Japan and US at top of energy-related patents in 2011

The United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recently revealed that international patent filings experienced record growth in 2011. Worldwide, electrical machinery, apparatus and energy-related patents accounted for 7% of the total, only superseded by computer technology patents. Applications for international patent filings experienced their fastest growth since 2005 last year, the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) reported this month, adding that this signals a steady recovery despite difficult global economic conditions. Last year, 181,900 patent applications were filed under the WIPO-administered Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which facilitates the process of seeking patent protection in multiple countries. This represents an almost 11 per cent growth compared to 2010. China, Japan and the United States accounted for 82 per cent of the total growth, with the Chinese telecommunications company ZTE Corporation filing the most applications in 2011, WIPO stated in a news release. Among the top filing countries, applications from China, Japan, Canada, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the US saw the fastest growth. European countries witnessed a mixed performance with Switzerland, France, Germany and Sweden experiencing growth, and the Netherlands, Finland, Spain and the United Kingdom seeing declines.  Meanwhile, large middle-income economies such as Russia, Brazil and India recorded double-digit filing growth.  WIPO stated that patents related to digital communications amounted to 7.1 per cent of the total filing, making it the field with the largest share of applications followed by electronic machinery, medical technology and computer technology. Patent applications in selected energy-related technologies  The WIPO report included a sub-section of the development of energy-related technologies containing statistics on patent activity for selected energy-related technologies, namely, fuel cells, geothermal, solar and wind energy.  TotalSource: WIPO

number of patent applications in four energy-related fields  The total number of patent applications in the four energy-related fields reached 28,560 in 2009, almost nine times as much as in 1990. Solar energy-related patent applications account for 50.3% of the total in 2009. There was a substantial increase in solar and wind energy patent applications, while those in the field of fuel cell technology saw a small drop in the last two years. Share of total energy-related patents by country According to the WIPO’s figures, Japan (34.1%), the Republic of Korea (18.7%) and the US (14%)  accounted for more than two-thirds of total solar energy patent applications. However, only the Republic of Korea (1.6%) and China (1.1%) have more than one percent of their total PCT patent applications published in this field.  For fuel cell technology, Japan accounted for more than half of all patent applications in this field. For Japan (1.3%) and Canada (1.0%), more than one percent of their total patent applications are in this field.  Patent applications in the field of wind energy technology are more evenly distributed among several countries, with Germany and the US accounting for a similar share (around 17%). However, only in Denmark (3.1%) and Spain (1.6%) did patenting in this field represent more than one percent of total filings.  The distribution of geothermal energy patent applications is similar to that for wind energy technology. Absolute numbers and relative shares of geothermal energy patents are very low. Source: Renewable Energy Magazine

Read More........→April 19, 2012

World?s largest advanced gasification waste energy plant in the works

Air Products will build and operate the world’s largest renewable energy plant in the UK using advanced gasification energy-from-waste (EfW) technology. The Tees Valley plant, located at the New Energy and Technology Business Park, near Billingham, Teesside, will be the first of its kind in the UK, and the largest of its kind anywhere in the world with an approximate capacity of 50 MW. The plant is expected to produce enough reliable, controllable, and renewable electricity to power up to 50,000 homes. Situated in a location with good access and connectivity to the local and national electrical distribution infrastructure and in close proximity to landfill disposal facilities, it will divert up to 350,000 metric tons of non-recyclable waste from the landfill per year – helping to meet the UK’s waste diversion targets. The Westinghouse advanced gasification technology provided by AlterNRG, is a leading next generation of EfW technologies. It offers a more efficient, cleaner conversion of waste-to-power than traditional EfW technologies and has the potential to generate a wider range of useful products, including heat, hydrogen, chemicals and fuels, the company said. Longer term, the potential generation of renewable hydrogen could be deployed for commercial use, such as fuelling public transport. “Our investment in advanced gasification EfW technology is a natural extension of our onsite business model. Offering an innovative growth opportunity, it allows us to further extend our leading position in the global energy market and continue to deliver on Air Products’ commitment to sustainability,” said John McGlade, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Air Products. “The UK is committed to diversifying its sources of energy, strengthening its energy security and reducing carbon emissions," he continued. "This pioneering clean energy technology model is well-suited to these requirements, offering a sustainable solution to the UK’s waste management strategy. The facility will also create skilled jobs in the area and we are hopeful it will provide an indirect boost to the local economy through the use of local service companies, hotels and other businesses.” Air Products has secured the necessary environmental and planning approvals and the renewable energy facility is scheduled to enter commercial operation in 2014. Work has already begun to prepare the site. Full-scale construction activities will begin ramping up in the coming weeks. The plant is expected to create up to 700 construction jobs and over 50 permanent jobs once operational. “Advanced gasification has a key role to play in delivering renewable energy and I warmly welcome the decision by Air Products to proceed with its Tees Valley Renewable Energy Facility. Air Products' announcement reflects the UK’s commitment and support for clean energy, combined with our stable and transparent environment for investors,” said UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. "With the world's spotlight on the UK this summer, we are working hard through the British Business Embassy program to help UK and international companies to capitalize on new trade and investment opportunities to deliver safe, secure, sustainable and smarter energy ‘ecosystems’, from extraction through to the end user,” Clegg added. Source: Renewable Energy Magazine

Read More........→January 21, 2013

Analyzing ways to help golden eagle populations weather wind-energy growth

"We are taking basic information about golden eagle ecology in the Anthropocene and developing it into predictive frameworks for how to protect them," says Eric Lonsdorf, Emory assistant professor of environmental sciences.

By Carol Clark: Wind energy is a major component of the U.S. clean-energy goals. Already one of the fastest growing and lowest-cost sources of electricity in the country, it is poised for even more rapid growth, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Wind power, however, does not come without trade-offs, including some negative impacts on wildlife. Throughout the United States, for example, it’s been estimated that as many as three golden eagles per wind farm are killed each year by wind turbines.

“Renewable energy sources, including wind energy, are critical for us to achieve a net-zero emissions future,” says Eric Lonsdorf, assistant professor of environmental sciences at Emory University. “We need to address conflicts between renewable energy and wildlife conservation so that we can combat climate change while also limiting damage to biodiversity.”

Lonsdorf and colleagues are developing data-driven methods to determine how much effort is needed to save golden eagles in order to offset the impact of wind turbines on their populations.

The Journal of Wildlife Management recently published their latest model for calculating the benefit of one mitigation strategy — removal of large, road-killed animals that can lead to golden eagles getting hit by cars.

Quantifying the benefits of natural capital:

Lonsdorf is an expert in natural capital, or the quantifiable benefits that nature provides humans. He translates ecological principles and data into computer models that enable industry leaders and policymakers to better manage natural resources.

Co-authors of the current study include James Gerber and Deepak Ray, from the University of Minnesota; Steven Slater, from HawkWatch International; and Taber Allison, from the Renewable Energy Wildlife Institute.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) monitors golden eagle populations, which are protected through the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Threats to golden eagles include loss of habitat and prey.

Additional threats that are directly linked to human activities include illegal shootings, electrocution at power poles, lead poisoning from consuming parts of bullets in the entrails of deer carcasses discarded at the site of hunters’ kills, collisions with cars at sites where the birds are scavenging roadkill and collisions with the blades of a wind turbine.

Across the western United States, hundreds of wind turbines have gone up in sage-brush flats that are part of golden eagles’ core habitat, and many more turbines are planned. In order to meet the permit requirements of the FWS, wind-energy companies must agree to mitigate their impact on the animals by offsetting the predicted number of golden eagles that will fly into their turbines each year.

Currently, the only offset strategy approved by the FWS for wind-energy companies is to retrofit power poles to prevent golden eagles from becoming electrocuted.

Adding empirical data:

For the past five years, Lonsdorf and his colleagues have combined their expertise to develop a range of potential offset strategies for golden eagle fatalities.

Their current paper — an updated model for golden eagle mortality due to vehicle collisions based on data from Wyoming — considered myriad factors such as the population density for golden eagles in the region, the number and size of deer roadkill carcasses expected and the traffic volume on the roads. The model also incorporated observational evidence of eagle-carcass roadside interactions obtained by motion-triggered cameras, data that was lacking in a previous model the researchers created.

The addition of this empirical data allowed the researchers to make estimates for how long a golden eagle typically spends at a carcass, how the decay rate of the carcass affects the number of visits from eagles and the effects of seasonality on the scavenging behavior of the eagles.

The model results suggest that carcass relocation is a viable golden eagle mitigation strategy that could save up to seven golden eagles annually in some Wyoming counties. On average, the model indicates that the prompt removal of four roadside carcasses would save at least one golden eagle.

The researchers can make a user-friendly version of the prediction framework available to the FWS and wind-energy companies if the FWS decides to approve carcass removal as an eagle mortality offset strategy. “We’re taking basic information about golden eagle ecology in the Anthropocene and developing it into predictive frameworks for how to protect them,” Lonsdorf says. “As wind energy continues to grow, more mitigation strategies will likely be needed. Our goal is to provide scientific evidence for a portfolio of methods to help accomplish a zero-net loss of golden eagles from wind-energy facilities.”eScienceCommons: Analyzing ways to help golden eagle populations we

Read More........→October 14, 2023