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A U.S. government official said dramatic improvements to lithium batteries are needed before they can efficiently power vehicles. Experts believe lithium-ion batteries are widely predicted to replace nickel metal-hydride batteries currently used in most hybrid vehicles like Toyota Co's popular Prius. The biggest challenges are extending the life of high-power lithium batteries and bringing down their relatively high cost, Tien Duong of the U.S. Department of Energy said on the sidelines of a lithium battery conference held at this government laboratory. "Life means 10 years, plus. For hybrids we know (their batteries) last 10 years plus. For the PHEV (plug-in electric vehicle), we don't know," Duong said. He did not specify what the costs should be. "One of the phenomenons that cuts short the life of the battery is power. You may have a lot of energy, but if you run out of power, that's no good," he said.

The way electric power is generated and distributed will change substantially over the next two decades. Power will be democratized, as small-scale production at the individual and community level moves from niche to normal. The resulting "electron-democracy" will still have centralized power plants, but power grid activity will increasingly be dominated by innumerable incremental energy flows between small producers and consumers. This is likely to happen whether or not public policy mandates a shift away from dependence on fossil fuels.

That may be a little aggressive, but Princeton University engineers have developed a device that may change the way that we power many of our smaller gadgets and devices. By using out natural body movement, they have created a small chip that will actually capture and harness that natural energy to create enough energy to power up things such as a cell phone, pacemaker and many other small devices that are electronic.

""The planning of the cable laying began back in 2000 after a severe hurricane hit Denmark at the end of December 1999. Today, we've completed the cable laying, and I'm pleased that the consumers in our grid area no longer have to fear major power cuts when Mother Nature takes its toll causing trees to fall down on overhead line poles and power lines. Now that the power cables are buried in the ground, we can avoid this.""

Nexans, a leading global cablemaking company, has been awarded a contract to design, manufacture and supply Chevron U.S.A with 42km of power umbilicals and terminations for the Jack and St. Malo oil fields in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico. In addition to the conductor which delivers a high voltage power supply, the power umbilical, which was pioneered by Nexans, includes a number of steel tubes, fibre optic elements and signal cables for control and monitoring purposes. By eliminating the need to transport and install separate power and control lines, the power umbilical significantly reduces transportation and installation costs.

Ultra High Voltage DC "Driven by economic growth, demand for power and the need to efficiently integrate renewable power generation, it is clear from developments in AC networks that UHVDC will have a major role to play as power systems evolve."

"and pulsed power and the market is expected to grow over the next five years to support the global megatrend toward improving energy efficiency in power electronics. "

General Motors (GM) announced that it is adding the world's largest rooftop solar photovoltaic power installation to its car assembly plant located in Figueruelas, Zaragoza, Spain. When the project is completed in fall 2008, the Zaragoza solar installation will cover about 2 million square feet of roof at the plant and include about 85,000 solar panels. When fully operational, the Zaragoza solar installation will generate about 12 megawatts of power at its highest output. The installation will generate about 15.1 million kWh of power annually, which is equivalent to the demand of 4,575 households with an average annual consumption of 3,300 kWh in Spain. "The Zaragoza project demonstrates proof that GM is actively accelerating our efforts to be part of the solution to the environmental issues and challenges facing our world," said Gary Cowger, GM group vice president of global manufacturing and labor relations. "We are proud to be a global leader in the usage of renewable energy."

The world's first commercial-scale tidal power turbine has delivered electricity into the British grid for the first time in preparation for full-scale operation, Marine Current Turbines announced yesterday. "SeaGen is the world's first commercial-scale tidal stream generating system by a large margin. It is more than four times as powerful as the world's second most powerful tidal current system, which is our own 300kW SeaFlow, installed off Lynmouth on the north Devon coast more than five years ago." Secretary of State for Energy, John Hutton said: "This kind of world first technology and innovation is key to helping the UK reduce its dependency on fossil fuels and secure its future energy supplies" Marine Current Turbines' next project, announced in February 2008, is a joint initiative with npower renewables to take forward a 10.5MW project using several SeaGen devices off the coast of Anglesey, north Wales. It is hoped the tidal farm will be commissioned in 2011 or 2012. The company is also investigating the potential for tidal energy schemes in other parts of the UK, and in North America.

Ireland's OpenHydro and Germany's RWE are spending millions to try to turn the power of waves into electricity With oil prices hitting almost daily record highs and global warming climbing up the public agenda, the need for alternative energy sources has never been more urgent. But while wind and solar have dominated the recent rush to invest in renewables, market watchers reckon it could now be marine energy's turn to shine. Ocean power-using the energy from waves or tidal flows to produce electricity-is quickly coming of age as a viable green resource that could help meet ambitious global targets to reduce greenhouse gases and dependency on fossil fuels. European and North American power companies such as Canada's Emera (EMA.TO) and Germany's RWE (RWEG.DE) are spending millions to fund wind and tidal projects. This investment has led to a new generation of more efficient technologies, with dozens of prototypes expected to be ready for commercial deployment within the next five years. "There's huge interest in both wave and tidal technology," says Thomas Boeckmann, clean tech analyst at market research firm StrategyEye in London. "It's gaining a lot of attention from energy companies, which will be able to offer financial backing and technical expertise to these startups."

U.S. wind industry has raced past the 20,000-megawatt (MW) installed capacity milestone, achieving in two years what had previously taken more than two decades, according to new figures. The 10,000-MW mark was reached in 2006. Wind now provides 20,152 MW of electricity generating capacity in the U.S., producing enough electricity to serve 5.3 million American homes or power a fleet of more than 1 million plug-in hybrid vehicle, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). "Wind energy installations are well ahead of the curve for contributing 20% of the U.S. electric power supply by 2030 as envisioned by the U.S. Department of Energy," said AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. "However, the looming expiration of the federal renewable energy production tax credit (PTC) less than four months from now threatens this spectacular progress. The PTC has been a critical factor in wind's very rapid growth as a part of the nation's power portfolio." The PTC is currently set to expire at the end of 2008.

Amid the ongoing global economic slowdown, the construction of power grid projects in China is proceeding well, and demand for electrical wire and cable is expected to remain robust. However, even though power consumption has exhibited a growing trend, the month-by-month growth rate has slowed. As a result, copper semis related to electrical equipment have currently shown bearish demand signals. For the first 10 months of 2008, newly built power supply capacity amounted to 58.462m KW, while newly built capacity in October declined by 73% year-on-year.

"Generally speaking, the more copper mass in the motor, the more powerful the motor is," explains Deborah Brown, the component design manager for Bosch Tool Corporation. "To increase the power of our motors, manufacturing is challenged to fit more copper wire into the motor."

It was reported that Zhejiang Power Grid Company decided to use aluminium cable instead of copper cable in new low voltage power grid projects. Using 6 km aluminium cable instead of copper in a 100 kV power grid project cut costs by at least 1.92M yuan. In addition, using 340 m aluminium cable in a 220 kV power grid project led to investment reduction of 108,000 yuan. Adopting aluminium cable in low voltage power projects can achieve a cost reduction of 40-70%.

"The electric power steering market is forecast to grow by 13.44% globally by 2016. Power steering has become so commonplace in our vehicles today that we tend to take it for granted, but the automotive industry does not stand still, and hydraulic power steering is slowly being replaced by electric systems."

It was reported that between January and November of 2011 a total of 168.2Mkva of newly built power substation capacity and 28,045km of associated power line was installed. Furthermore, the statistics from China Electricity Council show that power grid investment over the first eleven months of 2011, which totalled RMB311.4B, up by 20.1% y-o-y, outstripped power source investment over the same period, which amounted to RMB309.3B, and grew by 0.5% y-o-y.

Copper cables may be used in place of aluminum in overhead applications. Also, undergrounding cables is a viable alternative to fully protect against storm damage.