Green Friendly California

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The head of Microsoft Corp’s $9 billion research unit thinks the debate over stopping climate change is being muddied by talk of renewable energy.

Efforts should be focused on stopping output of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas which helps heat the planet, rather than moving to a source that can be regenerated, said Craig Mundie, the man who replaced Bill Gates as the world’s largest software maker’s futurist.

Conservation and radical technologies, including new nuclear, could be key, he said.

“If you talk to the man on the street, there is a lot more awareness of the concept of renewable energy than there is about the need for a zero-carbon source,” said Mundie, Microsoft Chief Research and Strategy Officer, in an interview on the sidelines of a major electricity conference.

Even industry insiders were not looking hard enough at “the scarier or less understood technological approaches,” he said.

The U.S. Congress is considering a massive climate bill and nations globally are preparing to negotiate a follow up to the Kyoto climate change treaty at the end of this year. Development of solar power, wind and other ‘clean’ energy sources are hot topics globally.

But the fastest way to cut carbon output is to cut use, Mundie offered.

“The first crucial step we have to take across the board is conservation,” he said in the speech at the Edison Electric Institute after introducing software for consumers to monitor their own power use, called Hohm.

He argued that humans will need energy alternatives that can be built in large arrays quickly to meet the demands of a growing, developing planet, and saw one such possibility as nuclear.

“I’m probably more enchanted with the idea of these novel nuclear approaches than any other one technology. There’s wind, there’s solar, there’s tides, there’s geothermal, but I think each of these is going to be more challenging to harness at some very large scale,” he said, stressing that he was not giving his company’s official policy.

He referred in particular to research work on traveling-wave reactors, a technology that aims to use slow-burning reactions in waste fuel from current plants.

“I think it would be a fascinating outcome if we woke up 10 years from now and said look, you can have all the nuclear you want, it doesn’t have a weapons problem related to it, the cost of fuel is relatively low, there’s no reprocessing requirements. It would be kind of a silver bullet for the energy problem.”

The provincial reconstruction team for eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province has planned and implemented a concept that uses alternative energy to power the Sharana District Center Hospital.

“It is a benefit, because we can afford something that requires little to no maintenance for them, and little to no operating cost, so it’s much more sustainable than generators,” said Navy Lt. j.g. Ryan Thrun, an engineer with the provincial reconstruction team.

The project is contracted out to Sustainable Energy Sources of Afghanistan, a non-government agency that will provide solar and wind alternatives.

“It is going to be two wind turbines, which will produce 7.5 kilowatts an hour,” Thurn said. “There will also be 24 solar panels installed on the top of the roof, which will provide 200 watts each per hour.”

While the additions won’t provide all of the hospital’s power, they will supplement the current energy sources.

“This is equivalent to a 15-kilowatt generator, based on our assessment of the typical efficiency and amount of wind that we anticipate,” Thrun explained. “It will be sufficient to supply lighting power to the hospital. The hospital is still going to require generator use to run heating and cooling, and the cooler for the mortuary.”

Besides offering a low-maintenance solution, the wind and solar generation will considerably reduce monthly overhead costs.

“To run a 10-kilowatt generator each month costs approximately $800,” Thurn said, “so it is at least an $800 per month savings.”

To remedy the typical alternative energy challenges such as lack of wind or sunlight, the provincial reconstruction team plans to use an energy storage system.

“It is not going to operate at maximum efficiency all the time; obviously, at night, they won’t get solar power,” Thurn said. “However, there is a structure that will be installed with power inverters and battery banks to store all the generated electricity that is not being used.”

The project’s results will be used as research to determine whether similar projects should be undertaken throughout Paktika province.

“This will be the first wind and solar project of this size for Paktika,” Thurn said. “It’s a test pilot project. The analysis at the hospital found that it would be a feasible project, and it will be used to support research done on the benefit of [alternative energy] for the rest of the province.”

The provincial reconstruction team and the Paktika government directors expect development and use of these projects to increase over the coming years.

“Anecdotally, looking at the wind and the amount of sunlight here, alternate power should be sought-after and implemented at facilities of this size,” said Navy Lt. David Bennett, the team’s physician assistant, who works alongside Dr. Abdul Mateen, the provincial health director, to assess and improve the health-care situation in Paktika. The director and local residents are excited and enthusiastic about the program, Bennett said.

In addition to the alternative energy solutions, the provincial reconstruction team has focused on several aspects of refurbishment for the hospital.

“We have several projects right now,” Thrun said. “We are redoing the road that goes around the hospital, we repaired the roof structure, we are constructing a kitchen building and a mortuary with all the necessary equipment and furnishing. We are also putting in some apartments for the family members of the patients.”

Bennett said the hospital treats more than 100,000 patients each year.