considered to be one of Europes most important lifescience Online-Magazines. More then 6800 articles can be found at the German Business Information (GENIOS)
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The improvements made on the renewable energy sector come mainly from the US, and may be used in establishing solar-energy power worldwide. Given this aspects, the United States could experience a fortune comeback of its innovative leadership – if President Barack Obama will take a close look at some details. One of them: Russia also started an impressive offensive on the renewable energy sector, and has the financial power to boost its technology at a global scale. (photo: Fraunhofer ISE/ Germany)
