Check out this story at Wired.com about the new Tesla Motors “Roadster,” which is scheduled to hit the market next summer. Click here for some cool photos. Apparently the company is already working on a four-door sedan. “The Tesla Roadster is powered by 6,831 rechargeable lithium-ion batteries — the same cells that run a laptop computer. Range: 250 miles. Fuel efficiency: 1 to 2 cents per mile. Top speed: more than 130 mph,” according to Wired.com.

Very cool.

BTW: Toyota continues to talk about its plug-in hybrid plans, the latest comments from North American president Jim Press.

I’ve been seeing more and more announcements recently about companies that are buying wind power or some other renewable energy to make up a portion or all of their electricity use. It’s time to start recognizing these companies, and I was thinking of creating a list of those corporations and organizations that are using 100 per cent renewable electricity or a significant percentage. In Ontario, any company using Bullfrog Power will qualify, so that’s a starting point. If any reader here knows of a company that should be recognized — Canadian- or U.S.-based — then please let me know. As much as I’d like to recognize everyone, please limit names to medium- and large-sized retailers or companies. In other words, Bob’s Tackle Shop isn’t something I’ll publish. Once I’ve built up a decent-sized list I’ll provide a link on this site and will continue to add names as they emerge.

Thanks in advance for your help. I figure the more we distinguish the do-gooders from the rest the more the rest will want to become do-gooders.

The press release today announcing that nuclear operator Bruce Power has joined the Canadian Hydrogen Association wasn’t in itself that interesting. Sure, it’s the first electricity generator to join the association, and the fact that company CEO Duncan Hawthorne will be joining its board shows that he wants nuclear power to play a serious role in the hydrogen economy. Of course, the nuclear industry overall is pushing the whole idea that only a nuclear society can support a hydrogen economy, since you want emission-free power to produce the hydrogen, not coal power. They argue only nuclear can supply enough clean power that can produce the hydrogen necessary to make the paradigm shift toward fuel cell cars and home heating/power systems.

But check out this paragraph from the Bruce Power press release: “Hawthorne said there is a direct link between nuclear energy and hydrogen, an emissions-free fuel which could be produced using electricity from nuclear plants during off-peak hours. Following the restart of Bruce A Units 1 and 2, it is estimated the output from Bruce Power alone could produce enough hydrogen to fuel more than half of the vehicles in Ontario if they were powered by hydrogen.”

For those who don’t know, Bruce A Units 1 and 2 together represent 1,500 megawatts of power and they are in the process of being refurbished. It will take a few years.

What I want to know is if hydrogen can be produced during off-peak hours using nuclear baseload generation, then why can’t we do the same for charging electric cars at night? I keep hearing critics of electric vehicles talk about the lack of capacity on the grid, but given there’s a surplus of baseload electricity produced overnight from nuclear generators, why isn’t Bruce Power joining an electric vehicle association or trying to push the EV concept, which is within reach today?

Calgary-based Talisman Energy Inc. continues construction of a two-turbine offshore wind project near its Beatrice oil platform near the shores of Scotlands. The two 5-megawatt turbines, a joint venture between Talisman and Scottish Southern Energy, is expected to provide a third of the electricity needed to run the oil platform. If successful, a full-scale offshore farm will be considered that could generate up to 1 gigawatt of electricity, according to Reuters. The first of the two 85-metre tall turbines will be shipped to its underwater support structure (as shown in picture) in early August. “We are already well advanced in the process of fixing the substructure jackets to the sea bed and the next step is to complete the assembly of the turbines and fix these to the jackets,” said Talisman Energy CEO Dr. Jim Buckee. “An important element of the project is that it will extend the life of the Beatrice platform and help maximize oil recovery from this field.”

In other wind news, Canadian Hydro Developers disclosed today that its Melancthon II Wind Project — the second of two phases that will result in a total of 200 megawatts of wind capacity — may not be in service until June, 2008. That’s a possible 12-month delay from original plans, and it’s expected to add $10 million to the project’s $265 million in capital costs. The reason: resistance by locals. According to RenewableEnergyAccess.com, approval of an environmental screening report has been caught up in an extended review process, largely because of letters of concern sent to the Ontario Ministry of Environment and requests that it elevate the review process to a higher level. This is a major blow for Canadian Hydro Developers, given that the 132-megawatt Melancthon II project is twice the size of Melancthon I.

My question is, how are we going to get the private sector to build these emission-free wind farms if such delays and added costs become a greater risk? A one-year delay seems quite long for a wind farm, given that the first phase already achieved approvals.

Meanwhile, another Ontario wind project is moving forward. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources announced today that Phase I of the Prince Wind Farm outside of Sault Ste. Marie is nearly complete and that Phase II is under construction. In total, the farm will have a capacity of 189 megawatts. About 20 of 126 turbines will be located on crown land, with the rest on private property. The farm is being built by Brookfield Power.

One last point on the issue of wind. Since July 1 I’ve been monitoring the performance of the three wind farms already in operation in Ontario and which together have a capacity of 207 megawatts. The emphasis here is on capacity, because rarely do these turbines reach that capacity. For example, in July so far the highest output of these three farms in a given hour of a day has been 157 megawatts, or 76 per cent of nameplate capacity. But through most of the month output has more consistently ranged between 35 megawatts (17 per cent) and 70 megawatts (34 per cent), even falling to zero at some points. On one particular day, output never exceeded 6 megawatts — not the greatest performance.

What’s my point? My point is that while wind is great — I love wind energy — we shouldn’t be fooled to believe that the announcement of a 100-megawatt wind farm means it will produce 100 megawatts of power. For power planning purposes, these systems need to be dramatically discounted.

The online side of MIT’s Technology Review has assembled a nice package of stories as part of a special report on energy called “Facing Global Warming.” Topics covered include renewables (wind, solar and others), better technologies for extracting energy from coal, options for nuclear, and technologies for furthering oil exploration.