A highly efficient 1.4 MW fuel cell power plant supplies 100 percent of base load electricity needed to run a jail and county office buildings, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Santa Rosa, California.
The video above explains how a power producing fuel cell works. If the hydrogen that is sent to the fuel cell is created by solar, wind, water or other renewable energy, the fuel cell becomes a zero carbon power/electricity production center.
DANBURY, Conn., June 5, 2009 -- FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NasdaqNM:FCEL), a leading manufacturer of high efficiency, ultra-clean power plants using renewable and other fuels for commercial, industrial, government and utility customers, today announced the sale of a megawatt-class Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plant to California’s Sonoma County to supply 100 percent of the baseload electricity needed to operate a county jail and county office buildings in Santa Rosa.
The DFC1500™ power plant will generate 1.4 megawatts of ultra-clean electricity and its byproduct heat will be recovered and used to replace approximately half the natural gas the County currently purchases to make hot water for space heating, cleaning, and cooking. Overall, the County of Sonoma expects significant energy cost savings during the first year of operation.
When operating in a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) mode such as this, DFC power plants can achieve up to 80 percent efficiency. This high efficiency will substantially reduce carbon dioxide emissions. By comparison, typical grid electricity is only 33 percent electrically efficient. In addition, since DFC power plants produce electricity without combustion, they produce near-zero nitrous oxides, sulfur oxides and particulate matter, and are one of the most effective means of meeting air quality standards with around-the-clock electric generation.
The state of California is one of the country’s leading environmental advocates with over 75 different laws and incentive programs to further the use of clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas production. These include AB32 that caps carbon dioxide emissions; the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard requiring 33 percent clean energy generation by 2020; and its government office building initiative to reduce energy use by 20 percent (1,935 megawatts) by 2015 from a 2003 baseline. Additionally, the California Air Resources Board’s CARB07 strictly regulates distributed generation power plants, specifying limits for nitrous oxides, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds. DFC fuel cells meet all of these limits.
“Installing a DFC fuel cell power plant is not only a wise financial decision,” said Jose Obregon, head of Sonoma County’s General Service Department. “It also demonstrates we’re being responsible stewards of the environment by dramatically lessening the impact of County operations on our community. No distributed power generation alternative we evaluated was able to compete with its high efficiency combined with its environmentally responsible benefits.”
Sonoma County considered numerous options before deciding that the DFC unit was the best solution for its needs. The fuel cell installation is a major component of the $22 million County of Sonoma Purchases 1.4 MW Ultra-Clean Power Plant 2 Comprehensive Energy Project to make Sonoma County buildings energy efficient, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and meet the reduction targets established in the County’s Climate Protection Action Plan.
“Our DFC power plants are efficient, quiet, clean and easy to site,” said Bruce Ludemann, Senior Vice President of FuelCell Energy. “And because they operate 24/7 producing ultra-clean baseload power, they’re an ideal solution when keeping the power on is critical and for customers that want to reduce their carbon footprint like jails, government buildings, hospitals, hotels, and wastewater treatment facilities.” Sonoma County’s purchase of the DFC unit through its site contractor AirCon Energy was partially funded with a $3 million grant under California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program administered by Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Aircon Energy has been specializing in the design, engineering and installation of comprehensive energy solutions since 1974 with a focus on local governments in the state of California. The DFC power plant is scheduled to be in operation in spring of 2010.
About FuelCell Energy
FuelCell Energy is the world leader in the development and production of stationary fuel cells for commercial, industrial, municipal and utility customers. FuelCell Energy’s ultra-clean and high efficiency DFC® fuel cells are generating power at over 50 locations worldwide. The company’s power plants have generated more than 275 million kWh of power using a variety of fuels including renewable wastewater gas, biogas from beer and food processing, as well as natural gas and other hydrocarbon fuels. FuelCell Energy has partnerships with major power plant developers and power companies around the world. The company also receives funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and other government agencies for the development of leading edge technologies such as fuel cells. For more information please visit our website at www.fuelcellenergy.com
SUMMARY
SUMMARY
What is the take away? Fuel cells are a potentially HUGE zero carbon power production center of the future, but only if these fuel cells utilize stored hydrogen gas to burn. If the hydrogen that is sent to the fuel cell is created by solar, wind, water or other renewable energy, the fuel cells of the future will be zero carbon power/electricity production centers, and that is a very good thing.
Currently, there are approximately 100 companies that are researching and manufacturing fuel cells, and this article featured one of them. These companies have been researching, developing and installing fuel cells in some cases for 20 years, so the technology is now mature and has the bugs worked out of it. All that is left, is to combine these fuel cells with a hydrogen gas production and storage facility, to create the zero carbon energy of the future.
Renewable energy sources lack the storage, and fuel cells lack the ability to create hydrogen from a zero carbon source, so the two technologies should be combined. Solar cells, wind generators, tides, waves, geothermal and other clean zero carbon energy producing technologies can produce electricity and a part of that electricity can be used to break down water into hydrogen, which can then be stored for times when the renewable energy source is not available, or for peak power use.
Since fuel cells are 'instant' power, utilities can use fuel cells plus stored hydrogen gas as their 'peak' power back up system. Fuel cells combined with hydrogen gas can also serve to fill in the gaps when zero carbon renewable energy sources are not available.
On a local level, fuel cells the size of a toaster oven can power a home.
The above picture and video shows a 'Bloom Box' type of fuel cell that according to the CEO, can power a home. Picture your home creating electricity that then splits water into hydrogen. The hydrogen gas is stored until it is needed, and then it is burned inside his fuel cell, which powers everything in your house. There is no need for a utility company anymore. This is another way that utility companies are in a death spiral, unless they join the zero carbon energy revolution.
What are utility companies doing to move in this zero carbon direction? Sadly, many or most of them are resisting the move to renewable energy sources and creative solutions such as fuel cells combined with stored hydrogen power. Instead they are trying to tax solar to death, kill renewable energy companies by starving them of cash and keeping people reliant on pollution and Earth killing monopolistic, top down population controlling energy sources such as coal, oil, gas, and nuclear.
Going back to fuel cells, while we are on the way to a global zero carbon energy goal, all landfills and other methane gas production centers such as cow/pig/chicken dung methane gas digesters should also be using fuel cells, because methane gas is 20 times more global warming as a gas than carbon dioxide is, so it makes sense to burn any methane gas and transform that methane gas into electricity and C02, and thereby create less global warming than the methane would if released to the atmosphere.
The energy monopolies such as nuclear, coal, oil and gas are trying to stop the zero carbon energy revolution by lying about global warming, and climate change on the one hand.
Top 100 Global Warming Denialist Groups Are ALL Funded By HUGE Corporations; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/06/top-global-warming-denialists-funded-by.htmlhttp://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2013/12/nuclear-energy-as-direct-cause-of.html
Just a few huge corporations also control the mass media. These monopolies contribute a huge share of ad revenue and thus 'influence' what is aired, or the own a share of these media companies directly. In 1983, 50 corporations controlled a majority of American media. Now that number is 6.
In the end, these mass media giants show mainly corporate friendly news and 'experts' that confuses the public or attacks legitimate scientific research that proves global warming exists, while promoting green washing 'clean coal', 'green nuclear' and other bogus and fraudulent industry PR claims which serves to keep these polluting, planet killing corporate monopolies in power and in control.
CNN Questions Climate Change, Promotes Marc Morano, Who Encourages Sending Nasty Emails To Scientists; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/02/cnn-questions-climate-change-promotes.html
Meanwhile, CO2 levels are rising faster than ever.
Global Carbon Emissions Set To Reach Record 36 Billion Tons In 2013; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2013/12/global-carbon-emissions-set-to-reach.html
Due to accelerating global warming, methane gas that has been trapped as ice, is now melting, thus accelerating global warming even more.
Methane Gas And Clathrate Trends Plus Atmospheric Measurements; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2013/11/methane-gas-and-clathrate-trends-plus.html
Methane Gas Levels Rising Catastrophically Fast, Abrupt Climate Change Now Initiating; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2013/11/methane-gas-levels-rising.html
Then these same few monopolies use their influence inside the major utility companies to keep them 'hooked' on dirty polluting fuels that are killing the whole planet, as outlined below. Steven Chu explains how and why utility companies are actually in a death spiral of their own making, just because they are resisting the move to zero carbon energy solutions.
Steven Chu Solves Utility Companies' Death Spiral
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2014/03/21/steven-chu-solves-utility-companies-death-spiral/
The answers are all here. The only thing stopping the zero carbon energy future is the large monopolistic, top down old and obsolete planet killing energy companies, such as oil, coal, gas and nuclear. Do what you can to try and save the planet and our clean energy future. Vote only for candidates that take no corporate money. Right now, both of the major parties are totally corrupted by the money from these monopolies. For example, President Obama got huge amounts of money from both the financial industry and the nuclear industry, and they control what he does, as 'payback' for their 'bribes'. The financial industry provides the money to keep these monopolies in power.
Your vote and your local actions in your home town, and what kind of energy you burn in your home and in your car are the only things left that can save the Earth and our future. Act wisely. Never give up.
End
Fuel Cells Can Produce Zero Carbon Electricity By Burning Stored Hydrogen Gas; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/03/fuel-cells-can-produce-zero-carbon.html
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