Pie in the Sky - Taster of the Renewable Energy Focus U.S. May/June issue

There is nothing like cold, homemade pie for a summer picnic, and although yours truly could not help dreaming about this whilst putting the magazine together, it is an altogether different pie on the menu for the solar industry.

Over the years, the focus for renewable energy has gone from proving the technology, to bringing down cost, and this has become very much the focus of the Department of Energy’s SunShot program, which aims to get the cost of solar down to US$1/W. But is this goal actually achievable, or is it just pie in the sky?

Looking at the last in Joyce Laird’s series on the SunShot program (p18), we see that perhaps a more important factor than the efficiency of each individual cell, is the balance of system – taking a holistic approach to solar energy.

This is something that has already been discussed for other renewables such as wind, and especially offshore, where it is becoming increasingly important to look at transmission, voltage control and operations & maintenance costs rather than just the turbines and their foundations.

There are also a whole range of other costs that hit renewable energy developments – almost regardless of technology – one of which is the environmental impact assessments due on most projects. Not only do the surveys and studies cost money to conduct, they could throw a whole project off course. As seen in Emily Murray’s comment piece on managing the environmental challenges for renewable energy (p8), the dollars could fly out the window very quickly if developers do not think about environmental impacts ahead of the EIA often required by landowners and other stakeholders.

Talking about the environment, Google recently decided to power its new data center in Oklahoma using wind power – it looks like the internet giant is taking its ‘Don’t be Evil’ motto to its energy purchase policy. The state of Oklahoma is of course not sorry to see an investor like Google coming in providing the financial security needed to develop the 100.8 MW Minco II wind farm outside Oklahoma City. In connection with the announcement the state’s Energy Secretary, Mike Ming, told Renewable Energy Focus U.S. about the state’s focus on renewable energy and how it hopes to attract more companies like Google (p12).

It is not just giants like Google that are investing in wind – the small wind market for businesses and homeowners is growing, and with it, the need for certification of components and output. Larry Sherwood, the Executive Director of the Small Wind Certification Council looks at the importance of certification (p24) and where this sector is going, as more and more incentive programs require some sort of certification before supporting installations.

Finally, we have once again delved into the vast library at Elsevier to keep you up to date on some of the research and studies taking place in the renewable energy sector. This time, we summarize an article outlining 2nd generation biofuels and their potential role in the future energy mix. Personally, although corn ethanol is typically classified as 1st generation, I’d love to have a car like the illustration photo on p29...

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