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San Francisco: Landmark Transamerica Pyramid Building to Add $3.4M CHP System

Northern Power, a subsidiary of Distributed Energy Systems Corp. (Nasdaq: DESC), has been awarded a $3.4 million contract to design, install and commission a 1.1 megawatt (MW) combined heat and power (CHP) system for the landmark Transamerica Pyramid at 600 Montgomery Street in San Francisco, California. The 48-story building, managed by Lowe Enterprises, is known as the “Pyramid,” and is located in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district. The contract is from AEGON USA Realty Advisors, a unit of Netherlands-based Aegon NV (NYSE/ADR: AEG). Aegon is one of the top five commercial lenders in the US. System Details Northern Power’s CHP system will consist of two 560 kW natural gas-fired reciprocating engine generators, which will operate in parallel with the utility’s downtown network grid. The two generators are designed to provide approximately 70% of the electrical requirements of the 530,000 square foot commercial office building. Recovered waste heat from the engines will be used to heat the building, displacing 100% of the steam currently purchased for heating purposes. Additionally, waste heat will drive a 320-ton absorption chiller that will be installed to create chilled water for the building. By recovering waste heat from the engine’s exhaust system and using […]

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France Dependence on Nukes Doesn't Reduce CO2 Emissions

A new report, “Low-Carbon Diet without Nukes in France,” examines the feasibility of phasing out nuclear power in France while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 40 percent in the next few decades. France is considered as exemplary by advocates of nuclear power, which provides almost 80 percent of French electricity generation, because the use of that energy source has been crucial to its relatively low greenhouse gas emissions. The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) report is the first to detail technologies and policies that could meet the same lifestyle and economic choices as a high-nuclear, high carbon emissions future without nuclear energy and significantly reduced carbon dioxide emissions. “The nuclear industry has presented itself as part of the solution to global warming” said Annie Makhijani, a co-author of the report and Project Scientist at IEER. “But nuclear power creates serious long-term security issues in the form of risks of proliferation, severe nuclear accidents, and vulnerability to terrorism. It’s not a desirable trade-off. The IEER analysis shows that nuclear power is not necessary even in France to achieve a low-carbon emissions future.” France obtains 75 to 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power, making it one of […]

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Utility-Scale Renewables Get Significant Support from State Clean Energy Funds

Since 1998, state clean energy funds in the U.S. have committed nearly $400 million to 234 utility-scale renewable energy projects totaling 2,249 MW of capacity, according to a report released by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), in conjunction with the Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA). Of the 2,249 MW of new renewables capacity currently supported, 1,116 MW have been built to date, leaving 1,133 MW still in the development pipeline. This backlog is partly a reflection of unforeseen difficulties in the development process, such as permitting challenges, difficulty securing a power purchase agreement, and periodic lapses in the federal production tax credit (PTC). Wind power continues to be the most favored technology, having captured more than 60% of total funding provided (at nearly $250 million), and accounting for more than 80% of the total capacity supported (at 1,878 MW). States are increasingly using new and innovative incentive structures to support projects. While 78% of aggregate funding has been awarded through real-time production payments (e.g., x/kWh over a y-year period), a few states now offer variations on that theme. For example, rather than pay for production over time as the project generates power, several states have instead awarded an “advance […]

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DOT Gets Go-Ahead for Passenger Car CAFE Standards

U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, made the following statement today during the full committee hearing entitled, “National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to Set Passenger Car Fuel Economy Standards.” “This committee print is the first of many steps that this committee intends to take to foster the goal of minimizing dependence of foreign sources of energy and, over time, make it possible to have energy independence in the United States of America. “In the wake of the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo, Congress passed the Energy Policy Conservation Act, which established corporate average fuel efficiency, known as CAFE, standards for passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States. “Under the CAFE system, we’ve come a long way with our light truck fleet. The Department of Transportation took a major step forward in March, announcing a reformed CAFE program for light trucks. This new program will save the United States nearly 11 billion gallons of fuel over the lifetime of the vehicles sold between 2008 and 2011. “We can not say the same for passenger cars. In 1975, Congress set a goal of doubling fuel economy for passenger cars by 1985 to 27.5 […]

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Maxwell Technologies Reports Q1 Results

Maxwell Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: MXWL)reported a net loss of $7.5 million, or $0.45 per share, on revenue of $12 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2006. That compares with a net loss of $2.2 million or $0.14 per share, on revenue of $9.8 million for the same period in 2005. The Q1 06 loss reflects the impact of non-cash provisions totaling $5.4 million, or $0.32 per share, including $936,000 of compensation expense for stock options and restricted stock grants and charges of $904,000 for amortization and $3.5 million for a change in “fair value” of conversion features in $25 million of convertible debentures and warrants issued in December 2005. Dr. Richard Balanson, Maxwell’s president and chief executive officer said that the first four months of 2006 brought a number significant developments in the company’s evolution from an emerging research and development-oriented organization to a rapidly growing global manufacturer of ultracapacitors and other proprietary, high-value products, including: * High-volume ultracapacitor purchase orders from Enercon GmbH for wind energy systems and General Hydrogen for fuel cell-based power packs for forklifts; * Formation of an offshore ultracapacitor manufacturing alliance with Belton Technology Group in China to support future high-volume production requirements; […]

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Kadant Reports Record Revenues

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) reported that revenues from continuing operations grew 49 percent in the first quarter of 2006, to $75.6 million, compared with $50.7 million in the first quarter of 2005. Excluding a 40 percent revenue increase in the 2006 period from the company’s Kadant Johnson subsidiary and a 3 percent decrease from currency translation, revenues from continuing operations grew 12 percent. Operating income from continuing operations in the 2006 quarter was $4.8 million (including $2.1 million from Kadant Johnson), versus $2.8 million in 2005. Income from continuing operations (after-tax) was $2.8 million in 2006, or $.20 of diluted earnings per share (EPS), versus income of $3.1 million, or $.22 of diluted EPS, a year ago. “We’re off to an excellent start in 2006,” said William A. Rainville, chairman and chief executive officer of Kadant. “We saw especially strong demand for our stock-preparation technologies in China and for our Kadant Johnson fluid-handling equipment in North America, both of which contributed to record revenues in the first quarter. We are also very pleased with our first quarter bookings, which rose 73 percent over the same quarter last year to a record $104 million on the strength of these two product lines. […]

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