The commercial was made for the Reality Campaign which is an anti-coal project founded by a coalition of environmental groups.(LA Times article about the group and movie)

For balance, here is a science blog post arguing that clean coal technology is a needed tool during our transition to sustainable energy.

An overview the Hastings Project (pdf)
An overview of Hydro Green Energy (pdf)
Hydro Green Energy and Green Jobs (pdf)

Also, there was an article about the turbine published in the Pioneer Press on Dec. 25th where the National Park Service expressed its concerns about the the ecological ramifications of the turbine.

Mark Stover’s response letter to the Pioneer Press (pdf). 

I’m personally excited about the new hydrokinetics turbine. Some comments from Mark’s letter help me feel comfortable that ecological impacts are being considered:
 

Fish “grinds” can occur in conventional hydroelectric turbines when fish are exposed to narrow gaps between fixed and moving structures, typically between the blades and the unit that house the blades.  Knowing this, Hydro Green Energy’s turbine was designed so that it has no gaps whatsoever.  Therefore, fish grinding is entirely eliminated.

The flowing water downstream from Lock & Dam No. 2 spins the hydrokinetic turbine blades.  The speed of the moving water in the hydrokinetic turbine, unlike a conventional hydroelectric turbine, moves at approximately the same speed as the rest of the water in the Mississippi River below the dam.  Fish are not “sucked into” the device, and in fact, many fish will never enter the unit, another issue, however, that will be studied at the request of the NPS. 

A fish mortality model designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and utilized by Hydro Green Energy shows an incredibly high survivability rating.  And, while Hydro Green Energy has designed the slowest spinning turbine in the hydrokinetic power industry, it is committed to performing what will serve as the most thorough and precise scientific fish mortality study ever conducted on a hydrokinetic device since the Hastings project is the first commercial installation in U.S. history.   

I’m also happy that the National Park Service (the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area) is so concerned about the health of fish, birds, and the public. It’s honorable that the organization is taking their directive to “preserve unimpaired” seriously. It also makes me feel comfortable knowing that the NPS’ knowledgeable passionate workforce will strive to protect our national river. 

In the face of climatic and economic crisis, it seems wise to pursue innovative ways of developing green jobs and reducing carbon emissions. With all new endeavors comes risk through unknown variables: will the turbine effect migrating waterfowl?  hurt native muscle populations? cause any other sort of problem?  I fear that often these unknown risks prevent new ideas from being tried; instead of evaluating risk honestly and mitigating the risk responsibly, then taking an educated leap and potentially ending up with something grand.

Algae image from gas2.org

The newest trends in renewable fuels?

Algae and Coffee

Algae: A month ago I attended the UofM’s E3 2008 Conference. The three Es: Energy, Economic, and Environmental. Although the largest E in the conference was Energy, followed closely by Economic, with the Environmental coming in third. There were many industry professionals exploring how they can make money off of renewable energy.

At the conference I attended a track session about using algae as biofuel. It has some interesting advantages:  you can grow it by power plants where it will suck up excess CO2, it grows in either sea water or fresh water, and its grows really fast. The biofuel created from it is high-quality enough to be used in jets. Also, it won’t compete with other human or livestock food sources, like corn, although some argue we could use excess algae to feed the hungry.

I gathered the biggest challenge is finding a way to grow the algae in deeper pools and provide enough oxygen and nutrients. Shallow pools take up too much surface area. There is an additional challenge of economically  growing algae in northern climates in winter with freezing temperatures and limited sunlight.

For more info check out the conference track session (first one listed) with the presenter’s PowerPoints and the Algal Biomass Organization. I found their news page to be a good source of information.

Coffee: The American Chemical Society sent out a press release last week about the potential of spent coffee grounds as biofuel. Apparently $8 million worth of potential in the US alone. Coffee grounds contain as much oil by weight as traditional biofuel like soybeans and you don’t have to grow it. Researchers worked with a multinational coffeehouse to collect used grounds and were able to inexpensively convert 100% of the oil from the grounds into biodiesel. The best part is the gas smells like coffee.