Solar Energy

Flower or power? Campaigners fear lithium mine could kill rare plant

Published

2 months ago

May 24, 2024

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Flower or power? Campaigners fear lithium mine could kill rare plant

By Romain FONSEGRIVES

Rhyolite Ridge, United States (AFP) May 23, 2024

Delicate pink buds sway in the desert breeze, pregnant with yellow pompoms whose explosion will carpet the dusty corner of Nevada that is the only place on Earth where they exist.

Under their roots lie vast reserves of lithium, vital for the rechargeable electric car batteries that will reduce planet-heating pollution.

But campaigners fear the extraction of the precious metal could destroy the flower’s tiny habitat.

“This mine is going to cause extinction,” says Patrick Donnelly, an environmentalist who works at the Center for Biological Diversity, a non-governmental organization.

“They somehow claim that they’re not harming the (plant). But can you imagine if someone built an open-pit mine 200 feet from your house? Wouldn’t that affect your life profoundly?”

The plant in question is Tiehm’s buckwheat.

There are only around 20,000 known specimens, growing in a few very specific places on a total surface area equivalent to around five soccer fields.

In 2022, the wildflower was classified as endangered by US federal authorities, with mining cited as a major threat to its survival.

The plant and the lithium reserve on which it grows embody one of the key challenges and contradictions of the global climate struggle: how much damage can we inflict on the natural world as we seek to halt or reverse the problems we have already created?

– ‘Coexist’ –

Bernard Rowe, boss of Australian miner Ioneer, which holds the mineral rights to the area, says the lithium produced at Rhyolite Ridge “will be sufficient to provide batteries for about 370,000 vehicles” a year.

“We’ll do that year-on-year for 26 years,” he said.

Those nearly 10 million vehicles will go a long way towards meeting the goal President Joe Biden has set of cutting down the nation’s fleet of gas-guzzlers as a way to slash US production of planet-warming pollutants.

So-called zero-emission cars make up around 7.5 percent of new vehicle sales in the United States today — more than double the percentage just a few years earlier.

In California, the figure is more than 20 percent.

And while expansion in the sector has slowed, the category remains the fastest-growing, according to Kelley Blue Book.

And it’s not only in the United States: Global demand for lithium will increase five to seven times by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.

The difficulty for US manufacturers is that much of the world’s lithium supply is dominated by strategic rival China, as well as Australia and Chile.

“The United States has very, very little domestic production,” said Rowe.

“So it’s important to develop a domestic supply chain to allow for that energy transition, and Rhyolite Ridge will be an integral part of that.”

Ioneer’s plans show that over the years the mine is in operation — it is projected to start producing lithium in late 2027 — around a fifth of the plant’s habitat will be directly affected.

But the company, which has spent $2.5 million researching the plant, says mining will not affect its survival; it is already growing well in greenhouses and biologists think it can be replanted.

“We’re very confident that the mine and Tiehm’s buckwheat can coexist,” Rowe said.

– ‘Greenwashing’ –

Donnelly counters that Ioneer is “basically greenwashing extinction.”

“They’re saying. ‘We’re going to save this plant,’ when actually they are going to send it to its doom,” he said.

Under the company’s plans, the strip mine will use hundreds of trucks, which Donnelly says will raise clouds of dust that will affect photosynthesis and harm the insects that pollinate the plants.

Ioneer says it has already planned mitigation methods, like dust curtains, and keeping the roads wet.

Still, Donnelly says, why not just move the mine? But Rowe counters that it’s not as simple as just digging somewhere else.

Ioneer has invested $170 million since 2016 to demonstrate the feasibility of this site, which it believes is one of the best around.

“Many of these other deposits haven’t had that amount of work, so they’re not viable alternatives to a project like this,” he said.

The US Department of Energy has offered Ioneer a $700 million loan for the project, if the Bureau of Land Management signs off on an operating permit.

Donnelly insists the issue is not just the future of one obscure wildflower, but rather just one example of large-scale biodiversity loss that is threatening millions of plants and animals.

“If we solve the climate crisis, but we drive everything extinct while we do it, we’re still going to lose our world,” he said.

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Solar Energy

Solutions to optimize the use of solar energy in irrigation communities

Published

12 hours ago

July 8, 2024

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Solutions to optimize the use of solar energy in irrigation communities

by Hugo Ritmico

Madrid, Spain (SPX) Jul 08, 2024

Irrigation communities are striving to make their activities more sustainable both environmentally and economically. Energy self-sufficiency is emerging as a promising solution for the future of agriculture. In 2019, the Lower Guadalquivir Valley Irrigation Community, which spans nearly 19,000 hectares and serves over 2,000 irrigators, began using solar energy with a 6-megawatt photovoltaic plant-the largest of its kind among Spanish irrigation systems. This initiative has positioned the community as a pioneer and research hub for transitioning to a sustainable irrigation model.

Recently, the community has partnered with the Maria de Maeztu Unit of Excellence’s Hydraulics and Irrigation research group and the University of Cordoba’s Department of Agronomy (DAUCO). Together, they have proposed strategies to maximize the use of solar energy, prevent energy waste, and reduce reliance on external power sources.

“The researchers responsible for the study, Maaike van de Loo, Emilio Camacho and Juan Antonio Rodriguez, explain that more solar energy is currently produced than is used, generating a surplus of around 50%, while a secondary source is necessary to meet energy needs when solar energy is not being produced; at night, for example.” Their study, published in the journal Renewable Energy, explores two solutions to optimize energy use and minimize waste.

The first solution involves changing irrigation schedules to align with daylight hours when solar energy is available, moving away from nighttime irrigation. Traditionally, the Lower Valley Community favored nighttime irrigation due to lower energy costs and reduced water evaporation. However, the cost reduction from the photovoltaic plant and the efficiency of drip irrigation, which cuts water use by up to 60%, provide compelling reasons for irrigators to adapt.

The proposed strategy shifts from 24-hour on-demand irrigation to an 8-12 hour window during sunlight hours, significantly increasing the utilization of solar energy to over 90%. Although an additional energy source would still be required to supplement solar power, especially given weather variability, the ample sunshine in Andalusia-over 3,000 hours annually-would substantially decrease dependence on external energy, enhancing both economic and environmental sustainability.

The second solution focuses on the economic aspect: selling surplus energy, a practice already in place in the Lower Valley Community. However, increased solar energy production at the national and European levels has driven prices down, impacting profitability.

The study concludes that while there is no perfect solution for fully exploiting solar energy, it remains a valuable resource. The researchers believe that ongoing research and the experience of the Lower Valley Irrigation Community will guide the future of irrigation, balancing environmental protection with economic viability by leveraging the region’s solar potential.

Research Report:Defining the optimization strategy for solar energy use in large water distribution networks: A case study from the Valle Inferior irrigation system, Spain

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Solar Energy

Rutgers selects SolarEdge for Agrivoltaics Research and Development

Published

4 days ago

July 4, 2024

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Rutgers selects SolarEdge for Agrivoltaics Research and Development

by Clarence Oxford

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 03, 2024

SolarEdge Technologies reports that its technology has been selected by Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, as part of an innovative research and demonstration program to explore the potential of dual use agrivoltaics (the combination of agricultural production and solar energy generation simultaneously on the same land) for farmers across the state.

Rutgers research will assist the Dual-Use Solar Energy Pilot Program that will be administered by the NJBPU. The pilot program is a three-year, 200 MW agrivoltaics initiative with the goal of exploring the feasibility and benefits of agrivoltaics. The pilot program is a collaborative effort including the NJBPU, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, the State Agricultural Development Committee, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the Rutgers Agrivoltaics Program.

The results and data from the research program will be used to inform the establishment of a permanent Dual-Use Solar Program in New Jersey. The Rutgers Agrivoltaics Program includes three sites, each using a different panel mounting method to investigate the impact on agricultural production and electricity generation:

+ Rutgers Animal Farm in New Brunswick has vertically mounted bifacial panels and will be used for the production of forage crops and beef cattle grazing (170 kWDC installed and grid-connected)

+ Snyder Research and Extension Farm in Pittstown has single-axis trackers and will be used for hay production (94.5 kWDC installed and 82.4 kWDC grid-connected)

+ Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Bridgeton has single axis trackers with both single-wide and double-wide rows of panels and will be used for the production of vegetable and staple crops. (255 kWDC installed and 48.6 kWDC grid-connected)

+ At each site, the research will evaluate electricity output, using Module Level Power Electronics (MLPE) for the measurement and analysis of energy production.

Agrivoltaics is a fast-growing and hugely exciting sector that provides a solution for many of the business challenges that farmers are facing today from managing rising energy costs to moving to more sustainable production.

However, we are still at the start of this journey. The aim of our research is to develop knowledge that will help to establish practices that can help improve both the sustainability and viability of farms through safe and regulated adoption of solar energy. We are excited to be working with SolarEdge to achieve these goals, said Margaret Brennan-Tonetta, Director for Resource and Economic Development and Senior Associate Director of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station.

Bertrand Vandewiele General Manager of SolarEdge in North America, said: Agrivoltaics is a perfect example of a real win-win. This practice allows for expanded solar development to address climate change, without the land-use challenges often associated with ground mounted solar developments. It can also provide benefits for farmers, allowing a stable revenue stream and protection against climate hazards. In the U.S., there are more than 500 Agrivoltaics sites, producing a total of 9 GW of solar energy.

These numbers are likely to grow as interest in Agrivoltaics has been greatly expanding, as indicated by the increase in support and funding for this sector. For example, the U.S. Department of Agricultures funding for Agrivoltaics more than tripled from 2021 to 2022.

Farmers are able to move to more sustainable and profitable production without substantially reducing space for growing crops in fact agrivoltaics can potentially boost the production of certain shade-tolerant crops by providing protection from direct sunlight, while the cooler temperature below the panels reduces water evaporation. Meanwhile, the end consumer can feel good about choosing produce from sustainable farms. Through this collaboration with Rutgers University, we look forward to playing our part in helping to advance the adoption of more sustainable and profitable farming practices.

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Solar Energy

Giant clams may hold the answers to making solar energy more efficient

Published

5 days ago

July 4, 2024

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Giant clams may hold the answers to making solar energy more efficient

by Jim Shelton for Yale News

New Haven CT (SPX) Jul 03, 2024

Solar panel and biorefinery designers could learn a thing or two from iridescent giant clams living near tropical coral reefs, according to a new Yale-led study.

This is because giant clams have precise geometries – dynamic, vertical columns of photosynthetic receptors covered by a thin, light-scattering layer – that may just make them the most efficient solar energy systems on Earth.

“It’s counter-intuitive to a lot of people, because clams operate in intense sunlight, but actually they’re really dark on the inside,” said Alison Sweeney, associate professor of physics and of ecology and evolutionary biology in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “The truth is that clams are more efficient at solar energy conversion than any existing solar panel technology.”

In the new study, published in the journal PRX: Energy, a research team led by Sweeney presents an analytical model for determining the maximum efficiency of photosynthetic systems based on the geometry, movement, and light-scattering characteristics of giant clams. It is the latest in a series of research studies from Sweeney’s lab that highlight biological mechanisms from the natural world that could inspire new sustainable materials and designs.

In this case, the researchers looked specifically at the impressive solar energy potential of iridescent giant clams in the shallow waters of Palau in the Western Pacific.

The clams are photosymbiotic, with vertical cylinders of single-celled algae growing on their surface. The algae absorb sunlight – after the light has been scattered by a layer of cells called iridocytes.

Both the geometry of the algae and the light scattering of the iridocytes are important, the researchers say. The algae’s arrangement in vertical columns – which makes them parallel to the incoming light – enables the algae to absorb sunlight at the most efficient rate. This is because the sunlight has been filtered and scattered by the layer of iridocytes, and the light then wraps uniformly around each vertical algae cylinder.

Based on the giant clams’ geometry, Sweeney and her colleagues developed a model to calculate quantum efficiency – the ability to convert photons into electrons. The researchers also factored in fluctuations in sunlight, based on a typical day in the tropics with a sunrise, midday sun intensity, and sunset. The quantum efficiency was 42%.

But then the researchers added a new wrinkle: the way giant clams stretch themselves in reaction to changes in sunlight. “Clams like to move and groove throughout the day,” Sweeney said. “This stretching moves the vertical columns farther apart, effectively making them shorter and wider.”

With this new information, the clam model’s quantum efficiency jumped to 67%. By comparison, Sweeney said, a green leaf system’s quantum efficiency in a tropical environment is only about 14%.

An intriguing comparison, according to the study, would be northern spruce forests. The researchers said boreal spruce forests, surrounded by fluctuating layers of fog and clouds, share similar geometries and light-scattering mechanisms with giant clams, but on a much larger scale. And their quantum efficiency is nearly identical.

“One lesson from this is how important it is to consider biodiversity, writ large,” Sweeney said. “My colleagues and I continue to brainstorm about where else on Earth this level of solar efficiency might happen. It is also important to recognize we can only study biodiversity in places where it is maintained.”

She added: “We owe a major debt to Palauans, who put vital cultural value on their clams and reefs and work to keep them in pristine health.”

Such examples may offer inspiration and insights for more efficient sustainable energy technology.

“One could envision a new generation of solar panels that grow algae, or inexpensive plastic solar panels that are made out of a stretchy material,” Sweeney said.

The study’s first author is Amanda Holt, an associate research scientist in Sweeney’s lab. The study’s co-author is Lincoln Rehm, a Palauan-American and former graduate student at Drexel University and researcher at the Palau International Coral Reef Center, who is now at the National Oceanography and Atmospheric Administration.

The research was funded by a Packard Foundation fellowship and the National Science Foundation.

Research Report:Simple Mechanism for Optimal Light-Use Efficiency of Photosynthesis Inspired by Giant Clams