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Landfill Gas Fuels New Brick Plant

For the first time, a major U.S. manufacturing facility has been sited and built next to a landfill specifically to use the landfill gas as fuel. The new Jenkins Brick Company’s $56 million manufacturing plant in Moody, Alabama – one of the largest of its kind in the nation – will use landfill gas to fuel its kilns, satisfying 40 percent of the plant’s energy needs initially, with 100 percent projected in 10 years as the landfill grows. Methane is the primary component of landfill gas, which results from the natural break-down of buried waste in a landfill. Reducing methane emissions provides immediate environmental benefits because methane, a greenhouse gas, is over 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide at capturing heat in the atmosphere. Jenkins Brick Company, headquartered in Montgomery, Ala., has been using landfill gas to fuel its Montgomery brick plant since 1998. The success of this project convinced Jenkins management to build its next manufacturing facility to take advantage of local landfill gas. EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program is a voluntary assistance and partnership program that promotes the use of landfill gas as a renewable, green energy source. Over the past decade, EPA has assisted with more […]

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FuelCell Energy and DOE Finalize $36M Contract

FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NasdaqNM:FCEL), a manufacturer of stationary fuel cell power plants, has finalized terms with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for a $36.2 million Phase I award to develop a coal-based, multi-megawatt solid oxide fuel cell-based hybrid system. The award provides funding for the first stage of the 10-year, three-phased Fuel Cell Coal-Based Systems project, part of the DOE Office of Fossil Energy’s Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA). Total project funding for this and the other two planned phases is anticipated to be approximately $180 million. The program’s objective is to develop solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology, fueled by coal synthesis gas (coal gas) that will be used in highly-efficient central generation power plant facilities. The advanced fuel cell-hybrid system will have an overall efficiency of at least 50% in converting energy contained in coal to grid electrical power. In contrast, today’s average U.S. coal-based power plant has an electrical efficiency of approximately 35 percent. In addition, the envisioned SOFC-hybrid system is expected to capture 90% or more of the system’s carbon dioxide emissions while being cost-competitive with other base load power generating technologies. The project will culminate with the fabrication and operation of a multi-MW […]

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$13M Partnership to Develop Hybrid Fuel Cell Bus

General Electric (NYSE: GE), Ballard Power Systems (Nasdaq: BLDP) and A123 Systems have joined with the Federal Transit Administration in a $13 million research partnership to develop a lightweight, battery dominant zero emissions hybrid fuel cell bus. The research will be led by GE’s Global Research Center in Niskayuna. “Advancements in hybrid propulsion systems and battery chemistry offer tremendous promise for enabling cleaner, more affordable transportation alternatives that will reduce reliance on fossil fuels and promote a cleaner, healthier environment,” said Mark Little, Senior Vice President and Director of GE Global Research. “At Global Research, we will be leveraging nearly three decades of experience in hybrid systems and battery chemistry research to help pave the way to commercialization.” The goal for the project is to develop a zero emissions hybrid fuel cell bus with a range of 200 miles. The focus of the partnership will be increase fuel cell life at a lower cost by reducing fuel cell power requirements and through improved energy storage technologies. Today’s hydrogen fuel cell and electric vehicles are too expensive, and have complex infrastructures and range limitations. The research effort will attempt to reduce these costs to affordable levels. The technologies developed for the […]

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Suntech Establishes Shenzhen Subsidiary

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP), a leading manufacturers of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, has formed a new subsidiary, Shenzhen Suntech Power Co., Ltd to promote and develop solar power grid integration projects. “Shenzhen Suntech marks a milestone in our efforts to develop the solar market in China,” sayes Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech’s Chairman and CEO. “The new company will provide us with additional promotional and technical service capabilities in Southern China and allow us to take advantage of the Shenzhen government’s support of solar energy applications.” Shenzhen Suntech, which is expected to begin operations by the end of 2006, will promote solar power grid integration projects in Southern China through a commercially funded business model. In addition to solar power grid integration projects, Suntech continues to make strides in off-grid and other key markets within China. Earlier this year, Suntech was awarded an exclusive contract to supply a 130KW solar energy system for Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium, the main stadium of the 2008 Olympic Games, and recently Suntech entered into three system integration projects in China with total installed capacity of 2.2MW. The establishment of Shenzhen Suntech also marks a continuation of the company’s physical expansion. Suntech […]

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Evangelicals Ally With Democrats on Environment

Democratic strategists are joining forces with conservative evangelicals to promote a faith-based campaign on global warming, in an improbable alliance that could boost Democratic hopes of taking control of Congress. At a news conference today, the president of the Christian Coalition and a board member of the National Assn. of Evangelicals — both groups closely tied to the religious right — will announce Call to Action, an effort to make global warming a front-and-center issue over the next three weeks for Christians in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee, North Carolina, Colorado and several other states with pitched election campaigns. Through ads on Christian radio, sermons from the pulpit, Bible studies, house parties and a documentary film, “The Great Warming,” Christians will be urged to view protecting the environment as a religious and moral issue every bit as urgent as opposing abortion and same-sex marriage. “We’re not abandoning our previous positions: We’re still pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, pro-morality. But one or two issues can’t adequately express the Gospel,” said the Rev. Joel Hunter, new president of the Christian Coalition of America. Hunter is one of scores of evangelical leaders who have become convinced — often reluctantly, after months of study — that the planet […]

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