| Read
our
sister blog on health care
issues at Gooznews. Need a patent lawyer? HOME |
 |
Contact
Information: Robert Goozner Goozner Solar P.O. Box 7411 Arlington, VA 22207 Contact Me |
Click here to read full article. GOOGLETM
GOES SOLAR
October 2007 PV Cells on Google HQ (from Google) Google has a firm commitment to solar energy, as is clear from their PV cell covered California headquarters. The Google Solar Panel Project generates in excesss of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day.
Google founders Sergey Brin
and Larry Page also invest heavily in solar energy companies
such as Nanosolar.
On November 27, 2007, Google announced a
major research effort to produce energy
cheaper than coal.
The newly created initiative, known as RE<C, will
focus
initially on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies,
enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough
technologies.
It's too bad that Google wasn't around
during all the lean years of alternative energy research.
ARCHIVE November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008
Cherry Blossoms in Arlington
Trails End in Berlin  Bicycles in Berlin |
Publication
Day The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues
publications
once a week, on Thursday.
Today, the USPTO issued 6,092 publications.
Of the 6,092 publications issued today, 35 contained the word "photovoltaic"; 35 contained the phrase "solar cell"; 8 contained the term "biodiesel"; 11 contained the word "geothermal"; and 7 contained the phrase "wind turbine". The featured publication for today is from Christopher Thompson et al., who developed a method for harvesting latent energy and water from atmospheric air by adiabatically decompressing a controlled volume of atmospheric air to lower its pressure and temperature below the saturation point of included water vapor, thus causing the water vapor to change state to nonvaporous water and release to the decompressed air thermal energy associated with the change of state. Robert E. Goozner - July 31, 2008 Obama on EnergyOn Monday I looked at McCain's energy plan (or lack of such). Today I took a look at Barack Obama's web site on energy issues for his position on energy. Obama proposes an economic stimulus to immediately put tax rebates in the pockets of American families to pay for rising energy prices. As president, Obama will enact a tax fairness agenda that provides 150 million workers a “Making Work Pay” tax credit of $500 per person or $1,000 per working family. This is middle class welfare that solves nothing. Obama proposes to regulate energy markets and investigate market manipulators. Good luck with that. OK, speculators are vultures but, like vultures, speculators perform a useful function. The speculaors guarantee that oil will be available to those with the money to pay for it. Also, the markets, which are international, will be resistant to attempts by one country at regulation. On the upside, Obama proposes to invest $150 billion over 10 years to advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure, accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids, promote development of commercial-scale renewable energy, invest in low-emissions coal plants, and begin the transition to a new digital electricity grid. A principal focus of this fund will be devoted to ensuring that technologies that are developed in the U.S. are rapidly commercialized in the U.S. and deployed around the globe. Most importantly Obama has a plan while McCain merely has an attack ad. If you want to read it, here is Obama's position paper. Although some of Obama's ideas are nonrunners, I think that his plan for an intensive 10 year R&D effort puts him way ahead of McCain on energy issues. Also, columnist Tom Friedman has a good column today on the Rebublican obsession for offshore oil drilling. Robert E. Goozner - July 30, 2008
The United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) issues patents
once a week, on Tuesday.
Today, the USPTO issued 2,860 patents. Robert E. Goozner - July 29, 2008 McCain on EnergyIf you are following the election advertisements, you will notice that John McCain is flooding the television channels with spots that are directly blaming Barack Obama for high energy prices. Will McCain do better than Obama? When I last looked awhile back, it appeared that McCain had the worst (as in no) energy policy. McCains's web site now contains an alternative energy page, which sets forth an energy plan called The Lexington Project. The first item in the agenda is drilling for more oil, and ending the moratorium on drilling on the continental shelf. Also, McCain proposes to spend $2 billion annually to advancing clean coal technologies. McCain also promotes natural gas. The backbone of McCain's energy policy is thus to keep promoting sunset carbon-based energy policies which led us to the current energy crisis in the first place. This reminds me of the adage that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again in the hope of obtaining a different result. This is an energy policy that promotes carbon-based energy, which will reinforce our dependence on (and will support) nasty places run by middle eastern potentates, post-soviet plutocrats, Venezuelan wingnuts, etc. How about alternative energy? In this area, McCain flirts with incoherence. I will quote in full: John McCain Will Encourage The Market For Alternative, Low Carbon Fuels Such As Wind, Hydro And Solar Power. According to the Department of Energy, wind could provide as much as one-fifth of electricity by 2030. The U.S. solar energy industry continued its double-digit annual growth rate in 2006. To develop these and other sources of renewable energy will require that we rationalize the current patchwork of temporary tax credits that provide commercial feasibility. John McCain believes in an even-handed system of tax credits that will remain in place until the market transforms sufficiently to the point where renewable energy no longer merits the taxpayers' dollars. Does that mean that he is for against the tax credits in the dying energy bill? What the heck does "rationalizing" tax credits mean anyway? On the other hand, he does propose a $5,000 tax credit for purchasers of zero carbon emission cars. However, McCain is still pushing a $300 million prize to improve battery technology for hybrid and electric automobiles. As I've mentioned before, this smells a whole lot like a giveaway to ExxonMobil, an oil company which has its own campain for their poster-boy scientist of dubious distinction Pat Brant. This web site does admit that "Brant and his global colleagues developed a new film separator that can withstand more demanding hybrid-vehicle battery conditions." This is referring to the Japanese subsidiary of ExxonMobil Tonen Chemicals that actually does the battery membrane research. However, putting Japanese researchers on a television advertisement is not the type of thing that would reassure the public, but merely remind people of the poor state of energy R&D in this country. Robert E. Goozner - July 28, 2008 Publication
Day The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues
publications
once a week, on Thursday.
Today, the USPTO issued 5,587 publications.
Of the 5,587 publications issued today, 32 contained the word "photovoltaic"; 33 contained the phrase "solar cell"; 147 contained the term "nano" (as in "nanotechnology"); 12 contained the word "geothermal"; 4 contained the phrase "wind turbine". 14 contained the term "biodiesel." The featured publication for today is from Stefan Fonash et al. of Penn State, who developed lateral collection photovoltaic (LCP) structures based on micro- and nano-collecting elements that are used to collect photogenerated carriers. Robert E. Goozner - July 24, 2008 Solar Investment Enthusiasm Flagging?The last few years have seen massive investments in solar energy. It has been estimated that over $1 billion has been invested in solar start-ups, as reported in Photon Magazine. However, recent stock market woes have quenched some of the enthusiasm for solar investment. An IPO for GT Solar planned for this week is facing a surprisingly cloudy outlook, as is reported by Reuters. Among the concerns mentioned in the article, is uncertainty during an election year around the renewal of a U.S. federal tax credit set to expire in December. The tight market for silicon (up to $450 per kilogram), a key component in the process of turning sunlight into power, might hurt solar energy's economics, as could a sustained fall in oil prices. Robert E. Goozner - July 23, 2008
The United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) issues patents
once a week, on Tuesday.
Today, the USPTO issued 3,300 patents.
I was off last week so I didn't update. Last Thursday, the United
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued 4,178 publications. Patent
Day Of the 4,178 publications issued last week, 23 contained the word "photovoltaic"; 23 contained the phrase "solar cell"; 104 contained the term "nano" (as in "nanotechnology"); 8 contained the word "geothermal"; and 5 contained the phrase "wind turbine". The featured publication is from Bastiaan Korevaar et al. of General Electric, who developed a photovoltaic device that includes a substrate and a nanowall structure disposed on the substrate surface. The device also includes at least one layer conformally deposited over the nanowall structure. See: U.S Publication 20080169019. Robert E. Goozner - July 22, 2008
The United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) issues patents
once a week, on Tuesday.
Today, the USPTO issued 3,273 patents. Bicycle Notes Changing the subject, I rode my bicycle to work today, riding the 10.5 miles (17 km) in about an hour. The economy is still in a tailspin, it takes $1.60 to buy 1 Euro this morning. On the other hand, bicycle riding is catching on in Paris, as is reported by Steven Erlanger. Bicycle sharing is also being developed in New York City, where I was born. Nate Maton is reporting in the Village Voice on What Does it Take to Turn NYC Bike Friendly? The New York Department of Transportation announced its intention to "explore the concept of bike share and investigate the feasibility of instituting such a program in New York City." The agency has issued a Request for Expressions of Interest [PDF] to determine what a bike-share program in New York might look like, and how it would function. See Streets Blog. But not only New York is getting with the program. Philadelphia (where I went to school) is developing its own program with Bike Share Philadelphia. Streets Blog is also reporting efforst to bring Bike Share to Small Cities. Robert E. Goozner- July 15, 2008 T. Boone to the Rescue Suddenly the newspapers and television are full of advertisements by Texas millionaire T. Boone Pickens about how he has come up with a solution to the energy crisis. T. Boone has not quite coherently revealed what this solution will be (maybe wind power, in which he is heavily invested). Cherrypick what you can from T. Boone's self serving web site. On the other hand, a more balanced (that is, critical) view can be found in the Seattle Post Intelligencer. Of course, T. Boone is trying to assure people by saying: "I've been an oilman my whole life." But somehow that doesn't assure me. The Bushes are also oilmen, and they have led this country into two wars in Iraq. Instead of wasting over $500 billion (and thousands of American lives) on a misbegotten project to bring democracy to a place with a 5000 year history of tyrrany and opression (and incidentally to assure a constant stream of wealth to the oil industry, of which T. Boone and the Bushes are a part), this money could have been sent on research and supporting alternative energy to make this country free of dependence on the petro-despots. But there is no plan in the U.S. to address our energy dependence. Now the hustlers, cranks and nuts are moving in with their peculiar visions. That is, the sad reality on the ground is that any incentives for alternative energy are about to die in Congress. I just received another sad email from Brad Collins of the American Solar Energy Society, which I will reproduce below. Message from Brad Collins of the American Solar Energy Society Dear Solar Supporter, Yesterday the Senate passed the Medicare "Doc Fix" bill, breaking a long standing filibuster. This breakthrough was the result of a highly energized grassroots effort by medical professionals across the country. Grassroots pressure by the solar community can produce the same result, but time is running out Next week another vote is planned for HR 6049 which extends the federal solar tax incentives currently set to expire at the end of this year. Together, we can win this vote. ASES, in partnership with SEIA, is asking you to contact your Senators TODAY and urge them to pass HR 6049, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008 and extend vital energy tax provisions. This will be one of our last opportunities this Congress for a long-term extension of the investment tax credit (ITC). Click here to locate your Senators' Washington phone number and type in your zip code. Alternatively, you can reach your Senators' offices through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-225-3121. Below are some helpful talking points: Not extending solar credits is an enormous tax increase that will cost American jobs and worsen our already struggling economy. Current federal tax credits that provide incentives to spur the growth of solar energy are set to expire at the end of the year. Without the credits the solar energy industry will lose 39,400 jobs and $8 billion in investments (Source: Navigant Consulting) Any day now the Senate will have an opportunity to extend the commercial and residential solar tax credits. Time is running out to find a bi-partisan compromise. Both sides must redouble their efforts to prevent the loss of additional jobs in our faltering economy. It is time to finally get the job done. Don't let Congress pull the plug on solar. Please forward this email to your colleagues, family, friends, and others who support solar. With sincere thanks, Brad Collins Executive Director, American Solar Energy Society Robert E. Goozner - July 11, 2008 The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues
publications
once a week, on Thursday.
Today, the USPTO issued 5,185 publications. Bicycle ThoughtsOf the 5,185 publications issued today, 33 contained the word "photovoltaic"; 32 contained the phrase "solar cell"; 104 contained the term "nano" (as in "nanotechnology"); 14 contained the word "geothermal"; and 9 contained the phrase "wind turbine". The featured publication for today is from Avraham Slook of Haifa, Israel, who developed a solar desalination apparatus for desalination of seawater or salty water, and purification of non-potable water. Tha apparatus includes at least one sensor for determining the relative position of the sun in the sky and a turning and a tilting mechanism for turning and tilting the dish towards the sun; an evaporation chamber positioned at a focal point of the solar concentrator dish, with an inlet linked to a non-potable water source; a condenser fluidically linked with the evaporation chamber for condensing vapor exiting the evaporation chamber into liquid; an outlet fluidically linked to the condenser for dispensing the condensed desalinated water; and a control unit for controlling entry of non-potable water into the evaporation chamber and for controlling the turning and tilting mechanism of the apparatus See: U.S Publication 20080164135. Robert E. Goozner - July 10, 2008 I rode my bicycle into work today, pedaling about 10.5 miles in a light drizzle. I went a bit slower than usual because I did not want to wipe out on a slick (like I did a few weeks ago). I am now fairly well organized about the bicycle commute and am doing it 3 times weekly, so I am going 63 miles per week using transportation that is not contributing to the petro economy. Sadly, a young lady on her bicycle was run over and killed by a grabage truck at Dupont Circle in D.C. yesterday. Her name was Alice Swanson, who dedicated her life to the sisyphusian goal of finding peace in the Middle East. Swanson had an internship in Washington last year at the Middle East Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. She graduated from Amherst College with a degree in Middle East history, according to the institute's Web site. I am sure that she realized that the petro economy is the greatest cause of unrest in the Middle East, and that by bicycle commuting she was doing her part in combatting it. Rest in Peace Alice. In parting, here is the link for The Washington Area Bicyclist Association. Robert E. Goozner - July 9, 2008
The United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) issues patents
once a week, on Tuesday.
Today, the USPTO issued 3,466 patents. Robert E. Goozner- July 8, 2008 The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues
publications
once a week, on Thursday.
Today, the USPTO issued 7,671 publications. Of the 7,671 publications issued today, 36 contained the word "photovoltaic"; 52 contained the phrase "solar cell"; 216 contained the term "nano" (as in "nanotechnology"); 13 contained the word "geothermal"; and 10 contained the phrase "wind turbine". The featured publication for today is from Fred Davidson et al., who developed a wind and water power generation device using a tiered monorail system forming elongated loops. Well, who can resist monorails? See: U.S Publication 20080157526. Have a happy 4th of July weekend! Robert E. Goozner - July 3, 2008 Patent Day
The United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) issues patents
once a week, on Tuesday.
Today, the USPTO issued 3,468 patents. In other news, Israel's solar energy intiatives are bearing fruit as it appears that Aplied Materials will be installing solar panels on the roofs of the Israeeli firm Millenium Electric. The panels, which will produce 300-350 kilowatts of electricity per hour, will be installed on the rooftops of the company's three buildings, located at the Rehovot Science Park. This was reported byAvi Bar-Eli in Haaretz. Robert E. Goozner- July 1, 2008 Stolen Solar Cells A few months back in November I reported on solar cells being stolen in Europe, especially in Germany where there is a large marked for solar panels. Now solar cells are being stolen in the United States. For example, thirty-nine solar panels valued at $31,200 were stolen from Hearst Elementary School in Pleasanton, California about a week ago, as is reported by Emily Atwood in the Pleasanton Weekly. Stolen solar cells are also starting to appear on Craig's List. WSJ Goes Nuclear Today's Wall Street Journal had a section on nuclear energy. On the inside, there was a brief article panning the high cost of solar energy. However, all the suppositions were based on the cost of old technology solar cells based on polycrystalline silicon. According to the WSJ, the cost of these cells is about $8.25 per watt, of which 50% of which represents the polycrystalline silicon cells. This works out to about $40,000 to convert an average house to solar energy. This reflects currently available technology. The WSJ failed to mention the new thin film technologies that are coming on stream. These new thin film technologies should halve the cost to about $20,000 per house. On the other hand, the housing market is collapsing, and it isn't clear where cash strapped homeowners could get that time of money when their houses are taking on negative value. But say what, wasn't the McCain campain going to offer a $600 million prize for batteries (which smells an awful lot like a give-away to Exxon/Mobil). That $600 million would pay to convert 30,000 houses to the new thin film solar technologies. And how about the $16 billion in tax breaks to the oil companies? That $16 billion in tax breaks could alternately convert 800,000 houses to solar energy at $20,000 per house. Robert E. Goozner - June 30, 2008 Hawaii has become the first state in theUnited States to require the installation of solar water heaters in new single-family homes. Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday signed into law a bill requiring home builders to include solar water heaters in new single-family dwellings beginning in 2010. The new law prohibits the issuance of building permits for single-family homes that do not include a solar water heater system beginning Jan. 1, 2010. On the other hand, such a mandate eliminates homeowners' right to choose how to power their homes, and developers have warned it would drive up home building costs. Opponents have also criticized the legislation because it restricts the state tax credit for solar water heaters to homes for which a building permit was issued before 2010. For more see Lynda Arakawa's account in the Honolulu Advertiser. Robert E. Goozner - June 27, 2008 The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues
publications
once a week, on Thursday.
Today, the USPTO issued 7,264 publications. News From IsraelOf the 7,264 publications issued today, 53 contained the word "photovoltaic"; 64 contained the phrase "solar cell"; 188 contained the term "nano" (as in "nanotechnology"); 24 contained the word "geothermal"; and 29 contained the phrase "wind turbine". The featured publication for today is from Gene S. Fein et al., who developed a method and system for providing reporting and billing information in an installed energy roadway system tied in with a geothermal infrastructure. . See: U.S Publication 20080154801. Solar Sweat Shops in Germany The German newsmagazine Spiegel is reporting that German labor unions are complaining about the poor pay and working conditions in solar cell fabs, especially in the underdeveloped eastern part of the country. The pay is about 10% under East German levels and about 30% under West German levels If you can read German, the article can be found here. On the other hand, the German solar energy companies are flush with money. For example, the Annual General Meeting of Q-Cells AG today (Thursday) adopted all of the presented items on the agenda by a large majority. In addition to approving retention of all the net income for 2007 to strengthen the capital base and fund further growth, the shareholders agreed to a possible raising of option and/or convertible bonds in the aggregate principal amount of up to € 5 billion, as is touted in Q-Cells' press release. Robert E. Goozner - June 26, 2008 The Jeruslam Post has searched the Israel Patent Office libray computer and found that wind and wave energy patent requests are increasing. One of the players is German busnessman Aloys Wobben (I featured one of his patents yesterday) who in 2002, filed a request to patent an idea that emerged out of the tragedy of September 11, 2001: to protect nuclear power plants from suicide airliners by erecting wind turbines all around the plant. According to Wobben, any plane targeting a nuclear power plant would either blow itself up when a wind turbine sheared into it, or the plane would be unable to change course fast enough to hit the nuclear power plant after lifting up over the wind turbines. Last week, California energy company, BrightSource Energy and its Israeli subsidiary LUZ II, unveiled a solar field in Israel that will test new technology the company plans to use during the construction of several massive solar power plants in California next year. The new solar field, with its 60 metre-high tower and some 1,641 mirrors, sits on about 12,000 square metres of Israel's southern Negev Desert. While it is capable of generating 1.5 megawatts, it does not produce electricity for public use, but rather test the technologies that will power future plants, which will be about 50 times larger than the one in Israel. BrightSource Energy and its Israel subsidary LUZ II are currently at the forefront of a global race to find energy alternatives to replace fossil fuels. A race that analysts estimate is worth over 150 billion U.S. dollars per year. A video of the event can be found on infolive.tv. Robert E. Goozner - June 25, 2008 PIGGY PIGGY PIGGY When Ed Koch was mayor of New York City
a consortium of developers proposed to erect an monstrous apartment
building in Manhattan that would have blocked most of the daylight in
the southern end of central park. Ed Koch managed to instatntly
deep six this project by describing the developers as being "greedy
greedy greedy piggy piggy piggy." Recently I have been mulling over ExxonMobil's ad campain about their contributions to lithium ion battery technology. I even saw a TV ad this last weekend that featured Pat Brant, their R&D poster boy whose technical acheivements in lithium ion battery technology is less than clear. This advertising campain has indeed fallen on fertile ground. The McCain campain has issued a press release proposing a $300 million prize for battery technology, which can be found on the McCain Website. The press release states: John McCain Will Propose A $300 Million Prize To Improve Battery Technology For Full Commercial Development Of Plug-In Hybrid And Full Electric Automobiles. A $300 million prize should be awarded for the development of a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars. That battery should deliver a power source at 30 percent of the current costs. At $300 million, the prize is one dollar for every man, woman and child in this country -- and a small price to pay for breaking our dependence on oil. At the risk of being accused of amounting to just another internet crank, this seems to fit a little bit too well. Not only has ExxonMobil helped to kill the Energy Bill in order to preserve the $16 billion in tax breaks for the oil companies, it seems that they have also convinced the McCain campain to propose $300 million R&D prize for which ExxonMobil will be a front runner. ExxonMobil's solution to the energy crisis (via McCain) is to double dip. Greedy greedy greedy piggy piggy piggy. To be brief, this country needs a better energy policy than allowing the oil companies to double dip: tax breaks on one end and R&D funding (or better yet a "prize," which is free money without any acountability) on the other end.Also, this type of thing is not helping McCain to convince the American public that he is not just Bush (a creature of the oil companies) warmed over. * * * * * Patent
Day
The United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) issues patents
once a week, on Tuesday.
Today, the USPTO issued 3,487patents. Exxon Greening Frequently the advertisements in the Washington Post (WAPO) are more interesting than the articles. Yesterday ExxonMobil had an article on page A-17 of WAPO with the title "better batteries, better cars." The advertisement touted the achievements of Pat Brant as contributing to lithium-ion battery technology, using "hydrocarbon based polymers." So I checked him out and found he was an inventor on 21 patents. However, the bulk of Brant's work seems to be in the field of stretch/cling films, which are for packaging purposes. He also worked on polymers for adhesives. As a result, if any of Brant's polymers are being used as lithium-ion battery membranes, it may have come about as ExxonMobil was going through their library of polymers looking for suitable membrane materials. This type of screening is frequently performed at the behest of customers and is not internal. This scenario makes sense given the primary directive of ExxonMobil's chemical division of selling petrochemicals, and not developing alternative energy technology. Although ExxonMobil is trying to make the impression that there is a concerted effort in green technologies going on, this still isn't clear (besides the efforts of their Japanese affiliate Tonen). These advertisements represent efforts by ExxonMobils marketing people to better their image, which is in poor shape given current energy costs. I also believe that today's high energy prices are to be blamed on the large oil companies, even if they do profit from them. However, I would be more convinced of ExxonMobils commitment to alternative energy if they would give a thorough overview of their R&D efforts and not dish out snippets, such as in yesterday's WAPO. Robert E. Goozner - June 20, 2008 The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues
publications
once a week, on Thursday.
Today, the USPTO issued 7,033 publications. Patent
Day Of the 7,033 publications issued today, 46 contained the word "photovoltaic"; 56 contained the phrase "solar cell"; 163 contained the term "nano" (as in "nanotechnology"); 11 contained the word "geothermal"; and 18 contained the phrase "wind turbine". The most interesting publications for today was a series from Nanosolar (the inventors being Dong Yu, Jacqueline Fidanza and Brian M. Sager) pertaining to solution-based fabrication of photovoltaic cells. The technology is about ink containing nanoparticles. It looks like Nanosolar is moving ahead in the direction of using ink-jet printing technology to produce solar cells. . See: U.S Publication 20080142080, U.S. Publication 20080142081, U.S. Publication 20080142082, U.S. Publication 200801420803 and U.S. Publication 20080142084. Robert E. Goozner - June 19, 2008
The United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) issues patents
once a week, on Tuesday.
Today, the USPTO issued 3,131patents. Stern Covers Washington BikesOf the 3,131 patents issued today, 17 contained the word "photovoltaic"; 12 contained the phrase "solar cell"; 52 contained the term "nano" (as in "nanotechnology"); 4 contained the word "geothermal"; and 4 contained the term "wind turbine". My favorite patent for today is that of Alan D. Mattichak of Port Republick, VA, who developed a portable solar energy system including photovoltiac cels, a battery and an inverter. See: USP 7,388,348. In recent news Bosch announced further expansion into solar energy by buying Ersol for over 1 billion Euros. However, Forbes reports that this will probably not represent the beinning of a wave of mergers and aquisitions in the solar energy field. Problems include a shortage of solar-grade silicon, which will not abate until the new thin film technologies come on line. However, Bosch has set up a stub for its new BoschSolar web site. Robert E. Goozner - June 17, 2008 Stern, one of Germany's major picture newsmagazines, has posted a pictorial article about biking to work in Washington, D.C., which can be found here.
If you can read German you will notice the very snide tone of the
article. One translated bit is: "it was previously unthinkable
that American consumers would give up their gas gobbling SUVs with the
full tilt air conditioning and the 250 watt surround sound systems." Google Plugs Plug-in Hybrids in WashingtonThe article is about the efforts of SmartBikeDC, which uses concepts based on bike sharing programs in Europe. The Stern article sniffs that only only 120 bikes are offered at 10 stations for a 5 million person city. However, deeper in the article segues into complaints about bike sharing programs in Germany, which are run by the German Railway. Renting a bike from the German Railway (Deutsches Bahn - DB) is very complicated and involves donwloading passwords from cell phones. When I was in Berlin last month I took the simpler route and rented a bike from Fat Tire. What Stern didn't mention is that there is already a large number of people commuting to work in the D.C.area already. For Example, I rode into work this morning on my bicycle, and I only had to deal with 4 stop lights on my 10.5 mile commute from Arlington to Alexandria. For a better handle on the DC bicycle scene one can look at the Arlington County Bike Map or the Washington Bike Map. Robert E. Goozner - June 16, 2008
This week, Google.org and the Brookings Institution have been hosting a conference on plug-in vehicles in Washington, D.C. Google's coverage of Wednesday's proceedings included the finding that our current electric grid could power 73% of our vehicles if we
charged them at night. Energy Bill on Senate FloorToday's session includes a panel moderated by Tom Friedman. The lively discussion covered topics including policy leadership, innovative business models, the potential for plug-ins to become ‘greener’ over time, and the security and stability of the grid. Two important themes emerged – the importance of plug-ins and clean energy for U. S. economic competitiveness and the policy and leadership needed to make this industry transformation a reality. Robert E. Goozner - June 13, 2008 Publication
Day The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues publications once a week, on Thursday. Today, the USPTO issued 7,026 publications. Of the 7,026 publications issued today, 52 contained the word "photovoltaic"; 51 contained the phrase "solar cell"; 185 contained the term "nano" (as in "nanotechnology"); 11 contained the word "geothermal"; and 7 contained the phrase "wind turbine". My favorite publication for today is from Loucas Tsakalakos et al. of Gerneral Electric, who developed graded hybrid amorphous silicon nanowire solar cells including elongated nanostructures. . See: U.S Publication 20080135089. Another interesting publication is that of Bor Z. Jang et al. of Centerville, Ohio, who developed a home hydrogen fueling station including photovoltaic cells. See: U.S. Publication 20080135403. Robert E. Goozner - June 12, 2008 The Energy Bill is now on the floor of the Senate, if it hasn't been killed already by the Republicans at the behest of the oil compnies(who are trying to keep their tax breaks). In light of this, today's Washington Post had two pages of advertisements from alternative energy interests, including the American Wind Energy Association and Vestas. On the other hand, the carbon-based energy companies weighed in with their own full page ad from Energy Tomrrow. Sometimes the most interesting things in the Washington Post are the advertisements and not the articles. However, it is important to contact your senator and weigh in with your support for alternative energy. Below I am reprinting an email I received yesterday from Brad Collins of the American Solar Energy Society. Dear Solar Supporter,
Thanks for your action and your ongoing support -- and for
letting your Senators know that solar energy, energy efficiency, and other
sustainable technologies are important to you.
The United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) issues patents
once a week, on Tuesday.
Today, the USPTO issued 3,844 patents. Exxon's Lithium-ion Battery MembraneOf the 3,844 patents issued today, 9 contained the word "photovoltaic"; 12 contained the phrase "solar cell"; 70 contained the term "nano" (as in "nanotechnology"); 5 contained the word "geothermal"; and 5 contained the term "wind turbine". My favorite patent for today is that of Andre Wacinski of Eotheme Sarl in Switzerland, NM, who developed a windmill with two counter-rotative propellers. See: USP 7,384,239. It is very hot, but the weather should break today. I'll try to ride my bike to work tomorrow. Robert E. Goozner - June 10, 2008 Exxon has been touting its contribution to hybrid car technology. As early as May 8, 2007, Exxon (actually Exxon-Mobil) issued a press release announcing production of a high preformance membrane formed high heat resistant polymers for improved separator properties in lithium-ion batteries. The research and production was through Exxon's affiliate Tonen Chemicals. Searching the USPTO web site found 16 patents on point. A typical (and the most recent patent) is by Hidehiko Funaoka et al. for microporous polyolefin film in U.S. Patent 6,824,865. The technology is a nice piece of classical polymer chemistry in which domains having fibrils and lamellae are incorporated into the polymer matrix. The advance was achieved, in part, by tweaking the extrusion process so as to prevent shrinkage. So Exxon, through its Tonen affilaite, is not producing batteries, but battery components. What's interesting is that Exxon is producing technology for hybrid vehicles that have reduced gas consumption. This may seem counterintuitive because one would think that hybrid cars use less gas, and Exxon is in the business of selling gas. However, extremely efficient cars would result in gas prices of say $10 per gallon being bearable to the consumers, because the next generation of plug-in hybrids will be getting the once unimagineable mileage of 100 miles per gallon. And oil companies such as Exxon work on mark ups. So if Exxon is making 16%, a gallon of $4.00 gas would yield a profit of $0.64. However, a gallon of $10.00 gas in your 100 mpg plug-in hybrid would yield a profit of $1.60. So this is a win-win situation for Exxon. "Do you know the only thing that gives me pleasure? It's to see my dividends coming in." - John D. Rockefeller Robert E. Goozner - June 9, 2008 There has been some buzz (much self-created in their advertisements) about Exxon's lithium ion batteries replacing nickle hydride batteries in hybrid vehicles. So I decided to take a look at what they are patenting. Publication
Day
A quick search indicated that Exxon has 43 patents that are on point. Most of these patents are to researcher's at the Florham Park, NJ facility. One typical patent is to Daniel J. Eustace et al. for an improved electrolyte for a Li/TiS based system. See U.S. Patent 4,416,960. Another typical patent is to Bhaskara M.L. Rao for a grid for a lithium electrode in a lithium organic electrolyte cell containing dioxolane. See U.S. Patent 4,264,690. However, I did not see any recent patents (post 1990s). So I decided to to change my search terms to "Exxon AND battery" and still did not get anything very recent. See here. So, even given my sloppy searching, wherer are the patents? Is Exxon going the trade secret route? On the other hand, the patents could be held via a subsidary or a holding company. I'll be looking into this some more. Robert E. Goozner - June 6, 2008
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues
publications
once a week, on Thursday.
Today, the USPTO issued 7,005 publications. Biking to WorkOf the 7,005 publications issued today, 44 contained the word "photovoltaic"; 39 contained the phrase "solar cell"; 158 contained the term "nano" (as in "nanotechnology"); 21 contained the word "geothermal"; and 7 contained the phrase "wind turbine". My favorite publication for today is from Reginald Parker et al. of Tallahassee Florida, who developed a biologically photoconductive organic dispersion including nanotubes and a biopolymer. . See: U.S Publication 20080131798. Another interesting publication is that of Oh-Shim Joo et al. of Seoul, Korea who developed a photoelectrochemical (PEC) system for the production of hydrogen from water. See: U.S. Publication 20080131762. Robert E. Goozner - June 5, 2008 I rode my bicycle into work yesterday. From my house near Glebe road I went to Old
Dominion and then made a left onto In the evening I took the reverse route. The hardest part is the end of the trip from The amount of fossil fuel used on my commute was zero, if you discount the squirt of 3-In-1-Oil I put on the bike chain. Today I drove into work in my Prius. Tomorrow I am planning to commute by bike again. I am blessed to be able to take advantage of the super bike trails in the Washington D.C. area. A map showing much of my route can be found here. Robert E. Goonzer - June 4, 2008
The United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) issues patents
once a week, on Tuesday.
Today, the USPTO issued 3,840 patents.
Bicycles in BerlinOf the 3,840 patents issued today, 12 contained the word "photovoltaic"; 10 contained the phrase "solar cell"; 54 contained the term "nano" (as in "nanotechnology"); 6 contained the word "geothermal"; and 3 contained the term "wind turbine". My favorite patent for today is that of Daniel J. Aiken et al. of Emcore Corporation in Albuquerque, NM, who developed a terrestrial solar array including Fresnel lenses as concentrators. See: USP 7,381,886. I rode my bicycle into work today, which was about 10.5 miles. This means that this evening I will ride my bike home to Arlington, which is another 10.5 miles. Robert E. Goozner - June 3, 2008 My recent vist to Berlin gave me an inkling the future of transportation in a world where energy is very expensive. First, Berlin has a very extensive and efficient public transportation network. It is possible to reach any point in Berlin by subway, streetcar or bus. You never see anyone running for the bus or train in Berlin because there is always another one coming along in a couple of minutes. Although admittedly since Berlin is the capitol, the city gets more funding for public transportation than other cities in Germany. However, the most notable aspect of transportation in Berlin is the pervasive presence of bicycles. Bicycles are in use and are tied up everywhere, for example, as can be seen from this picture taken at the corner of the extremely trendy Bergmannstrasse and Mehringdamm in Kreutzberg. BICYCLES IN BERLIN Berlin is also very flat (except for one or two places like Prenzlauer Berg), and it is easy to bicycle everywhere. The city has layed out bicycle paths in red brick, and I even saw special stop lights for bicycles. I also became a bicycle person in Berlin and rented a bike from Fat Tire, who gave me a 3 speed bike (that's all the gears you need in Berlin) for 57 Euros for 1 week. I even went to the trademark convention and business appointments in my nice business suit on the bike, and I was not the only person in a business suit to be seen on a bike. As a result, I was getting around the city using a minimum of energy. Another advantage is the biofuel necessary for bicycle transportation, below. TRAILS END IN BERLIN  This beer was so pretty it took me awhile before I could bring myself to drink it. After the trademark convention was over I had a couple of free days for R&R. On the last day I spent 7 hours on the bicycle and went all over the city, which has a great deal of history, some of it very bad. I also managed to see some old friends. Now that I am back in the D.C. area, I am thinking about getting organized to bicycle to work. Although it is 10 miles from my home in Arlington to my office in Alexandria, there are extensive bike paths and a substantial amount of the way (besides the Potomac river) is flat. As this new age of expensive energy continues, I expect to see much more use of bicycles for transportation in the U.S.A. Robert E. Goozner - May 30, 2008 Patent Attorney
Office River-Vu
My law firm, Young & Thompson, moved into nice new offices at the northern edge of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. Somehow I was given a prestigious (but not corner) office with a view of the Potomac river. Although you can barely see it, the Alexandria boathouse is at the end of Madison street, and one can see the rowing team practice in the late afternoon.
The Goozner
Solar Review arises from my
long standing interest in all
forms of alternative energy. This not only includes solar
energy,
but all kinds of energy that are non-carbon based. Above,
you
see me in front of the geothermal project at the University of Aachen
(Germany). The geothermal energy is obtained by sinking a
shaft
about 1km straight into the ground, and exploiting the temperature
gradient between the abyss and the surface. This shaft will
supply most of the energy used by the University.
LINKS
  |
BOB
GOOZNER'S
PATENTS
Before I became a patent attorney, I worked in the alternative
energy and environmental fields as a scientist and engineer.
I also was an inventor on several patents, including:
SOLAR COOKER PROJECT
All alternative
energy
is not necessarily high tech. Even low tech
solutions may
have a great impact on people's lives.
For example, you may wish to consider the Solar Cooker Project, which aids Darfur refugees. |
|||||||||||||||||
|
COPYRIGHT © 2008 Robert E. Goozner ALL RIGHTS RESERVED |
