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"Donald Sadoway: The missing link to renewable energy Tweet this talk! (we'll add the headline and the URL) Post to: Share on Twitter Email This Favorite Download inShare Share on StumbleUpon Share on Reddit Share on Facebook TED Conversations Got an idea, question, or debate inspired by this talk? Start a TED Conversation, or join one of these: Green Home Energy=Hydrogen Generators-alternative sources Started by Kathleen Gilligan-Smith 1 Comment What is the real missing link in renewable energy? Started by Enrico Petrucco 8 Comments Comment on this Talk 60 total comments Sign in to add comments or Join (It's free and fast!) Sort By: smily raichel 0 Reply Less than 5 minutes ago: Nice smily raichel 0 Reply Less than 5 minutes ago: Good David Mackey 0 Reply 3 hours ago: Superb invention, but I would suggest one more standard mantra that they should move on from and that is the idea of power being supplied by a centralised grid. This technology seems to me to be much more beneficial on a local scale, what if every home had its own battery, then home power generation becomes economically more viable for everyone. If you could show that a system like this could pay for itself in say 5 years then every home would want one. Plus for this to be implemented on a large scale requires massive investment that could be decades away. Share the technology and lets get it in homes by next year. Great ted talk. Jon Senior 0 Reply 1 hour ago: I agree 100%. Localised energy production would also make energy consumers more conscious of their consumption and encourage efforts to reduce it. We can invent and invent all we want, but the fast solution to allowing renewable energies to take centre stage is to reduce the base energy draw. With lower baseline consumption, smaller "always on" generators are required to keep the grid operational. Town and house-l

Despite a slowdown in the global economy and a softening in demand for aluminium rolled products in some regions, JSE-listed aluminium reroller Hulamin expected global demand to increase this year. CEO Alan Fourie on Tuesday commented that the company, which exported about 70% of its products, had seen some softening in demand for aluminium rolled products in some regions, but added that demand for these products was expected to grow by between 5% and 7% this year. "Obviously the slowdown of the [global] economy puts pressure on margins, it is an economic consequence, but we are still selling into a growing international market," he said. Locally, however, the softening economic climate was expected to impact on sales volumes for the second half of the year. However, Hulamin expected these high-value products to continue growing as a percentage of its sales in the next few years. Fourie noted that five years ago, these products equated to just over 50% of its sales volumes, while their contribution was just below 60% in 2007. They now comprised about 64% of its total sales volumes. Meanwhile, Hulamin stated that its costs had increased by 16%, influenced by a 58% increase in energy costs, increasing alloying costs caused by magnesium prices rising from $2 000/t to $4 500/t, and increases in other metals. Excluding the cost of increasing energy and metals prices, the company's costs had increased by 6%. Fourie noted that while the rising aluminium costs did not affect its profitability, it did have an effect on its working capital. "We hold aluminium in our working capital. So when the aluminium price increases, the cash tied up in working capital increases and we have seen a significant increase in working capital during this period, because the rand price of aluminium has increased by close to 40% in the last six months," he explained. Further, Fourie did not expect the increasing electricity prices to have too great an impact on its futu

""We have developed several new solutions, which can provide clear weight and cost saving opportunities to manufacturers of such commercial vehicles as trucks, buses as well as agricultural, industrial and construction equipment", stated Dr Andreas Brand, member of Leoni AG's Management Board with responsibility for the Wiring Systems Division. "We are confident that we will grow our business with the CV industry by more than five per cent per year until 2025." Alternative conductors save weight and cost In terms of weight optimisation, Leoni can reduce the harnesses' weight by replacing conventional wires. Alongside copper wires with smaller cross-sections, the Company provides the CV market with a range of wires made of aluminium for the power segment, i.e. with a cross-section between 10 mm2 and 110 mm2 and even larger. Although the aluminium conductors have a larger cross-section in order to deliver the same electrical conductivity, aluminium technology results in a noticeable weight reduction. On its booth, Leoni will show its busbar, a solid aluminium conductor, which can be bent in three dimensions and weighs only about half as much as the conventional copper component. Leoni will also show various conductor solutions based on copper. These can be used where mechanical strength as well as electrical conductivity is required. For example, a copper wire with a cross-section of 0.75 mm² could potentially be replaced by a smaller wire cross section, such as a 0.50 mm² or a 0.35 mm². Thanks to the use of less conductor material, Leoni's customers can not just reduce the weight of their vehicles, but also benefit in terms of cost savings."

"In my personal opinion, most plants are unlikely to actually cut back because of profit factors. The smelters agreed to cut back mainly because of tight power and high power costs, but for some, supply is not much affected, only costs have gone up. But the cost of shutting down and restarting might be even higher than the increased power prices," a source from Shaanxi Tongchuan aluminum said July 11. A source from Chuangyuan aluminum said, "We also signed the agreement, but that's just a piece of paper; there is no definite ruling to say we must cut output. We have no plans to cut output at the moment or in the short term, but we may consider cutting back in the future." The Chuangyuan source also cited the power versus shutdown cost ratioand noted that in any case the company has its own power plant. "We don't expect many of the other smelters at the meeting to cut either, including Chalco ... everyone will wait and see," he said. "Domestic prices have risen slightly, but mainly affected by the rise on the LME yesterday - there seems to be little fundamental impact within China itself," an analyst from Beijing Antaike said July 11. "People are all very uncertain and maybe confused now since there are no definite details on what the cutbacks will be." A Chinese trader said domestic demand and trade activity were also expected to slow due to the Olympics, and those plants that actually shut may be able to restart in the fourth quarter, so the impact on domestic prices would be minimal.

Hydrogen fuel-cell cars have received a great deal of attention over the years as a clean alternative to petroleum-based transportation, producing only water for exhaust. Certainly the technology is known. Demonstration vehicles have been produced by several manufacturers and Honda is starting to roll out a fleet of 200 FCX Clarity fuel-cell cars, available for lease to select customers for US $600 per month. These autos are costing Honda hundreds of thousands of dollars each though, according to Honda's president Takeo Fukui (Wall Street Journal, June 16 2008), and it will take another decade before their cost falls below US $100,000. Although fuel-cell cars remain a long way from providing commercially viable transportation for the vast majority of people, cars are not the only application for fuel cells. Fuel cells are reaching commercial viability sooner in other applications such as portable electronics, including laptops, cell phones, MP3 players and games, aiming to supplement the ability of batteries to power these mobile devices for extended periods of time. There are a number of reasons why fuel cells may prove more competitive in portable electronics than in cars, including the favorable cost, lifetime requirement and easier distribution in this market. One of the companies developing fuel-cell technology for portable electronics is Polyfuel, using its proprietary hydrocarbon membrane technology for direct methanol fuel cells. The cost of power for portable electronics, according to Polyfuel president and CEO Jim Balcom, is up to US $10,000 per watt, compared with US $20-50 for autos, making portable electronics a much more attractive market than cars initially.

Copper represents less than 1% of the cost of a PV system installed. Is it really a cost-saving target?

Applied Nanotech Holdings Inc announced that its subsidiary, Applied Nanotech Inc (ANI), established a strategic development program with Optomec, Inc, a provider of printed electronics for solar, display, electronic packaging and flexible electronics applications. As a part of the commitment, ANI will install a dedicated Optomec M3D aerosol jet printer at its facilities in order to adapt its copper ink to Optomec's patented ultra high resolution printing technology. By utilizing ANI's copper ink, the Optomec printer will offer the solar, display, flexible circuit and PCB manufacturers contact-free deposition of high quality, low cost metal lines, the companies said. According to the companies, the Optomec printing solution is able to produce much finer lines than is currently possible with traditional screen printing and inkjet printing equipment. The combined ANI/Optomec copper ink printing solution will provide an alternative to silver inks facilitating lower cost, coupled with the promise of higher reliability. Furthermore, ANI's copper inks do not require expensive vacuum installation or inert gas environment lowering the cost of the capital for manufacturing equipment.

A vote could come as early as this week in the U.S. Senate on a bill introduced by Senate Tax Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) containing a one-year renewable energy production tax credit (PTC) extension and a small wind turbine investment tax credit. The Senate bill, S. 3335, contains a one-year PTC extension at its current value. After December 31, 2009, any further extension would include the "presumption" of a cost cap, which would, through a complex formula, put a ceiling on the value of the credits of no greater than 35% of project value. The small wind ITC has a cap of US $4,000 per system.The 10-year cost for the PTC, including all technologies to which it applies, is projected to be approximately US $7 billion, while the ITC, which includes solar, would cost approximately US $907 million over 10 years. The bill also includes provisions to extend through 2014 the tax credits for solar energy, fuel cell and microturbine property, as well as the residential energy efficient property tax credit. Marine renewable energies could also benefit from the bill as credits to build wave, tidal, current and ocean thermal energy conversion systems of at least 150 kilowatts (kW) are extended through the end of 2011.

Mueller Industries, Inc. has announced its sales results for 2008. Net income in 2008 amounted to US$ 80.8 million, compared with US$ 115.5 million realised in 2007. Net income in Q4 2008 reached US$ 7.8 million compared to US$ 28.8 million in the same period in 2007. The company attributed the sharp contraction in its Q4 income mainly to weak shipments and the lower average cost of copper. The plumbing and refrigeration segment has been hit by slowing demand and higher per unit conversion costs on lower production volumes. In addition, European copper tube activities were interrupted for approximately four weeks due to a fire. In response to the ongoing economic crisis, the company's strategy for 2009 is to readjust operations and reduce costs.

US speciality brass mill Ansonia Copper and Brass Inc. has announced that it will lay off 85 of the 102 employees at its Liberty Street, Ansonia, factory in Connecticut. The plant manufactures copper alloy rod and wires. Company President Raymond McGee said "it's a very, very difficult situation". He blamed the redundancies, on top of 76 employees laid off in April 2007, on the company's struggle with escalating costs. Since 2002 electricity costs have soared 239%, natural gas 200%, fuel oil 125%, and copper and nickel 500% apiece. Ansonia's other facility in Waterbury, CT, which manufacturers copper alloy tube is unaffected by the announcement.

Further evidence of the impact of the North American economic slowdown on copper demand has recently been published by the ABMS and government statistical bodies. North American copper wirerod production plummeted 9.6% year-on-year to 174,000 tonnes in April. Output had been on a downward trend but the magnitude of the deterioration in April has still come as something of a surprise. A year-on-year increase of 2.0% in North American output January had been followed a 1.0% fall in February and a 2.7% drop in March. In April Canadian output was flat year-on-year due to improving export sales to the US, while US production fell 9.8% year-on-year and Mexican shipments slumped by 17.5%. On a year-to-date basis North American wirerod production was 2.9% lower in the four months to April 2008. Weakening demand from the automotive industry, coupled with a resurgance in copper prices and the return of Russian wirerod imports has clearly led to a deteriorating market situation for domestic mills.

Mueller Industries second quarter results highlight the tough times that the US brass mill industry is facing, but that companies can still operate profitably in a challenging market environment. The company's plumbing and refrigeration segment saw sales fall 11% to US$404m, while its operating profits dropped 32% to US$35m. The company blamed lower shipment volumes and lower spreads for the weaker performance. Sales at the company's OEM division, which includes its brass rod activities, rose 10% year-on-year to US$354m, while its operating profits rose 5% to US$19m. The improvement here is due to acquisition of Extruded Metals. Commenting on the results Harvey Karp, Chairman of Mueller Industries said "Mueller's earnings for the first half of 2008 were achieved despite the continuing decline in the housing industry, the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, the turbulence in the financial markets, rising metal costs, sky-high energy prices and a slowing national economy. Considering these adverse circumstances, we are pleased with the results."

"Targeted outcomes include state-of-art industrial accepted methods to reduce risk and cost Continued effort on cost reduction needed to help secure future of global wind business - especially offshore"

That plastic pipe systems continue to gain market share through supplanting competing pipe materials such as copper, concrete and steel due to easy and low cost installation as well as long term performance, Stephen Boros who is also VP Engineering for Pipelines Plastics, LLC explained. "In North America, these inherent advantages are now further supported by the development of the shale oil and gas industry. This development not only benefits the energy market but also represents a more secure long‐term supply and cost advantage from a power costs to raw materials stand point. Technology transfer will undoubtedly propel the growth of demand for plastic pipe systems in other world markets."

Costs for mining firms are sliding, a rare bright spot in a downturn that will help soften the effect of a crash in metals prices. However, some improved costs, such as labour, will be slow to appear.

The battery technology for plug-in HEVs and EVs (both fixed and removable) has evolved tremendously over the last decade with the introduction of lithium-based batteries complementing lead-, nickel- and sodium-based technologies. These technologies will all continue to have a significant impact on electro-mobility as they may give cost and/or performance advantages for specific applications, for example as start-stop and hybrid solutions. The selection of a technology depends on the requirements for performance, life and cost for a given application. Given the diversity of possible operating modes, there is no one battery system or technology that covers the entire range of application needs sufficiently. On the contrary, different battery energy storage technologies exist and each of them has a role to play in the future as the best solution to the needs of a system depending on their specific attributes: * Lead-based: for start-stop micro application, up to mild HEVs * Nickel-based: for HEV applications only * Lithium-based: for HEV, plug-in HEV and full EVs * Sodium-based: for Plug-in HEV and full EVs

"Through the development of the round one and two wind farms it has become apparent that a disproportionate amount of risk lies within the installation and burial of the power cables. This project will look at the methods and equipment used during the design and specification of installation requirements for export and array cable systems in the offshore wind industry. It aims to reduce risks to the cables during installation and operation, and reduce costs for installation and operation and maintenance activities."

"The copper industry is already facing substitution challenges from materials like aluminium and needs to use technology to help ensure larger-scale, more permanent switches are not made, industry participants said. A group of panelists at the Metal Bulletin and American Metal Market Copper Seminar in New York on Wednesday June 6 said that while technology is clearly an opportunity for the industry, there are still some risks. According to Freeport McMoRan vp sales and marketing Steve Higgins, much of the "easy substitution" - such as plumbing tube or transformer lines - has already happened. "Substitution is less than 2% of refined demand today… It's a bit troubling, but it happens," he said. "The bigger worry is that aluminium is going to make inroads into products that have high switching costs - ACR tubing, motors, or into some medium to high voltage power cables and the like that the manufacturers have to go in and put in a lot of capital costs to convert. Once converted, switching back becomes "extraordinarily difficult," he said. "That's the biggest risk to our market as I..."

Olin Brass, a division of Global Brass & Copper LLC since Global's $400 million purchase of Olin Corp. in November, is looking to increase product prices in response to rapidly increasing costs and softening demand from end-user markets. The price rises are one aspect of a wider re-organisation by Global in an attempt to offset rising raw material and energy costs. According to the company these initiatives have led to productivity gains of over 10 percent, freeing up significant working capital. However Global comments, "our input costs keep going up at such a rate we simply can't be profitable despite cost savings that we've put in place. We need to receive more for our product." Olin is also being hit by depressed end-user markets. As the slowdown in residential construction activities following the sub-prime mortgage crisis continues, demand in the fabrication sector remains low. The US Department of Commerce reported a 3.3% drop in housing starts in May, with building permits for future construction declining to an annual rate of 969,000. Despite the somewhat bleak outlook the falling dollar against a basket of foreign currencies has lead some copper and brass business that was moved offshore to return to the U.S. lately. "It's not a torrent of products coming back, but whereas in 2001 through 2003 we saw an exodus of business from here to China, this has slowed if not balanced out with some things coming back" according to Olin Brass. Olin brass is a manufacturer and distributor of copper and copper-alloy sheet, strip, plate, foil, and fabricated components in headquartered in Illinois, USA.

Newmont Mining Corp. posted a sharply higher second-quarter profit Thursday, with record-high gold prices and production gains pumping revenue past most analysts' expectations. Newmont (NEM:Newmont Mining Corporation News, chart, profile, more Last: 49.02+0.25+0.51% 2:30pm 07/25/2008 Delayed quote dataAdd to portfolio Analyst Create alertInsider Discuss Financials Sponsored by: NEM 49.02, +0.25, +0.5%) shares rose $1.82, or 3.9%, to close at $48.77. The stock is up 12% over the past 12 months. Newmont reported net income for the three months ended June 30 swung to $277 million, or 61 cents a share, from a year-ago loss of $2.06 billion, or $4.57 a share. The year-ago numbers were heavily skewed by a $1.67 billion write-down tied to the company's exit from merchant banking and a $460 million charge for settling price-capped forwards contracts. Adjusted earnings from ongoing operations more than doubled to $230 million, or 51 cents a share, from $103 million, or 23 cents, a year earlier. Gold sales during the quarter totaled 1.27 million equity ounces, fetching on average $900 an ounce, as the precious metal rode a huge spike in commodity prices. Gold prices were averaging about $600 an ounce a year ago. Costs per ounce rose, however, to $440 an ounce from $417 a year ago. Copper sales accounted for $183 million during the quarter, down from $340 million a year earlier. Newmont stood by its earlier 2008 production forecast of 5.1 million to 5.4 million ounces of gold, with production cost expected to range from $425 to $450 per ounce.