The natural chemical processes mastered the solar energy through the process of photosynthesis. The perfect solution would be to get the energy produced by photosynthesis in plants directly. Or we should be able to copy this process that billions of years of evolution have perfected in order to convert solar energy into chemical energy as hydrogen, which is easier to store than electricity.

In the process of photosynthesis, solar energy is used to split water and produce oxygen molecules, protons and electrons. To produce an electric current, the electrons produced by the reaction have to be recovered. This is what a team of Stanford University researchers has succeeded to do by using nano-gold electrodes. A nano-electrode is stuck inside a cell of algae. First of all the task is to create an electrode small enough to be introduced into a cell and, secondly, to puncture the cell and to maintain the electrode in place without causing death of the algae. Once in place, this electrode directly receives the electrons produced in the energy factories of plant cells that have chloroplasts.

However, this took place not only in a single cell and the resulting current is extremely low: a picoamperes. To be effective, it should be possible to improve the recovery of electrons within cells and multiply the number of cells tethered by about a thousand billion. Not to mention the possibility that the “energy theft” is also the cause of the premature death of cells. The authors are nevertheless confident. They believe that this approach would potentially produce more energy from plants through combustion. If these results highlight the possibility of recovering the energy directly from the source, other researchers propose to mimic natural structures in order to reproduce the process of photosynthesis.

The evolution has produced structures that make the process of photosynthesis very effective: why not copy? In a sheet, the different structures are intended to guide the solar energy to the chloroplasts where it will be transformed, providing excellent performance. The development of nanotechnology allows scientists to have a bottom-up construction of these structures, that is to say, playing with Legos and building material, piece by piece, the structure. Imaging methods and characterization can get the plans. The advantage of the researcher is that it can choose the materials he uses, so that biological materials are available in limited variety.

In the first attempt to produce an artificial inorganic leaf Chinese researchers injected the titanium oxide in the leaf of a plant, using the leaf as a mold. They obtained a structure eight times more productive than in hydrogen the same amount of titanium dioxide. By coating the platinum foil, they multiplied the productivity of the structure 10. These results were presented last March at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, held in San Francisco. Copy the entire structure may seem like a good way to copy the process to recover hydrogen to fuel cell fuels. However, it is also considered to reproduce only the chemical process of decomposition of the water molecule.

Copy the chemical mechanisms

A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) proposed a new method to realize the dissociation of water molecule using solar energy. They have thus reproduced the reaction taking place during photosynthesis without using the same materials as those used in nature. Although. They are in fact used a virus which is capable of binding catalytic materials (iridium oxide) and organic pigments. This is then included in a matrix of micro-gel creating a tangle to ensure the progress of the reaction. Pigments capture light energy, catalysts ensure the realization of the reaction. The virus is now staging the structural components and also ensures the transfer of energy.

However, this structure allows for the time being to ensure the least interesting part of the reaction: production of oxygen via the oxidation of the water molecule. It remains to change the structure to ensure the recombination of proton and electron products for the hydrogen atoms. Another drawback of the structure is related to the cost of iridium. In considering an industrial application, it will be necessary to find another less expensive catalyst.

A booming area

If this research were somewhat original, yet there are groups working on the subject. Less than a month ago the program Catalytix Sun caused a stir by promising to provide such equivalent electricity consumption of a house (30kw / h) through a water bottle. Since the project is supported by ARPA-E to the tune of $4 million. The technology used is based on a new catalyst discovered in the laboratory at MIT led by Daniel Nocera. His research focuses on the use of abundant elements on Earth to generate hydrogen and oxygen through fresh water or clean sea water. In the words used by the ARPA-E this technology provides a method of versatile, inexpensive, efficient, scalable storage of renewable energy. The system should cost a tenth of the price of conventional systems. The photo-electrochemical cells are also capable of converting sunlight and water into hydrogen for the production of synthetic fuels.

Similarly, the Helios Project is an initiative with a goal to develop solar energy at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in collaboration with UC Berkeley. The primary goal of this effort is the storage of energy from the sun. Scientists are focusing on several approaches such as generation of biofuels from biomass or algae and direct conversion of water and CO2 into fuel by the rays of light. The latter is particularly interesting because it contained what the researchers call “artificial photosynthesis”. To achieve this goal, the researchers repeated the process of photosynthesis using advanced materials and new molecules. The light is thus collected by the photovoltaic elements and then used to form chemical reactions to create fuel using only water and carbon dioxide. Researchers expect this process more efficient than that obtained by natural photosynthesis.

The natural structures offer solutions to current problems, particularly in the field of energy. The capacity analysis, comprehension and reproduction of structures and reactions observed at the molecular level have reached sufficient maturity to open new perspectives. The intensity of research in order to master the photosynthesis is an example.

An update on current renewable energy projects in Germany and the U.S. was the focus today at the 2nd German American Energy Conference hosted at the House of German Business. This year’s theme, “Promising Markets for Renewables and Energy Efficiency,” brought U.S. and German business executives together to talk about ongoing projects in the clean energy sector. Organized by the German American Chambers of Commerce and the German Energy Agency GmbH (dena), the event also covered energy efficiency topics, including the current incentives situation in the U.S. at the federal and state levels, as well as current developments in the wind, solar and bioenergy sectors.

An update on current renewable energy projects in Germany and the U.S. was the focus today at the 2nd German American Energy Conference hosted at the House of German Business. This year’s theme, “Promising Markets for Renewables and Energy Efficiency,” brought U.S. and German business executives together to talk about ongoing projects in the clean energy sector. Organized by the German American Chambers of Commerce and the German Energy Agency GmbH (dena), the event also covered energy efficiency topics, including the current incentives situation in the U.S. at the federal and state levels, as well as current developments in the wind, solar and bioenergy sectors.”The German-American Energy Conference is a perfect platform for exchanging ideas for participating in and supporting the development of renewable energy technologies,” said Jyl Safier, Director of Marketing for the Regional Operations Group, Americas region, at Coenergy. “Germany’s decades of experience in the renewables sector can translate into a beneficial partnership for U.S. and German businesses.”Berlin Partner, the business development agency for Berlin, was one of the supporters of the conference. Berlin has become a global hotspot for energy development and research and is home to universities and research institutes that help further the development and advance of renewable energy technologies and projects.Speakers at the conference included: Michael Eckhart, President, American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE); Scott Minos, Senior Policy & Communications Specialist, U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; and Hermann Albers, President, German WindEnergy Association.”Berlin is leading Germany in becoming an important country for the development of sustainable growth technologies,” said René Gurka, Managing Director of Berlin Partner GmbH. “There are unlimited synergies, including renewable energy, that can make both Germany and the U.S. global energy powerhouses,” he added.

Of the many options, the sun represents the most abundant renewable energy source. Its rays have a potential supply that dwarfs the global demand for energy today and for the foreseeable future. However, the costs of converting sunlight to usable electricity, heat or fuel must be radically reduced to realize this potential. And that can only be accomplished through the development of technologies that are low-cost, highly scalable and based on plentiful source materials.

Dozens of researchers at Argonne National Laboratoryare exploring new solar technologies as part of its Alternative Energy & Efficiency Initiative. The initiative aims to achieve revolutionary advances toward the large-scale use of solar energy by merging basic and applied research that is supported by collaborations with industry and other research organizations.

How much of our energy could we get from the sun? Watch Argonne researchers discuss the problems and potential of solar energy.

Argonne’s solar energy research covers four specific areas: next-generation photovoltaic technologies such as organic, hybrid and dye-sensitized solar cells; transparent conductors deposited on 3-D photovoltaics (PVs); concentrating sunlight; and systems analysis.

Current PV technologies perform well, but their costs are too high to compete directly with fossil fuels. Without significant government subsidies, incremental improvements to these technologies will not lower costs enough to achieve grid parity, where the costs are equal to or lower than burning coal, for example.

Next-generation technologies with potential for very low-cost production are needed. Organic, hybrid and dye-sensitized solar cells are among the most promising of these low-cost options. Basic science is needed to design, synthesize and understand these materials, and applied science to optimize performance and scale up the fabrication of devices based on these materials. Furthermore, systems analysis will provide insight into how the complex interplay of issues such as variability of sunshine, geographic and resource factors, regulation and economics will impact the market penetration of these technologies.

Light must enter into one side of a solar cell, and that side also has to serve as an electrode for the device to function—so transparent conductors are a crucial component of virtually all solar cells. Indium tin oxide is the workhorse of transparent conductors in today’s devices. But the world’s indium supply is limited, so alternatives are needed to reduce the amount required or eliminate it altogether. Argonne has a team of experts in a technique called atomic layer deposition (ALD) that can prepare extremely thin layers of transparent conductors.

ALD also provides perfectly conformal coverage, even on highly three-dimensional materials such as those required for dye-sensitized solar cells. Using ALD to deposit indium tin oxide will enhance performance and reduce the cost of next-generation PVs. Extending this technique to alternative, earth-abundant transparent conductors will ultimately bring us closer to fabricating efficient solar energy devices on a massive scale.

Sunlight is bountiful but diffuse. Another route to lowering the cost of capturing solar energy is to use inexpensive materials to collect sunlight from a large area. This light is directed either to a small, high-performance solar cell or to a fluid that transfers the thermal energy to steam turbines that generate electricity. Argonne has a program developing luminescent solar concentrators for the first approach that will function in a broad variety of climates and another program studying advanced heat transfer fluids for the second, which performs best in regions with abundant sunshine. Because numerous factors could influence the commercial viability of these technologies, systems analysis will provide essential direction regarding device targets and appropriate markets.

Argonne is also exploring in detail the environmental impact of shifting to new solar energy technologies on a large-scale and examining how consumers will respond to these technologies.

PVs and concentrated solar power hold the promise of ushering in a new energy economy for the electricity grid. Looking forward even further, turning sunlight into chemical fuels is an exciting route to replacing fossil fuels in the transportation sector; the laboratory is laying the groundwork to tackle this goal, too.

Argonne’s integrated approach to solar energy research represents a new way of addressing the challenges associated with shifting global energy generation away from fossil fuels to provide a clean, secure and virtually limitless supply of energy in the future.

REFF China addresses these questions in its Extended Wind Session, covering the manufacturing, development and financing perspectives. The introduction of a solar feed-in-tariff in China signals the beginning of the race towards domestic installations, and the Solar Session will explore the recent developments on this front. Business dynamics between China and the US are cultivating a range of opportunities, driven ever stronger by a host of bilateral initiatives. The 5th REFF China introduces a New US-China Session exploring the two-way flow of ideas and business opportunities in the clean energy sectors to identify how this trend is set to develop.

New regulations are forming a new business reality in China: The scale up in installed capacity and renewable energy purchase obligations placed on utilities result in an urgent need to address grid infrastructure. REFF China is introducing a New Grid Session looking closely at the demands placed on infrastructure and the implications for developers.

Celebrating its 5th Anniversary, REFF China is the most established event tracking the financing dynamics of the renewable energy markets in China. With dedicated discussion forums and networking time, the conference will assemble all the leading stakeholders: regulators; financiers; developers and manufacturers to address these pivotal issues and form new business partnerships.

The city’s planning commissioners recommended this week that proposed language for a renewable energy ordinance be approved by city council members, who are expected to consider the proposal Tuesday night. The council meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 405 E. Colby.

The ordinance, if approved, would regulate renewable energy sources for residential, commercial and industrial properties. The ordinance’s purpose is to promote the “safe, effective and efficient use” of renewable energy sources, to lessen potential adverse impact they may have on residential areas through location and noise limitations, and to avoid potential damage to adjacent properties.

Whitehall’s proximity to the winds blowing off White Lake and growing interest among some in the area, highlighted by a community group called White Lake Innovative Natural Development Solutions (WINDS), seem to represent a need for such an ordinance.

City staff and planning commissioners have been working on and debating the ordinance language for about six months.

“A lot of effort has been put into this,” said Mayor Mac Hatch. “Anything to do with renewable energy is good.”

Joyce Brownell, a Whitehall resident and member of the WINDS group, credited the city’s planning commissioners for setting up an ordinance and recognizing the “possibility and probability” that use of renewable energy may increase. David Roodvoets, a Montague resident who used to work for Dow Chemical and is a member of the group, offered ordinance language suggestions for the planning commission.

Brownell said the planning commission made “great strides” with the ordinance, but the group is disappointed that more specific items weren’t addressed in the ordinance, especially the noise level. The group’s purpose is to inform and educate local residents, businesses and governments in Whitehall and Montague on “green” technologies and practices.

Brownell said the group was pushing for the ordinance to include a decibel maximum level of 45, a relatively low number that the group hoped would help drive manufacturers to make units that meet that restriction.

The setback requirement in the proposed ordinance specifies that units must be a distance not less than 1.1 times the height of the equipment, as measured from the base to the tallest point.

The proposed ordinance calls for all exterior renewable energy equipment, such as wind turbines and solar devices, to require a zoning or special use permit. For private use, renewable energy applications will be allowed as an accessory use in residential, commercial and industrial districts.

For commercial applications, units may be allowed by special use permit only in general industrial zoning districts on parcels no less than 20 acres. In the industrial district, devices such as wind turbines may not exceed 200 feet in height.

Here we will try to introduce you to the renewable energy sources (RES) available today. RES refers to energy resources which are naturally replenished: wind, solar, hydro-power, biomass, geothermal energy, ocean energy.

The EUROSTAT’s definition of RES: Renewable energies cover hydro-power, wind energy, solar energy, biomass and wastes and geothermal energy. Renewable energies are the sum of hydro-power, wind energy, solar energy, biomass & wastes and geothermal energy.

Today, renewable energy is mainly produced and used domestically. Traditional biomass (for cooking and heating) is growing just slowly as it is used more efficiently or replaced by more modern energy sources, large hydro-power is growing slowly, new renewables (small hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar, geothermal and bio-fuel) are growing very rapidly.

Modern applications of renewable energy have grown steadily over the past three decades and the investment to developing renewable energy capacities in countries is growing rapidly, from $6 billion in 1995 to over $50 billion in 2008

The good news is that renewable resource potentials exceed today’s world energy consumption.

Renewable energy policies and promotions, as well as new targets already exist in more than 50 countries all over the world. Most of them are targeting the share of renewable energy in the electricity generation (typically 5 – 30 per cent). This is true for most developed countries. And as far as we can tell the most rapid changes can be seen in South-Eastern Asia and China.

The biggest problem in developing new RES policies and projects is the lack of a unified system, that would provide information on the know-how and statistics periodically and transparently. The are also copyright law issues and very significant differences in the definitions of RES stated by various organizations. The other interesting fact is that no matter how rapidly the investments to the sector increase, there is still not nearly enough funds to reach the average term goals for this type of resources.

It is being predicted that the world population will be more, than 12 billion people by 2100, whereas the demand for energy will be five times greater than what it is now. If most economies will continue using coal, oil and gas at the present rate, by the year 2010 the global warming of the planet’s climate will continue, increasing the temperature by 2 more degrees Celsius. This will bring higher risks of flooding in lowland areas, the processes of desertification, and other adverse effects, causing serious damage to the planets wild life and nature, not speaking of the economic losses due to various natural disasters.

At the present moment the renewable energy use makes only for 11% to our primary energy. To ensure a safe and healthy future, we have to keep and create a healthy environment for our next generations by actively utilizing renewable energy every day. The outlook assumes that 60% of all our energy should come from renewable energy in the future (by the year 2070). We have to address this matter as soon as possible as it will literally mean the world to the planet, the key value for renewable energy is at it’s best set to 80% of all utilized energy. Not so long ago over two billion dollars were allocated to projects dealing with renewable energy and the environment by The World Solar Summit, World Solar Decade and the World Bank. This is one of those demonstrations that show us, how important is the research and development of renewable energy sources. This web resource will try to tell you more on this subject with every publication we post.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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