6 business trends 2007: green energy
Solar, on the basis of ethyl alcohol, nuclear - alternative energy burns.
Something should support the economy when the era of relatively cheap oil is over. Last year, with the grumble about the fact that the maximum level of production on the planet is already behind, the economy was hit in the form of $ 80 per barrel. In the meantime, how serious the costs are to ensure the supply of oil becomes evident as the United States is drawn into the fourth year of the war with Iraq. Al Gore ended the race with his Oscar-winning masterpiece “Inconvenient Truth” , which echoed the environment around us that was being burned by burning fossil fuels. So, there is a sense in speeding up the process of bringing alternative sources of energy to the voracious energy market.
The biggest surprise: after decades of stagnation in the economy of alternative energy sources, the economy of solar energy unexpectedly showed growth. Historically, solar energy has been prohibitively expensive. But last year, Google, Microsoft and Sharp armed themselves with solar panels and Wal-Mart was going to cover as many as possible the roofs of its 340 hypermarkets with solar panels.
In January, SunPower , which produces photovoltaic silicon panels that generate 50% more electricity than competing products, strengthened its position in serving corporate and private users with the acquisition of PowerLight , a company specializing in large installations. Investors raised their stock price 120 times higher than net income.
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But solar panels require large areas and work only when the sun is shining. Wind power, the demand for which is also on the rise, (General Electric sold a record number of turbines in 2006) has similar limitations. Dark horse of alternative energy: nuclear. With the loss of confidence since the sobering omens of Three Mile Island in 1979 and Chernobyl in 1986, nuclear power plants still help out with a stable, relatively compact, carbon-free alternative. The Nuclear Supervision Commission has not approved new facilities since 1978. But Exelon , the largest nuclear power supplier in the United States, recently announced plans to ask for permission. The Nuclear Supervision Commission will resolve this issue in 2012.
At the same time, the US government is going to support ethanol, fuel made from corn or other plants, with all its authority. In his annual address by the US President to Congress and the people, Bush made a solemn pledge to increase ethanol energy production fivefold in the coming decade. This is good news for Monsanto, a company that sells corn grains that are genetically modified to simplify their processing into automotive fuel. And also for BP. Tortured by scandals, stains in the oceans, cost-fixing costs, the oil monster who imagined himself Beyond Petroleum (the new green face of British Petroleum, the largest British oil company, bears the name Beyond Petroleum increased her desire to compensate for the harm caused to the environment (and public opinion about herself), by investing 500 million dollars in biofuels research funds.
Wired managed to get a photo of a secret prototype of one of the future green energy sources:
The dream, of course, is to do away with hydrocarbon fuels forever and everywhere. The Trojan horse with all its horsepower is already racing toward us in the form of a Toyota hybrid engine. The Japanese car giant openly alienated itself from the ideas of fully electrified engines, dispelling dreams of a RAV4-EV in 2003. However, Toyota is one of several companies working on components of lithium-ion batteries charged with potentially pure energy from energy systems.
Large public companies are not alone in this race. The dynamics of venture capitalists' investments in the development of alternative energy sources are explosive — from $ 195 million in 2005 to $ 700 million in 2006. Ultimately, the development of affordable, non-destructive to the environment, homegrown energy sources may not be related to our lightest aspirations, but may be the result of the action of the only truly inexhaustible natural resource: human greed.
Josh McHugh, Wired 04/15/07
Something should support the economy when the era of relatively cheap oil is over. Last year, with the grumble about the fact that the maximum level of production on the planet is already behind, the economy was hit in the form of $ 80 per barrel. In the meantime, how serious the costs are to ensure the supply of oil becomes evident as the United States is drawn into the fourth year of the war with Iraq. Al Gore ended the race with his Oscar-winning masterpiece “Inconvenient Truth” , which echoed the environment around us that was being burned by burning fossil fuels. So, there is a sense in speeding up the process of bringing alternative sources of energy to the voracious energy market.
The biggest surprise: after decades of stagnation in the economy of alternative energy sources, the economy of solar energy unexpectedly showed growth. Historically, solar energy has been prohibitively expensive. But last year, Google, Microsoft and Sharp armed themselves with solar panels and Wal-Mart was going to cover as many as possible the roofs of its 340 hypermarkets with solar panels.
In January, SunPower , which produces photovoltaic silicon panels that generate 50% more electricity than competing products, strengthened its position in serving corporate and private users with the acquisition of PowerLight , a company specializing in large installations. Investors raised their stock price 120 times higher than net income.
')
But solar panels require large areas and work only when the sun is shining. Wind power, the demand for which is also on the rise, (General Electric sold a record number of turbines in 2006) has similar limitations. Dark horse of alternative energy: nuclear. With the loss of confidence since the sobering omens of Three Mile Island in 1979 and Chernobyl in 1986, nuclear power plants still help out with a stable, relatively compact, carbon-free alternative. The Nuclear Supervision Commission has not approved new facilities since 1978. But Exelon , the largest nuclear power supplier in the United States, recently announced plans to ask for permission. The Nuclear Supervision Commission will resolve this issue in 2012.
At the same time, the US government is going to support ethanol, fuel made from corn or other plants, with all its authority. In his annual address by the US President to Congress and the people, Bush made a solemn pledge to increase ethanol energy production fivefold in the coming decade. This is good news for Monsanto, a company that sells corn grains that are genetically modified to simplify their processing into automotive fuel. And also for BP. Tortured by scandals, stains in the oceans, cost-fixing costs, the oil monster who imagined himself Beyond Petroleum (the new green face of British Petroleum, the largest British oil company, bears the name Beyond Petroleum increased her desire to compensate for the harm caused to the environment (and public opinion about herself), by investing 500 million dollars in biofuels research funds.
Wired managed to get a photo of a secret prototype of one of the future green energy sources:
The dream, of course, is to do away with hydrocarbon fuels forever and everywhere. The Trojan horse with all its horsepower is already racing toward us in the form of a Toyota hybrid engine. The Japanese car giant openly alienated itself from the ideas of fully electrified engines, dispelling dreams of a RAV4-EV in 2003. However, Toyota is one of several companies working on components of lithium-ion batteries charged with potentially pure energy from energy systems.
Large public companies are not alone in this race. The dynamics of venture capitalists' investments in the development of alternative energy sources are explosive — from $ 195 million in 2005 to $ 700 million in 2006. Ultimately, the development of affordable, non-destructive to the environment, homegrown energy sources may not be related to our lightest aspirations, but may be the result of the action of the only truly inexhaustible natural resource: human greed.
Josh McHugh, Wired 04/15/07
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/30981/
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