Furthermore winners from Pakistan and India participated in the event VIP ceremony, presented by the British Minister for Change of Climate Greg Barker.

The Ghana News Agency in Accra last Friday mentioned that the Prince of Wales, who personally congratulated all winners at a meeting, said that with Ashden Awards, we all know what exactly can be done with energy and how to reduce emissions worldwide.

They have shown us how we can manage a lot in this world and that local activity in fact means global results.

Through Ashden Awards, reminds us how important constant adaptation to climate change is, to a country and to all over the world. Saving energy resources for poor people, is a way of compensating a whole developing world, in regard to new solutions in energy, included United Kingdom.

The Company Toyota Energy Limited Ghana was awarded with $ 340.000 being thus compensated for its great efforts in producing over 150, 000 charcoal stoves and launching them in the market for poor families at good prices.

Mrs Sarah Butler Sloss, Director and ’’Chairman’’ of the Ashden Awards said: The Toyota Energy Limited Ghana’’ has started with low technology, but has managed to produce high technology strong stoves, for poor people at an affordable price.

Forests of Ghana are protected and greenhouse emissions have been cut down. This is just a small sample of how much can be achieved in the field of clean energy, when strategies are applied.

The Toyota’ stoves use only a third of contemporary charcoal stoves. Enormous savings are thus generated to poor families.

These kinds of stoves are much better in quality, then the ones before, as the traditional ones, can cause breathing problems or irritation to eyes. Of course, these stoves are much more practical to everybody, by lowering the possibility of accidents by 90% compared to traditional stoves.

These stoves are affordable by the poor; they can be paid by credit as well, and the amount saved can be reused for paying charcoals.

Josephine Adjolojo, a user of Toyota stoves said that she was able to save enough upon getting the stove and the money box initially. When she opened the money box, she already had enough money saved for repurchase.

By using Toyota stoves in a country like Ghana, saving money and mostly cooking in an efficient and practical way is too important. Toyota’s stoves can save up to 26,000 tons of energy yearly, a figure applicable to the best quality of charcoal energy.

The reduction of around 150, 000 of carbon per annum has been luring investors such as Goldman Sachs, and who buys carbon materials, and selling them on the international market.

Toyota has opened already a center of production in Togo, planning to open two more centers in Benin and Sierra Leone in the following two years, estimates to increase its sales by up to 140000 stoves by the end of 2013.

Charcoal is used by round 1.3 million families in Ghana. This represents roughly 31% of the population. In Accra round 70% of households prefer charcoal for cooking.

Source: Ghana Web

© Jimmy Eriksson for Renewable Power News, 2011. | Permalink | No comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Alternative Power Sources, Energy Conservation, Renewable Power.

The lake in question is known as the lake of Taihu. The lake is found next to the 4.5 million-powerful city of Wuxi. The lake has been contaminated by a number of pollutants since many years due to the industrial businesses in Wuxi. It will now make use of a system, known as heightened ozonation treatment. The treatment comprises of microbubbles of ozone that pass through the material in question in order to free the pollutants in it.

It was the University of Utah that developed this technology. The technology makes use of pressurized metal vessel that has been designed to produce ozone microbubbles by recurrent pressurization and depressurization with ozone gas. The microbubbles assist in breaking down hydrocarbons.

Thereafter, a chelating agent is passed through the material targeted in order to remove any metal contaminants. Lime is subsequently used. The lime is used to extract eh metal contaminants from the material in general.

This technology will clean up the soil at the Chinese site. The Chinese site will then be used to plant tree on public land. This project will take approximately three months for its completion. Even though the system is actually being used for the treatment of soil, it can be anticipated that it will expand to cover algae, water and sewage waste.

This work has been undertaken by Honde LLC, a Chinese environmental cleanup giant. If this project is successful, the work will be replicated at more sites around the lake, so as to test it on different types of pollutant.

Source: Business Green

© Jimmy Eriksson for Renewable Power News, 2010. | Permalink | No comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Water Power.

There are already natural self-propelling mechanisms that do provide energy in such ways. It is a small, barrel shaped organism, which is apparently alike streamlined jellyfish, known as Salp. This particular organism receives all its required energy from ocean water. The most fascinating about this Salp is that scientists suggest that its waste material helps in eliminating carbon dioxide (CO2) found on the upper ocean and in the atmosphere.

It was Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) together with MIT that reported the half an inch to 5-inch-long creature (salp) energy capacity to be beyond previous expectations. It was published and revealed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that the ocean-dwelling salps use to capture and eat diminutive organisms and even larger ones – eventually this renders these tiny creatures extremely complex.

Laurence P. Madin, WHOI Director of Research as well as an investigator says that he has since long believed salps to be very powerful filter feeders present in the ocean. The current study revealed that these creatures could consume very small sized to large size sea-animals. In other words, they can practically consume a mouse to even a horse.

Phytoplankton (food particles) is captured by salps via an internal mucous filter net. Earlier it was believed that the creature could only capture particles equally to or larger than 1.5 micron-wide holes present in its mesh.

The recent study proposes that salps can capture food particles, which are even smaller according to Kelly R. Sutherland, PhD at the MIT/WHOI joint program for graduate student. In the current laboratory at WHOI, Sutherland, food particles in varied sizes were offered: smaller, equal to and larger than their mesh opening. It was found that more than expected of the smaller particles were consumed.

This information revealed to be very important as it describes why salps, are able to survive, singly or in chains of hundreds or even more, in the open sea. Madin, who was Sutherland’s advisor at WHOI said that larger food particles are relatively low in the open sea, and their ability to filter small particles help them to survive.

The interesting part is how salps help in recycling carbon dioxide. According to Madin, the very fact that they eat small and large particles and thereafter turn them into larger packed dense fecal pellets. These carbon-containing pellets are heavier and will thus much sooner sink to the sea bottom. Sutherland says that “This removes carbon from the surface waters,” and stocks it in the deep where it will not be seen for centuries.

Additionally, as carbon is stored in the ocean bottom, there will be larger space available on the upper ocean to support carbon; this will thus reduce the amount of carbon dioxide leveling up to the atmosphere. This was explained by Roman Stocker, who was a co-author and work at the MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Stocker said that the aggregation of particles, assembling small particles and slowly growing them, is the most important function of salps. The benefit of removing carbon dioxide on the upper sea level is that less CO2 gas will harm the atmosphere at large.

Recently, it was believed that small particles or cells were only consumed by protozoans, appendicularians and some specialised metazoan grazers. The ability of the salps to eat small bacteria and phytoplankton make them part of a team of organisms helping to clean the environment from greenhouse gases.

The carbon exchanging-role is impressive by these creatures. They act with their magical ability as a natural undersea engine. Moreover, Stocker says that salps are better vacuum cleaner than predicted. – The study was funded by WHOI Ocean Life institute and National Science Foundation –

Sources: Science Daily

© Jimmy Eriksson for Renewable Power News, 2010. | Permalink | No comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Renewable Power.

Fascinatingly, solar-powered reactors can be used to convert carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide. Besides, this reactor can also change water into both oxygen and hydrogen.

These two elements (oxygen and hydrogen) can be processed to produce hydrocarbon fuels. It is done through a mechanism called the Fischer-Tropsch process.

Generating fuel using this methodology is quite similar to current fuel systems used. There would not be a need for a radical change in engines as well as refueling stations. What is intriguing is that if fuel could be produced from atmospheric carbon, driving cars would thus be completely carbon neutral.

Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, have a team of scientists who have created a Counter Rotating Ring Receiver Reactor Recuperator (CR5). A machine collecting carbon dioxide emitted by power plant’s exhausted fumes. Yet, they suggest that in the future they will be able to capture CO2 directly from the air.

The CR5 system has big parabolic-mirrors that intensify sunlight on two chambers divided by rotating rings of cerium oxide. The cerium oxide is heated up to 1500 degrees celsius as the rings spin. The machine releases oxygen in one of the chambers. However, the oxygen is sprayed away.

The ring continues to spin and the newly de-oxidised cerium shifts into the second chamber. In that chamber carbon is injected. The de-oxidised cerium will now take a molecule of oxygen to generate cerium oxide and carbon monoxide.

A team at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology located in Zurich has developed a similar machine. However, this apparatus uses zinc oxide, calcium oxide and steam to produce a steam of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The system that they have invented can already collect and use atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Yet, these two reactors are not fully prefect. The one that the New Mexico team is working on can only operate for a few seconds per trial. The Swiss model can only generate roughly 10 KW. However, both the reactors are expected to be improved in terms of yield capacity and consistency.

Generating usable fuel from carbon dioxide and solar energy is a promising solution. It will help in bring down the level of greenhouse emissions.

Ken Caldeira from the Carnegie Institution of Washington at Stanford University, California said to new scientists (news) “This area holds out the promise for technologies that can produce large amounts of carbon-neutral power at affordable prices…”

He also suggested that this CR5 technology could evolve the future of energy to another level.

Source: New Scientist and Telegraph

© Jimmy Eriksson for Renewable Power News, 2010. | Permalink | No comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Concentrated Solar Power, Renewable Power, Solar Power.

GE Energy UK is going to invest €110 million over the coming decade on the wind energy plant. Five hundred jobs will be created for the construction of towers, turbine blades and other parts. According to managing director of GE Energy UK, Magued Eldaief, another 450 jobs could be available in other locations in Britain. The total investment will also indirectly support 950 jobs in other companies.

The British government is targeting to establish a total of 8,000 wind turbines in the North Sea as well in the Irish Sea. It is a solution to reap a reduction in CO2 emission 34 percent by year 2020.

The British port might need some upgrading to be able to anticipate the rising offshore wind industry. GE Energy is going to construct four MW wind turbines. Each turbine will be of the height of 140 m and having turbine blades with a diameter similar to two football pitches. Investing in expanding the ports was a fundamental step to assure that the wind turbines would operate well.

Green Recession

It appears that when figures are red the environment is greener. In Britain carbon emission shrunk by around a tenth in 2009. It decreased from 532.8 million tonnes for 2008 to a total of 480.9 millions. The credit crunch hampered economic growth and eventually reduced production by factories. Many were even closed down.

The effect on energy demand was tremendous. The industrial demand dropped by around 11 percent and the demand for conventional energy, coal decreased by 16 percent. The level of pollution provoked by the transport sector was also significantly less as both cargo and freights volume was at a fall.

Moreover, the dependency on renewable energy did also rise by as much as 24.4 TW hours as some wind parks were raised. Yet, renewable energy accounts only for a diminutive portion of the 344.6 Terrawatts hours that is produced by the sources of energy in Britain including polluting sources such as nuclear gas and coal.

Source: The Times UK

© Jimmy Eriksson for Renewable Power News, 2010. | Permalink | No comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Alternative Power Sources, Renewable Power, Wind Power.

The solution developed by Jon Bohmer is outstandingly simple but it represents a contributive solution to one of the hugest complications, climate change, and it is a solar power oven.

The creative solution uses two cardboard boxes. One box is placed in one another then acrylic cover is laid on the boxes to trap the sunrays inside. To maximize the capacity, the inner box must be painted black and on the outer layer, silver foil should be wrapped. The sunrays that are trapped inside the box are sufficient to boil water and even bake bread.

Environmental Contribution of the ‘Kyoto cooker

The solar power oven does also tackle deforestation in developing countries. An approximate of 3 billion people, living in rural areas cuts timber to cook food. This factor for global warming can be reduced with the use of the Kyoto cooker.

Moreover, millions of children die from consuming unhygienic water every year. The solar power oven allows water to be boiled and can thus save millions of lives.

Bohmer’s Voice

Bohmer went for a simple solution to tackle climate change. Yet, he was not the first one to propose the solar cooker. Sherry Cole and Barbara Kerr, two American women had developed the box in the 70s. Later on, they teamed together with other people to create a non-profit organization called Solar Cookers International.

Patrick Widner, the executive director said that original designs for the solar box cooker was present in a book called “Peace Corps” that was published in the 60s. Mr. Bohmer has been promoting the solar cooker in Kenya for 10 years and represents a significant contribution to the Solar Cookers Worldwide Network.

Bohmer is a Norwegian entrepreneur living in Kenya. He also had been indulged in finding a too complex solution while a simple solution was already feasible the Kyoto cooker.

Competition
The invention surpassed more than 300 other alternatives. This includes wheel covers that improve the fuel efficiency of trucks as well as apparatus able to convert organic materials as well as wood into charcoal.

The box is already in production in a factory, located in Nairobi, Kenya and around 2.5 million boxes can actually be produced per month. Moreover, an improved solution has been architectured by Bohmer, using recycled plastic making it as cheap and more durable the cardboard box.

As the solution is spreading through rural Africa, old women condemned to carry heavy loads of firewood can now relax. The cooking problem is hard to imagine in the West as everyone has access to electricity. Yet, facts are showing that half of the world’s population is still in precarious conditions, cooking food on fire.

Source:
1. CNN
2. Financial Times

© Jimmy Eriksson for Renewable Power News, 2010. | Permalink | No comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Alternative Power Sources, Concentrated Solar Power, Renewable Power, Solar Power.

Energy can be harnessed from outer space, for example, to generate power for many industries.  However, the technology required to meet this challenge is complex, and changes may still be years away from being implemented. Experiments in laboratories require many years of study and adaptation before the technology can be delivered to the marketplace. The energy solutions must be cost effective or change will not occur.

Five new technologies are currently being developed that may radically change the way our world creates power, and these are: space based solar power, advanced car batteries, utility storage, carbon capture and storage, and next generation bio-fuels.

Harnessing Solar Power from Space

In space, the sun shines day and night. Imagine solar panels that orbit the earth at a distance of twenty-two thousand miles away. These panels would capture the sun’s energy rays. If even a small portion of this energy was sent back to earth, then this would be an enormous source of power.  

The energy would be relayed to earth in the form of microwaves that are then transformed into usable energy. A receiving station on the ground that measured a mile in diameter could receive enough energy to power nearly one thousand homes in the United States. 

Although this seems like a remote possibility at present, several countries are already developing technology to make space based solar power a reality within the next ten years. The biggest challenge presently is to design a solar panel system that is light enough to be powered into orbit around the earth, as the cost for this venture is prohibitive.

Better Car Batteries

Utilizing battery powered cars would certainly reduce the amount of fuel emissions and drastically improve the air quality, however the challenge is to create more powerful and less expensive batteries. 

Electric vehicles and hybrids are likely to use lithium-ion batteries that are also used in laptop computers. Although they have more power than other car batteries, the problem with these types of batteries is they are very expensive and do not go far before they need to be recharged. A new vehicle to be released in the coming year is the Chevy Volt, which is a hybrid vehicle that also plugs in.  When operating on the battery power, it can run approximately forty miles. The challenge is to extend the distance to ten times this amount on a single charge, for a four hundred mile run before a recharge is required. The lithium-ion battery can be improved, although it shows limited potential for this use.

One alternative battery is the lithium-air battery that should deliver the results required before recharging. This battery type uses oxygen to recharge, so it is smaller and lighter than other kinds of batteries.  It delivers a comparable amount of energy to gasoline, when compared in weight. A number of scientists are currently researching this new technology, but a solution could still be ten years away.

Power Storage Challenges

To make the best use of our renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, the challenge for scientists today is to find efficient methods to store this power.

One such method is to compress the wind energy and store it in an underground chamber. This compressed energy is then directed into gas-fired turbines so they can operate with greater efficiency.  One of the challenges for scientists is to find an underground storage facility that is large enough to store the energy.
 
Another method is to store wind energy in oversized batteries, but this technology is very costly and inefficient. Although additional research is being conducted to address these problems, positive solutions are not likely to be revealed in the near future.

The answer to the problem for storage of grid power may lie in the used of lithium-ion batteries.  These smaller sized, powerful batteries could be used around the outer edges of the power grid when expense of them decreases and their operational efficiency improves.  These batteries could then store power from renewable energy sources to help smooth power fluctuations and improve the efficiency of the power grid. The requirement for fossil fuel powered plants would be reduced, and the negative impact on the environment would decrease.
 
Capturing and Storing Carbon Dioxide Emissions

If coal is to be utilized as a power source in the future, then the quantity of carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced. Existing coal powered plants produce nearly two billion tons of carbon dioxide each year, and building more efficient plants is one way to solve this problem. Learning techniques to capture these emissions is a challenge for scientists. 

Although we currently have the ability to capture these harmful emissions, doing so reduced the output of the plant by up to thirty three percent. This in effect would double the cost to produce the power.  Hence, research is currently being conducted into methods where emissions can be reduced by ninety percent, while the increase in costs would be minimal.
 
These methods are still in the early research stages, so the best method is yet to be determined. One technique being investigated uses coal and purified oxygen to produce a concentrated output of carbon dioxide that is simple to capture and does not have a negative effect on plant output. This method has been tested in pilot projects, and will be tested on a larger scale in a one mega watt power plant within the next year. However, it may take another decade to develop this method to control carbon dioxide emissions for commercial use. 

Energy from Bio Fuel Sources

New bio fuels made from lumber, crop wastes, garbage, and plant matter are being developed so the public will be less dependent on fossil fuels. Another resource for bio fuel is algae, and it is showing great potential. 

One acre of algae can produce over 5000 gallons of bio fuel per year as compared to corn-based ethanol that only produces 350 gallons per year. Algae grows rapidly and consumes carbon dioxide. This type of fuel can be used in existing refineries and distribution channels. As a result, algae based fuel could meet the entire demand for fuel in the United States.

Many companies have shown an interest in developing algae based fuel sources, but the research is still in the development stages. The projects have recently started and mass production is still years away.  To produce large quantities of algae fuel would require a reliable source of water and low cost nutrients.  Pathogens that could impact the production levels need to be controlled and monitored, and the algae strains that yield the highest production must be developed and cultivated.

© Richard Nelson for Renewable Power News, 2009. | Permalink | No comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Alternative Power Sources, Global Energy, Renewable Power, Solar Power.

The government of India is ready to begin a solar energy program across the country beginning November 14, that it hopes will reduce its dependency on old energy options and thwart future environmental cleanup expenditures.

Abdullah stated that India is importing oil and coal and is spending millions of rupees doing it while huge natural resources of solar and wind are not being utilized. So with that thought in mind, India is now determined to use these innate resources, believing that it can be their solution to the climate change.

The Indian government is planning to give away large photovoltaic panels to rural dwellers throughout the country in order to provide electricity to each countryside community. Abdullah pointed out alarm that the glaciers in the Himalayan Mountain range were rapidly diminishing because of climate change.

He spoke of his own home state of Jammu and Kashmir and how it is being negatively affected. The local rivers are dwindling and glaciers are quickly being lost. He insists that they must discover a solution to these troubles of their energy requirements while also safeguarding the environment. He believes that new and renewable power will be the answer India requires.

The sun shines brightly and often across India and the solar industry sector is experiencing a marvelous amount of growth. Government plans are grand to increase the use of solar energy and raise the capacity of solar facilities to twenty GWs by the year 2020 from the current level of 2.1 MWs.

Abdullah claims the expected solar energy program will include incentives for entrepreneurs to motivate investment and reduce the expenditures of utilizing solar power on larger projects.

On a related note – the President of the Maldives’, a tiny Indian Ocean archipelago rapidly being submerged by rising ocean tides, expressed in an anxious tone, the need for India to be the standard bearer of the world for renewable energy. He called for the world’s largest democracy to lead a green revolution to cut carbon emissions.

While talking at a conference held in New Delhi on climate change the Maldives’ President discussed his diminutive nation’s defenselessness to climate changes and pleaded with its large neighbor to come to its aid. He said India has lead other nations once before in an agricultural green revolution in the 70’s and that they could do the same thing again when it came to leading the world in green energy. With India’s youth and entrepreneurial determination, he believes they are well suited to lead the way.

The United Nations Panel on Climate Change predicts that due to rising water levels many of the 1,192 low lying islands in the Indian ocean will become submerged, including the island nation of the Maldives’.

Green house gas emission targets are no longer being discussed since the developing countries have called upon industrialized countries to carry the majority of the burden. They have also asked that broader emission reductions come from all countries. There is some belief that western nations have been polluting for over a century now and should be responsible for a larger share. Not so says the Maldives’s president who says the developing world has emission rates that are beginning to rocket and they need to fall into line now.

Saying he believed in Humanity and its ingenuity, President Nasheed said countries needed to welcome renewable technologies and continue to reduce the cost of green power. Placing the small nation’s money where its mouth is he said the Maldives’ were opting for carbon neutrality within ten years and would accomplish this by converting to one hundred percent renewable energy and counterbalancing air transportation pollution.

He applauded India’s twenty billion dollar solar power plan and said he thinks the Indian government and its leadership would not be intimidated by the challenge and his country would work closely with India to develop renewable energy projects. He said he believed firmly that India would be a leader over other nations in renewable energy.

© Richard Nelson for Renewable Power News, 2009. | Permalink | No comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Alternative Power Sources, Global Energy, Renewable Power.

According to Brown, a failure to handle the issues would not just mean unimaginable deaths as a result of flooding and drought, but it would trigger an economic crisis far bigger than the current recession. He states that the danger is not simply civilization based and environmental, but also an economical problem unlike anything we have experienced. The inaction to stop the worst scenarios of climate change could result in a global GDP that is twenty percent lower than it should normally be – in economic costs, greater than the losses incurred by both World Wars and the Great Depression. He also said that there should be little doubt that the world is in a precarious position and a time of momentous choice.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference being held in Copenhagen this December will unite one hundred and ninety countries looking to come together on a new commitment to embark upon resolutions for global warming. Currently any discussion is stalemated by wealthy countries such as the United States refuse to sign on for tough carbon emission targets if developing countries such as China will not take adequate steps, claiming to be waiting for the super powers to make a move first.

In an eleventh hour chance to reach agreements from various countries, officials from seventeen countries met in the UK for the Major Economic Forum. Brown stated he would be attending the Copenhagen summit and tried to persuade President Obama and other global leaders to do the same.

During the nearly two months, remaining before the summit and during the two week meeting in general Brown stated he would work relentlessly to parley a deal with his peers. Brown says rich nations must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions from somewhere between twenty five to forty percent by the year 2020. Meanwhile, rapidly developing nations such as China and India who are world class leaders in pollution, must lay out hard line targets to limit the harm being done by the quick paced economic renewals.

Brown also acknowledged that richer nations like Great Britain, need to pay into a yearly funding program of sixty billion pounds or one hundred Billion USD, in order to assist those poorer third world nation states come to grips with climate change within their own borders and initiate change to a low carbon economic future.

© Richard Nelson for Renewable Power News, 2009. | Permalink | No comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Alternative Power Sources, Renewable Power.

The $62 Billion was a portion of the $120 billion they acknowledged were the sum of damages from energy usage in 2005 according to a recently published report asked for by Congress as part of new energy legislation from 2005.

The study was seeking explain and assess all expenses and benefits regarding the production, distribution and usage of energy not revealed in market prices. There is no data regarding greenhouse gas emission damages. Congress is in debate about installing restrictions on CO² and other contaminates in an effort to thwart global warming. It is felt that even though there remain some large reservations regarding estimates, it is clear the total numbers are significantly underestimated according to pundits.

Nuclear energy power plants display less damage results than fossil fueled power plants according to the study. Renewable energy supplies such as wind and solar did not produce enough adverse results compared to more widely used energy suppliers.

The study focused on airborne contaminants affecting human health, grain harvests, and timber yields, building materials, recreational activity and visibility of outdoor panoramas. Concerning health of humans, costs were based on premature death and disease.

All special interest groups had their opinions of the study. The mining Association complained about a lack of benefits mentioned for coal fired power plants. There have been numerous studies conducted that display the advantages of having air conditioning, heating and refrigeration according to an industry spokesperson.

Half the United States is powered by coal generated electricity and it is the cheapest source of electrical power available, benefiting low income persons. So say the coal people. They also mention that over the last forty years or so emission pollutants have decreased while coal power transmission has increased by three times the quantity over that period.

The environmentalists argue that when you include the cost of climate damage and other contaminants the cost would extend well beyond $120 billion.

The cost of calculating global warming damage aside, toxins such as mercury and national security concerns, the report places an astounding $120 billion annual sticker price on one year’s worth of pollution and contamination from dirty power resources. This, according to another lobbyist for environmental concerns.

“Given that the worst is yet to come for global warming the cost is actually far greater than the $120 billion,” They claimed.

They based the study data on four hundred and six coal powered plants in 2005 that embodied ninety five percent of America’s coal powered electrical sources. The collective damage of all pollutant emissions from these plants totaled $156 million per plant on average. Vehicles and the firing of transport fuels created $56 billion in damages other than those linked to climate, including our health in 2005.

Cumulative damage from natural gas production was $740 million, $1.4 million yearly per plant. According to the head of the study, he said “Failures to account for environmental damage that results from production but is not taken into account in establishing the market price of those goods or materials concerned, can lead to imprecise decision making. A case could be made for government to intervene via taxes, regulation and other means.”

President Lincoln created the National Academy of Science in 1863 as an all volunteer group of scholars to assess certain projects and subjects when asked to do so by government groups.

© Richard Nelson for Renewable Power News, 2009. | Permalink | No comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Alternative Power Sources, Renewable Power.