Engineering Chamber

 Stanford civil and environmental engineering Professor Mark Z. Jacobson and University of California-Davis researcher Mark Delucchi have written an article in Scientific American in which they claim most of the technology required to shift the world from fossil fuels to renewable energy already exist! The change over could reduce world power demand by 30%.
In their article the present research and a plan for powering the entire world on wind, water and solar energy. They claim ultimately the cost will be cheaper than continuing with fossil fuel or using nuclear power.

They envisage electrically powered vehicles where only 20% of the energy is wasted in heat as against fossil fuelled vehicles that waste some 80% as heat. Electricity is to be generated by wind, water, hydrogen and solar power and the new mix of more efficient use of electricity could result in a saving of some 30% by 2030. Energy required in 2030 is estimated at 11.5 million megawatts as against 16.9 million megawatts.

In order to convert to wind, water and solar, the world would have to build wind turbines; solar photovoltaic and concentrated solar arrays; and geothermal, tidal, wave and hydroelectric power sources to generate the electricity, as well as transmission lines to carry it to the users.

Analyzing only on-land locations with a high potential for producing power, they found that even if wind were the only method used to generate power, the potential for wind energy production is 5 to 15 times greater than what is needed to power the entire world. For solar energy, the comparable calculation found that solar could produce about 30 times the amount needed.

The study provides examples of how a combination of renewable energy sources could be used to meet hour-by-hour power demand, addressing the commonly asked question, given the inherent variability of wind speed and sunshine, can these sources consistently produce enough power? The answer is yes.

The researchers also determined that the availability of certain materials that are needed for some of the current technologies, such as lithium for lithium-ion batteries, or platinum for fuel cells, are not currently barriers to building a large-scale renewable infrastructure.

The technologies being promoted by the dominant energy industries are not renewable and even the cleanest of them emit significantly more carbon and air pollution than wind, water and sun resources, say Jacobson and Delucchi.

 Source ScienceDaily (Oct. 19, 2009)

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 Give a man a fish, and he can eat for a day. But teach a man how to fish,
and he'll be dead of mercury poisoning within three years. ~Charles Haas

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No 9. A Map Of Wind Resources In South Africa.

 South Africa is the 30th place in the world to have a detailed map of the country's wind resources. The map shows the best locations for wind turbines and is a prerequisite for funding wind farms.

The maps are produced by means of extensive measurements and software programs developed in the Wind Energy Division at Risø DTU. Similar maps are now used in 30 countries around the world, such as Ireland, India, Egypt and China.

The project began in 2008 and is being taken to erect 10 data capturing measuring masts of 60 metres in height mainly along the coastline.  The data to be collected for some 36 months will include wind and temperature.

By comparing data areas for wind turbine location can be identified.

 Source ScienceDaily (Nov. 4, 2009)

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No 10.          Wind Power Africa 2010 Conference and Renewable Energy Exhibition.

 The African Wind Energy Association is putting on a Wind Power Conference in Cape Town from 12-14 May 2010. Details can be found on their Website www.windenergyafrica.com.

 Wind Power Africa 2010 is the premier international event on wind energy in Africa hosted by the African Wind Energy Association in partnership with other African and international organisations. The event will bring together key African and international stakeholders from the public and private sectors with the aim to unlock Africa’s wind energy potential.

The opportunities for wind power in Africa, and South Africa in particular, are immense due to a favourable investment climate offering profitable feed-in tariffs for wind energy, tremendous CDM project potential, ideal natural conditions as well as increasing energy demand and capacity shortages in growing economies. Wind Power Africa 2010 will examine the current and future wind energy markets in Africa and highlight attractive business opportunities with in depth analysis and country case studies.

For more information about the event, please visit the website www.windenergyafrica.com or contact: 

Denise Spaull

T: +27 (0) 21 689 7881

E: denise@windenergyafrica.com

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