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DuPont and Genencor of Palo Alto, CA have announced they are working together to create the World's-Leading Cellulosic Ethanol Company. Why is this important? Well as you may have read lately there is a large debate over making ethanol from existing food stocks and causing shortages and price in creases for those items such as corn and sugar.

If these companies can create viable ethanol product using no food stock sources then it will mean a boom to our economy of energy production and not a bust.

Here is the announcement of the joint venture:

DuPont and Genencor, a division of Danisco A/S, today announced an agreement to form DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC, a 50/50 global joint venture to develop and commercialize the leading, low-cost technology solution for the production of cellulosic ethanol — a next generation biofuel produced from non-food sources – to address a $75 billion global market opportunity.

The partners plan an initial three-year investment of US$140 million, which will initially target corn stover and sugar cane bagasse. Future targets include multiple ligno-cellulosic feedstocks including wheat straw, a variety of energy crops and other biomass sources.

“With food and gas prices surging at double-digit rates, there is an imperative for sustainable biofuels technologies. This joint venture addresses this issue head on,” said DuPont Chairman and CEO Charles O. Holliday, Jr. “By integrating our companies’ strengths and expertise in this new venture, we are significantly increasing the potential to make cellulosic ethanol from multiple non-food sources an economic reality around the world.”

“By combining the world-class capabilities of DuPont and Danisco, our joint venture will offer the technology standard for cellulosic ethanol production,” said Danisco CEO Tom Knutzen. “This joint venture will be a powerhouse of discovery, development and engineering. It represents a major step forward in Danisco’s new strategic intent to be a leading force in the field of industrial biotechnology.”

Through the scientists and technologies of both companies, DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC will launch an accelerated effort to integrate the unique cellulosic processing capabilities of both companies to economically produce ethanol from non-food sources. The parent companies will license their combined existing intellectual property and patents related to cellulosic ethanol. The goal is to maximize efficiency and lower the overall system cost to produce a gallon of ethanol from cellulosic materials by optimizing the process steps into a single integrated technology solution.

In the United States, the joint venture will scale up an optimized technology package for corn cobs from integrating the proprietary DuPont pretreatment and ethanologen technologies with the innovative enzyme technology of Genencor, while DuPont continues to analyze the collection and storage of cellulosic feedstocks. The global joint venture expects its first pilot plant to be operational in the United States in 2009, and its first commercial-scale demonstration facility to be operational within the next three years. The joint venture will be headquartered in the United States and will be formed after receipt of required regulatory approvals.

The joint venture will license its technology package directly to ethanol producers for deployment in the United States and around the world, as well as through the establishment of regional cellulosic ethanol affiliates. The regional ethanol affiliates will invest in equity interests with strategic partners, including ethanol producers and energy companies, to enable the rapid deployment of the joint venture’s cellulosic ethanol technology at commercial scale. The joint venture’s technology package can be used both as a “bolt-on” to an existing ethanol plant — expanding its capacity to accept cellulosic feedstocks — or as the design basis for a stand-alone cellulosic ethanol facility. The joint venture expects to enable production of commercial volumes of cellulosic ethanol by 2012.

A video primer on Cellulosic Ethanol:

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Can the election of recent past lead to a change in the way alternative energy is seen in our nation's captial? According to the NY Times it just might.

Now some analysts and money managers are hoping the imminent Democratic takeover of Congress will also be bullish for alternative energy stocks by improving prospects for favorable legislation for the industry. One likely initiative, known as a national renewable portfolio standard, would require utilities to derive 10 percent of their electricity output from renewable sources by 2020. Currently, less than 3 percent of electricity is generated from such sources. Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico, the presumptive chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, says he hopes to pass �some version� of a renewable portfolio standard in the next Congress

Several alternative energy companies look to be likely benefactors of this shift in power. Analysts are pointing at Sun Power, and Zoltek a maker of lightweight carbon fiber windmill blades.

In the meantime, most ethanol in the United States will be derived from corn, and Democrats in Congress plan several initiatives that would help the growing roster of publicly traded corn ethanol producers like Archer Daniels Midland, Aventine Renewable Energy, The Andersons, VeraSun Energy and Pacific Ethanol. In a position paper on energy, the Democrats set a goal of having ethanol available at 10 percent of domestic gas stations by 2015, along with a mandate that would require automakers to increase production of vehicles that can run on either gasoline or an 85 percent ethanol mix. Such a mandate is necessary to push major oil companies that own many gas stations to install ethanol pumps, said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York. �We believe we have to push the country into alternative fuels whether the oil companies like it or not,� he said.

Other are also pointing to the re election of Gov. Schwarzenegger in California on a strong pro environmental platform as possbily being a catalyst for other states to increase their move towardss green legislation.

quote: NY Times

You have probably heard it said by environmental groups that we should switch to solar energy as a power source because it is free, there is an unlimited supply, and it is a cleaner source of electrical power because there are no by-products (compared to fossil fuels like oil and gas which release greenhouse gases into the earth's atmosphere when burned for power.) However, can solar energy be a reliable and practical source of electrical power indeed?

When we use the term solar power nowadays, it usually refers to man-made technologies that rely on the flow of sunlight from our sun to create electricity or even mechanical power. Early pioneers in the conversion of solar power into usable forms of power were Auguste Mouchout, Frank Shuman, Charles Tellier, and John Ericksson. But the real breakthrough in conversion of solar power into pure electricity was achieved by the Bell Laboratories research team when they created the solar cell. Other people have been able to build on this development so that solar cells now have an efficiency of more than 40% and their prices have fallen to not more than $3 per watt.

Solar power technology is categorized as either being active solar, passive solar, direct solar, or indirect solar. One way solar power is directly used nowadays is to heat water for households. Solar power has an efficiency level of up to 86% when it is applied for creating hot water, which makes it a very attractive option for countries with cold climates where people find it hard to survive without hot water. Another way solar power directly affects our lives is when solar cells are integrated into everyday electronic gadgets such as calculators, or as a steady source of power for satellites in orbit around the earth. Households can now have solar panels installed on their roofs so that they can take advantage of sunlight to power their home. However, the demand for solar panels may be affected because of the shortage of refined silicon supplies.

The more cost-effective solution for large-scale use of solar power for power generation needs is construction of solar power plants. Solar power plants may either be of the older type of concentrating solar thermal power plant or the newer multi-megawatt photovoltaic facilities. The first kind, which relies on concentrating solar thermal technology, basically relies on mirrors or lenses to direct sunlight into a much smaller area of focus. However, this type of solar power technology can be disadvantageous to rely on when skies are overcast and there is little direct sunlight.

More: continued here

It is said that hydrogen cars are the way of the future. Today, the world is crippled by its need for oil, and its dependency on the Middle East for those fuels.

Cars that use Hydrogen for fuel use either a fuel cell based technology or an internal combustion engine.

The History of Hydrogen Fuel Celled Cars.

Swiss Christian Friedrich Sch�nbein developed the principle of the fuel cell and published it in the January 1839 edition of the 'Philosophical Magazine.' William Grove is credited with having invented a method, using the information from Sch�nbeins article, to mix hydrogen and oxygen through the use of an electrolyte in 1839. However, while this did produce some energy, it did not produce enough to be seen as useful.

Fuel cell research by the Germans in the 1920s made the concept of a carbonate cycle and oxide fuel cells to be thought of as being an alternative source of energy.

There is a debate as to where the term 'fuel cell' originated. It is said to have come from either Ludwig Mond and Charles Langer, or William Jaques. Mond and Langer attempted to combine the gas from industrial coal with air in 1889. William Jaques who is noted to have been the first to use phosphoric acid in an electrolyte bath as part of the 'fuel cell' process.

In 1932, Francis Bacon started to research fuel cells and discovered a less expensive catalyst than the previously used platinum. Bacon discovered that using a corrosive alkaline and nickel electrodes were effective enough to move research forward as it become more economically feasible. Bacon demonstrated the success of his fuel cell research in 1959 with his 'Bacon Cell.'

Since Bacons work in the 1960s, Fuel cell technology has grown exponentially, as it is seen more and more as the fuel of the future.

For example, men like Stan Meyer, an American inventor, became concerned about the ability of a little country in the Middle East to control the United States and Western economies, and he began to experiment with what he saw to be the worlds most available resource: water (hydrogen). Stans water powered engines are noted as revolutionary, and threaten to topple a vast empire of gasoline and oil based companies.

Today, it is both possible to buy a hydrogen powered car, and to convert your car to hydrogen based fuel, which costs on average between $2,500 and $5,000.

How do Fuel Cells Work?

Hydrogen fuel cells are very much like car batteries. They have two electrodes, an anode and a cathode, that are separated by a membrane. Hydrogen from a fuel tank come into the cell and is split by a catalyst on the electrode anode. This action creates a movement of electrons that generate electricity, which is used to power the vehicle. The electrons of the hydrogen ions move through the membrane to the cathode electrodes where they chemically combine with oxygen from a compressor, producing both heat and water.

Fuel cells are said to be more efficient than combustion engines. Fuel cells also are more ecologically sound as they emit only heat and water. Another nice feature of the fuel cell is that it never needs to be changed for the life of the car.

The Future of Hydrogen Cars

Hydrogen is seen as the number one source of fuel in the future. Despite all that has been said for solar and wind power, hydrogen appears to be the answer. Government grants exist in many countries to improve the hydrogen based fuel, and push the auto industry into Hydro car manufacturing mode, and away from fossil fuels. This is pleasing those pushing for cleaner air, as the only known emissions from the car are water and heat.

Unfortunately, there is a large lobbying factor against this concept. Major oil companies and automobile companies are not happy with the concept of moving away from the standard gasoline fuels. It is expected that should there be such a move to hydrogen based fuels, oil companies may go bankrupt and there may be less of a need for cars as the fuel cells are expected to last the life of the car.

The future most likely will go the way of hydrogen based fuel. Watch for it to be the focus of energy within the next 20 years.

Stevo Lim

Vehicleride.com is the place to find all your informations about cars, car reviews, car loans, car safety, future cars, hybrid cars, hydrogen cars, solar cars, sports cars, concept cars and many informations about cars.

Company Announces Plans to Address Power Reliability Concerns American Electric Technologies, Inc. (NasdaqCM:AETI - News), the premium supplier of custom-designed power distribution and control solutions for the traditional and alternative energy industries, today announced its formal entry into the wind power market at the American Wind Energy Association's (AWEA) WINDPOWER 2008 conference. The company also released results from a survey they sponsored about the wind energy industry's perceptions about the state of its electrical infrastructure and offered valuable advice to overcome risks associated with a wind farm's sub-optimal electric infrastructure.

In conjunction with the company's wind power market entry, AETI also announced today a new West Texas wind farm construction operation and the addition of a wind power construction veteran to help bring the company's traditional engineering and instrumentation (E&I) construction and electrical maintenance services to the West Texas wind farm market.

"With our formal entry into the wind market, we are leveraging our power distribution and control technology, our 60 years of technical expertise, and our construction and services capabilities to enable the wind power industry to reach its maximum potential," said Charles Dauber, president of the M&I Electric business of AETI.

More on AETI Enters Wind Energy Market, Uncovers Power Infrastructure Risks

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