A New Adaptive Material Could Halve the Cost of Solar Power

 

Solar power is one of the most reliable forms of renewable power-but it's still expensive. Now, a team has developed a smart, adaptive material that could slash the its cost in half.

Developed by start-up Glint Photonics, the new material has optical properties that can change to help it capture as much light as possible. Currently, large-scale solar plants have to use tracking technology to ensure that their cells maximize their exposure to sunlight; this new material changes its reflectivity in response to heat from concentrated light to capture light across a wide range of angles.

 

The new technology is a kind of coating for use in a solar cell which focuses light into a piece of glass. An array of thin lenses concentrate sunlight across a broad range of angles, before it's passed to a glass sheet, coated on both sides with reflective coating. The front coating, however, is made of the new material, and Technology Review explains how it works:

 

When a beam of concentrated light from the array of lenses hits the material, it heats up part of it, causing that part to stop being reflective, which in turn allows light to enter the glass sheet. The material remains reflective everywhere else, helping to trap that light inside the glass-and the light bounces around until it reaches the thin edge of the glass, where a small solar cell is mounted to generate electricity.

As the day wears on, the lenses throw the light-captured across a broad range of incident angles, remember-onto a different spot on the glass sheet, always allowing light in only where the beam of light falls. In turn, it reduces the need to keep the device pointed directly at the sun. Glint Photonics claims that the technology could produce solar power at a cost of four cents per kilowatt-hour, compared to eight cents per kilowatt-hour for normal solar panels.

The technology is still a proof of concept-its efficiencies still need to be upped, and the whole thing need to be scaled to work at commercial volumes-but it's a very promising development.

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Energy Build Costs in Australia Very Worrisome, Says Shell

A SENIOR Royal Dutch Shell executive said today the cost of building energy projects in Australia is becoming "very worrisome" as the European oil giant prepares to decide whether it will spend billions more dollars in the resource-rich nation. 
  
Shell has already committed almost $US30 billion to Australian gas-export projects being built over the next five years. The company's Australian head, Ann Pickard, said the figure is poised to become $US50 billion if final decisions are made on other projects that Shell has on the drawing board.

"So the costs have to stay competitive," Ms Pickard told a conference.

Australia is central to the growth plans of many big oil companies including Shell and Chevron as they attempt to meet intensifying demand for cleaner-burning fuels from fuel-strapped Asian nations such as Japan and rapidly industrialising countries such as China. Natural gas has overtaken oil to count for 51 per cent of Shell's total fossil fuel output.

Australia's vast natural gas reserves, political stability and proximity to Asia make it an attractive place to invest. Over $US175 billion worth of gas-export projects under construction on its coastline stand to catapult the country above Qatar as the world's biggest liquefied natural gas, or LNG, exporter by the end of the decade. LNG is natural gas chilled to liquid and exported by sea.

The industry here though faces challenges. A lack of skilled labour combined with a surge in development activity that's also occurring in the country's booming mining sector has squeezed labour supplies and made Australia one of the most expensive places in the world to produce LNG. And a soaring Australian dollar is making locally-based skills and equipment more expensive for foreign-based companies.

Such cost pressures are building at a time when companies mull whether to start exporting LNG to Asia from North America and East Africa, potentially increasing competition for Australian projects, particularly those not currently under construction.

Shell hasn't yet made a final decision on whether to proceed with a massive LNG venture in Queensland with PetroChina that will attempt to chill gas trapped in coal seams for export. And although Shell's just increased its shareholding in the Browse LNG development in Western Australia, an investment decision on that project isn't expected until next year.

"I'm hoping we can get some more projects going but the costs here are getting to be very worrisome," Ms Pickard told reporters.

Shell is hoping it can source workers more easily and more cheaply by timing a final investment decision on its Queensland LNG joint venture a few years after three rival developments there. Still, Ms Pickard said it's possible Shell could process its gas through a rival LNG plant in Queensland rather than build its own plant.

"That's certainly an option. But the intent of PetroChina and Shell, of course, it to continue with our own project," she said.

As for Browse, joint venture partners including Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL.AU) are spending over $US1 billion investigating the commercial viability of piping the gas to a new LNG plant in the environmentally sensitive Kimberley region.

Shell's decision this week to almost triple its stake in the project by taking Chevron's 17.5 per cent interest has fanned speculating the resource could be processed on a floating LNG, or FLNG, vessel instead. A pioneer of FLNG technology, Shell is targeting first production from the world's first FLNG vessel from its Prelude field, located near Browse, in 2016.

"We'll take the cost estimates and see if we've got a commercial project in the Kimberley or not. Then, obviously in consultation with the government, we'll make a decision on whether we'll go forward in the Kimberley or look at other alternatives," Ms Pickard said.

Power Firms Face $4bn Carbon Slug

ELECTRICITY generators have warned that they face a cashflow crunch of hundreds of millions of dollars to buy carbon tax permits as the latest greenhouse gas emissions figures suggest almost $4 billion of the $7.7bn to be raised in the first year of the policy will come from power companies. 
 
Data from the Climate Change Department yesterday shows the power generation sector accounted for about 170 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in the 2010-11 financial year, which could mean a carbon tax bill of $3.9bn if repeated next year.

The Weekend Australian reported this month that InterGen - the operator of Queensland's black-coal power generator Millmerran - sought help from the federal government's Energy Security Council for loan support because the looming carbon tax had hit its $467 million refinancing.

Victoria's largest power plant, Loy Yang Power, has also had talks with the ESC as it has a $565m refinancing due in November.

The latest greenhouse emissions figures show the nation's top five carbon dioxide emitters in 2010-11 were all coal-fired power generators. But as the government assembled the carbon pricing package, emissions from the sector fell about six million tonnes over the previous 12 months.

The two NSW state-owned generators - Macquarie Generation and Delta Electricity - were the two biggest emitters in 2010-11, with 20.3 million tonnes and 19.8 million tonnes in CO2 emissions respectively.

If the same emissions levels were repeated next year, Macquarie would face a carbon tax bill of more than $466m and Delta would pay $455m, based on the government's starting carbon price of $23 a tonne from July.

The companies told The Australian yesterday they would try to recoup the cost through higher electricity prices, but because prices are set by bids in the national electricity market, they are uncertain how much they will be able to recover.

The government warns that the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting figures, released yesterday, may not be an accurate guide to next year's carbon tax liability. This is because the reporting is for holding companies, and some of their emissions may not be subject to the carbon tax.

But The Australian confirmed with several of the big power companies that their reported NGER figures broadly represent emissions they would be liable for under the carbon tax.

The chief executive of the Electricity Supply Association of Australia, Matthew Warren, said some companies might have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for permits in advance of when the electricity was generated and sold.

Mr Warren said the Investor Reference Group estimated that electricity generators would need to hold positions on $6bn worth of forward permits to maintain current levels of electricity contracts.

But a spokesman for Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said the government had announced it would make loans available to generators for the forward purchasing of carbon permits. This was in addition to $5.5bn in assistance for the emissions-intensive generators.

The mid-year budget update had shown the carbon price would raise $7.7bn in 2012-13, Mr Combet's spokesman said.

"Electricity generation is one of the most pollution-intensive sectors of our economy," he said.
"It is essential Australia begins to transform this sector so our economy remains competitive as the world moves to tackle climate change by reducing carbon emissions."

The government will put more than $4bn into household assistance this year to offset higher prices caused by the carbon tax.
Mr Combet's spokesman said there was substantial assistance for industry through the Jobs and Competitiveness Program, and for households through tax cuts, higher family payments and pension increases.

But Mr Warren said: "Without deferred settlement arrangements, allowing energy companies to pay for permits when they sell the energy and produce the emissions, they will need new lines of credit to finance their upfront purchase of forward vintages."

The opposition yesterday attacked the government over Virgin Australia's decision to introduce a carbon tax surcharge.
But Mr Combet's spokesman said Virgin had made the announcement on July 11 last year.

Research and Markets: Australia Energy Report - Australia Has Announced That As Of July 2012, It Will Be Implementing a Carbon Tax

The implementation of the tax will start with an interim fixed price for a period of three years before switching to an emissions trading scheme.

Asia's primary energy production accounted for almost half of the global 4% increase with China leading the global production levels (18% of the total), despite the country's slight decrease (-8%) in 2009. China and India registered an increase in total energy consumption of more than 6%, reaching almost the same level as Japan (6.7%). Energy consumption per unit of GPD continued to grow in developing Asian countries, reaching up to 60% higher levels than Europe.

Enerdata's Australia energy market report is a reliable source for understanding the key issues and dynamics shaping the Australian energy industry. With timely, up-to-date energy industry data and demand forecasts, this report will help you identify and exploit challenges and opportunities in the Australian energy sector. The report details the sub-sectors of the energy industry (Crude Oil, refined oil products, Natural Gas, Coal, Electricity and Renewable) in Australia.

In this report you will find:

Overview of energy industry sub-segments: oil, gas, coal, power, renewable Evolution of the regulatory environment and institutions as regards energy and climate change policies Key companies active in the Australian energy industry, along the value chain of each sub-segment Up-to-date insight on market structures, regulatory developments, and asset developments Market dynamics and trends, detailed by energy and by sector Projects under development in the country, including power plants, refineries, LNG terminals, gas pipelines Analysis of the likely evolution of the market and key industry drivers

Companies Mentioned:
Petrotrin Trinmar BP Trinidad National Gas Company (NGC) Atlantic LNG Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (TTEC) PowerGen (Power Generation Company of Trinidad and Tobago) Trinity Power Ltd

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2012/02/22/3770251/research-and-markets-australia.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2012/02/22/3770251/research-and-markets-australia.html#storylink=cpy