NREL finds up to 6-cent per kilowatt-hour extra value with concentrated solar power

The greater the penetration of renewables in California, the greater the value of CSP with thermal storage capacity

2014-06-10

(Press-News.org) Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) projects would add additional value of 5 or 6 cents per kilowatt hour to utility-scale solar energy in California where 33 percent renewables will be mandated in six years, a new report by the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory has found.

The report, "Estimating the Value of Utility-Scale Solar Technologies in California Under a 40% Renewable Portfolio StandardPDF," finds that CSP, with its ability to store energy for several hours or more, helps maintain firm capacity in the hours when the sun is below the horizon. Compared to variable generation technologies this translates to an increase in value of 5 cents per kilowatt hour under a 33% renewable standard – the mandate for 2020 – or 6 cents per kilowatt hour under a 40% renewable standard. The added value means that at peak demands, CSP can help lower electricity bills.

"CSP adds significant additional value when compared to less flexible generation sources," NREL CSP Group Manager Mark Mehos, co-author with Jennie Jorgenson and Paul Denholm of the study, said. "As the penetration of renewables rises, so does the relative value of CSP. CSP could also allow greater penetration of PV by making the grid more flexible and reducing curtailment of PV by generating energy after the sun sets. We intend to investigate this in more detail for the remainder of this year."

While photovoltaic modules capture the sun's light and turns it into useable electricity, CSP technologies concentrate the sun's energy and capture that energy as heat, which then drives an engine or turbine to produce electrical power. However, the thermal energy CSP generates can be held back for several hours via storage systems such as molten salts – and then used after the sun sets when demand is still high for, say, air conditioning, television, and lighting.

The new report, funded through the Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in support of its SunShot Initiative, compares the total operating costs of a system with and without an incremental amount of CSP with thermal energy storage or solar PV. It also analyzes capacity value. The report is the second in a series of analyses of the value of CSP with thermal energy storage. The previous report, "Estimating the Performance and Economic Value of Multiple Concentrating Solar Power Technologies in a Production Cost Model," is available on NREL's web site.

INFORMATION:

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for the Energy Department by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Visit NREL online at http://www.nrel.gov

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Report reviews estimates of costs and benefits of compliance with renewable portfolio standards

2014-06-10

A new report, prepared by analysts from the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), reviews estimates of the costs and benefits of compliance with Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) in the United States and explores how costs and benefits may evolve over time. "A Survey of State-Level Cost and Benefit Estimates of Renewable Portfolio StandardsPDF," reviews recent estimated RPS costs for most states, but finds that a lack of benefits estimates and methodological differences limit the ability to ...

Crescendo Bioscience to present multiple studies at 2014 EULAR Meeting

2014-06-10

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 10, 2014 – Crescendo Bioscience, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN), today announced that Vectra® DA data will be featured in eight posters at the 2014 European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Annual Meeting, June 11-14, 2014, in Paris, France. Vectra DA is a quantitative, objective multi-biomarker test to measure disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The Vectra DA test offers insight into the biological processes that drive disease activity to help rheumatologists manage RA and improve ...

AP-NORC releases new analysis on Californians' experiences with long-term care

2014-06-10

Chicago, June 10, 2014—The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research has released an issue brief containing results of a survey on long-term care in California. With a particular focus on demographics, the issue brief provides new data on how Californians are, or are not, planning for long-term care and their views on the role of family. This information is vital as policymakers are currently grappling with how to plan for and finance high-quality long-term care in the United States. "This issue brief takes a focused look at long-term care attitudes and ...

Fermentation of cocoa beans requires precise collaboration among 2 bacteria, and yeast

2014-06-10

Good chocolate is among the world's most beloved foods, which is why scientists are seeking to improve the product, and enhance the world's pleasure. A team of researchers from Germany and Switzerland—the heartland of fine chocolate—have embarked upon a quest to better understand natural cocoa fermentation and have published findings ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. "Our studies have unraveled the metabolism of the rather unexplored acetic acid bacteria in the complex fermentation environment," says corresponding author Christoph Wittmann ...

Violent crimes could be prevented if felony charges were reduced less often, study finds

2014-06-10

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — A UC Davis study comparing violent misdemeanor convictions with their original criminal charges has found that subsequent violent crimes could be prevented if criminal charges were reduced less often during plea bargaining. The small, preliminary study, posted online June 9 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, re-analyzed data on 787 individuals under age 35 who had violent misdemeanor convictions and purchased handguns in California in 1989 or 1990. The goal was to assess the impact of reduced criminal charges on gun purchases and subsequent ...

Telehealth improves forensic examinations for sexual abuse

2014-06-10

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Researchers at UC Davis and other facilities have shown that telehealth consultations for clinicians at rural hospitals improve their ability to provide forensic examinations for sexual abuse. Published in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect, the study showed that clinicians with access to expert UC Davis nurses provided more thorough and nuanced exams, improving their ability to gather evidence and to make an accurate diagnosis. "Providing telehealth support really improves the quality of these forensic exams," said first author Sheridan Miyamoto, ...

NYU and UCSF researchers develop a framework for monitoring oral cancer

2014-06-10

Each year, approximately 22,000 Americans are diagnosed with oral cancer. The five-year survival rate of 40% in the U.S. is one of the lowest of the major cancers, and it has not improved in the past 40 years. More people die each year in the U.S. from oral cancer than from melanoma, cervical, or ovarian cancer. Worldwide, the incidence of oral cancer is increasing, particularly among young people and women, with an estimated 350,000 – 400,000 new cases diagnosed each year. "The major risk factors, tobacco and alcohol use, alone cannot explain the changes in incidence, ...

Dangerous, underpaid work for the undocumented

2014-06-10

ITHACA, N.Y. – Illegal immigrants don't hold the most dangerous jobs in America. That kind of work pays a decent wage for the risk to life and limb, and undocumented workers are barred from those jobs. Yet there is plenty of hazard, risk and occupational injury for the uncounted millions of illegal immigrants doing the "merely dangerous" work no one else wants – without a pay premium from employers who take advantage of that labor pool, a Cornell University – Penn State University study reveals. "Undocumented Mexicans receive effectively no wage premium for working ...

Mayo Clinic researchers discover new form of cancer

2014-06-10

ROCHESTER, Minn. — June 10, 2014 — This is the story of two perfectly harmless genes. By themselves, PAX3 and MAML3 don't cause any problems. However, when they combine during an abnormal but recurring chromosomal mismatch, they can be dangerous. The result is a chimera — a gene that is half of each — and that causes biphenotypic sinonasal sarcoma. The tumor usually begins in the nose and may infiltrate the rest of the face, requiring disfiguring surgery to save the individual. Because Mayo Clinic pathology researchers have now described the molecular makeup of the rare ...

How much testosterone is too much for women after menopause?

2014-06-10

CLEVELAND, Ohio (June 10, 2014)—Testosterone supplementation for women is a hot topic. A new pharmacokinetics study of a brand of testosterone cream for women approved in Western Australia has been published online in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). For women after menopause, it took 5 mg, the lowest dose of this product, to raise testosterone back to a premenopause level. "In the United States we do not yet have an approved testosterone product designed for women," says NAMS Executive Director Margery Gass, MD. "As a result, American ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

AI finds undiagnosed liver disease in early stages

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announce new research fellowship in malaria genomics in honor of professor Dominic Kwiatkowski