A Michigan company, Energy Conversion Devices, plans to announce Tuesday that it is providing the solar electric system for what it says will be the world's largest rooftop array, on a General Motors assembly plant in Zaragoza, Spain. The project will be 12 megawatts, a huge number in a field where most arrays are measured in kilowatts, units 1,000 times smaller. The project will use solar devices manufactured in rolls, like carpet runners. Installation will be completed this fall, according to the company, which is based in Rochester Hills, Michigan Energy Conversion will supply the equipment to Veolia Environment and Clairvoyant Energy, which will lease the rooftop space from GM and own and operate the installation, which will be two million square feet. Spain has become a center of solar installations because it offers generous subsidies, 0.42 euro a kilowatt-hour (66 cents). That is about five times the average cost of a kilowatt hour to residential customers in the United States. The Spanish government is considering a reduction in the subsidy for installations after September.
A Michigan company, Energy Conversion Devices, plans to announce Tuesday that it is providing the solar electric system for what it says will be the world's largest rooftop array, on a General Motors assembly plant in Zaragoza, Spain.
The project will be 12 megawatts, a huge number in a field where most arrays are measured in kilowatts, units 1,000 times smaller.
The project will use solar devices manufactured in rolls, like carpet runners. Installation will be completed this fall, according to the company, which is based in Rochester Hills, Michigan Energy Conversion will supply the equipment to Veolia Environment and Clairvoyant Energy, which will lease the rooftop space from GM and own and operate the installation, which will be two million square feet.
Spain has become a center of solar installations because it offers generous subsidies, 0.42 euro a kilowatt-hour (66 cents). That is about five times the average cost of a kilowatt hour to residential customers in the United States. The Spanish government is considering a reduction in the subsidy for installations after September.
By the end of 2008, cumulative PV installations in Spain are expected to exceed 800 megawatts, twice its original 2010 goal.
I also found a vague referece in another of my sources [pdf!] about quadrupling capacity in Spain in 2007:
In Spain, existing uncertainty on future legislative developments fostered unsustainable growth of 300% in 2007.
It is difficult to keep track of the multitudes of small projects. Some try to do it via official permissions, some via distributors, some via sellers, some via producers. A year ago, industry and politics agreed in Germany to put in place some registering system to be up to date (after just the ministry estimation for 2005 has been corrected upwards by something like 100% cumulatively over a course of two years), I don't know what became of that. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Evolution of installed capacity in Spain (Megawatt): year new total 2005 22 44 2006 97 141 2007 380 540 ... For installed capacity in 2007 data are available to november. December data estimated. Source: CNE Market forecasts for 2010 (Gigawatt): new total source 1.400 2.561 B. Sarasin 1.264 2.672 Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (LBBW) 0.350 1.540 EuPD Research (worst case) 0.700 2.090 EuPD Research (best case)
year new total 2005 22 44 2006 97 141 2007 380 540
new total source 1.400 2.561 B. Sarasin 1.264 2.672 Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (LBBW) 0.350 1.540 EuPD Research (worst case) 0.700 2.090 EuPD Research (best case)
In the last year [2007] 435 MW of photovoltaic [capacity] were installed in Spain. This made the country the second market in the world with an 18% share, second only to Germany, according to figures gathered by the ASIF. This data point also implies a 408% increase in installed capacity, with a cumulative production [capacity] of 595 MW. The number of instalations rose to 18,248.
This data point also implies a 408% increase in installed capacity, with a cumulative production [capacity] of 595 MW. The number of instalations rose to 18,248.
Marketbuzz 2008: Annual World Solar PV Market Report
Germany's PV market reached 1,328 MW in 2007 and now accounts for 47% of the world market. Spain soared by over 480% to 640 MW, while the United States increased by 57% to 220 MW. It became the world's fourth largest market behind Japan, once the world leader, which declined 23% to 230 MW.
Spain has become a center of solar installations
I somehow missed this, but as is clear from the data we dug up, this is a fairly recent development. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
There's a lot of CSP going up in the Mojave desert in california too. Expect both CSP and concentrated photovoltaics to explode onto the scene in 2009-11. We project that both will be cheaper than traditional PV sooner rather than later.
I note both the Mojave desert and most Spanish projects use the technology of four German companies: Flabeg (producer of the parabolic mirrors), Schott (manufacturer of the receivers), NOVATEC BioSol (complete supplier of Fresnel lens technology plants) and Solar Millennium (project developer). *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Having said that, although you're right about the funding for CSP, the sheer size of a lot of these plants (at least 25 in the 50-500MW region scheduled to be up in the next two-three years) means that they will become a major share of the renewable market a lot quicker than PV or Wind did, which started with farms of a few MW. The economies of scale for a CSP farm make it a good investment for large utility companies. Water supply and grid connection to suitable desert regions are probably the biggest concerns.
Abengoa have 280MW planned in Arizona 'Solana' as well as the Solucar platform in spain which has 12MW in operation, 120MW being built and 170MW in development.
100MW is being developed by BrightSource Energy in Ivanpah, California due to commence operations in 2011, with deals for another 800MW in the future.
The European Solar Thermal Electricity Association is projecting 30GW of european CSP by 2020, not including any EU-led North African projects pumped in by high voltage wires.
There's a lot more out there too, Ausra and Solar Millenium
Due to the feed-in tariffs, Spain is the biggest market for CSP but California's tariffs are triggering a lot of investment in the Mojave desert. Solar Millenium estimates 800MW a year in California alone from 2008 onward.
If you can build 200MW of power in one installation versus 200MW over 5 or 10 installations of PV or wind, the investment industry will look more favourably on giving you the money.
That's an argument to change the rules for the investment industry, not against microgeneration. The point, again, is power: once the large semi-monopolists are back in power on the market, they will again aim at stiffling the 'competition', not at expanding renewables. (This is one of the reasons feed-in tariffs work better than certificates; and that most - but not all - existing quasi-monopolist utilities make little use of, and fight feed-in tariffs tooth-and-nails.) So in the end, I am okay with large utilities taking part in renewables development, but the rules of the game should be set up so that there is a de-facto clear priority for new players entering the 'market'. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
My priority is getting the number of megawatts supplying electricity renewably up as fast and effectively as possible. Every possible tech and scale is needed.
So the four developers look to have fixed contracts for about 2000 MW, with more vague commitments for thousands more. And I note I also saw that SCHOTT (the maker of receivers) wants to run up production to an impressive 1 GW/year.
That's more than I thought. But say 30 GW of CSP in the EU by 2020 is not beyond the scale of growth shown by wind and PV. (Wind achieved it by 2003, about 10 years after the start of 100-MW-scale growths in EU countries, and wind has a much higher capacity factor; PV is still only around 5 MW in the EU, with rapid growth from around 2003, but at the present rate of growth, 30 MW by 2013 doesn't look unlikely.)
But anyway, hopefully, solar thermal is now going to be the third renewable to mature in the electricity sector. I hope (dry-rock) geothermal will follow soon. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
http://www.nrel.gov/analysis/power_databook/docs/pdf/db_chapter02_csp.pdf
Berlin exported its modernist aesthetic of the 1920s around the world but its own examples of Bauhaus-style social housing had long gone unrecognized. Until now. On Monday UNESCO gave six properties in Berlin the World Heritage seal of approval. The 1920s marked Berlin's golden age when it became the creative center of modernism in art, literature and architecture. It is, therefore, fitting that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has now added six prime examples of modernist architecture in the German capital to its list of World Heritage Sites. On Monday the UNESCO committee, meeting in Quebec City, Canada decided to award the World Heritage status to the six housing estates dotted across Berlin (more...). The justification was that these buildings were an "outstanding example of the building reform movement that contributed to improving housing and living conditions for people with low incomes." What made these social housing projects particularly special was that they were designed by the leading architects of the day, including Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, as well as Bruno Taut and Hans Scharoun. The estates were built between 1913 and 1934, and include the famous horse-shoe-shaped complex in Britz, the Siemensstadt and White City estates, the Schillerpark settlement and the Falkenberg Garden City, as well as the Carl Legien estate in Berlin's trendy Prenzlauer Berg district.
Berlin exported its modernist aesthetic of the 1920s around the world but its own examples of Bauhaus-style social housing had long gone unrecognized. Until now. On Monday UNESCO gave six properties in Berlin the World Heritage seal of approval.
The 1920s marked Berlin's golden age when it became the creative center of modernism in art, literature and architecture. It is, therefore, fitting that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has now added six prime examples of modernist architecture in the German capital to its list of World Heritage Sites.
On Monday the UNESCO committee, meeting in Quebec City, Canada decided to award the World Heritage status to the six housing estates dotted across Berlin (more...). The justification was that these buildings were an "outstanding example of the building reform movement that contributed to improving housing and living conditions for people with low incomes." What made these social housing projects particularly special was that they were designed by the leading architects of the day, including Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, as well as Bruno Taut and Hans Scharoun.
The estates were built between 1913 and 1934, and include the famous horse-shoe-shaped complex in Britz, the Siemensstadt and White City estates, the Schillerpark settlement and the Falkenberg Garden City, as well as the Carl Legien estate in Berlin's trendy Prenzlauer Berg district.
A study carried out by the Leuven University Centre for Political Science on behalf of the Belgian Conference of Bishops has revealed a big fall in the number of Belgians attending Mass on a regular basis. According to the study just 7% of us go to Mass every week. This is down from 11% a decade ago. The figures also show that just under 57% of new born children were baptised in Catholic churches in 2006. This is down from 65% in 1998. However, the most dramatic fall was in the number of church weddings. Almost half (49%) of couples opted for a church wedding in 1998. By 2006 this had fallen to just over a quarter (26.5%). The number of church funerals is also down from 76% in 1998 to 61% in 2006.
According to the study just 7% of us go to Mass every week. This is down from 11% a decade ago.
The figures also show that just under 57% of new born children were baptised in Catholic churches in 2006. This is down from 65% in 1998.
However, the most dramatic fall was in the number of church weddings.
Almost half (49%) of couples opted for a church wedding in 1998. By 2006 this had fallen to just over a quarter (26.5%).
The number of church funerals is also down from 76% in 1998 to 61% in 2006.
The Boeing Company and SkyHook International Inc. today announced a teaming agreement to develop the JHL-40 (Jess Heavy Lifter), a new commercial heavy-lift rotorcraft designed to address the limitations and expense of transporting equipment and materials in remote regions. Boeing has received the first increment of a multiyear contract from SkyHook to develop the new aircraft.
Boeing has received the first increment of a multiyear contract from SkyHook to develop the new aircraft.
Progress, we tell you!
According to the editor of Art Monthly, its latest cover is an effort to "restore dignity" to the discourse about the artistic portrayal of children. To its critics, including the Australin (sic) Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, it is "disgusting". What it has achieved is to bring to the boil a simmering row over the difference between art and pornography in a country with a long tradition of censorship.
Even so - ambiguous pre-teen posing has been a fine art staple for a while. People like Sally Mann have made careers out of it, with the inevitable controversy, etc.
It's one of the few ways you can still successfully shock and horrify the middle classes without being theatrical and ridiculous.
The three-dimensional puzzle, which became a huge success in the early 1980s, is among toys being given to the intelligent sea creatures to determine whether they favour a particular tentacle, or if they are octidextrous.
Just when you thought you've heard it all...A senior government official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expressed great interest in a so-called safety bracelet that would serve as a stun device, similar to that of a police Taser®. According to this promotional video found at the Lamperd Less Lethal website, the bracelet would be worn by all airline passengers. This bracelet would: * take the place of an airline boarding pass * contain personal information about the traveler * be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage * shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes The Electronic ID Bracelet, as it's referred to as, would be worn by every traveler "until they disembark the flight at their destination." Yes, you read that correctly. Every airline passenger would be tracked by a government-funded GPS, containing personal, private and confidential information, and that it would shock the customer worse than an electronic dog collar if he/she got out of line?
Just when you thought you've heard it all...A senior government official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expressed great interest in a so-called safety bracelet that would serve as a stun device, similar to that of a police Taser®. According to this promotional video found at the Lamperd Less Lethal website, the bracelet would be worn by all airline passengers.
This bracelet would:
* take the place of an airline boarding pass
* contain personal information about the traveler
* be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage
* shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes The Electronic ID Bracelet, as it's referred to as, would be worn by every traveler "until they disembark the flight at their destination." Yes, you read that correctly. Every airline passenger would be tracked by a government-funded GPS, containing personal, private and confidential information, and that it would shock the customer worse than an electronic dog collar if he/she got out of line?
and of course your air marshals will have to wear them so they don't stand out. Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
I'm going by boat. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
Computer experts have released software to tackle a security glitch in the internet's addressing system. The flaw, discovered by accident, would allow criminals to redirect users to fake webpages, even if they typed the correct address into a browser. Internet giants such as Microsoft are now distributing the security patch. Security expert Dan Kaminsky said that the case was unprecedented, but added: "People should be concerned but they should not be panicking.
Computer experts have released software to tackle a security glitch in the internet's addressing system.
The flaw, discovered by accident, would allow criminals to redirect users to fake webpages, even if they typed the correct address into a browser.
Internet giants such as Microsoft are now distributing the security patch.
Security expert Dan Kaminsky said that the case was unprecedented, but added: "People should be concerned but they should not be panicking.
