Author Archive

Tim Triplett

Tim Triplett is a freelance writer and editor based out of St. Charles, Ill. He holds a bachelor's degree in mass communications from Illinois State University and an MBA from Aurora University. In his 33-year career with various newspapers and business magazines, Tim has reported on a wide range of subjects, including business-to-business marketing, industrial coatings, the global metals trade and green manufacturing.

An enormous amount of energy is wasted every year from heat sources such as engine exhausts, commercial ovens, industrial furnaces and landfill flares. Labs around the world are seeking ways to capture this excess heat before it disappears into the atmosphere.

According to the U.S. Clean Heat and Power Association, a variety of industrial waste energy streams can be recycled into useful heat and power. These include hot exhaust gases, low-grade fuels such as methane emissions from landfills and high-pressure steam and gas. Proven technology can profitably convert the energy in hot exhaust (600 degrees F or higher) from any process into steam that drives turbine generators and produces electricity. Coke ovens, glass furnaces, silicon production, refineries, natural gas pipeline compressors, petrochemical processes, and many processes in the metals industry vent hot exhaust that can be profitably recycled to produce fuel-free power.

More and more, devices known as combined heat and power (CHP) technologies are installed to recover heat that would normally be wasted and use it to produce both steam and electricity. Currently, CHP systems produce almost 8 percent of U.S. electric power; save building and industry owners over $5 billion per year in energy costs; decrease energy use by almost 1.3 trillion BTUs per year; reduce NOx emissions by 0.4 million tons per year; reduce SO2 emissions by over 0.9 million tons per year; and prevent the release of over 35 million metric tons of carbon equivalent into the atmosphere.

One CHP maker, Cyclone Power Technologies Inc., Pompano Beach, Fla., will soon offer its Waste Heat Engine—a modern-day steam engine—that can capture wasted heat from various sources and convert it into between 1kW and 1MW of electricity. “We believe that our WHE systems can fill an enormous gap in the waste energy recovery industry—namely small and medium sized businesses with low to medium quality excess wasted heat,” says Cyclone’s CEO, Harry Schoell.

Cyclone believes that the installation of its WHE systems can also help drive investment and create jobs. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, if the U.S. were to increase its use of CHP and waste heat recovery systems to generate 20 percent of its electricity by 2030, it would spur $234 billion in private investment and create 1 million jobs.

Electric vehicles–plug-in hybrids and battery powered–will comprise nearly 20 percent of the global market for light vehicles in 2030, according to findings in a study on the business case for Plugged-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) by automotive industry analysts at IHS Global Insight.

The IHS Global Insight white paper, “Battery Electric and Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles: The Definitive Assessment of the Business Case,” forecasts an 8.6 percent market share for plug-in hybrids and a 9.9 percent share for battery-electrics.

“The advantages of electric vehicles are numerous–the multiplicity of energy sources, reduced emissions, reduced noise, the possibility of reduced operating costs–but so too are the challenges,” said Philip Gott, director of Automotive Science and Technology in IHS Global Insight’s Automotive Services Group.

The development of powerful, long-lasting batteries and ready access to a reliable power grid for recharging remain the critical issues for the success of the battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle of the future, according to the white paper. In addition to technology limitations, high costs and expectations of consumers’ accustomed to internal combustion engine vehicles must also be overcome before the plugged-in vehicles achieve significant acceptance.

Gott said the major challenges to be overcome if the vehicles are to be successful in the marketplace are consumers’ preference for long range, versatile vehicles; cost and uncertainty about battery life; perceptions of safety hazard; and adequacy of the power grid.

There are two kinds of PEVs: pure battery electric vehicles (BEVs) powered only by an on-board battery recharged from the electric power grid, and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) that combine an internal combustion engine with a battery that can also be charged from the grid and run for as long as 100 miles before needing the internal combustion engine.

BEVs, the study concludes, will find a natural home in urban environments, like those found in the global mega cities, while PHEVs will play a transitional role in suburban environments where range anxiety is a real concern. At issue is whether consumers will continue to use personal motor vehicles for work and play as they do today, or whether there will be strong moves away from the extensive use of privately owned cars in urban areas, accompanied by significant third-party influence changing consumer attitudes towards cars and how they are used.

The pathway for commercialization for these new generation vehicles highlights the needed role of government and the utility sector. Consumers are expected early on to be more attracted to PHEVs because of their range and convenience, the study said, but as the infrastructure evolves, many early urban PHEV owners will realize they are running predominantly in full electric mode and a large-scale switch to BEVs could begin.

Small wind power, an often under appreciated segment of the broader renewable distributed energy generation industry, is finding an increasing number of niche applications in residential and commercial markets. According to a recent report from Pike Research, Boulder, Colo., the global small wind market is poised for strong growth in the next few years, with revenues forecast to expand from $203 million in 2009 to $412 in 2013, a compound annual growth rate of nearly 20 percent. During that same period, worldwide installed capacity of small wind turbines will increase from 49 to 115 megawatts.

“Small wind energy is less expensive than solar on a cost per watt basis,” says senior analyst David Link, “which is driving more and more businesses and rural consumers to give it a second look. In addition, we are seeing increasing government support for small wind.” Link adds that the applications for small wind include residential off-grid power, agricultural applications, community microgrids, schools and government buildings, and remote telecom network power, among others.

However, Link notes, key market barriers include intermittent reliability of power, permitting and siting challenges, and a general lack of suitability for off-grid applications. For these reasons, small wind turbines, using a variety of innovative designs, are most often used in conjunction with other energy sources including solar photovoltaics, diesel generation or battery backup power.

Pike Research’s study, “Small Wind Power,” analyzes the global opportunity for small wind power in the context of the broader renewable distributed energy generation market. The study covers key business issues and drivers of demand, including government-driven legislation and incentives as well as market-based factors. Forecasts include worldwide small wind generation capacity, system revenues, and installed prices through 2013. An executive summary of the report is available for free download on the firm’s website, www.pikeresearch.com.