STUFF

Li-ion batts today sell for $500-600/Kwh. Expected to be $200 within 8 yrs. Now only ~23% of lithium production goes for batts. Last 2 yrs lith demand up 25%, expected to double by '20. Lithium carbonate now near $6K/ton.

FERC issued 40-yr license to Erie Boulevard Hydropower to operate 6 hydro dams on NY river.

Siemens got 126Mw wind turbine order from Irish utility. 42 direct-drive 3Mw turbines for 2 onshore wind farms. Online mid-'14. 1st order from Ireland for direct-drive turbines.

MidAmerican Wind completed 81Mw wind farm in IL. 50 GE 1.62MW turbines.

US National Research Council says scaling up biofuels from algae to 5% (~39B liters/yr) of US transport fuel needs would place unsustainable demand on energy, water, nutrients.

Cornell team got $910K DOE grant to work on biofuels production from algae. "Optofluidic reactor." 1 of 66 projects selected recently for $130M ARPA-E program.

U of Mich "pressure cooking" algae for as little as a minute to transform 65% into biocrude. Large scale production a big question.

Bielfeld U ground breaking discovery. Strain of algae can draw energy from other plants similar to bacteria, fungi and yeast.

Thailand plans to produce el from grass elephants eat. El from grass-based biogas to begin by '15. 7Gw elgen w/in decade. Similar to sugarcane. 45-day growing season. 1% of Thailand elgen now clean/ren. 65% from NG, 20% from coal, 5% hydro. El demand up 9% in last year. (What will the elephants eat?)

Thailand's 1st biomass power plant fueled by taramba tree expected online early '13. 1.8Mw. Taramba in nut family, so roots add nutrients to soil.

NG prices between $2 and $4 translate to 25-50 cents/gal gasoline equivalent. $1.75/gal refining cost makes pump price $2-2.25/gal gas equiv. Over 50% of trash trucks sold this year will run on NG. Dodge Ram option now. CLNE building 150 LNG fueling stations around US in 2 yrs. Shell building 100.

Plans for 300K tons/yr of NYC trash to be railed to Niagara Falls incinerator to produce el. $30M incinerator expansion project. $7M steam pipe to nearby paper mill. NG-fired boiler to back up incinerator. Rail transfer station and waste handling facility. Covanta burns ~800K tons/yr now, 60% of trash from Canada.