A single integrated electricity market would make it easier to trade electricity across borders.

The EU’s energy commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, has hailed the creation of a five-country electricity coupling as a positive step towards a single European energy market.
According to the agreement signed in Luxembourg on Wednesday, French, German, Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg electricity markets are to be integrated into a single regional area by Jan. 1, 2009.
Governments, regulators, power exchanges, transmission-system operators and the electricity associations of the participating countries approved a “memorandum of understanding“ agreeing on the implementation of a coupled market on Wednesday.
“This is a positive step towards a single European energy market,“ said Energy Commissioner Piebalgs. He also suggested it would bring lower prices for consumers, increase security of supply and attract investment in new-generation capacity and transmission infrastructure.
A “tri-market coupling“ between Belgium, France and Netherlands was already established back in November 2006. Luxembourg and Germany decided to join the initiative later, Dw-world.de reported.
“This should serve as a role model for the entire European community,“ said German Economic Minister Michael Glos.

Efficient & Competitive
A single integrated electricity market would make it easier to trade electricity across borders. For now, not much electricity is sold across the EU--not least because buying electricity from another country is a time consuming operation. The nation in question first has to buy the electricity, and then it has to buy the capacity, or space on the grid, to transport it.
That process is now set to get a lot easier. “Market coupling of short-term electricity markets leads to a more efficient use of interconnection capacities, providing more opportunities for energy suppliers to buy and sell power and to optimize their portfolios,“ said one electricity association.
Associations also expect greater market integration to lead to enhanced competition, thereby benefiting consumers.
Eurelectric, the European electricity industry association, said in a statement that it welcomed the initiative as “an important step towards establishing an integrated electricity market in this region and a major step on the way to a competitive internal European electricity market.“
“It also demonstrates that moves towards market integration can be effectively achieved when the political will is there,“ it added.

Break-Up Plan
Less Likely
German companies also hope the new agreement will help prevent the European Commission’s planned “ownership unbundling,“ which would force them to separate production and distribution wings.
Many operators, including German giants RWE and E.ON, fear such a move would leave them at risk of falling under the control of non-European firms.
The supply of electricity in Europe hit the headlines last November when a massive power cut in Germany temporarily halted supplies across the continent.

Hydroelectricity is not as clean as most people might believe, because the reservoirs created by dams in tropical areas--and in forested zones in particular--emit greenhouse gases from the decomposition of organic material. But this downside can be turned into a benefit, and give a boost to the amount of energy generated.
Some hydroelectric plants in the Amazon hold an added energy capacity of 27 to 53 percent, taking into account the methane bubbles released from the water as it passes through the turbines and spillways, says Fernando Ramos, based on a study he and two colleagues from Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research (INPE) conducted at the Balbina, Samuel and Tucurui dams.
But what his group proposes is to extract methane from the depths of the reservoirs, where there is a higher concentration of the gas.
With an investment of 100 million dollars, one million tons of methane a year could be captured at Tucurui, Brazil’s second largest hydroelectric dam, located in the eastern Amazon. The return, considering current prices of the gas, would reach 79 percent, much higher than the 25 percent expected in other Brazilian renewable energy projects.
A million tons of methane is the equivalent of 1,760 megawatts--the potential of a large hydroelectric dam--and more energy than what would be produced by the third nuclear plant under consideration for construction in this country, Ipsnews.net reported.
As such, methane could replace several hydroelectric dams planned for the Amazon, and which are criticized by environmentalists because they would flood extensive areas of forest and cause other environmental and social problems.
The gas could be stored and transported for use in other areas, but the best option would be to build a thermoelectric plant at the dam site, taking advantage of the existing infrastructure to transmit the electricity, Ramos said in an interview for this report. Furthermore, it is a good way to avoid emissions of the gases that contribute to climate change, which could generate carbon credits and make the project more profitable.
“This technological idea would meet the criteria of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)“ established in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change, and could enter the market of carbon credits, agreed Pablo Fernndez, manager of CDM project implementation at EcoSecurities, though he admitted he is “not clear on how the methane would be captured.“
EcoSecurities is the company that put together the first Brazilian project that obtained carbon credits, NovaGerar, which extracts gas emissions from a huge garbage dump outside Rio de Janeiro to generate energy.
INPE’s Ramos, a mechanical engineer, said “there is no doubt about the feasibility of the technique“ for recovering methane from the dams, given that the gas is released when the water passes through the turbines and “pressure falls suddenly, producing bubbles,“ in a process similar to opening a soda bottle.
The idea is to create a tubing system similar to a pool cleaner, installed on a barge that would move about the reservoir, seeking the areas of highest methane concentration.
The new task that the INPE group hopes to complete by the end of the year is a pilot project to verify its economic viability, he announced.
It is “a new idea, not yet made official in the CDM,“ and needs to “mature“ in technical details and an inventory of the methane held in the Brazilian reservoirs, Ramos acknowledged.
Other reservoirs, including those outside the Amazon region, could have high concentrations of gas from organic material as well, he said.
The INPE scientists rule out trying to capture methane at the dam turbines, because the electric companies don’t want to install anything that could alter the functioning of the dams. So the option is to collect the methane before the water reaches the turbines.
However, Alexandre Kemenes, researcher with the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in the Amazon (LBA), proposes capturing the gas released from the water “during and after its passage through the turbines.“ It is more feasible, he said in an interview, because the area will be limited and it would take advantage of existing installations, and is better for the environment because it would also permit carbon recovery.

Railcars filled with a new bioengineered corn-based polymer are already pulling out of chemical giant DuPont Co.’s $100 million joint-venture factory with multinational agri-processor Tate & Lyle PLC. Next stop could be the carpet in your living room.
While other companies are working on several fronts to use more renewable resources, DuPont and Tate & Lyle consider themselves several steps ahead. They tout their plant about 35 miles south of Knoxville as “visible evidence that an economy based on renewable ingredients is possible.“
E. coli bacteria modified by DuPont scientists is used to convert corn sugar from an adjacent Tate & Lyle ethanol plant using a fermentation process, much like making beer.
The result is a clear liquid compound that can replace and improve upon petroleum-based ingredients in a quickly expanding range of products, including fabrics, cosmetics, liquid detergents, boat hulls, ski boots and runway de-icers, Ohio.com said.
With customers already knocking at their door--among them carpet maker Mohawk Industries Inc. and automaker Toyota Motor Corp.--and Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman christening the plant Friday, DuPont and Tate & Lyle are finding it hard to curb their enthusiasm.
“It is the most significant invention since nylon,“ DuPont Chairman and CEO Charles “Chad“ Holliday Jr. said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. This from the Wilmington, Del.-based company that invented nylon in 1935.
“The functionality of this product is what really differentiates it,“ Iain Ferguson, chief executive of London-based Tate & Lyle, told the AP. “That gives us something which has a real edge.“
The companies say their corn-based propanediol, or Bio-PDO, offers qualities superior to their petroleum counterparts. Fabrics can take dyes more brilliantly, carpets are naturally stain resistant, face creams are gentler to the skin, and airplane de-icers are biodegradable.
Brent Erickson, an executive vice president at the Biotechnology Industry Organization in Washington, DC, said that while DuPont and Tate & Lyle are not alone, the commercialization of their Loudon plant was a significant development in what he termed the third wave of a biotech revolution that began 20 years ago in medicine and then agriculture about a decade ago.
“It has gone beyond the doctor’s office into consumer goods and other products that we never imagined,“ he said.
Holliday and Ferguson said they have factored rising corn prices, driven in part by growing demand for biofuels, into their equation.
Steven Mirshak, president of the DuPont-Tate & Lyle Bio-Products joint venture, said the price of the companies’ Bio-PDO base is “similar“ to nylon. A chemical version of the product was discovered in the 1940s but was too expensive to make.
“But with our new process using biology, we are able to produce PDO at a cost point where we can develop direct applications of its use in a variety of markets,“ he said, replacing petroleum counterparts.
Holliday said DuPont brings an unusual perspective to the corn supply situation. The company also owns the major corn seed brand Pioneer and is devoting considerable resources to increasing its productivity.
“If you look at the historical track on this in the sort of markets we are in, every time you get something like this where you get a price increase, you get further investment in agricultural production,“ Ferguson said. “And there is clearly considerable further potential to raise the yields.“
Corn-based substitutes for petroleum are good for the environment, but experts have said they also contribute to a rise in global food import costs, making it harder for developing countries to feed their populations.
The Loudon plant has shipped 85 rail cars of the product since November, enough to meet demand though still not at full capacity. The companies expect the plant will produce 100 million pounds of the product annually, and they already are considering expansion and additional plants, possibly overseas.
The environmental impact of the project is significant.

Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will receive $1.98 million from the Department of Energy over the next three years to emulate nature’s use of enzymes to convert chemicals to energy, PNNL announced Wednesday (June 6).
The information that scientists at the DOE national lab turn up may point to new materials that render it economically feasible to produce energy from hydrogen fuelcells.
“This is a basic research project, but one that we hope will provide new knowledge that will be pertinent to the production of hydrogen or oxidation of hydrogen in fuelcells,“ said Morris Bullock, who co-leads the project with Dan DuBois. Both Bullock and DuBois are members of the Molecular Interactions and Transformations group and the Institute for Interfacial Catalysis at PNNL, Chemicalonline.com said.
Bullock noted that an electrocatalytic reaction, or energy made by catalytic oxidation of hydrogen in fuel cells, “is very attractive for many applications.“ But so far, such chemical conversions are expensive; fuelcells require the precious metal platinum. “We seek to prepare new metal complexes based on abundant, inexpensive metals such as iron, manganese and molybdenum,“ he said.
To search for electrocatalyst alternatives to platinum, the team will be guided by natural systems like those in species of bacteria and algae that enlist hydrogenase enzymes in energy production. Bullock and colleagues hope “to replicate the function but not the exact structure“ of the natural enzymes.
Recent structural studies of hydrogenase enzymes from these microorganisms have revealed that sites where electrocatalysis takes place contain nuclei made up of iron-iron or nickel-iron complexes. These enzymes’ high catalytic activity suggests that properly designed synthetic catalysts based on inexpensive metals can be used in fuel cells for this important energy-conversion reaction in place of platinum.
The PNNL award is among 13 basic research projects funded by $11.2 million over the next three years by the Basic Energy Sciences program of the DOE Office of Science. The research aims to overcome challenges associated with the production, storage and use of hydrogen.

First Australian Resources Limited (FAR) has resolved to raise $8.68 million through the issue of 62 million ordinary shares at an issue price of $0.14 per share. The new shares will be issued predominantly to Australian, United Kingdom and North American institutional investors and sophisticated investor clients of Hartleys Limited.
According to Rigzone.com, the additional funding will further strengthen the company and provide for an aggressive exploration program over its world class portfolio, the highlights of which include:
--Interpretation of data acquired from a 2,089 sq km 3D seismic survey over Deep Water Offshore Senegal blocks to further refine prospects and leads (including large turbidite fans) identified on earlier 2D seismic by JV partner Senegal Hunt Oil Company, a number of which are capable of hosting several hundreds of millions of barrels of oil;
--Progressing development plans on the Wei 6-12 South Discovery Offshore China (which tested 5,750 barrels of oil per day) and a 4-6 well drilling program of 3D defined targets commencing in November 2007;
--A two-well back to back wildcat program in Australia’s onshore Canning Basin commencing late July 2007 to be operated by Arc Energy Limited evaluating Stokes Bay (80BCF potential) and Valentine (up to 200 million barrel potential);
--Multiple wells planned in the Gulf of Mexico (including Lake Long Deep now drilling) where FAR is enjoying a 100 percent completion rate in its 2007 program; and
--A planned 50 sq mile (80sq km) 3D seismic acquisition program at NE Waller in the Gulf Coast on depositional strike with several nearby fields which have produced over a quarter trillion cubic feet of gas and over thirty million barrels of liquids.
FAR’s directors have extended a welcome to new shareholders of the company and thanked Hartleys Limited for their continuing support. The company is delighted with the participation in the capital raising of some significant institutional oil and gas investors that will underpin our growth plans.
The shares will be allotted on or about 20 June 2007. The placement of new shares will be undertaken pursuant to ASX Listing Rule 7.1. An appendix 3B in relation to the placement will be lodged separately.
Commenting on the proposed placement, Executive Chairman Michael Evans said,
“FAR continues to attract a class of shareholder that can match the Company’s growth ambitions. We are delighted by the overwhelming support received for this capital raising which recognizes our operational philosophy. Funds raised will allow FAR to continue to aggressively pursue its world class exploration portfolio. An exciting program over the next few months includes seismic interpretation to define the first drill targets in Deep Water West Africa where FAR is rubbing shoulder with industry heavyweights; FAR’s first ground floor 3D seismic initiatives in North America, and drilling offshore China, Australia and North America. “