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Monday, 07 January 2008 |
Harnessing the power of the wind and the sun.
Mantra has secured an exclusive option to a new technology developed at the University of Toronto that can take power developed from variable sources (e.g. wind farms, tidal, etc.) and converts that power source into “grid standard”. This technology is not new but the ability to drive the technology at 1-3% savings in efficiency is. Over the life of an installation these savings will be substantial. The other potential uses of this product have not yet been quantified.
The ecoENERGY Renewable Initiative was announced in January of 2007. This is a $1.5 billion investment to put 4,000 megawatts of clean energy on the grid—energy from tides, the sun, Biomass , small hydro, and wind.
 Signal Smoothing provides a substatial 1-3% savings in efficiency.
The "grid" describes the system of wires and pipelines that carry energy, in the form of electricity or Natural Gas, to our homes and businesses. Currently 85% of our greenhouse gas emissions come from energy production and use, the majority of which uses the grid to funnel energy to our homes, offices and industries. Converting the grid system to be more reliant on renewable energy sources for power is one key step towards creating a sustainable energy market.
Investment in the renewable energy market is rising rapidly. A report in 2007 from Solarbuzz, a Solar Energy consultancy, states that the photovoltaic (PV) industry generated $17.2 billion in global revenues in 2007. Worldwide solar installations have a reached a high of 2,826MW, representing a 62% growth over 2006. As far as wind power is concerned, in 2007, the U.S. wind energy industry installed 5,244 megawatts (MW), expanding the nation’s total wind power Generating Capacity by 45% over 2006 and injecting an investment of over $9 billion into the economy. It is not unlikely that the U.S. will see an increase of 16,000 wind turbines per year with a value of approximately $22 billion.
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 Harnessing the power of the wind and the sun.
 Signal Smoothing : The complete unit is suitable for a 1.5 MW wind Turbine.
 The inverter/converter mainboard. |
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Monday, 07 January 2008 |
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"Think Green. Think Investment. Think Opportunity."
Mantra has acquired the intellectual property (patent-applied-for process) for a process developed at the University of British Columbia that converts carbon dioxide (CO2) into useful products. This process, named ERC (electro-reduction of carbon dioxide), takes carbon dioxide and water, combined with electricity, to produce fuels and chemicals such as formic acid, formates and oxygen.
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and a main contributor to climate change. Today one quarter of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions are released from the burning of Fossil Fuels in stationary coal-fired power plants. As of yet, large scale applications have not been able to make the shift to renewable energy as fossil fuels remain the most cost effective option energy source available. Scientists and innovators are therefore looking at methods to deal with the CO2 released so that it doesn’t enter our atmosphere. These methods currently include capturing the gas and injecting it underground for storage in a process called carbon sequestration. However, as of yet, a full carbon capture and storage system for large-scale power plants is also not a cost effective option.
The ERC process offers an innovative alternative to carbon sequestration with many potential advantages. The first advantage is that the ERC, instead of addressing carbon dioxide as the problem, harnesses its chemical properties as part of the solution. Capitalizing on the abundance of carbon dioxide being released from fossil fuel combustion the ERC converts CO2 to useful, financially profitable products. The second advantage is that the process is driven by electric energy that can be taken from an electric power grid supplied by hydro, wind, solar, tidal or nuclear energy. Lastly, there is potential for this technology to be applied in a closed-loop fuel cell cycle, whereby carbon dioxide is converted into a fuel that is then used in a fuel cell to generate energy. Our company sees the potential of the ERC as a step towards mitigating climate change.
The value of the carbon dioxide market is currently in the US$ billions annually. The state of this evolving market is indicated by the large industry participants (including British Petroleum and General Electric) who are building energy production gasification plants aimed to capture and sequester over 400 million tons of carbon dioxide in a single year, while Carbon Credits are traded at values up to US$30 per ton of CO2.
Read More...R.Socolow, “Can we bury global warming?”
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 The ERC process offers an innovative alternative to carbon sequestration with many potential advantages.
 Electro-Reduction of Carbons (ERC) in the lab. |
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Tuesday, 02 October 2007 |
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 Mantra is implementing an online marketplace where retailers of energy-saving, alternative energy equipment, and associated service providers, can interact with individuals, homeowners, strata councils, and businesses to reduce energy consumption, expenditure, and carbon emissions. We have taken a significant step towards creating a marketplace where individuals and homeowners can identify opportunities to reduce their energy consumption and environmental impact, and interact with vendors to implement user-specific solutions.
This first step is called the Mantra Carbon Calculator. It accepts initial user input, then calculates annual CO2 emissions attributable to energy and resource use in the home and at business premises (e.g. space heating, hot water, and electrical equipment), and for personal and public transport (e.g. cars, motorbikes, air travel, bus and rail). Initial user input generates a base-line carbon footprint. At their option, calculator users can revisit, update their profile, and compare their consumption relative to the base line. A comparison to a user-established target is also available.
Using the carbon calculator, the Mantra client can review and evaluate his lifestyle. Suppliers of green equipment can interface with the user, with Mantra as the paid facilitator. A Sustainability Directory, consisting of sustainability and alternative energy companies, as well as information about Grants and Incentives is accessible. This online "carbon markeplace" will provide access to a growing database containing information about energy saving practices, and an opportunity for individuals to share ideas concerning effective energy use.
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Thursday, 07 February 2008 |
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Wind power has been accepted across Europe, and the Danish, for example, are targeting that 30% of their demand be met by wind within 10 years. The greatest immediate growth of the industry is now in the United States (e.g. Texas, California, and the Mid West). Mantra is in the advanced stages of planning a wind farm in Canada (Manitoba) where it will demonstrate 2 synergistic new products that support the established wind power technology.
The wind farm market size and value was $6 billion worldwide in 2001; in the USA alone it was $5 billion a year in 2006 and is forecast to continue at this level thru 2015; new equipment installed worldwide in 2006 was valued at $23 billion; world growth was 41% in 2005, 32% in 2006. The Canadian forecast is to install 14,000 MW in 2015.
Mantra is actively pursuing an opportunity in this field and has engaged Dan Funaro as the team leader for this project. There are a number of initiatives that have been instigated by the Provincial Government of BC that make this a particularly attractive venture. In BC the provincial power authority, BC Hydro, buys the power at a fixed price under a long-term contract, making financing and cash-flow quite predictable (but not the weather). This, when partnered with the Provincial Government’s aggressive climate change stance, has created a timely portal for this project. |
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