Kyocera Corporation and Century Tokyo Leasing Corporation’s joint venture Kyocera TCL Solar has completed construction of two floating mega-solar power plants at Nishihira Pond and Higashihira Pond in Kato City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. The plants will generate an estimated 3,300 megawatt hours (MWh) per year. The solar modules are 255-watt Kyocera modules with 11,256 used in total for the project …
CH2M Hill Involved In Seawater Bioenergy Facility
A pilot-scale bioenergy facility that will use seawater irrigated desert land to produce both bioenergy and food in the water is under development in Masdar City. The Integrated Seawater Energy and Agriculture System (ISEAS) involves a complete seawater agricultural system that will serve as a research and development facility for Masdar Institute (MI) of Science and Technology and the Sustainable …
Pioneering Solar-Powered H2O Desalination Plant
Abengoa has been selected by Advanced Water Technology (AWT) to jointly develop a large-scale desalination plant powered by solar energy. The plant will be located in Saudi Arabia and the according to AWT, when complete will the first and largest of its kind in the world. It will produce 60,000 m3 of water each day to supply Al Khafji City …
Wave Energy Costs Favorable
According to a new analysis published in the journal Renewable Energy, large-scale wave energy systems developed in the Pacific Northwest should be comparatively steady, dependable and able to be integrated into the overall energy grid at competitive costs to other forms of renewable energy including wind power. The study finds that wave energy has less variability than some other energy …
Wave Energy Research Progressing
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the funding of up to $4 million for continued wave energy technological research and monitoring efforts. Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMREC) faculty will also share in another $3.25 million grant to improve “water power” technologies that convert the energy of waves, tides, rivers and ocean currents into electricity. The project …
EWEA to New Commissioner: Rein in Energy Future
Alenka Bratusek has been named Vice President- and Commissioner-designate for Energy Union and Miguel Arias Canete has been named as European Commissioner-designate for Energy and Climate Action. In response to the news, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) is calling on the new commissioner to take the reigns of the Europe’s energy future. “We look forward to working with Vice …
Food, Water Security Focus of Water for Food Event
The role of data in water and food security will be explored in the upcoming Water for Food Global Conference taking place in Seattle, Washington October 19-22, 2014. Global food demand is growing. With a changing climate and increased competition for scarce water resources, people are now faced with the complex challenge of needing to double agricultural production by 2050 …
Texas A&M Students Help African Villages with Solar
Three senior Mechanical Engineering students at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Bryan Hunt, Cody Collins, and Andrew Schippers recently returned from Hanga, Tanzania where they brainstormed ideas for several renewable resource projects including the use of solar energy for refrigeration, lighting, Internet and improving hydroelectric power. Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering Michael Cornachione is assisting the students with their projects. “The …
Algae Systems Converts Algae to Biofuels, Clean Water
Algae Systems has completed a biofuel production demonstration project in conjunction with Japan’s IHI Corporation. The demonstration plant is located in Daphne, Alabama and the process combines wastewater with algae to produce the world’s first energy-generating wastewater treatment process, using carbon-negative technologies. This process will yield both biofuel and drinking water. Matthew C. Atwood, president and CEO of Algae Systems …
Six ‘Grand Challenges’ Face the United States
There are six “grand challenges” facing the United States over the next decade according to a report from the national Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). The challenges include sustainability, water, climate change, agriculture, energy and education. The APLU project was co-chaired by W. Daniel Edge, head of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University. Edge …