Thursday July 8, 2010
Mercedes is joining the future with its "AMG Performance 2015" program, which has made a splash with the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-CELL, an all-electric, gullwinged sports car.
While I'm sure you want to know how fast this thing goes and all that cool stuff, I'm also sure you're asking yourself, "What in the name of bananas and sunshine and all good yellow things is that color?" It is called AMG Lumilectric Magno, a name as obnoxious as the color.
Underneath that fluorescent skin are four electric motors positioned near the wheels, for a combined 392 kW of power (that's about 525 hp) and nearly 600 lb-ft of torque. This adds up to 0-62 in 4 seconds, a hair slower than the gasoline-powered SLS AMG, which covers that ground in 3.8 seconds.
To make sense of all this, the cockpit has new instruments in the dashboard to relay information on charge status and remaining range in addition to speed. The transmission has been simplified to three buttons: P, R, and D, with that last one being most important. No word on whether this car will ever make it to production.
Friday, 9 July 2010
WHITEFORD WELCOMES PLANS FOR PETERHEAD CARBON CAPTURE
Thursday, 8 July 2010
PETERHEAD BID TO BE AT CENTRE OF CARBON CAPTURE REVOLUTION
Banff and Buchan MP Dr Eilidh Whiteford has welcomed today's announcement that Scottish and Southern Energy plc is to develop a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project at its gas-fired power station at Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.
The project would demonstrate post-combustion capture of carbon dioxide emissions relating to the electricity output of the equivalent of 400MW of capacity. It would involve using an existing gas turbine, an existing steam turbine, an existing electricity network connection and land adjacent to the power station already owned by SSE.
A earlier proposal to capture carbon dioxide emissions at Peterhead, and then export them to the North Sea for enhanced oil recovery and ultimate storage, was abandoned in 2007 because the previous Labour Government refused to provide certainty over the policy framework required or financial support.
Commenting, Dr Whiteford said:
"This is great news for Peterhead and excellent news for Scotland's renewable sector given we have some of Europe's largest carbon storage reserves in our North Sea oil and gas fields combined with the expertise on how to access them.
"SSE are to be commended for their continuing commitment to carbon capture and this project has huge environmental potential, and must be embraced by the government. This has been a key campaign for the SNP, and Alex Salmond, as First Minister and as the former local MP, battled to bring the development of carbon capture to the area. I am delighted that these longstanding efforts may soon be realised.
"This project would put Peterhead at the cutting-edge of carbon capture technology. The UK Government must now recognise the very strong case which exists for this project going ahead and the investment it will bring to Peterhead.
"People have not forgotten that Peterhead could already have been three years ahead of where it is now had the last Labour Government not decided to pull back from its support for the previous carbon capture project."
SNP Westminster Energy spokesperson Mike Weir MP, who lodged an amendment to the Energy Bill earlier this year to extend the CCS levy and allow gas projects to be included, also hailed the news.
Mr Weir added:
"For too long, the UK Government has dithered over developing this vital resource and the new administration must finally take steps to support the sector.
"Scotland could have been the world leader in CCS had the last Labour government given sufficient backing to the proposed development at Peterhead, instead it let that go overseas with its blinkered attitude to only developing coal based CCS."
PETERHEAD BID TO BE AT CENTRE OF CARBON CAPTURE REVOLUTION
Banff and Buchan MP Dr Eilidh Whiteford has welcomed today's announcement that Scottish and Southern Energy plc is to develop a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project at its gas-fired power station at Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.
The project would demonstrate post-combustion capture of carbon dioxide emissions relating to the electricity output of the equivalent of 400MW of capacity. It would involve using an existing gas turbine, an existing steam turbine, an existing electricity network connection and land adjacent to the power station already owned by SSE.
A earlier proposal to capture carbon dioxide emissions at Peterhead, and then export them to the North Sea for enhanced oil recovery and ultimate storage, was abandoned in 2007 because the previous Labour Government refused to provide certainty over the policy framework required or financial support.
Commenting, Dr Whiteford said:
"This is great news for Peterhead and excellent news for Scotland's renewable sector given we have some of Europe's largest carbon storage reserves in our North Sea oil and gas fields combined with the expertise on how to access them.
"SSE are to be commended for their continuing commitment to carbon capture and this project has huge environmental potential, and must be embraced by the government. This has been a key campaign for the SNP, and Alex Salmond, as First Minister and as the former local MP, battled to bring the development of carbon capture to the area. I am delighted that these longstanding efforts may soon be realised.
"This project would put Peterhead at the cutting-edge of carbon capture technology. The UK Government must now recognise the very strong case which exists for this project going ahead and the investment it will bring to Peterhead.
"People have not forgotten that Peterhead could already have been three years ahead of where it is now had the last Labour Government not decided to pull back from its support for the previous carbon capture project."
SNP Westminster Energy spokesperson Mike Weir MP, who lodged an amendment to the Energy Bill earlier this year to extend the CCS levy and allow gas projects to be included, also hailed the news.
Mr Weir added:
"For too long, the UK Government has dithered over developing this vital resource and the new administration must finally take steps to support the sector.
"Scotland could have been the world leader in CCS had the last Labour government given sufficient backing to the proposed development at Peterhead, instead it let that go overseas with its blinkered attitude to only developing coal based CCS."
DOE Announces $67M for Carbon Capture Development
SustainableBusiness.com News
The U.S. Department of Energy announced the selection of ten projects aimed at developing advanced technologies for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal combustion.
The projects, valued at up to $67 million over three years, will focus on improving efficiency and reducing the added costs to electricity at power plants with carbon capture systems to less than 30% for a new pulverized coal plant and 10% for a new advanced gasification plant.
Carbon dioxide power plant capture systems currently require large amounts of energy for their operation, resulting in decreased efficiency and reduced net power output when compared to plants without CCS technology. The goal of this research is to reduce the energy "penalty" with carbon capture and sequestration technologies, thereby reducing costs and helping to move the technology closer to widespread use.
The Obama Administration has made a goal of developing cost-effective deployment of CCS technologies within 10 years, with an objective of bringing 5 to 10 commercial demonstration projects online by 2016.
Post-combustion CO2 capture technology offers near-term potential for reducing power sector CO2 emissions because it can be retrofited to existing plants. Post-combustion CO2 Selections include:
Bench-Scale Development and Testing of Post-combustion CO2 Capture
Membranes
American Air Liquide, Inc. (Newark, DE)-This two-year project will develop a cost-effective system for CO2 capture based on the performance achieved by the sub-ambient temperature operation of the Air Liquide hollow fiber membrane. The membrane will be coupled with cryogenic processing technology in a closed-loop test system that will verify the effect of possible contaminants, such as SOx, NOx and water, on membrane performance at levels relevant to coal-fired power plants. Experimental results will be used to refine the integrated process simulation and to design a slipstream facility. (DOE share: $1,266,249)
Gas Technology Institute (Des Plaines, IL)-Partnering with PoroGen Corporation and Aker Process Systems, Gas Technology Institute proposes a three-year effort to develop cost-effective hybrid separation technology for CO2 capture from flue gases based on a combination of absorption and hollow fiber membrane technologies. The technology could also apply to removal of numerous other gas pollutants such as NOx and SOx, separation of CO2 from hydrogen in refinery streams, and separation of CO2 from natural gas (natural gas sweetening). (DOE share: $2,986,063)
Solvents
3H Company, LLC (Lexington, KY)-3H Company and partners will confirm experimentally and analytically the feasibility of 3H Company patented "Self-Concentrating Absorbent CO2 Capture Process." The process is based on amines in a non-aqueous solvent, which upon reaction with CO2, will separate into two distinct phases: a CO2-rich liquid phase and a dilute lean phase. Preliminary experimental data show that the process has the potential of reducing the total regeneration energy by as much as 70%. During the three-year project, the team will also develop an engineering design, supported by laboratory data and economic justification, to construct and operate a slipstream demonstration facility at an E-ON power plant in the United States as a next stage of commercialization development. (DOE share: $2,740,033)
Akermin, Inc. (St. Louis, MO)-Akermin proposes to demonstrate the ability to capture up to 90% of CO2 from a simulated flue gas using a solvent with significantly lower regeneration energy at rates comparable to those of conventional monoethanolamine. Over the course of the two-year project, Akermin will optimize solvent formulation and demonstrate process efficacy for treating up to 2,000 standard liters of gas per hour. (DOE share: $2,608,759)
ION Engineering, LLC (Boulder,CO)-In a 15-month project, ION Engineering and partners will fabricate, install, and operate a bench-scale carbon capture unit to process flue gas at an operating power plant using amine-based solvents, which are highly effective for CO2 capture. ION's innovative approach to solvent formulation employs an ionic liquid instead of water as the physical solvent, greatly reducing the energy required to regenerate the amines and significantly lowering process water usage. In addition to a 60% reduction in energy requirement, ionic liquid-amine solvent mixtures offer higher CO2 capacities, reduced corrosion, reduced solvent losses, and other benefits when compared to traditional aqueous amine technologies. (DOE share: $2,999,614)
University of Illinois (Champaign, IL)-Collaborators at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Parsons Corporation will investigate the use of a carbonate salt (potassium or sodium carbonate) as a solvent for absorption-based, post-combustion CO2 capture. A preliminary techno-economic evaluation shows that energy use with the Hot Carbonate Absorption Process (CAP) is about half that of a conventional monoethanolamine process. The research team will perform a proof-of-concept study aimed at generating process engineering and scale-up data to help advance Hot-CAP technology to the pilot-scale demonstration level within three years. (DOE share: $1,261,459)
URS Group (Austin, TX)-URS Group, Inc. and partners will investigate the use of concentrated piperazine (PZ) as a solvent for absorbing CO2 from coal-fired power plant flue gas. PZ coupled with two-stage flash regeneration at 150°C offers several advantages over other solvents, including: faster CO2 absorption rate, higher CO2 capacity, lower volatility, negligible thermal degradation, negligible oxidative degradation when used with an inhibitor, and production of CO2 at elevated pressure (resulting in lower compression costs). The three-year project will be conducted initially at a 0.1 MW scale and ultimately with a 0.5 MW unit designed and constructed for a final test campaign with the absorber at DOE's National Carbon Capture Center. (DOE share: $3,000,000)
Slipstream Development and Testing of Post-combustion CO2 Capture
Membranes
Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (Joseph City, AZ) )-Membrane Technology and Research (MTR) and partners will construct a 1 MW membrane skid capable of 90 percent CO2 capture from a slipstream flow of 20 tons-of-CO2/day in coal-fired flue gas during a six-month field test at the Arizona Public Service Cholla Power Plant. Field test data and membrane performance data obtained at the National Carbon Capture Center will allow a thorough techno-economic evaluation of the membrane capture process over the three-year project, and will clarify the relative potential of the approach. (DOE share: $14,756,199)
Solvents
Siemens Energy, Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA)-Siemens Energy will design, install, and operate a pilot plant for treating a slipstream (1 MW equivalent) at the TECO Energy Big Bend Station to demonstrate POSTCAP technology for post-combustion CO2 gas capture. Siemens' POSTCAP technology utilizes an amino acid salt formulation as a solvent for CO2 absorption. (DOE share: $8,960,000)
Solid Sorbents
ADA-ES, Inc. (Littleton, CO)-ADA-ES and partners will refine the conceptual design of a commercial solid sorbent-based, post-combustion CO2 capture technology through slipstream pilot testing and process modeling. A pilot unit (1 MW) will be designed and constructed for operation at one of the cost-share participant's power plant sites to demonstrate solid sorbent-based CO2 capture on actual flue gas for at least two continuous months. The pilot tests and process modeling during the 39-month project will provide the information necessary to complete a techno-economic analysis of the technology. (DOE share: $11,133,706)
The U.S. Department of Energy announced the selection of ten projects aimed at developing advanced technologies for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal combustion.
The projects, valued at up to $67 million over three years, will focus on improving efficiency and reducing the added costs to electricity at power plants with carbon capture systems to less than 30% for a new pulverized coal plant and 10% for a new advanced gasification plant.
Carbon dioxide power plant capture systems currently require large amounts of energy for their operation, resulting in decreased efficiency and reduced net power output when compared to plants without CCS technology. The goal of this research is to reduce the energy "penalty" with carbon capture and sequestration technologies, thereby reducing costs and helping to move the technology closer to widespread use.
The Obama Administration has made a goal of developing cost-effective deployment of CCS technologies within 10 years, with an objective of bringing 5 to 10 commercial demonstration projects online by 2016.
Post-combustion CO2 capture technology offers near-term potential for reducing power sector CO2 emissions because it can be retrofited to existing plants. Post-combustion CO2 Selections include:
Bench-Scale Development and Testing of Post-combustion CO2 Capture
Membranes
American Air Liquide, Inc. (Newark, DE)-This two-year project will develop a cost-effective system for CO2 capture based on the performance achieved by the sub-ambient temperature operation of the Air Liquide hollow fiber membrane. The membrane will be coupled with cryogenic processing technology in a closed-loop test system that will verify the effect of possible contaminants, such as SOx, NOx and water, on membrane performance at levels relevant to coal-fired power plants. Experimental results will be used to refine the integrated process simulation and to design a slipstream facility. (DOE share: $1,266,249)
Gas Technology Institute (Des Plaines, IL)-Partnering with PoroGen Corporation and Aker Process Systems, Gas Technology Institute proposes a three-year effort to develop cost-effective hybrid separation technology for CO2 capture from flue gases based on a combination of absorption and hollow fiber membrane technologies. The technology could also apply to removal of numerous other gas pollutants such as NOx and SOx, separation of CO2 from hydrogen in refinery streams, and separation of CO2 from natural gas (natural gas sweetening). (DOE share: $2,986,063)
Solvents
3H Company, LLC (Lexington, KY)-3H Company and partners will confirm experimentally and analytically the feasibility of 3H Company patented "Self-Concentrating Absorbent CO2 Capture Process." The process is based on amines in a non-aqueous solvent, which upon reaction with CO2, will separate into two distinct phases: a CO2-rich liquid phase and a dilute lean phase. Preliminary experimental data show that the process has the potential of reducing the total regeneration energy by as much as 70%. During the three-year project, the team will also develop an engineering design, supported by laboratory data and economic justification, to construct and operate a slipstream demonstration facility at an E-ON power plant in the United States as a next stage of commercialization development. (DOE share: $2,740,033)
Akermin, Inc. (St. Louis, MO)-Akermin proposes to demonstrate the ability to capture up to 90% of CO2 from a simulated flue gas using a solvent with significantly lower regeneration energy at rates comparable to those of conventional monoethanolamine. Over the course of the two-year project, Akermin will optimize solvent formulation and demonstrate process efficacy for treating up to 2,000 standard liters of gas per hour. (DOE share: $2,608,759)
ION Engineering, LLC (Boulder,CO)-In a 15-month project, ION Engineering and partners will fabricate, install, and operate a bench-scale carbon capture unit to process flue gas at an operating power plant using amine-based solvents, which are highly effective for CO2 capture. ION's innovative approach to solvent formulation employs an ionic liquid instead of water as the physical solvent, greatly reducing the energy required to regenerate the amines and significantly lowering process water usage. In addition to a 60% reduction in energy requirement, ionic liquid-amine solvent mixtures offer higher CO2 capacities, reduced corrosion, reduced solvent losses, and other benefits when compared to traditional aqueous amine technologies. (DOE share: $2,999,614)
University of Illinois (Champaign, IL)-Collaborators at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Parsons Corporation will investigate the use of a carbonate salt (potassium or sodium carbonate) as a solvent for absorption-based, post-combustion CO2 capture. A preliminary techno-economic evaluation shows that energy use with the Hot Carbonate Absorption Process (CAP) is about half that of a conventional monoethanolamine process. The research team will perform a proof-of-concept study aimed at generating process engineering and scale-up data to help advance Hot-CAP technology to the pilot-scale demonstration level within three years. (DOE share: $1,261,459)
URS Group (Austin, TX)-URS Group, Inc. and partners will investigate the use of concentrated piperazine (PZ) as a solvent for absorbing CO2 from coal-fired power plant flue gas. PZ coupled with two-stage flash regeneration at 150°C offers several advantages over other solvents, including: faster CO2 absorption rate, higher CO2 capacity, lower volatility, negligible thermal degradation, negligible oxidative degradation when used with an inhibitor, and production of CO2 at elevated pressure (resulting in lower compression costs). The three-year project will be conducted initially at a 0.1 MW scale and ultimately with a 0.5 MW unit designed and constructed for a final test campaign with the absorber at DOE's National Carbon Capture Center. (DOE share: $3,000,000)
Slipstream Development and Testing of Post-combustion CO2 Capture
Membranes
Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (Joseph City, AZ) )-Membrane Technology and Research (MTR) and partners will construct a 1 MW membrane skid capable of 90 percent CO2 capture from a slipstream flow of 20 tons-of-CO2/day in coal-fired flue gas during a six-month field test at the Arizona Public Service Cholla Power Plant. Field test data and membrane performance data obtained at the National Carbon Capture Center will allow a thorough techno-economic evaluation of the membrane capture process over the three-year project, and will clarify the relative potential of the approach. (DOE share: $14,756,199)
Solvents
Siemens Energy, Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA)-Siemens Energy will design, install, and operate a pilot plant for treating a slipstream (1 MW equivalent) at the TECO Energy Big Bend Station to demonstrate POSTCAP technology for post-combustion CO2 gas capture. Siemens' POSTCAP technology utilizes an amino acid salt formulation as a solvent for CO2 absorption. (DOE share: $8,960,000)
Solid Sorbents
ADA-ES, Inc. (Littleton, CO)-ADA-ES and partners will refine the conceptual design of a commercial solid sorbent-based, post-combustion CO2 capture technology through slipstream pilot testing and process modeling. A pilot unit (1 MW) will be designed and constructed for operation at one of the cost-share participant's power plant sites to demonstrate solid sorbent-based CO2 capture on actual flue gas for at least two continuous months. The pilot tests and process modeling during the 39-month project will provide the information necessary to complete a techno-economic analysis of the technology. (DOE share: $11,133,706)
California’s photovoltaic push
by Todd Woody
8 Jul 2010 11:43 AM
Amid the hullabaloo over government-chartered mortgage giants derailing the green financing program known as Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, the march toward distributed generation of renewable energy -- that is, generating electricity from decentralized sources such as rooftop solar panels or backyard wind turbines -- continues.
Case in point: The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) announced Wednesday that it had awarded contracts to San Francisco's Recurrent Energy to install 60 megawatts' worth of solar panels in the region surrounding California's state capital.
Rather than construct a central solar power station, Recurrent will scatter a dozen five-megawatt installations around two cities in Sacramento County. Each installation will be located near an existing substation, which means that the solar arrays can be plugged directly into the grid without requiring any expensive transmission upgrades.
As I wrote earlier this year in Grist, when SMUD put 100 megawatts of renewable energy contracts out for bid, the allocation sold out within a week. The utility is paying the solar developers a standard premium for their photovoltaic energy -- called a feed-in-tariff. But according to calculations done by Vote Solar, a San Francisco non-profit that promotes solar energy, SMUD will pay no more for this clean green solar electricity than it does for fossil-generated power at peak demand times. A 40-percent plunge in solar module costs over the past year has made solar photovoltaic energy increasingly competitive with natural gas, the main fossil fuel used in California to generate electricity.
California's two big investor-owned utilities, PG&E and Southern California Edison, have launched similar distributed generation programs, which will bring 1,000 megawatts of photovoltaic installations online over the next five years. At peak oputput, that's the equivalent of a nuclear power plant.
It took just nine months to install the fields of solar panels for the Vaca-Dixon station -- that's light speed in a state where the first new big solar thermal power plant in 20 years, BrightSource Energy's Ivanpah project, has been undergoing licensing for nearly three years.
Solar thermal power plants generate electricity by using mirrors to focus the sun on a liquid-filled boiler. The process creates create steam that drives a conventional turbine which can generate hundreds of megawatts of electricity. Solar thermal projects, by nature, are large centralized facilities, the clean and green versions of a big fossil-fuel power plant.
Photovoltaic farms, on the other hand, generate electricity when sunshine strikes semiconducting materials in a solar cell. If you want to produce more power, you just keep adding solar panels.
While BrightSource hopes to secure a license for its solar thermal project soon, the developer of a hybrid biomass solar trough power plant to be built in California's Central Valley pulled the plug on the project last month, after spending 18 months and untold millions of dollars in the licensing process before the California Energy Commission.
PG&E has been depending on both those solar thermal projects to supply electricity to help it meet its renewable energy mandates. No wonder then, the utility's growing enthusiasm for solar panel power. Photovoltaic farms do not have to be approved by California Energy Commission and can be built on already degraded land or close to cities.
And as I reported last month, the developer of another project being built to generate electricity for PG&E, the Alpine SunTower, decided to drop solar thermal technology made by its partner, eSolar, in favor of photovoltaic panels. The official explanation for the switch was that project was being downsized due to transmission constraints and solar panels proved a better fit.
But one has to wonder if economics as much as energy was behind the change. If so, deals like the one SMUD struck could be a recurrent theme.
8 Jul 2010 11:43 AM
Amid the hullabaloo over government-chartered mortgage giants derailing the green financing program known as Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, the march toward distributed generation of renewable energy -- that is, generating electricity from decentralized sources such as rooftop solar panels or backyard wind turbines -- continues.
Case in point: The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) announced Wednesday that it had awarded contracts to San Francisco's Recurrent Energy to install 60 megawatts' worth of solar panels in the region surrounding California's state capital.
Rather than construct a central solar power station, Recurrent will scatter a dozen five-megawatt installations around two cities in Sacramento County. Each installation will be located near an existing substation, which means that the solar arrays can be plugged directly into the grid without requiring any expensive transmission upgrades.
As I wrote earlier this year in Grist, when SMUD put 100 megawatts of renewable energy contracts out for bid, the allocation sold out within a week. The utility is paying the solar developers a standard premium for their photovoltaic energy -- called a feed-in-tariff. But according to calculations done by Vote Solar, a San Francisco non-profit that promotes solar energy, SMUD will pay no more for this clean green solar electricity than it does for fossil-generated power at peak demand times. A 40-percent plunge in solar module costs over the past year has made solar photovoltaic energy increasingly competitive with natural gas, the main fossil fuel used in California to generate electricity.
California's two big investor-owned utilities, PG&E and Southern California Edison, have launched similar distributed generation programs, which will bring 1,000 megawatts of photovoltaic installations online over the next five years. At peak oputput, that's the equivalent of a nuclear power plant.
It took just nine months to install the fields of solar panels for the Vaca-Dixon station -- that's light speed in a state where the first new big solar thermal power plant in 20 years, BrightSource Energy's Ivanpah project, has been undergoing licensing for nearly three years.
Solar thermal power plants generate electricity by using mirrors to focus the sun on a liquid-filled boiler. The process creates create steam that drives a conventional turbine which can generate hundreds of megawatts of electricity. Solar thermal projects, by nature, are large centralized facilities, the clean and green versions of a big fossil-fuel power plant.
Photovoltaic farms, on the other hand, generate electricity when sunshine strikes semiconducting materials in a solar cell. If you want to produce more power, you just keep adding solar panels.
While BrightSource hopes to secure a license for its solar thermal project soon, the developer of a hybrid biomass solar trough power plant to be built in California's Central Valley pulled the plug on the project last month, after spending 18 months and untold millions of dollars in the licensing process before the California Energy Commission.
PG&E has been depending on both those solar thermal projects to supply electricity to help it meet its renewable energy mandates. No wonder then, the utility's growing enthusiasm for solar panel power. Photovoltaic farms do not have to be approved by California Energy Commission and can be built on already degraded land or close to cities.
And as I reported last month, the developer of another project being built to generate electricity for PG&E, the Alpine SunTower, decided to drop solar thermal technology made by its partner, eSolar, in favor of photovoltaic panels. The official explanation for the switch was that project was being downsized due to transmission constraints and solar panels proved a better fit.
But one has to wonder if economics as much as energy was behind the change. If so, deals like the one SMUD struck could be a recurrent theme.
BP aims to fix leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well by 27 July
BP working to staunch leak weeks before publicly stated deadline, although it admits hurricane season makes this 'unlikely'
Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk, Thursday 8 July 2010 08.25 BST
BP is working to fix the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico by 27 July, weeks before its publicly stated deadline.
The company is due to report second-quarter results that day. It hopes to provide more information on its liabilities from the oil spill to shareholders, as well as its initial findings on the causes of the disaster.
BP had previously stated that it hopes to have a fix in place by mid-August. It wants to make progress by 20 July, the day David Cameron is visiting the White House, the Wall Street Journal reported.
"In a perfect world with no interruptions, it's possible to be ready to stop the well between 20 July and 27 July," the head of BP's Gulf Coast restoration unit, managing director Bob Dudley, told the Journal. He added that this "perfect case" is threatened by the hurricane season and is "unlikely".
BP is drilling two relief wells through which it will pump material designed to seal the blown-out well.
Under intense pressure from the US government, the oil giant is preparing a number of backup plans in case its current efforts to contain the massive spill fail. These include connecting the well to pipelines in two nearby underwater gas and oil fields.
Later today the oil drilling industry is set to go head-to-head with the Obama administration in court over a moratorium on deep-ocean well drilling in the wake of the worst environmental disaster in US history. The government wants to reinstate the ban after it was overturned by federal judge Martin Feldman in Louisiana on 22 June.
Feldman ruled that the federal government's six-month blanket moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico was unjustified because it assumed that all deepwater drilling was as dangerous as BP's.
Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk, Thursday 8 July 2010 08.25 BST
BP is working to fix the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico by 27 July, weeks before its publicly stated deadline.
The company is due to report second-quarter results that day. It hopes to provide more information on its liabilities from the oil spill to shareholders, as well as its initial findings on the causes of the disaster.
BP had previously stated that it hopes to have a fix in place by mid-August. It wants to make progress by 20 July, the day David Cameron is visiting the White House, the Wall Street Journal reported.
"In a perfect world with no interruptions, it's possible to be ready to stop the well between 20 July and 27 July," the head of BP's Gulf Coast restoration unit, managing director Bob Dudley, told the Journal. He added that this "perfect case" is threatened by the hurricane season and is "unlikely".
BP is drilling two relief wells through which it will pump material designed to seal the blown-out well.
Under intense pressure from the US government, the oil giant is preparing a number of backup plans in case its current efforts to contain the massive spill fail. These include connecting the well to pipelines in two nearby underwater gas and oil fields.
Later today the oil drilling industry is set to go head-to-head with the Obama administration in court over a moratorium on deep-ocean well drilling in the wake of the worst environmental disaster in US history. The government wants to reinstate the ban after it was overturned by federal judge Martin Feldman in Louisiana on 22 June.
Feldman ruled that the federal government's six-month blanket moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico was unjustified because it assumed that all deepwater drilling was as dangerous as BP's.
Germany targets switch to 100% renewables for its electricity by 2050
Germany already leads the world on renewable energy and could become first G20 country to kick the fossil-fuel habit
Reuters in Berlin
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 7 July 2010 17.06 BST
Germany could derive all of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2050 and become the world's first major industrial nation to kick the fossil-fuel habit, the country's Federal Environment Agency said today.
The country already gets 16% of its electricity from wind, solar and other renewable sources – three times' higher than the level it had achieved 15 years ago.
"A complete conversion to renewable energy by 2050 is possible from a technical and ecological point of view," said Jochen Flasbarth, president of the Federal Environment Agency.
"It's a very realistic target based on technology that already exists – it's not a pie-in-the-sky prediction," he said.
Thanks to its Renewable Energy Act, Germany is the world leader in photovoltaics: it expects to add more than 5,000 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity this year to reach a total of 14,000 megawatts. It is also the second-biggest wind-power producer after the United States. Some 300,000 renewable energy jobs have been created in Germany in the last decade.
The government has set goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% between 1990 and 2020, and by 80-85% by 2050. That goal could be achieved if Germany switches completely to renewable sources by 2050, Flasbarth said.
About 40% of Germany's greenhouse gases come from electricity production, in particular, from coal-fired power plants.
Flasbarth said the Environment Agency's study found that switching to green electricity by 2050 would have economic advantages, especially for the vital export-oriented manufacturing industry. It would also create tens of thousands of jobs.
"The costs of a complete switch to renewables are a lot less than the costs to future generations that climate change will cause," he said.
Last month a report by the UK's Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, mid Wales, said Britain could eliminate all its carbon emissions by 2030 by overhauling its power supply.
Reuters in Berlin
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 7 July 2010 17.06 BST
Germany could derive all of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2050 and become the world's first major industrial nation to kick the fossil-fuel habit, the country's Federal Environment Agency said today.
The country already gets 16% of its electricity from wind, solar and other renewable sources – three times' higher than the level it had achieved 15 years ago.
"A complete conversion to renewable energy by 2050 is possible from a technical and ecological point of view," said Jochen Flasbarth, president of the Federal Environment Agency.
"It's a very realistic target based on technology that already exists – it's not a pie-in-the-sky prediction," he said.
Thanks to its Renewable Energy Act, Germany is the world leader in photovoltaics: it expects to add more than 5,000 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity this year to reach a total of 14,000 megawatts. It is also the second-biggest wind-power producer after the United States. Some 300,000 renewable energy jobs have been created in Germany in the last decade.
The government has set goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% between 1990 and 2020, and by 80-85% by 2050. That goal could be achieved if Germany switches completely to renewable sources by 2050, Flasbarth said.
About 40% of Germany's greenhouse gases come from electricity production, in particular, from coal-fired power plants.
Flasbarth said the Environment Agency's study found that switching to green electricity by 2050 would have economic advantages, especially for the vital export-oriented manufacturing industry. It would also create tens of thousands of jobs.
"The costs of a complete switch to renewables are a lot less than the costs to future generations that climate change will cause," he said.
Last month a report by the UK's Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, mid Wales, said Britain could eliminate all its carbon emissions by 2030 by overhauling its power supply.
Solar Impulse completes 24-hour flight
Plane powered by the sun lands safely in Switzerland after completing its first 24-hour test flight
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 8 July 2010 10.01 BST
Watch footage of the flight Link to this video An experimental solar-powered plane landed safely today after completing its first 24-hour test flight, proving that the aircraft can collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay aloft all night.
Pilot André Borschberg eased the Solar Impulse aircraft on to the runway at Payerne airfield, about 31 miles south-west of the Swiss capital, Berne, at 9am local time today.
Helpers rushed to stabilise the pioneering plane as it touched down, ensuring that its massive 63-metre wingspan didn't touch the ground and topple the craft.
The record feat completes seven years of planning and brings the Swiss-led project one step closer to its ultimate aim of circling the globe using only energy from the sun.
The team says it has now shown the single-seat plane can theoretically stay in the air indefinitely, recharging its depleted batteries using 12,000 solar cells and nothing but the rays of the sun during the day.
Borschberg took off from Payerne airfield into the clear blue sky shortly before 7am yesterday, allowing the plane to soak up plenty of sunshine and fly in gentle loops over the Jura mountains, west of the Swiss Alps.
The 57-year-old former Swiss fighter pilot dodged low-level turbulence and thermal winds, endured freezing conditions during the night and ended the test flight with a picture-perfect landing to cheers and whoops from hundreds of supporters on the ground.
After completing final tests on the plane he embraced project co-founder Bertrand Piccard before gingerly unstrapping himself from the bathtub size cockpit where he had spent more than 26 hours sitting.
"When you took off it was another era," said Piccard, himself a record-breaking balloonist. "You land in a new era where people understand that with renewable energy you can do impossible things."
Although the goal is to show that emissions-free air travel is possible, the team has said it doesn't see solar technology replacing conventional jet propulsion any time soon. Instead, the project is designed to test and promote new energy-efficient technologies.
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 8 July 2010 10.01 BST
Watch footage of the flight Link to this video An experimental solar-powered plane landed safely today after completing its first 24-hour test flight, proving that the aircraft can collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay aloft all night.
Pilot André Borschberg eased the Solar Impulse aircraft on to the runway at Payerne airfield, about 31 miles south-west of the Swiss capital, Berne, at 9am local time today.
Helpers rushed to stabilise the pioneering plane as it touched down, ensuring that its massive 63-metre wingspan didn't touch the ground and topple the craft.
The record feat completes seven years of planning and brings the Swiss-led project one step closer to its ultimate aim of circling the globe using only energy from the sun.
The team says it has now shown the single-seat plane can theoretically stay in the air indefinitely, recharging its depleted batteries using 12,000 solar cells and nothing but the rays of the sun during the day.
Borschberg took off from Payerne airfield into the clear blue sky shortly before 7am yesterday, allowing the plane to soak up plenty of sunshine and fly in gentle loops over the Jura mountains, west of the Swiss Alps.
The 57-year-old former Swiss fighter pilot dodged low-level turbulence and thermal winds, endured freezing conditions during the night and ended the test flight with a picture-perfect landing to cheers and whoops from hundreds of supporters on the ground.
After completing final tests on the plane he embraced project co-founder Bertrand Piccard before gingerly unstrapping himself from the bathtub size cockpit where he had spent more than 26 hours sitting.
"When you took off it was another era," said Piccard, himself a record-breaking balloonist. "You land in a new era where people understand that with renewable energy you can do impossible things."
Although the goal is to show that emissions-free air travel is possible, the team has said it doesn't see solar technology replacing conventional jet propulsion any time soon. Instead, the project is designed to test and promote new energy-efficient technologies.