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Presence of surplus carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has taken center stage in the environmental science. All over the world people are worried about the excess amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because it’s causing undesirable changes in the surroundings such as green house effect, global warming, melting of ice caps on the [...]
Posted in: Future Energy, Inventions, Waste Energy

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/energy_in_brief/foreign_oil_dependence.cfm

Petroleum products imported by the United States during 2007 included gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, jet fuel, chemical feedstocks, asphalt, and other products. Still, most petroleum products consumed in the United States were refined here. Net imports of petroleum other than crude oil were 10% of the petroleum consumed in the United States during 2007.

About Half of U.S. Petroleum Imports Come from the Western Hemisphere

Some may be surprised to learn that almost 50% of U.S. crude oil and petroleum products imports came from the Western Hemisphere (North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean including U.S. territories) during 2006. We imported only 16% of our crude oil and petroleum products from the Persian Gulf countries of Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. During 2007, our five biggest suppliers of crude oil and petroleum products were:

• Canada (18.2%)
• Mexico (11.4%)
• Saudi Arabia (11.0%)
• Venezuela (10.1%)
• Nigeria (8.4%)

It is usually impossible to tell whether the petroleum products you use came from domestic or imported sources of oil once they are refined.

Flat U.S. Petroleum Imports Expected

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects U.S. crude oil and petroleum products imports will hold approximately steady in the next two decades. Total U.S. petroleum consumption is expected to increase 2.1 MMbd by 2030. Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil production increases in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, combined with increasing biofuel and coal-to-liquids (CTL) production, are expected to eliminate the need for increased imports over the longer term. Assuming moderate price increases, U.S. net imports of crude oil and petroleum products will decrease slightly to 12.3 MMbd to meet demand of 22.8 MMbd by 2030. In this case, U.S. petroleum import dependence will fall from nearly 60% in 2006 to 54% by 2030.

This summer, Anoka, Buffalo, North St. Paul and 8 other Minnesota cities are gearing up for the production of wind energy. They will use recycled turbines for this purpose. In Buffalo, the work will start from June. After the completion of this project Buffalo will have the honor of the first city with [...]
Posted in: Industry, Wind Power, Wind Turbines

People want to use clean and green energy and live easy on earth’s resources. Many are changing to hybrid cars and using solar panels side by side with conventional sources of energy. But they hold a grudge. How to store large amount of energy in batteries? Hybrid cars fit batteries for power storage. But [...]
Posted in: Batteries, Hybrid Cars, Inventions

This age is known as electronic age. It seems impossible to run life without electronic goods. They are part and parcel of our personal and professional life. We use many small devices in our everyday life. And each small device needs power. Now devices are becoming smaller with each passing day hence scientists are [...]
Posted in: Batteries, Fuel Cells, Inventions

We are searching for the alternative energy which can conveniently be used for our industrial and everyday purposes. Wind, water, geothermal and many other alternative energy sources are good and clean and green. But all of them lack one thing or another and don’t seem commercially viable. Researchers all over the world are trying [...]
Posted in: Batteries, Fuel Cells, Inventions

We are familiar with the importance of intellectual property. It is an essential indicator of the economic growth. Number of patents issued in any country in a year indicates the growth of research and innovative development.

Growth Factor:
Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti’s Cleantech Group publishes a quarterly called the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index. [...]
Posted in: Economy, Industry

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/energy_in_brief/renewable_energy.cfm

About Half of States Have Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and Renewables Mandates, 2007

Did You Know?

Wind-generated electricity increased by 45% between 2005 and 2006 and by 21% between 2006 and 2007, more than any other renewable source of generation in both years. These increases were due, primarily, to newly- constructed wind power plants.

Hydroelectric generation increased by 7% between 2005 and 2006, second only to wind power. However, between 2006 and 2007, hydroelectric generation decreased by 14%. These changes were primarily due to variation in the amounts of rainfall and snowfall occurring in watersheds where major hydroelectric dams are located.

Renewable energy consumption decreased by about 1% between 2006 and 2007, contributing 7% of the Nation’s total energy demand, and 8.4% of total U.S. electricity generation in 2007.1

Most Renewable Energy Goes to Producing Electricity

Electricity producers2 consumed 51% of total U.S. renewable energy in 2007 for producing electricity.3 Most of the remaining 49% of renewable energy was biomass consumed for industrial applications (principally paper-making) by plants producing only heat and steam. Biomass is also used for transportation fuels (ethanol) and to provide residential and commercial space heating. The largest share of the renewable-generated electricity comes from hydroelectric energy (71%), followed by biomass (16%), wind (9%), geothermal (4%), and solar (0.2%).4 Wind-generated electricity increased by almost 21% in 2007 over 2006, more than any other energy source. Its growth rate was followed closely by solar, which increased by over 19% in 2007 over 2006.5

The United States Is Second in Renewable Electricity Production

China leads the world in total renewable energy consumption for electricity production due to its recent massive additions to hydroelectric production, followed closely by the United States, Canada, and Brazil. However, the United States consumes the most non-hydro renewable energy for the production of electricity. The United States consumes twice as much non-hydro renewable energy for electricity production as Germany and more than three times as much as Japan.6

The Share of Renewable-Generated Electricity in the United States Is Expected to Grow

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that renewable-generated electricity will account for 12.5% of total U.S. electricity generation in 2030.7 This growth (from 8.4% in 2007 to 12.5% in 2030) is fueled by the rapid expansion of non-hydro renewable generation technologies that qualify to meet State mandates for renewable energy production.

However, EIA projects renewable energy’s share of total worldwide electricity generation will decrease slightly: from 18% of generation in 2005 to 15% in 2030.8 Although worldwide renewable energy is expected to increase, it will be outpaced by growth in other electricity generation sources.

Why We Don’t Use More Renewable Energy

Renewable energy sources and generating technologies are environmentally benign compared with fossil fuel and nuclear technologies, but there are two main reasons why we don’t use more renewable energy.

1. Renewable Energy is Expensive and Capital-Intensive: Renewable energy plants are generally more expensive to build and to operate than coal and natural gas plants. Recently, however, some wind-generating plants have proven to be economically feasible in areas with good wind resources, compared with other conventional technologies, when coupled with the Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credit (described below).
2. Renewable Resources Are Often Geographically Remote: The best renewable resources are often available only in remote areas, so building transmission lines to deliver power to large metropolitan areas is expensive.

Policies Aim to Increase the Use of Renewable Energy

Three kinds of policies to increase the use of renewable energy are:

1. Tax credits: The Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credit, a federal incentive, has encouraged a quadrupling of wind energy capacity over the past few years. EIA’s projections assume these credits will expire at the end of 2008, as provided for under current law. Extension of the credit would increase the projected growth in renewable generation.
2. Targets: Many States have Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), which require electricity providers to generate or acquire a percentage of generation from renewable sources.9 However, many RPS programs have “escape clauses” if renewable generation exceeds a cost threshold. Some States have delayed compliance and others lack enforcement procedures. As a result, States may not always meet their RPS goals. Since it is difficult to project which States will have success, EIA assumes nearly all States will meet their mandated generation.
3. Markets: A number of States have built Renewable Energy Certificates/Credits (RECs) into their Renewable Portfolio Standards.10 This allows electricity providers to sell renewable energy certificates/credits and use their proceeds for renewable projects. Some States have made REC markets mandatory, requiring electricity providers to produce or acquire renewable generation to reduce reliance on fossil fuels to generate electricity.

Plants produce energy with the help of photosynthesis. One of the important steps of photosynthesis is splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen and release of energy in this process. Scientists are trying to duplicate this process in the laboratory for the production of energy i.e. hydrogen fuel. Hydrogen fuel is a clean and green [...]
Posted in: Fuel Cells, Hydrogen Fuel