Solar Energy

Philipp Furler, co-founder and CEO of Synhelion, says that electrification is often presented as the main green alternative to fossil fuels, but there are currently some sectors – maritime and aviation – where this has not been possible.

“These sectors are difficult to decarbonize because they require very high energy density,” he explains. Energy density refers to the amount of energy that can be provided in a given volume.

For example, an egg has a higher energy density than a piece of lettuce of the same size. Likewise, kerosene has 50 times the energy density of state-of-the-art lithium-ion technology—which is why, Furler says, “you’re not flying from Europe to the U.S. on a battery.”

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That’s why, he says, there are some areas where liquid fuel “stays here. And the mission is basically to replace fossil fuels with sustainable fuels.”

How is solar fuel made?

When jet fuel is burned, it releases water and carbon dioxide – in large quantities. Shipping and aviation account for about eight percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Synhelion aims to reverse the combustion process, says Furler.

(La Porte, IN) – Plans to produce a lot of energy from the sun on more than 3,300 acres of farmland were given final approval Tuesday night by the LaPorte County Board of Zoning Appeals.

By a 3 to 2 vote, the BZA granted a special exception to the current agricultural zoning for RWE Clean Energy, LLC. to build a solar farm projected to produce enough electricity to power 68,000 homes annually.

The Chicago-based firm has 130 solar projects operating in the US

Construction of solar panels and other infrastructure to serve the operation will begin early in 2025, according to the plans.

The $500 million dollar facility will stretch from Kankakee to Wills and Pleasant townships.

The BZA voted without any discussion from its members or accepting public comment after listening extensively to both sides during its May 21 meeting and workshop sessions in previous weeks.,

“We already heard evidence and remonstrance,” said BZA president Melissa Mischke.

The BZA voted to table the plans last month to give them a final review before deciding the request.

Farmers like Mike Ekovich, whose dairy is just 400 feet away from the site, was among the opponents at the jam packed meeting.

“It borders us on all three sides,” he said.

One of his concerns is the site becoming an eyesore particularly for him and other nearby farmers.

“You got the farm landscape your whole life and then you got to deal with this,” he said.

The company has agreed to provide setbacks of at least 250 feet from other properties, vegetative screening from homes and bury cables three and four feet below the ground within and away from the site. Other requirements include doing things to control glare from the solar panels and design the facility to control storm water drainage.

“I have two and a half pages of conditions set for the solar project and many of them mirror what I believe will be additions to our solar ordinance,” said BZA attorney Craig Biege.

Ekovich said one of his concerns has not been addressed, though. He’s worried about the possibility of low volumes of electricity straying from the site and coming into contact with some of his 1,000 cows.

Ekovich said electricity can jump from things like bad grounding of the solar panels and loose wiring.

He said cows drinking water on wet concrete surfaces, for example, would feel a tingling sensation and could produce less milk from contact with any stray voltage.

“That’s a very big concern of ours,” he said.

According to Emily McDuff, an engineer and project manager with RWE Clean Energy, said the power from the solar farm would help replace the electricity to be lost when coal fired generating plants in Indiana, such as the NIPSCO generating station in Michigan City, shutdown in the next couple of years.

She also said about a dozen farm land owners would no longer have to worry about selling their properties for future financial security with the supplemental income they’ll be paid for using their land under lease agreements.

McDuff said the solar farm would also mean about $100 million in property tax revenue for local governments over the lifetime of the operation.

After 35 years, McDuff said the solar farm would be decommissioned and the property restored to farmland.

BZA member John Carr said he saw no downsides to the project, calling some of the concerns “myths” after doing extensive research about solar farms.

He said the remainder of the concerns were addressed to his satisfaction by the company.

“With the amount of tax revenue this project is going to generate and the amount of jobs that it’s going to generate to build the solar farm, it’s a win, win,” he said.

Carr also said local governments shouldn’t tell people what they can do with their land as long as neighbors aren’t going to be harmed.

“At the end of the day, I think it comes down to personal property rights,” he said.

Farmer Steve Holifield, who lives a few miles from where the solar farm is planned, said he is concerned about the loss of farm land and even more if the decision attracts other solar farm projects.

His other fears include the soil will not be as productive once the site is restored to farm land along with loss of property value and quality of life.

Holifield said he respects the rights of property owners as long as nearby land owners are not negatively impacted.

“We’ve never argued they don’t have the right to do what they want but you don’t have the right to devalue or take away the enjoyment of another person’s rights on their private property. That whole thing was ignored,” he said.

Biege said construction expected to begin early next year is projected to be completed in 12 to 18 months.

The International Finance Corporation on Monday committed $105 million, or about Rs 870 crore, to Brookfield’s Bikaner solar power project through long-term non-convertible debentures. The private sector financing arm of the World Bank Group said in a statement that these loans were earmarked for the project’s special purpose vehicles.

A 550-megawatt solar project in Rajasthan will help boost India’s renewable energy potential and support climate goals, the IFC said in a statement.

Through long-term power purchase agreements, Brookfield will provide solar power to commercial and industrial consumers in India at more competitive rates, contributing to the country’s decarbonization goals, it said.

According to the statement, this is IFC’s first investment in the Asia-Pacific region using an innovative hybrid offtake structure, where the project trades power generated to C&I consumers through long-term corporate PPAs and trade markets.

The project will be connected to the interstate transmission system section of India’s green energy corridor. Solar plants are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8.04 lakh tonnes of CO2 every year, which is equivalent to removing about 1.74 lakh cars from the road every year.

India is leading the green transition in the power sector by committing to 500 gigawatts of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030. The country’s renewable energy sector has attracted approximately $10 billion in annual investments between 2017 and 2022. It is expected to bring 25 billion dollars in annual investment by 2030.

It is estimated that about 20% of this is directed towards the C&I and merchant market.

“Through our partnership with Brookfield, IFC aims to facilitate the wider adoption of clean energy by demonstrating the viability of large-scale renewable energy generation and sale to pan-India corporate and industrial customers through the interstate transmission system,” Imad N Fakhoury on IFC South regional director for Asia said.

“With a portfolio of more than 25 GW of renewable energy assets in operation or under development across the country’s leading platforms, we look forward to taking advantage of the scale transition opportunities offered in the country,” said Nawal Saini, managing director of renewables and power and transition at Brookfield. he said.

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. is a leading global alternative asset manager with over $925 billion in assets under management across renewable energy and transition, infrastructure, private equity, real estate and credit.

(Text inputs from PTI)

The United States is working hard and relentlessly to solve the problem of increasing energy demand, which is especially urgent in the coming summer. They had already engaged in “virtual energy” to meet peak demand, and now there is nothing else Elon Musk declared that we could use a giant fusion reactor in the sky to supply the entire US.

Nuclear fusion reactor “in the sky”: Elon Musk’s disturbing idea

Elon Musk is a famous South African-born tycoon who made history by running successful and revolutionary companies like Starlink and Tesla. On the other hand, it has become the talk of the town for him on many occasions controversial predictions and seemingly random decisions. Nevertheless, his companies play a key role in the development of sustainable technologies.

Now, the man who turned electric cars into a profitable business shocked everyone when he announced, without preamble, that we could use a fusion reactor “in the sky” to power the entire United States. As if that wasn’t enough, he detailed a well-thought-out plan to implement this revolutionary idea that will provide America with clean, renewable energy.

The entrepreneur explained that the sun is like a natural fusion reactor in the sky and we are wasting much of its potential as a sustainable energy source. According to Mask, if they build a solar farm 160km by 160km, they can run on all the energy. A US power grid with zero greenhouse gas emissionsno transport costs, simple and cheap maintenance.

Photovoltaic city? Revolutionizing solar energy may be ‘in the sky’

A photovoltaic plant of this size would cover an area the size of a city, making Elon Musk’s idea incredibly ambitious. But if this project is implemented, could supply the whole country with completely environmentally friendly energy and would be a quantum leap towards the goal of eliminating our carbon footprint.

The businessman’s idea has caught the attention of the world as they wait to see if he can start a crusade that could be the starting point for a photovoltaic model that other countries can emulate. Anticipation grows when you consider that in 2016 Elon Musk bought SolarCity, a company dedicated to the production of solar cells and photovoltaic cells.

A solar project of this magnitude could mean big business for a tycoon who already has investments in electric cars and photovoltaic systems. It will take thousands of solar panels and batteries to store the electricity and all this infrastructure. To be provided by SolarCitysomething that could place this company among the most important companies in the world.

Looking ahead: what we can achieve in the short term

Elon Musk is here He is the head of companies like SpaceXtrying to open up the space travel market; Tesla, which sells thousands of high-performance electric cars around the world; and StarLink, a company building a global network of satellites that can provide satellite connectivity to anyone, anywhere.

It is clear that the entrepreneur’s outlook is revolutionary, pioneering, so he is an excellent candidate to be the first to provide the entire country with the potential of the “fusion reactor” in the sky. Elon Musk.

Solar energy in other countries

If this idea were to come to fruition, it would Great news for America, where we have already made our breakthroughs in photovoltaics. In fact, the controversial giant solar plant in Morocco would have been a project of a similar scale, although it has unfortunately stalled to this day.