3/1/2011
by Bruce Goodman, Energy Lawyer
The main events for the second annual Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) Conference start tomorrow, March 1. I have checked into the Gaylord National Convention Center Hotel and perused the agenda. How exciting! Topics ranging from rare earths to advanced fuels to zero carbon power will be discussion topics. This is America ingenuity at its best. Efforts to attract talent, both foreign and domestic, to the energy challenge. Funding cutting edge research and development, knowing that some will fail miserably, but hoping a few ideas succeed spectacularly. It is Sputnik time again for the United States. Let’s hope we respond as successfully.
Tags:
advanced energy storage systems,
alternative energy,
ARRA,
biodiesel,
biofuels,
biomass,
carbon neutral,
carbon sequestering,
climate change,
coal fired power plant,
energy efficiency,
energy policy,
global warming,
green energy,
greenhouse gases,
lithium ion batteries,
offshore wind,
renewable energy,
wind energy
Watt's New? Michigan Energy News |
Bruce Goodman |
Comments (0)
11/30/2009
by Bruce Goodman
Today the petrochemical industry manufactures products from fossil fuels: plastics, chemicals, and other products. Scientists tell us that nearly all of these products can be made from renewable, carbon neutral biomass. The processes are similar.
The petrochemical industry breaks oil and natural gas down to base chemicals and then builds desired products from them. Biorefining technology breaks biomass down to component sugars that can be used to build the same desired products. Fermentation, chemical catalysis, and other processes are used to create products that can be used in manufacturing processes.
There are currently robust forces driving sustainable bioproducts production. Biomass-based products are expected to make a significant impact on the production of bulk chemicals in the next decade, and a huge impact within 20 to 30 years. About 5 percent of global chemical sales currently are made up of “green products”. Some are predicting that the market share could rise to 20 percent by 2010 and may ultimately reach 66 percent of the total global economy.
6/30/2009
by Bruce Goodman
Just as pork has been advertised as “the other white meat,” wood-fueled electric energy projects might do well to label themselves “the other renewable energy.” People forget about biomass and focus on wind and solar when thinking about renewable energy. Yet firing wood biomass provides perhaps the best chance of getting the most immediate bang for the renewable energy buck. Biomass and wood waste energy projects are receiving significant funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Here is a carbon neutral strategy that utilizes fuels that need not be imported from other states or countries. Michigan’s sustainable forestry management research and planning should put the state at the forefront of this effort.
