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“Whatever one thinks about shale gas today — we worry about its environmental consequences — there’s no denying the extraordinary economic return on taxpayer investments. Shale gas is likely to allow the United States to go from net gas importer to a net gas exporter over the next decade.
While details vary, the story is basically the same for nuclear power, natural gas turbines, solar panels, and wind turbines — pretty much every significant energy technology since World War II. That’s because the private sector alone cannot sustain the kind of long-term investments necessary for big technological breakthroughs in the midst of volatile energy markets and short-term pressure to produce profits.”
Lawrence, MA – October 19, 2011 – Solectria Renewables, LLC, the leading U.S. PV inverter manufacturer, announced today that it will expand its manufacturing operations into India and China as both countries announce significant growth opportunities for commercial and utility scale photovoltaic projects. Read more »
Jim Lane | July 25, 2011
Cleantech is going big in China, so big that’s it progress can be measured by the day and week, rather than the month and year.
Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) – photovoltaic materials replacing conventional building materials in parts of the building envelope such as the roof, skylights, or facades – is one of the fastest growing segments of the photovoltaic industry. Encouraged by significant cost reductions and further specialization of commodities, an increasing number of architects, manufacturers and installers are considering building-integrated approach for utilizing solar energy. At the 2011 Intersolar North America Tradeshow and Convention, a session titled “Building Integrated Solutions-Concepts and Applications” featured currently-used and future building-integrated technology trends related to photovoltaic and solar thermal applications.
While Chinese manufacturers now dominate the world’s solar production, they have yet to see their panels shine on rooftops in their home country in any meaningful scale. European markets, led by visionary Germany, have absorbed most of the photovoltaic (PV) installations so far, with the U.S. emerging (for a couple of years now) as the second potential market. That may be about to change, according to a group of solar experts speaking for a session titled “Future Market Prospects across Asia” during the 2011 Intersolar North America Tradeshow and Convention last week in San Francisco. Solar opportunities are beginning to rise like the morning sun in not just China, but also throughout Asia. Read more »
We wrap up Essinova’s Cleantech programming for the year with a few videos of cool startups we came across at the Cleantech Open Awards Gala last month. Recognizing our global audience, we have made this programming bi-lingual.
 Filtration Dynamics - Energy from Wastewater 滤活力 － 废水发电 |
 Puralytics - Advanced Water Purification Systems 洁净术 － 高级净水系统 |
 Redwood Renewables Solar Tiles 红木可再生产品－ 太阳能瓦 |
 viaCycle - Cheaper and More Flexible Bikeshare 通轮 － 经济灵活的公用自行车系统 |
 V2 Wind - Redefining Wind Power V平方风能 － 重新定义风能 |
 Whirl Energy - Wind Power Storage through Buoancy 漩能源 －以浮力存储风能 |
 Amberix - Optimizing HVAC Flow 优化冷暖气通风系统流通
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Reflections on China’s Vibrant Business Culture and the U.S.-China Green Energy Conferences (Part II, and continuation of my previous entry, “Life on the China Bullet Train“.)
What’s a Watt? What a what!? A Watt! You know, the unit of energy that powers modern civilization. In order to understand the orders of magnitude required to replace energy consumption powered by fossil fuels with those of renewable fuels, it helps to have a brief “power primer.” For example, a laborer over the course of an 8-hour day can sustain an average output of about 75 watts. And 1,000 watts equals one kilowatt. Running a 100-watt incandescent light-bulb (do they still sell those?), a computer, a dishwasher without the drying cycle, and the refridge all for one hour, or running a single 900-watt space heater for a little over one hour, is approximately equivalent to one kilowatt-hour (one kWh), the unit of energy used to measure energy consumption in most U.S. homes. The average home in the U.S. consumes almost 10,000 kWh of energy each year. That averages out to be 1.37 pounds of CO2 per kWh across all of the United States, or 13,700 lbs. — almost 7 tons — of CO2 annually per home. The CO2 impact of 10,000 kWh is probably higher in China which relies more dominantly on coal, and lower in California which has a higher percentage of renewable energy used to generate utility energy than most other states. Of course that number is only one part of a family’s, or home’s, green house gas (GHG) footprint because it is restricted to the energy consumption inside the home, and does not include transportation and product consumption, including food. As we shall see, though, China’s energy mix may soon be cleaner than that of the U.S. because it is bringing on line more renewable energy faster than in the U.S. and more important, China’s average power consumption per family dwelling is much lower. At the same time, China’s economy and energy use are growing at a faster pace than in the U.S. so in real terms, China’s GHG footprint is now higher, and will likely continue to be higher than that of the U.S.
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