Niti Aayog to promote India as renewable energy hub, output to be hiked fourfold

Niti Aayog, the premier think tank of the Indian government, has been assigned the task of promoting India as a renewable energy investment destination, while also developing a strategy so that its target of achieving nearly fourfold output (from 45 GW to 175 GW) can be achieved by 2022. However, people aware of the matter said that this move could potentially create a split between the Niti Aayog and the Ministry of New And Renewable Energy."It is difficult to ramp up output four times in six years because of a large number of commercial and technical problems associated with renewable energy generation. Hence, the government has decided to set up an overseeing mechanism which will see the implementation of the roadmap laid out by the government," a senior government official told ET on the condition of anonymity. The Aayog has been introduced with a two-tier structure, which comprises of an advisory group and a steering committee, the announcement order for which has been issued. "The advisory group will oversee the integration of RE into electricity grid by promoting coordination between the Centre and states and suggest interventions required to promote India as an RE investment destination/hub to achieve national renewable energy targets," it said in an order. Arvind Panagariya, VC of NITI Aayog, will be the chairperson of the advisory group, also consisting of Power Minister Piyush Goyal and minister of state (energy) from 10 potential states. These 10 potential states include Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam and Punjab. On the other hand, the second tier will consist of a steering committee, which would be chaired by Aayog's COO Amitabh Kant, and would have power and renewable energy secretary and principal secretary (energy) of these 10 states as its members.

"The steering committee will facilitate RE grid integration and efficient grid operating strategy, afford a coordination mechanism among different stakeholders at the central and state levels to implement the aforesaid strategies as well as report the progress of implementation assembly to the adviser group," the order said.

It was last year that the Aayog had come out with a report on the country's renewable electricity roadmap 2030, in which it had recommended that a national renewable energy law or policy should be formulated to define targets, identify the financial support required for achieving targets and undertake integrated energy resource planning.

Posted By: BS

Germany Runs Up Against the Limits of Renewables

At one point this month renewable energy sources briefly supplied close to 90 percent of the power on Germany’s electric grid. But that doesn’t mean the world’s fourth-largest economy is close to being run on zero-carbon electricity. In fact, Germany is giving the rest of the world a lesson in just how much can go wrong when you try to reduce carbon emissions solely by installing lots of wind and solar.

After years of declines, Germany’s carbon emissions rose slightly in 2015, largely because the country produces more electricity than it needs. That’s happening because even if there are times when renewables can supply nearly all of the electricity on the grid, the variability of those sources forces Germany to keep other power plants running. And in Germany, which is phasing out its nuclear plants, those other plants primarily burn dirty coal.

Now the government is about to reboot its energy strategy, known as the Energiewende. It was launched in 2010 in hopes of dramatically increasing the share of the country’s electricity that comes from renewable energy and slashing the country’s overall carbon emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 (see “The Great German Energy Experiment”). What happens next will be critical not only for Germany, but also for other countries trying to learn how to best bring more wind and solar online—especially if they want to do it without relying on nuclear power.

Some aspects of the Energiewende have been successful: renewable sources accounted for nearly one-third of the electricity consumed in Germany in 2015. The country is now the world’s largest solar market. Germany’s carbon emissions in 2014 were 27 percent lower than 1990 levels.

However, an expert commission appointed by the country’s minister of economy and energy has said the 40 percent target probably won’t be reached by 2020. And the energy revolution has caused problems of its own. Because fossil-fuel power plants cannot easily ramp down generation in response to excess supply on the grid, on sunny, windy days there is sometimes so much power in the system that the price goes negative—in other words, operators of large plants, most of which run on coal or natural gas, must pay commercial customers to consume electricity. That situation has also arisen recently in Texas and California (see “Texas and California Have Too Much Renewable Energy”) when the generation of solar power has maxed out.

In hopes of addressing such issues, Germany’s Parliament is expected to soon eliminate the government-set subsidy for renewable energy, known as a feed-in tariff, that has largely fueled the growth in wind and solar. Instead of subsidizing any electricity produced by solar or wind power, the government will set up an auction system. Power producers will bid to build renewable energy projects up to a capacity level set by the government, and the resulting prices paid for power from those plants will be set by the market, rather than government fiat.

The auction system is designed to reduce the rate of new renewable-energy additions and keep Germany from producing too much power. It might seem like an easy way to solve the oversupply issue would be to shut down excess power plants, especially ones that burn coal. But not only are the coal plants used to even out periods when wind and solar aren’t available, they’re also lucrative and thus politically hard to shut down. Because German law requires renewable energy to be used first on the German grid, when Germany exports excess electricity to its European neighbors it primarily comes from coal plants. Last fall, the German subsidiary of the Swedish energy giant Vattenfall started up a 1,600-megwatt coal-fired plant that had been under construction for eight years, defying opposition from politicians, environmental organizations, and citizens who want to see coal plants eliminated. 

Putting a steep price on carbon emissions would hasten the shutdown of German coal plants. But Europe’s Emissions Trading Scheme, designed to establish a continentwide market for trading permits for carbon emissions, has been a bust. Prices for the permits are so low that there is little incentive for power producers to shut down dirty plants.

Also helpful would be a Europewide “supergrid” that would enable renewable power to be easily transported across borders, reducing the need for reliable, always-on fossil fuel plants to supplement intermittent electricity from solar and wind. “If you want to use fluctuating renewable power, you have to upgrade the grids across Europe,” says Daniel Genz, a policy adviser with Vattenfall.  Efforts to build that grid are under way, but they’ll be expensive: between €100 billion and €400 billion ($112 billion to $448 billion), according to a November 2015 report from e-Highway2050, which was formed by the European Union to plan for a pan-European power grid.

Original Post: Richard Martin

ENTIRE COUNTRY OF PORTUGAL RUNS ON RENEWABLE ENERGY FOR 4 DAYS

After analyzing the data, the ZERO-System Sustainable Land Association and Portuguese Renewable Energy Association have determined that between 6:45 am on May 7 and and 5:45 pm on May 11, Portugal's total energy use was all covered by renewable energy sources.

The World Economic Forum reports that Portugal has been building up its renewable energy sources for the past few years. In 2013, the country reportedly generated 7.5 percent of its electricity with wind power, increasing to 22 percent last year. In addition, WEF says, Portugal got about half of its energy from renewable sources (including solar and hydro power) in 2015.

While four days doesn't seem like much, it's an encouraging prospect that an entire country can meet its energy demands through renewable. Perhaps it will inspire those who are particularly driven by friendly competition.

 By Lindsey Kratochwill

India ranks 3rd in 'Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index'

India’s renewable energy sector has been ranked third in the Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) with China at second and the US on top.

The so-called emerging markets now represent half the countries in the 40-strong index, including four African markets featuring in the top 30. Just a decade ago, only China and India were attractive enough to compete with more developed markets for investment, EY said in the report. While the top three countries maintained their ranking, Chile, Brazil and Mexico climbed higher in the index to be ranked in the top 10 at the fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively. Germany at fifth and France at eighth fell in the latest ranking.

Kuljit Singh, partner (infrastructure practice) at EY, said: “The report demonstrates that low solar bids are not a phenomenon restricted to India, but countries such as Mexico and Dubai have also been reporting very low solar bids. As is the case with India, wind continues to be at a pricing premium to solar in the rest of the world, but both these technologies are racing towards grid parity, which may lead to not-so-desirable consequences for traditional utility business models.

Original Post: Joyti Mukul 

Higher ozone, lower humidity levels associated with dry eye disease

Air pollution is an important public health concern. According to the World Health Organization, most significant constituents of air pollution include particulate matter (PM), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. Ambient levels of air pollution are known to be associated with a wide range of adverse health effects that particularly affect the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Ocular surface abnormalities related to air pollution are thought to be a subtype of dry eye disease (DED); however, to date, there has been no large-scale study evaluating an association between air pollution and DED that includes multiple air pollutants.

This study included data on 16,824 participants in the fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted from January 2010 to December 2012. Dry eye disease was defined as previously diagnosed by an ophthalmologist or the presence of frequent ocular pain and discomfort, such as feeling dry or irritated. Outdoor air pollution measurements (average annual humidity, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <10 µm [PM10], ozone, and nitrogen dioxide levels) were collected from 283 national monitoring stations in South Korea.

The researchers found that decreased humidity levels and increased ozone levels were associated with DED, after controlling for known risk factors such as sex, dyslipidemia, thyroid disease, subjective health awareness, and previous ocular surgery. "These results, however, are just associations and do not definitively indicate a cause-and-effect relationship between DED and outdoor air pollution."

PM10, one of the leading public health issues, was not associated with DED. The authors speculate that possible explanations for this finding is that reflex tearing might help flush PM from the ocular surface, or that environmental PM10 levels currently in Korea are not high enough to induce adverse effects on the ocular surface.

Original Post: The JAMA Network Journals

New Test Facility to Improve Wind Turbines

Premature failures of mechanical systems have a significant impact on the cost of wind turbine operations and thus the total cost of wind energy. Recently, the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) took a giant step forward in the quest for more reliable, lower-cost wind power with the addition of the new 5-megawatt (MW) Dynamometer Test Facility at its National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). The new facility dramatically expands the capability of NWTC engineers and their industry partners to verify the performance and reliability of wind turbine drivetrain prototypes and commercial machines.

NREL engineer Scott Lambert (left) and Project Manager Mark McDade discuss calibrations being done on the new dynamometer at the 5-MW Dynamometer Test Facility at NREL's National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). Credit: Dennis Schroeder.

The facility is capable of testing drivetrains up to 5 MW — large enough to test virtually any land-based turbine — and employs dynamically variable loading capabilities that will allow researchers to better simulate conditions a turbine might experience in the field.

"These new capabilities make this a very special facility, one of the largest and finest of its kind in the world," NWTC Director Fort Felker said. "It gives NREL an enhanced ability to do comprehensive testing of modern multi-megawatt wind turbine systems in a laboratory environment to verify their performance and reliability before they are widely deployed."

NWTC Director Fort Felker speaks at the November dedication ceremony for the new 5-MW Dynamometer Test Facility. Credit: Dennis Schroeder

A dynamometer system replaces the rotor and blades of a wind turbine and allows researchers to control the turbine drivetrain's mechanical and electrical systems while simulating normal and extreme operating conditions. Historically, this testing has been done under torque (rotating) loads only. The new state-of-the-art facility at the NWTC, funded with the support of the Energy Department and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), incorporates a non-torque loading system into the testing regimen, a hydraulic device that allows for simulation of both the rotational and bending loads that a wind turbine rotor places on a drivetrain.

"The non-torque loading system is what really sets this facility apart from other comparable test sites," NWTC Dynamometer Project Manager Mark McDade said. "This allows us to test the drivetrain system with the types of loads that it will see in a real-world application. It's a very important feature for a test apparatus because the adverse impacts these types of loads can have on a system are significant."

The system features a 6-MW motor, which provides the power to a turbine during testing. The motor turns at very high speed and low torque. The motor drives a gearbox, which transforms the output to the high torque and low speed that is appropriate for a wind turbine drivetrain. This provides the rotating loads on the test article.

Add to this motorized torque testing the non-torque loading capability unique to the NWTC, and NREL is able to put a wind turbine drivetrain through the most realistic loading tests possible in a laboratory.

By David Glickson, NREL

Bioeconomy: One Billion Tons of Biomass

The federal agencies that provide the muscle for energy policy are finalizing plans to harness the energy from one billion tons of biomass per year. The “Bioeconomy Vision” is an effort to move biomass out of the laboratory and into the market. The goal, within the next 15 years, is production and commercialization of biofuels, renewable chemicals and similar organic products. The target is a 30 percent penetration of biomass carbon into the U.S. transportation market by 2030 to create jobs, reduce greenhouse gas impacts, and enhance national security.

The Vision results from work started in 2013 by the Biomass Research & Development Board, created by the Biomass R&D Act of 2000. The Board is co-chaired by leadership from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Agriculture. Six other agencies participate, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Executive Office. In July, at the annual meeting of DOE’s Bioenergy Technology Office (BETO), the Board will present an implementation plan for the Vision.

This is not cookbook stuff. In a February report — Federal Activities Report on the Bioeconomy — the Board outlines four main challenges:

• Sustainably producing and accessing adequate, affordable feedstocks
• Developing and applying innovative, cost-competitive conversion technologies
• Optimizing distribution and supply chain infrastructure
• Consumer education

The production of adequate and affordable feedstocks means plants grown specifically for energy use — and not just any plants grown anywhere. Planners do not want to impact the agricultural space necessary for food, fiber and livestock. Right now, plant science is focusing on perennial grasses, such as switchgrass and mixed native grasses and woody biomass from fast-growth trees. In the future, such crops would grow on marginal and otherwise unused landscapes.

Potentially, one billion tons of biomass could yield “50 billion gallons of fuel — gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, diesel, about 25 percent of the market, for 2030,” commented Alison Goss Eng, a Program Manager with BETO who serves as liaison between DOE and the R&D Board.

That success, though, is dependent on the right biomass. Researchers need feedstock plants with high sugar, low fiber. New kinds of plants will likely be needed.

“The importance of new energy crop varieties with increased yield and higher tolerance to a variety of biotic and abiotic stresses is critical to realizing mandated biofuel goals,” BETO wrote in its March 2016 “Multi-Year Program Plan.” This scope goes beyond just plants. Board advisers speak of a “synthetic biological foundry” to hasten R&D and create “industrially relevant organisms.”

Goss Eng is confident that the Board is sufficiently out front on potentially contentious issues. The Board has a collaborative inter-agency process providing checks and balances to vet how or whether programs should roll out.

Goss Eng said it is EPA’s “mission space” to evaluate safety regarding genetically modified plants. She said the July BETO meeting will suggest areas for continued federal research priorities. She stressed that the Board and its advisors also seek and encourage private sector participation and interest. She noted that if there is no commercial side to biofuel development, these good ideas will remain static.

Original Post: REWorld