さて、そして23日のガーディアンの記事によれば、EUの科学部に相当する組織が太陽電池と太陽熱発電、さらには風力、地熱などの利用も含めた再生可能エネルギーの可能性についてのプレゼンテーションを行ったということです。
たとえばサハラ砂漠は、EU南部の国よりも2割以上も日射条件がいいようです。サハラ砂漠に大規模な太陽光発電所や最近世界各地で建設が始まっている太陽熱発電所などを建設し、アフリカからEUまで新たに最新の送電網を整備することで、この地域に電力を供給する。さらには、風力、地熱など地域で利用可能な再生可能エネルギーの開発を進めることで、数字的にはEUが目指す2020年に再生可能エネルギー20%、そして2050年には、50%を越えての利用を可能にするだけの潜在力をこの地域が持っているということです。送電ロスは、１５％程度見込んでいて、現状でも”ペイ”する可能性があり、将来の太陽電池などの高効率化やコスト減などにより十分成立する計画であるということです。
さらに、現在検討されている直流送電(High voltage direct current）網が実現すれば、さらに送電ロスを抑えることができるということです。
" There are times in the history of our nation when our very way of life depends upon dispelling illusions and awakening to the challenge of a present danger. "
AL GORE: Green Energy by 2018 (7/17 Speech)
(EnergyEnvironmentTV,2008年07月17日)
"Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years. "
ここのところ世界の再生可能エネルギーの技術開発の情報は本当に豊富で充実したものになってきました。国や企業が、総力をあげてエネルギー問題に取り組む現状においては、世界のエネルギーの数割をまかなう可能性のある再生可能エネルギーの存在感は日ごとに増しているという気がします。今回は、Renewable Energy Worldのニュースの中に発見したまるで巨大な海蛇のように柔軟な動きで泳ぐように発電する波力発電システムアナコンダ、Anacondaについてリンクをたどって、詳しく見てみることにします。
プレスリリース / Engineergin and Physical Sciences Reserch Council ,3 July 2008
・Rubber 'Snake' Could Help Wave Power Get a Bite of the Energy Market[http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/PressReleases/RubberSnakeCouldHelpWavePowerGetaBiteofEnergyMarket.htm リンク切れ] -----image(”Computer simulation of how the Anaconda would look out at sea.”）:同リリースより
" A device consisting of a giant rubber tube may hold the key to producing affordable electricity from the energy in sea waves.
Invented in the UK, the 'Anaconda' is a totally innovative wave energy concept. Its ultra-simple design means it would be cheap to manufacture and maintain, enabling it to produce clean electricity at lower cost than other types of wave energy converter. Cost has been a key barrier to deployment of such converters to date. -----image(”The Anaconda device could be used in groups of 20 or more.”）:同リリースより
Named after the snake of the same name because of its long thin shape, the Anaconda is closed at both ends and filled completely with water. It is designed to be anchored just below the sea's surface, with one end facing the oncoming waves.
A wave hitting the end squeezes it and causes a 'bulge wave'* to form inside the tube. As the bulge wave runs through the tube, the initial sea wave that caused it runs along the outside of the tube at the same speed, squeezing the tube more and more and causing the bulge wave to get bigger and bigger. The bulge wave then turns a turbine fitted at the far end of the device and the power produced is fed to shore via a cable.
Because it is made of rubber, the Anaconda is much lighter than other wave energy devices (which are primarily made of metal) and dispenses with the need for hydraulic rams, hinges and articulated joints. This reduces capital and maintenance costs and scope for breakdowns. "
プレスリリース / JPL.NASA.GOV,July 09, 2008
・Ocean Wind Power Maps Reveal Possible Wind Energy Sources
-----image(pop up ; ”This is a portion of an image of QuikScat data that shows wind power density over global oceans for winter (top panel) and summer (lower panel) in the Northern Hemisphere. Red and white colors indicate high energy are available while blue color reflects lower energy. (click image for complete view) Image courtesy: NASA/JPL”) 同リリースより
" Efforts to harness the energy potential of Earth's ocean winds could soon gain an important new tool: global satellite maps from NASA. Scientists have been creating maps using nearly a decade of data from NASA's QuikScat satellite that reveal ocean areas where winds could produce energy.
The new maps have many potential uses including planning the location of offshore wind farms to convert wind energy into electric energy. The research, published this week in Geophysical Research Letters, was funded by NASA's Earth Science Division, which works to advance the frontiers of scientific discovery about Earth, its climate and its future.
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Wind energy has the potential to provide 10 to 15 percent of future world energy requirements, according to Paul Dimotakis, chief technologist at JPL. If ocean areas with high winds were tapped for wind energy, they could potentially harvest up to 500 to 800 watts of wind power per square meter, according to Liu's research. Dimotakis notes that while this is less than peak solar power, which is about 1000 watts per square meter on Earth's surface when the sky is clear and the sun is overhead at equatorial locations, the average solar power at Earth's mid-latitudes under clear-sky conditions is less than a third of that. Wind power can be converted to electricity more efficiently than solar power and at a lower cost per watt of electricity produced.
According to Liu, new technology has made floating wind farms in the open ocean possible. A number of wind farms are already in operation worldwide. Ocean wind farms have less environmental impact than onshore wind farms, whose noise tends to disturb sensitive wildlife in their immediate area. Also, winds are generally stronger over the ocean than on land because there is less friction over water to slow the winds down -- there are no hills or mountains to block the wind's path.
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-----image(pop up : ”solar-stack-enlarged - Organic solar concentrators collect and focus different colors of sunlight. Solar cells can be attached to the edges of the plates. By collecting light over their full surface and concentrating it at their edges, these devices reduce the required area of solar cells and consequently, the cost of solar power. Stacking multiple concentrators allows the optimization of solar cells at each wavelength, increasing the overall power output. Photo / Donna Coveney ”) & text : MIT news,July 10, 2008発表より
" Cost effective devices expected on market soon
Imagine windows that not only provide a clear view and illuminate rooms, but also use sunlight to efficiently help power the building they are part of. MIT engineers report a new approach to harnessing the sun's energy that could allow just that.
The work, to be reported in the July 11 issue of Science, involves the creation of a novel "solar concentrator." "Light is collected over a large area [like a window] and gathered, or concentrated, at the edges," explains Marc A. Baldo, leader of the work and the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Career Development Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering.
As a result, rather than covering a roof with expensive solar cells (the semiconductor devices that transform sunlight into electricity), the cells only need to be around the edges of a flat glass panel. In addition, the focused light increases the electrical power obtained from each solar cell "by a factor of over 40," Baldo says.
Because the system is simple to manufacture, the team believes that it could be implemented within three years--even added onto existing solar-panel systems to increase their efficiency by 50 percent for minimal additional cost. That, in turn, would substantially reduce the cost of solar electricity.
" Energy company, S.D.E., whichhas developed an innovative technology for generating sea wave electricity,has signed an agreement for selling sea wave power plants throughout China.Construction of the power plants will be financed by investors from HongKong and China. Two joint venture companies, formed in Hong Kong by S.D.E and theinvestors for the implementation of the agreement, will build an initialmodel in Guangzhou province in southern China. In the event the modelproves to be successful, they will launch the establishment of sea wavepower plants throughout China. The process is subject to the approval ofthe Government of China, which is meant to purchase the entire quantity ofelectricity generated. "
" GM, Veolia Environnement, Clairvoyant, Aragon Government Join Forces on Solar Energy
General Motors Europe, part of the leading global automotive group, Veolia Environnement, world leader in environmental services, the energy developer Clairvoyant Energy and the Government of Aragon, Spain, today announced a further commitment to energy efficiency with the construction of the world’s largest capacity rooftop solar power station.
GM, Veolia Environnement, Clairvoyant, Aragon Government Join Forces on Solar Energy
General Motors Europe, part of the leading global automotive group, Veolia Environnement, world leader in environmental services, the energy developer Clairvoyant Energy and the Government of Aragon, Spain, today announced a further commitment to energy efficiency with the construction of the world’s largest capacity rooftop solar power station.
Annual output from the photovoltaic solar power station at Figueruelas near Zaragoza is expected to be 15,1 million kWh, sufficient to meet the demand of 4.600 households with an average annual consumption of 3.300 kWh.
Operational at the end of September, 2008, the rooftop power station will feed electric current into the local grid of Red Electrica and sell the energy to Endesa.
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関連
World's largest rooftop solar power station built for GM
" 2050年自然エネルギービジョンとその実現へ向けた政策を提言
このたび低炭素社会のための持続可能な自然エネルギー政策の実現に向けて、下記の自然エネルギー関連団体により「自然エネルギー政策プラットフォーム」(JREPP: Japan Renewable Energy Policy Platform)が新たに発足し、自然エネルギー政策に関連する様々な検討や提言を行ってまいります。
" With end of cheap oil, renewables and energy efficiency attracts fast-growing interest;
New investment surpasses $148 billion in 2007, a 60% rise from 2006, Growth continues in 2008, UNEP study says
Climate change worries, growing support from world governments, rising oil prices and ongoing energy security concerns combined to fuel another record-setting year of investment in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries in 2007, according to an analysis issued Tuesday July 1 by the UN Environment Programme(UNEP).
”The clean energy industry is maturing and its backers remain bullish. These findings should empower governments-both North and South-to reach a deep and meaningful new agreement by the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen in late 2009,” Achim Steiner, the head of UNEP, says.
Over $148 billion in new funding entered the sustainable energy sector globally last year, up 60% from 2006, even as a credit crunch began to roil financial markets, according to the report, "Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2008," prepared by UK-based New Energy Finance for UNEP's Paris-based Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative.
Wind energy again attracted the most investment($50.2 billion in 2007), but solar power grew most rapidly:attracting some $28.6 billion of new capital and growing at an average annual rate of 254% since 2004, driven by the advent of larger project financings.
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