From GE:

GE ENERGY FINANCIAL SERVICES AND PACIFICO ENERGY PARTNER ON A THIRD SOLAR TRANSACTION IN JAPAN

March 31, 2015

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MIYAZAKI CITY, JAPAN – MARCH 31, 2015: GE unit (NYSE:GE) GE Energy Financial Services and Virginia Solar Group subsidiary Pacifico Energy have partnered for a third time to construct a solar power project in Japan. GE Energy Financial Services and Virginia Solar Group will jointly invest equity in a 96.2-megawatt (DC) photovoltaic solar plant, with GE Energy Financial Services’ commitment totaling ¥7.5 billion. Construction of the plant is underway in Hosoe on Kyushu Island, in the prefecture of Miyazaki. A ¥35 billion term loan facility with a 22-year tenor – led by The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. as the sole and exclusive mandated lead arranger – was provided on a non–recourse project finance basis with a syndicate of 12 Japanese financial institutions. Additional transaction details have not been disclosed.

Pacifico Energy is the project developer managing construction and operations of Hosoe, which is being
built on 140 hectares of land that was originally intended for a golf course. Once complete, it will be the
largest solar power plant on Kyushu Island and consist of approximately 300,000 photovoltaic modules
supplied by Trina Solar. Toyo Engineering Corporation is the construction company on the project, and
Asahi Dengyo is providing operations and maintenance services. In addition to capital, GE is supplying
the project with 50 units of 1.26-megawatt Brilliant solar inverters, which eliminate the need for an
intermediate transformer, resulting in higher conversion efficiency and superior grid performance.

Hosoe is expected to begin commercial operations in the spring of 2018 and will sell its power to Kyushu
Electric Power Company under a 20-year power purchase agreement. It is expected to generate enough
clean energy to power up to 30,000 households and avoid 68,200 tons of CO2 emissions per year.
By 2020, Japan aims to have 20 percent of its energy generated from renewable power sources, a goal
which is supported by the country’s regulatory policies and feed-in tariff. Sushil Verma, a managing
director and head of Asia Pacific at GE Energy Financial Services, notes that Hosoe is the third
transaction between GE Energy Financial Services and Pacifico Energy that contributes to the country’s
renewable energy goals.

“We aim to continue helping Japan achieve a diversified power mix. Working with reliable and regional
counterparties supports our international expansion and renewable energy investment commitments,”
Verma says.

GE Energy Financial Services has made equity and debt investment commitments of $1.9 billion in nearly
two gigawatts of solar power projects worldwide, and plans to continue to invest over $1 billion
annually in renewable energy projects. Hosoe is the fourth Japan solar project in which GE Energy
Financial Services has invested since last May. Last year, the company invested in Pacifico Energy’s
Kumenan and Mimasaka Musashi solar projects in May and December respectively, and in September,
the GE unit helped finance Japan’s largest solar project, which is being built in Setouchi City.

Kazuomi Kaneto, president of Pacifico Energy K.K. added “We are excited about partnering again with
GE on Japan’s third largest solar power plant, and the largest in the country which is invested 100
percent by foreign financial institutions. This investment, leveraging the extensive development
experience of our team, helps Japan achieve 20 percent of its power generated from renewable
sources.”

Pacifico Energy has started construction on 75 megawatts (DC) of solar power projects in Japan in 2014
and is set to start construction in early 2015 on another 149 megawatts (DC). The company currently has
another 300 megawatts (DC) in development.

Note to Editors:

View a rendering of Hosoe, here.

About Pacifico Energy K.K.

Founded in 2012 to help meet Japan’s domestic energy needs, Pacifico Energy is a Japanese power plant development company focused on solar photovoltaic projects. Pacifico Energy covers all aspects of solar power plant development, including permitting, design, financing, construction, and asset management. Based in Tokyo, Pacifico Energy’s strength is in its team and investment partners consisting of professionals with deep solar industry and energy experience. For more information please see:www.pacificoenergy.jp

About Virginia Solar Group

Pacifico Energy is owned by investor group Virginia Solar and affiliated with the Jamieson Group, a California based oil & gas/real estate enterprise with annual revenues of over USD $800 million.

About GE Energy Financial Services

GE Energy Financial Services—GE’s energy investing business—works as a builder, not just a banker, to help meet the world’s power and fuel needs. We offer more than money—expertise—for essential, long-lived and capital-intensive power, oil and gas infrastructure—GE’s core business. Drawing on GE’s energy technical know-how, financial strength and risk management, we see value where others don’t and take on our customers’ toughest challenges with flexible equity and debt transaction structures. Based in Stamford, Connecticut, GE Energy Financial Services holds approximately $16 billion in assets. More information:www.geenergyfinancialservices.com. Follow GE Energy Financial Services on Twitter: @GEEnergyFinServ

About GE

GE (NYSE:GE) imagines things others don’t, builds things others can’t and delivers outcomes that make the world work better. GE brings together the physical and digital worlds in ways no other company can. In its labs and factories and on the ground with customers, GE is inventing the next industrial era to move, power, build and cure the world. www.ge.com

Tags

• Business Unit: Capital, Energy Financial Services, Energy Management, Power Conversion

From GE:

Gartner Names GE Energy Management a Leader in 2015 “Magic Quadrant” Report for Advanced Distribution Management Systems

March 31, 2015

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PowerOnTM Advantage Utilizes the Power of the Industrial Internet to Improve Grid Resiliency and Asset Utilization

ATLANTA—March 31, 2015—GE’s Digital Energy business (NYSE: GE) today announced that it has been named as one of the industry’s leading providers of advanced distribution management systems (ADMS) by Gartner, the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. This position was stated in a recent report issued by Gartner* where it analyzed the capabilities of 10 vendors that offer ADMS solutions.

“Anticipating our customers’ grid optimization needs and delivering innovative, leading-edge solutions that increase reliability, productivity and efficiency are priorities for us at GE. Our PowerOnTM Advantage ADMS was built on more than 30 years of collaborative experience with our customers and seamlessly brings together the unique needs of distribution management systems and outage management systems into one singular, modular platform,” said Keith Grassi, global product line leader—asset control, GE’s Digital Energy business. “We believe receiving this recognition from Gartner for our ADMS solution is a great achievement and demonstrates our commitment to providing our customers with the tools they need to enhance their grid management systems.”

Gartner is recognized as the transmission and distribution industry’s expert, and its Magic Quadrant reports offer comprehensive insights about the sector, providing benchmark standards for the industry. In Gartner’s Magic Quadrant report, it identified the position of 10 technologies and assessed vendors on “Completeness of Vision” and “Ability to Execute” against their stated vision. 

The report positioned GE Energy Management in the Leaders quadrant for its ADMS solution based on completeness of vision and ability to execute.

GE offers an advanced Industrial Internet solution capable of providing a streamlined, integrated product based on a single network model. The software’s innovative, modern user experience differentiates GE’s PowerOn Advantage solution from other offerings in the industry.

“We are investing significantly in device agnostic mobility capability, advanced optimization capabilities and big data integration to further improve grid resiliency and asset utilization and to drive operational efficiency for our customers,” said Keith Redfearn, GM, software solutions, GE’s Digital Energy business.

As an extension to its PowerOn portfolio, GE recently released its PowerOn Response software, a new solution designed to help utilities reduce downtime and restore power faster after severe storms. In accordance with GE’s strategy to drive real customer value from enterprise grid management solutions with full, seamless interoperability, PowerOn Response integrates field-collected data with operational workflows and existing grid management solutions to ensuring repair information is rapidly delivered to field crews.

GE’s PowerOn Advantage ADMS uses GE’s Predix TM Industrial Internet software platform to provide a new paradigm in user experience, where the data finds the user. The company’s PowerOn Response solution—part of GE’s Mobile Enterprise Suite and built on its Predix platform—fully utilizes this strength to improve data collection, integration and management processes. 

GE is uniquely positioned as the only vendor to be acknowledged as a leader in both the recent Gartner Magic Quadrant for Advanced Distribution Management Systems and the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Utilities Geographic Information Systems** published September 15, 2014.

“Our global presence, partner network and mature professional services network is referenced as the most extensive of all vendors in both reports,” said Brian Boutte, GM, Global Channels and Strategic Partners, GE’s Digital Energy business. “Our global partner ecosystem is a natural extension of the GE team and is one we are actively growing. It not only offers us extended reach, but more importantly a broad perspective on the global segment, customer needs and product feedback, something that is unmatched in the industry and that enables us to better deliver world-class software solutions.”

GE will be featuring its full portfolio of advanced Industrial Internet software solutions for the modern grid at its International Software Summit, which is taking place June 8-11 in Frankfurt, Germany.

The full Gartner Magic Quadrant is available at www.gartner.com. A Gartner subscription is required.

GE’s Digital Energy business is a global leader in transmission and distribution solutions that manage and move power from the power plant to the consumer. Its products and services increase the reliability of electrical power networks and critical equipment for utility, industrial and large commercial customers. From protecting and optimizing assets such as generators, transmission lines and motors, to delivering analytic tools to help manage the power grid, GE’s Digital Energy business delivers industry-leading technologies to solve the unique challenges of each customer. For more information, visithttp://www.gedigitalenergy.com/.

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) imagines things others don’t, builds things others can’t and delivers outcomes that make the world work better. GE brings together the physical and digital worlds in ways no other company can. In its labs and factories and on the ground with customers, GE is inventing the next industrial era to move, power, build and cure the world. www.ge.com

Follow GE’s Digital Energy business on Twitter @GEModernGrid, LinkedIn and on YouTube.

*Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Advanced Distribution Management Systems, Randy Rhodes, Zarko Sumic, March 17, 2015.

**Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Utilities Geographic Information Systems, Randy Rhodes, September 15, 2014.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP)

From the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy:

This #hospital, dedicated to taking care of Northern California’s military #veterans, improved its #energy efficiency in large part due to an Energy Department program. For #TBT, we go back to 1997 when our Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) awarded the first in a series of six regional “Super Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs)” to help government agencies improve their energy efficiency and reduce taxpayer costs. The San Francisco VA Medical Center (pictured) was among the first federal facilities to award an ESPC to an energy service company using our contract. ESPCs enable federal agencies to fund building upgrades such as heating, cooling, lighting, and building automation systems without up-front costs. Recently, we announced a new solicitation that will spur more energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements at federal government facilities across the #US. Learn more: http://go.usa.gov/3grPJ.

Sit Down with Sabin: Henrik Scheller: Customizing plants for biofuels.

Uploaded on Aug 10, 2011

Henrik Scheller from the JBEI appeared on August 3rd, 2011 for this installment of "Sit Down with Sabin," a conversation in which former reporter Sabin Russell chats with Lab staff about innovative science. They will discuss "Customizing plants for biofuels." During this series of conversations, Russell and Lab staff will explore the ups and downs of pioneering science, all without the aid of PowerPoints.

Tags: genetic engineering, feedstock, mutant, mutation, acetic acid,

Algae Biofuels and Biotech - Stephen Mayfield UC San Diego

This video is a little old (2010), but it still has some good information.

Military Comment

BNL Newsroom | Solar Cell Polymers with Multiplied Electrical Output

New family of materials produces "twin" electrical charges on single molecules, potentially paving the way for easy manufacture of more efficient solar devices

BNL Newsroom | Solar Cell Polymers with Multiplied Electrical Output

Berkeley Lab Illuminates Price Premiums for U.S. Solar Home Sales - News Center

A multi-institutional research team of scientists led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkley Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories, universities, and appraisers found that home buyers consistently have been willing to pay more for homes with host-owned solar photovoltaic (PV) energy systems —averaging about $4 per watt of PV installed—across various states, housing and PV markets, and home types. This equates to a premium of about $15,000 for a typical PV system. The team analyzed almost 22,000 sales of homes, almost 4,000 of which contained PV systems in eight states from 1999 to 2013—producing the most authoritative estimates to date of price premiums for U.S. homes with PV systems.



Berkeley Lab Illuminates Price Premiums for U.S. Solar Home Sales - News Center

Chevy Bolt and New Volt Unveiled in Detroit - YouTube

General Motors CEO Mary Barra has introduced the Chevrolet Bolt at the Detroit Auto Show. GM says the $30,000 concept car can go 200 miles per charge. Its rollout eclipsed the introduction of revamped Chevy Volt on the same stage. (Jan. 12)

Video from the Associated Press (0:58):

Chevy Bolt and New Volt Unveiled in Detroit - YouTube

7 Steps to Hydropower

From Little Rock District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:

The seven steps to hydropower. The Army Corps of Engineers generates hydropower at Ozark and Dardanelle dams on the river as well as at 5 lake projects.

Boom und Bremse bei globaler Windkraft | Wissen & Umwelt | DW.DE | 02.06.2014

Requirements for electric current are increasingly covered by wind power - at least in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. There, the boom is just beginning. In Western industrialized countries, however, the wind expansion is losing momentum.



Boom und Bremse bei globaler Windkraft | Wissen & Umwelt | DW.DE | 02.06.2014

USDA to Co-Host Paccific Northwest Wood-to-Biofuel Conference

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Eini Lowell, Research Forest Product Technologist, U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, on March 31, 2014 at 2:00 PM

In conjunction with Washington State University Extension, USDA is co-hosting the Northwest Wood-Based Biofuels/Co-Products Conference in late April. The conference will be April 28-30, 2014 in Seattle, Wash.

The goal of the conference is to bring together the community of researchers, business leaders, government agencies, and economic development personnel to share and exchange research findings, ideas, and strategies for the common goal of sustainable development of wood-based bio-refineries for production of biofuels and co-products in the Pacific Northwest.

As Secretary Vilsack has noted, advanced biofuels are a key component of President Obama’s ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy to reduce the nation’s reliance on foreign oil and take control of America’s energy future.  Energy derived from woody biomass has enormous potential benefits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, developing clean, home-grown energy, and providing economic opportunities for rural America. Markets for woody biomass can also bolster forest restoration activities on both public and private lands, improving the ecological health of our forests and reducing the impacts of global climate change.

For more information, contact Vikram Yadama at 509-335-6261 or email: vyadama@wsu.edu

Scientists Track 3D Nanoscale Changes in Rechargeable Battery Material During Operation

Brookhaven National Laboratory News Release:

Scientists Track 3D Nanoscale Changes in Rechargeable Battery Material During Operation

First 3D nanoscale observations of microstructural degradation during charge-discharge cycles could point to new ways to engineer battery electrode materials for better performance

March 26, 2014

Jun Wang with members of her research team: Jiajun Wang (sitting), Christopher Eng, and Karen Chen.

UPTON, NY—Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have made the first 3D observations of how the structure of a lithium-ion battery anode evolves at the nanoscale in a real battery cell as it discharges and recharges. The details of this research, described in a paper published in Angewandte Chemie, could point to new ways to engineer battery materials to increase the capacity and lifetime of rechargeable batteries.

"For the first time, we have captured the microstructural details of an operating battery anode in 3D with nanoscale resolution."

— Brookhaven physicist Jun Wang

"This work offers a direct way to look inside the electrochemical reaction of batteries at the nanoscale to better understand the mechanism of structural degradation that occurs during a battery's charge/discharge cycles," said Brookhaven physicist Jun Wang, who led the research. "These findings can be used to guide the engineering and processing of advanced electrode materials and improve theoretical simulations with accurate 3D parameters."

Chemical reactions in which lithium ions move from a negatively charged electrode to a positive one are what carry electric current from a lithium-ion battery to power devices such as laptops and cell phones. When an external current is applied—say, by plugging the device into an outlet—the reaction runs in reverse to recharge the battery. 

The top row shows how tin particles evolve in three dimensions during the first two lithiation–delithiation cycles in the model lithium-ion rechargeable battery cell. The bottom row shows "cross-sectional" images of a single tin particle during the first two cycles. Severe fracture and pulverization occur during the initial stage of cycling. The particle stays mechanically stable after the first cycle, while the electrochemical reaction proceeds reversibly.

Scientists have long known that repeated charging/discharging (lithiation and delithiation) introduces microstructural changes in the electrode material, particularly in some high-capacity silicon and tin-based anode materials. These microstructural changes reduce the battery's capacity—the energy the battery can store—and its cycle life—how many times the battery can be recharged over its lifetime. Understanding in detail how and when in the process the damage occurs could point to ways to avoid or minimize it. 

"It has been very challenging to directly visualize the microstructural evolution and chemical composition distribution changes in 3D within electrodes when a real battery cell is going through charge and discharge," said Wang.

A team led by Vanessa Wood of the university ETH Zurich, working at the Swiss Light Source, recently performed in situ 3D tomography at micrometer scale resolution during battery cell charge and discharge cycles. 

Achieving nanoscale resolution has been the ultimate goal.

"For the first time," said Wang, "we have captured the microstructural details of an operating battery anode in 3D with nanoscale resolution, using a new in-situ micro-battery-cell we developed for synchrotron x-ray nano-tomography—an invaluable tool for reaching this goal." This advance provides a powerful new source of insight into microstructural degradation.

Building a micro battery 

3D images of changes in tin particles during the first two charge/discharge cycles of a model lithium-ion battery cell.

Developing a working micro battery cell for nanoscale x-ray 3D imaging was very challenging. Common coin-cell batteries aren't small enough, plus they block the x-ray beam when it is rotated. 

"The whole micro cell has to be less than one millimeter in size but with all battery components—the electrode being studied, a liquid electrolyte, and the counter electrode—supported by relatively transparent materials to allow transmission of the x-rays, and properly sealed to ensure that the cell can work normally and be stable for repeated cycling," Wang said. The paper explains in detail how Wang's team built a fully functioning battery cell with all three battery components contained within a quartz capillary measuring one millimeter in diameter. 

By placing the cell in the path of high-intensity x-ray beams generated at beamline X8C of Brookhaven's National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), the scientists produced more than 1400 two-dimensional x-ray images of the anode material with a resolution of approximately 30 nanometers. These 2D images were later reconstructed into 3D images, much like a medical CT scan but with nanometer-scale clarity. Because the x-rays pass through the material without destroying it, the scientists were able to capture and reconstruct how the material changed over time as the cell discharged and recharged, cycle after cycle. 

These images show how the surface morphology and internal microstructure of an individual tin particle changes from the fresh state through the initial lithiation and delithiation cycle (charge/discharge). Most notable are the expansion in overall particle volume during lithiation, and reduction in volume and pulverization during delithiation. The cross-sectional images reveal that delithiation is incomplete, with the core of the particle retaining lithium surround by a layer of pure tin.

Using this method, the scientists revealed that, "severe microstructural changes occur during the first delithiation and subsequent second lithiation, after which the particles reach structural equilibrium with no further significant morphological changes."

Specifically, the particles making up the tin-based anode developed significant curvatures during the early charge/discharge cycles leading to high stress. "We propose that this high stress led to fracture and pulverization of the anode material during the first delithiation," Wang said. Additional concave features after the first delithiation further induced structural instability in the second lithiation, but no significant changes developed after that point.

"After these initial two cycles, the tin anode shows a stable discharge capacity and reversibility," Wang said.  

"Our results suggest that the substantial microstructural changes in the electrodes during the initial electrochemical cycle—called forming in the energy storage industry—are a critical factor affecting how a battery retains much of its current capacity after it is formed," she said. "Typically a battery loses a substantial portion of its capacity during this initial forming process. Our study will improve understanding of how this happens and help us develop better controls of the forming process with the goal of improving the performance of energy storage devices."

Jiajun Wang, Karen Chen and Jun Wang prepare a sample for study at NSLS beamline X8C.

Wang pointed out that while the current study looked specifically at a battery with tin as the anode, the electrochemical cell her team developed and the x-ray nanotomography technique can be applied to studies of other anode and cathode materials. The general methodology for monitoring structural changes in three dimensions as materials operate also launches an opportunity to monitor chemical states and phase transformations in catalysts, other types of materials for energy storage, and biological molecules.

The transmission x-ray microscope used for this study will soon move to a full-field x-ray imaging (FXI) beamline at NSLS-II, a world-class synchrotron facility now nearing completion at Brookhaven Lab. This new facility will produce x-ray beams 10,000 times brighter than those at NSLS, enabling dynamic studies of various materials as they perform their particular functions.

Jiajun Wang and Yu-chen Karen Chen-Wiegart are research associates in Wang's research group and performed the work together. 

This research was funded as a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project at Brookhaven Lab and by the DOE Office of Science. The transmission x-ray microscope used in this work was built with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.

Related Links

• Scientific paper:"In Situ Three Dimensional Synchrotron X-ray Nano-tomography of (de) lithiation process in Sn anodes"