Katie Fehrenbacher makes a 2nd trip to Apple's Maiden Data Center, will she make a 3rd trip next year?

GigaOm’s Katie Fehrenbacher has a post on her 2nd trip to Maiden, NC to see Apple’s data center.  If you repeat a task you get better with experience and familiarity.  Katie took a trip to NC in July 2012 and wrote a series of posts on her visit including visiting Apple’s data center.

The ultimate geek road trip: North Carolina’s mega data center cluster

by Katie Fehrenbacher

JUL. 8, 2012 - 8:00 PM PST

 

Nov 2013, Katie returned to Maiden, NC and writes a well researched post on Apple’s renewable energy installation of 50MW.  Read Katie’s post to get the full report.  I’ll highlight a few points that shows how well Katie researched the post.

Katie gives background on her method

Apple has long been reticent about speaking to the media about its operations, green or otherwise. But I’ve pieced together a much more detailed picture of its clean energy operations after talking to dozens of people, many of them over the years. And Last week I got a chance to see these fully operational facilities for myself.

I walked around these pioneering landscapes, took these exclusive photos, and pondered why Apple made this move and why it’s important. This is Apple’s story of clean power plans, told comprehensively for the first time.

Katie points out that it is not possible for Apple to directly use the power from the its renewable energy sources.

Apple’s second 20 MW solar panel farm, which is about 15 miles away from the data center near the town of Conover, North Carolina, is also up and running. All told, the three facilities are creating 50 MW of power, which is about 10 MW more than what Apple’s data center uses. Because of state laws, the energy is being pumped into the power grid, and Apple then uses the energy it needs from the grid. But this setup also means Apple doesn’t need large batteries, or other forms of energy storage, to keep the power going when the sun goes down and its solar panels stop producing electricity.

Here is a nice picture Katie took.  One of the comments made said Katie should have used Panorama mode to get a wider view.

Apple’s solar power farm stretches for 100 acres

One of the funnier comments I read was a person saying the use of sheep is “iSheep" to clear the grass growing around the solar panels

You can see in the above picture that the grass is neatly maintained. Apple manages the grass under the panels in a variety of ways, but one of those is a little more unusual. Apple works with a company that ropes in sheep that eat the grass on a portion of the solar farm; when the sheep finish grazing on one spot, they’re moved to the next.

It’s a more sustainable option than running gas-powered mowers across the farm, and also has the added benefit that sheep can get into smaller spaces and up close to the panels. Some companies use goats to eat grass on plots of land, but goats could chew on the farm’s wiring and solar panel parts.

Apple’s 2nd solar array is 15 miles from the data center and putting the power on the grind makes much more sense than trying to bring the power back to the data center.

Apple’s second solar farm about 15 miles from its data center in North Carolina

Since the second solar farm is a ways away from the data center, it’s also an example of why Apple’s business with the utility is important. The power goes into the power grid near the solar farm, and Apple can use the equivalent back at its data center.

And Katie closes identifying Apple’s leadership.

Change often times happens incrementally. From the outside that happened with clean power and Internet companies in North Carolina. But sometimes crucial change happens with a single brush stroke or a single outlier decision. That’s how I see Apple’s clean power facilities in North Carolina — right now, they stand alone.

Disclosure: Katie is a good friend and I work freelance for GigaOm Research.  And after a post like this, it reminds me part of what I enjoy discussing is who is doing some of the coolest stuff in environmental efforts.

Seems kind of obvious that within the next year or two Katie will return to Maiden, and who knows what she’ll be able to write about then.

Katie’s post got picked up by others.

Gigaom checks out Apple NC data center's renewable-energy infrastructure tuaw.com - ‎12 hours ago‎ Apple's huge Maiden, NC, data center has recently become something else -- a net power provider of clean energy to Duke Energy. Gigaom's Katie Fehrenbacher took a look at Apple's new power-production facilities, which generate a total of 50 MW ...   A Closer Look at Apple's North Carolina Renewable Energy Power Plant Mac Rumors - ‎20 hours ago‎ After building large solar power and biogas fuel cell generating facilities at its Maiden, North Carolina data center, Apple is one of the of the largest non-utility clean energy generation companies in the country. As of a report earlier this year, Apple uses 100% ...   Report profiles Apple's pioneering clean energy projects in North Carolina [photos] 9 to 5 Mac - ‎20 hours ago‎ The site decided to take a look into Apple's decision to take renewable energy into its own hands just as North Carolina utility Duke Energy is requesting that the state allow it to sell clean energy to large corporate customers. Google is one of the large ...   Apple's Green Energy Efforts in North Carolina Inspires Industry Shift Wall St. Cheat Sheet - ‎14 hours ago‎ Did Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) renewable energy initiatives in North Carolina boost the state's clean energy industry? As noted by GigaOM, North Carolina-based Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) recently requested regulators for permission to begin selling clean ...

Casualties of Windfarms over 600,000 of bats in 2012

Environmentalist will see a nuclear plant as evil compared to the peaceful spinning of wind farms.  What almost no one sees is the 100,000s of bats who are killed by the blade collision and pressure differential from the blades.

Here is the press release from American Institute of Biological Sciences. 

High bat mortality from wind turbines

More than 600,000 of the mammals may have died in 2012 in the contiguous United States

A new estimate of bat deaths caused by wind turbines concludes that more than 600,000 of the mammals likely died this way in 2012 in the contiguous United States. The estimate, published in an article in BioScience, used sophisticated statistical techniques to infer the probable number of bat deaths at wind energy facilities from the number of dead bats found at 21 locations, correcting for the installed power capacity of the facilities.

Bats, although not widely loved, play an important role in the ecosystem as insect-eaters, and also pollinate some plants. They are killed at wind turbines not only by collisions with moving turbine blades, but also by the trauma resulting from sudden changes in air pressure that occur near a fast-moving blade. The article by Mark Hayes of the University of Colorado notes that 600,000 is a conservative estimate; the actual figure could be 50 percent higher. The estimate is in rough agreement with some previous estimates, but bigger than most. The data that Hayes analyzed also suggest that some areas of the country might experience much higher bat fatality rates at wind energy facilities than others: the Appalachian Mountains have the highest estimated fatality rates in Hayes's analysis.

The consequences of deaths at wind energy facilities for bat populations are hard to assess because there are no high quality estimates of the population sizes of most North American bat species. But Hayes notes that bat populations are already under stress because of climate change and disease, in particular white-nose syndrome. The new estimate is therefore worrisome, especially as bat populations grow only very slowly, with most species producing only one young per year.

Some will argue that Nuclear Plants kill wildlife due to the increase water temperatures from the cooling systems.

Unfortunately, there are casualties of almost any energy system.  But, few knew wind turbines killed 600,000 bats in 2012.  Hopefully there will be efforts to figure out how to keep the bats away which would most likely cause the unintended consequences of insect growth and problems pollinating plant life, the two benefits of bats.

Will Nuclear Power be a zero carbon option for data centers?

Associated Press has an article that went out this morning appealing to environmentalist to embrace nuclear power.  Here is the ABC version.

Experts Say Nuclear Power Needed to Slow Warming

PITTSBURGH November 3, 2013 (AP)

By KEVIN BEGOS Associated Press

 

 

 

Some of the world's top climate scientists say wind and solar energy won't be enough to head off extreme global warming, and they're asking environmentalists to support the development of safer nuclear power as one way to cut fossil fuel pollution.

The Full letter from the scientist is here.

Kerry Emanuel originally shared:

 

To those influencing environmental policy but opposed to nuclear power: 

As climate and energy scientists concerned with global climate change, we are writing to urge you to advocate the development and deployment of safer nuclear energy systems. We appreciate your organization’s concern about global warming, and your advocacy of renewable energy. But continued opposition to nuclear power threatens humanity’s ability to avoid dangerous climate change. 

We call on your organization to support the development and deployment of safer nuclear power systems as a practical means of addressing the climate change problem. Global demand for energy is growing rapidly and must continue to grow to provide the needs of developing economies. At the same time, the need to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions is becoming ever clearer. We can only increase energy supply while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions if new power plants turn away from using the atmosphere as a waste dump. 

Renewables like wind and solar and biomass will certainly play roles in a future energy economy, but those energy sources cannot scale up fast enough to deliver cheap and reliable power at the scale the global economy requires. While it may be theoretically possible to stabilize the climate without nuclear power, in the real world there is no credible path to climate stabilization that does not include a substantial role for nuclear power

The four scientist may think their strategy of appealing to the environmentalist will be reasonable and logical.  The problem is most environmental groups survive based on donations, grants, and the efforts of their volunteers.  These people are its users and they predominantly believe nuclear power is evil.

What will be the defining moment is what countries follow the advice of the scientist and are more successfully able to lower its carbon footprint.

Below are a few of the countries with nuclear power.  The most notable anti nuclear is Japan and Germany.

France is pro nuclear with 75% nuclear power.

Nuclear Power in France

(Updated September 2013)

• France derives over 75% of its electricity from nuclear energy. This is due to a long-standing policy based on energy security.
• France is the world's largest net exporter of electricity due to its very low cost of generation, and gains over EUR 3 billion per year from this.
• France has been very active in developing nuclear technology. Reactors and fuel products and services are a major export.
• It is building its first Generation III reactor.
• About 17% of France's electricity is from recycled nuclear fuel.

Germany is anti nuclear and pro coal with renewables

Nuclear Power in Germany

(updated October 2013)

• Germany until March 2011 obtained one quarter of its electricity from nuclear energy, using 17 reactors. The figure is now about 18%.
• A coalition government formed after the 1998 federal elections had the phasing out of nuclear energy as a feature of its policy. With a new government in 2009, the phase-out was cancelled, but then reintroduced in 2011, with eight reactors shut down immediately.
• The cost of replacing nuclear power with renewables is estimated by the government to amount to some EUR 1000 billion.
• Public opinion in Germany remains ambivalent and at present does not support building new nuclear plants.
• More than half of Germany’s electricity was generated from coal in the first half of 2013, compared with 43% in 2010.
• Germany has some of the lowest wholesale electricity prices in Europe and some of the highest retail prices, due to its energy policies.

Russia and China are pro nuclear. 

Australia has 31% of the world’s uranium, but no nuclear plants.  The majority of power comes from coal.

UK is adding more nuclear and imports Nuclear power from France through a DC power connection.

In the late 1990s, nuclear power plants contributed around 25% of total annual electricity generation in the UK, but this has gradually declined as old plants have been shut down and ageing-related problems affect plant availability.

In 2012, 363 billion kWh (TWh) of electricity was produced in UK. This comprised 70 TWh (19%) nuclear, 100 TWh (27.5%) from gas, 144 TWh (40%) from coal, 19.4 TWh from wind, 8 TWh hydro and 17 TWh from biofuels and wastes. Coal’s share of generation is at its highest level since 1996, with gas’s share at its lowest since 1996.

Net electricity imports from France – mostly nuclear – in 2012 were 12 billion kWh. There is a high-voltage DC connection with France with 2000 MW capacity, and a 1400 MWe link over 700 km with Norway is planned. Per capita UK electricity consumption was 5070 kWh in 2011.

The USA is 30% of the world’s nuclear power generation.

Nuclear Power in the USA

(Updated 30 October 2013)

• The USA is the world's largest producer of nuclear power, accounting for more than 30% of worldwide nuclear generation of electricity.
• The country's 104 nuclear reactors produced 821 billion kWh in 2011, over 19% of total electrical output. There are now 100 units operable and three under construction.
• Following a 30-year period in which few new reactors were built, it is expected that 4-6 new units may come on line by 2020, the first of those resulting from 16 licence applications made since mid-2007 to build 24 new nuclear reactors.
• However, lower gas prices since 2009 have put the economic viability of some of these projects in doubt.
• Government policy changes since the late 1990s have helped pave the way for significant growth in nuclear capacity. Government and industry are working closely on expedited approval for construction and new plant designs.

And Japan which is living with the backlash of Fukushima.

Nuclear Power in Japan

(Updated 28 October 2013)

• Japan needs to import about 84% of its energy requirements.
• Its first commercial nuclear power reactor began operating in mid-1966, and nuclear energy has been a national strategic priority since 1973. This came under review following the 2011 Fukushima accident.
• The country's 50 main reactors have provided some 30% of the country's electricity and this was expected to increase to at least 40% by 2017. The prospect now is for about half of this.
• Japan has a full fuel cycle set-up, including enrichment and reprocessing of used fuel for recycle.
• The process of regulatory clearance for restarting 50 reactors is slow and will take some years.

Despite being the only country to have suffered the devastating effects of nuclear weapons in wartime, with over 100,000 deaths, Japan embraced the peaceful use of nuclear technology to provide a substantial portion of its electricity. However, following the tsunami which killed 19,000 people and which triggered the Fukushima nuclear accident (which killed no-one), public sentiment shifted markedly so that there were wide public protests calling for nuclear power to be abandoned. The balance between this populist sentiment and the continuation of reliable and affordable electricity supplies is being worked out politically.

98% of Egypt's Fresh Water is imported, an Ethiopian Dam brings change

National Geographic has a post on a new dam on the Nile River in Ethiopia.

Water Wars: Egyptians Condemn Ethiopia's Nile Dam Project

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam along the Nile has ignited a water debate between Egypt and Ethiopia.

Photograph by Cameron Davidson, Corbis

As the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam takes shape, tempers rise.

What caught my eye was how much fresh water is imported to Egypt.

A total of "98 percent of Egypt's freshwater comes from outside its borders, and it has exceptionally little leverage," said Angus Blair, an economic and political analyst at Cairo's Signet Institute.

Besides the water supply the dam will change power generation capacities.

Egypt fears that storing water behind the Ethiopian dam will reduce the capacity of its own Lake Nasser (thereby reducing the power-generating capacity of Egypt's giant hydroelectric plant at Aswan). Ethiopian officials have sought to allay fears by pointing out that storing water in the cooler climes of the Ethiopian lowlands will ensure much less water is lost to evaporation, but Egyptians are unconvinced.

"The production of electricity at the Aswan High Dam is likely to drop by almost 40 percent should the Ethiopian dam be built," concluded Nader Noureddin, a professor of agriculture at Cairo University.

Underground Hydropower Energy Storage System - Gravity Power

Storing Renewable Energy is a tough problem.  Here is a wiki on Grid Energy Storage.

One I just found is Gravity Power.

Gravity Power, LLC, a spin-off of LaunchPoint Technologies, Inc., is developing a revolutionary grid-scale electricity storage system. The company's new Gravity Power Module(GPM) exploits the established principles of pumped storage hydropower, but extends the concept in a new direction: Down. 

Here is a presentation if you are interested.