Re: Congresswoman Wilson: Hydrogen Holds Great Promise for Energy Independence
- From: "lkgeo1" <lkgeo1@xxxxxxx>
- Date: 10 Oct 2006 07:06:50 -0700
FuelCell Energy Helps Sierra Nevada Harness 'Beer Power' to Reduce its
Energy Costs by 25 to 40 Percent
Publication Date:10-October-2006
08:30 AM US Eastern Timezone
Source:FuelCellWorks
Fuel Flexibility Enables Internationally Renowned Craft Brewer to
Advance Its Sustainable Conservation Goals by Running on Renewable Gas
Generated from the Brewing Process Waste DANBURY, Conn.FuelCell Energy,
Inc. (Nasdaq:FCEL), a leading manufacturer of ultra-clean electric
power plants for commercial, industrial and government customers, today
announced the upgrade of its 1 megawatt (MW) Direct Fuel Cell® (DFC®)
power plant at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. to use fuel created from a
waste by-product of the brewing process. With this enhancement, Sierra
Nevada furthers its sustainability and energy efficiency goals, while
realizing substantial cost savings by offsetting its purchase of
natural gas.
The brewery's fuel cell power plant, which began running last summer
and was dedicated by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, initially
ran on natural gas. To boost the brewery's energy efficiency and
ecologically friendly profile, Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman
sought to convert the ultra-clean fuel cells from operating solely on
natural gas to a gas mixture that the brewery produced as a by-product,
methane.
Sierra Nevada installed a compressor and filtration system to purify
methane gas that is generated during the brewery's water treatment
process, and then feed it to the power plant for fuel. As a result, two
of the plant's four fuel cell stacks can now operate in dual fuel mode
-- using any combination of natural gas and anaerobic digester gas
(ADG). As Sierra Nevada increases its production and the amount of
methane it generates, it also can operate the other two fuel cells on
ADG. Gas produced in the digester reduces the amount of fuel used in
the power plant. The system is now capable of producing 250 to 400
kilowatts (kW) of electricity from biogas, reducing the company's fuel
costs by 25 to 40 percent. Regardless of the fuel blend used, the high
efficiency of DFC power plants require less fuel than conventional
power plants, resulting in lower operating costs and an overall
reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere
per unit of power output.
The 1 MW power plant, one of three FuelCell Energy megawatt-class sites
now running in the state, is classified as an ultra-clean technology
under California law and provides virtually 100 percent of Sierra
Nevada's base load power requirements. The fuel cells operate in
co-generation mode, so their 650 degree thermal output is utilized to
create steam that further offsets the natural gas needs of their
existing boilers providing an additional reduction in operating costs
and increase in system efficiency. The facility was named one of 12
"Top Plants" worldwide by Power Magazine in 2006.
"By converting the DFC plants to operate on ADG, we have further
advanced our company's sustainability goals and reduced our energy and
waste disposal costs," said Sierra Nevada's Ken Grossman. "The fuel
cell power plant provides us with reliable, 24-7 electricity and helps
make our energy self-sufficiency a reality."
Sierra Nevada's installation of ultra-clean onsite power generation has
also enhanced the company's reputation of being a good neighbor by
helping to reduce demand on the local power grid for the production of
its award-winning craft beer. The company benefits by ensuring that its
critical business operations have access to reliable power and
neighbors have access to more power that would otherwise be consumed by
the brewery.
"The installation at Sierra Nevada is a great example of the fuel
flexibility of our DFC power plants," said Bruce Ludemann, Senior Vice
President of Sales and Marketing, FuelCell Energy. "Because fuel cells
generate energy by chemical conversion rather than combustion, they can
convert virtually any biomass- or hydrocarbon-power source into
ultra-clean electricity. Sierra Nevada is reducing its energy costs and
eliminating a manufacturing by-product that would otherwise add to its
disposal and waste water expenditures."
When the fuel cells generate more power than the brewery requires,
Sierra Nevada can send excess electricity back to the grid system and
receive credit for a portion of its generation costs. A number of other
FuelCell Energy power plant sites use waste-related processes to create
renewable fuel for generating their electricity. Kirin Brewery in Japan
operates a DFC power plant fueled on digester gas. In August, Gills
Onions purchased two DFC units to be fueled with ADG resulting from
waste onion peels. The power plant will create ultra-clean energy while
lowering disposal costs of this by-product. Approximately half the
project cost was offset by federal investment tax credits and
accelerated depreciation (both created by the US Energy Act of 2005),
as well as funds from the California Self Generation Incentive Program
(SGIP).
About FuelCell Energy, Inc.
FuelCell Energy develops and markets ultra-clean power plants that
generate electricity with higher efficiency than distributed generation
plants of similar size and with virtually no air pollution. Fuel cells
produce base load electricity giving commercial and industrial
customers greater control over their power generation economics,
reliability and emissions. Emerging state, federal and international
regulations to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions consider fuel
cell power plants in the same environmentally friendly category as wind
and solar energy sources -- with the added advantages of running 24
hours a day and the capacity to be installed where wind turbines or
solar panels often cannot. Headquartered in Danbury, Conn., FuelCell
Energy services over 50 power plant sites around the globe that have
generated more than 124 million kilowatt hours, and conducts R&D on
next-generation fuel cell technologies to meet the world's
ever-increasing demand for ultra-clean distributed energy. For more
information on the company, its products and its worldwide commercial
distribution alliances, please see http://www.fuelcellenergy.com.
Jim Michael wrote:
"lkgeo1" <lkgeo1@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1160420629.939106.60080@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Congresswoman Wilson: Hydrogen Holds Great Promise for Energy
Independence
[press release stuff deleted]
Where does the hydrogen come from? Yes, hydrogen is the most abundant
element in the universe, but, here on earth, it is almost entirely combined
with other elements in things like water and hydrocarbons. It takes energy
to break those chemical bonds, so where does that energy come from?
Currently, the cheapest source of hydrogen comes from methane which reacts
with steam to provide hydrogen and carbon dioxide. In this case, we take a
clean burning fuel (natural gas is mostly methane) and ineffeciently produce
hydrogen. That doesn't make sense. Hydrogen can be produced by the
electrolysis of distilled water using electricity. Some fuel needs to be
burned to make the electricity and the process is again ineffecient.
Photovoltaic cells can make electricity from sun light, but the electricity
produced is more valuable than the resulting hydrogen, so that doesn't make
sense, either.
Jim Michael
jmichael@xxxxxxxxxxxx
.
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