Random Thoughts, v3

First of all, happy holidays to all my readers! I'll be taking a break in the coming weeks to celebrate, but will be back in January.

Technologies to help us get to net-zero
Getting to net-zero in buildings will require more efficiency and more on-site renewable power, and these new technologies will help:

Energy-generating revolving door
GreenBiz reports that Royal Boon Edam recently installed the first energy-generating revolving door at a railway station in Holland.

BYD unveils first mass-market plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV)
BYD finally released their mass-market PHEV, known as the F3DM. The car will sell for $22,000. The F3DM will be a barometer for uptake of PHEV's and EV's more generally in China. EV's and the associated energy storage capacity of the battery will likely play a central role in the distributed energy network of the future. Climate Progress has good analysis on the importance of this announcement.

High-efficiency elevator
Earth2Tech reports that Finland's Kone will produce a new elevator that incorporates regenerative braking and LEDs, resulting in 50% energy savings versus a standard elevator. This is important, since according to a 2005 report (PDF), elevators generally account for about 5% of a building's energy consumption.


Construction begins on 166 MW solar plant in Yunnan
New Energy Finance reports that construction recently began on a $1.32 bn solar PV demo plant in Yunnan province in southern China. China currently has 100 MW of installed PV power, but the government is aiming for 300 MW by 2010, and 1.8 GW by 2020. For comparison, Germany led the world in installed solar power capacity at the end of 2007, with 3830 MW providing about 1% of Germany's total power demand.

FYI, China is the world's second largest producer of solar PV panels, accounting for 22% of world sales in 2007. 95% of these solar panels were exported in 2005, according to Julia Wu of New Energy Finance.