Web Page sponsor Hobson Industries
Asset Managed Parts help our environment by saving energy and natural resources.
www.hobsonindustries.co.uk
16 Nov 10. LanzaTech is to work with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) on converting some of LanzaTech’s products to drop in jet fuel. LanzaTech’s clean energy technology can produce 2,3-Butanediol (2,3-BD), an oxygenate which can be used to make hydrocarbon fuels – true drop in fuels that can replace diesel, jet fuel and gasoline – and high value chemicals. Drop in fuel is a key enabler in the biofuel industry says Dr Jennifer Holmgren, LanzaTech’s chief executive.
“The US has spent billions on its existing petroleum infrastructure and to redesign airline jet engines costs in the realm of hundreds of millions of dollars,” Dr Holmgren says. “The biofuels that will succeed must be compatible with existing engines, pipelines and refineries. LanzaTech’s integration of the fuels and chemicals value chain enables economic viability, as well as being environmentally sound.”
The cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) between LanzaTech and PNNL has been given final approval by the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The first phase of the CRDA work will be done over one year, with the DOE funding PNNL and LanzaTech making an “in-kind” contribution. Existing LanzaTech and PNNL collaborations with teams at Tsinghua University and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), which are performing techno-economic and life cycle evaluations, will also contribute to the work. (Source: Yahoo!/BUSINESS WIRE)
15 Nov 10. Northrop Grumman Corporation, in collaboration with Rocky Mountain Supercomputing Centers (RMSC), Butte, Mont., has formed the Maximizing and Optimizing Renewable Energy (M.O.R.E.) POWER initiative, which leverages RMSC’s on-demand supercomputing resources and Northrop Grumman’s unique site selection tool to help identify the most efficient and productive networks of wind and solar farms for renewable energy projects. With support from the Montana Governor’s Office of Economic Development for a proof of concept, it has been demonstrated that M.O.R.E. POWER can reduce the financing and operating costs of a network of wind energy farms and accelerate their return on investment.”More than 15 years of research and operations in weather and climate modeling, supercomputing applications, and optimization technology for the U.S. government has been applied to the site selection tool that enables M.O.R.E. POWER, and this technology has now been adapted for wind and solar farm networks,” said Dr. Robert Brammer, vice president and chief technology officer for Northrop Grumman’s Information Systems sector. “Significant progress is being made in Montana and Northrop Grumman looks forward to a continued partnership with the state and RMSC in support of establishing the Rocky Mountain region as a renewable energy leader in North America.”
Renewable energy generation experiences variability of power generation, which presents integration challenges for the electrical grid. M.O.R.E. POWER lowers the cost of operations by identifying an optimized network of farm locations which minimizes intermittency through site diversity, while still maximizing saleable energy. This is accomplished through the selection of a distributed network of farms that are not dependent on the same localized wind and/or cloud cover conditions.