CHATSWORTH, Calif., Aug. 16, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Capstone Turbine Corporation the world’s leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, announced today it has initiated a demonstration project with TATSA, an Argentine bus manufacturer that will use a Capstone hybrid electric drive system — which features a C65 microturbine — as a clean, efficient range extender for a transit bus.

This will be one of the first applications of Capstone’s new Drive Solution in a transit bus. In addition to a natural gas 65-kilowatt microturbine, Capstone will provide the series hybrid drive solution, including drive motor, inverter system, and vehicle power interface module. The Capstone Drive Solution offers significant advantages over more traditional prime movers because it achieves high efficiency with alternative fuels while maintaining ultra-low emissions.

“We are pursuing eco-friendly drive train solutions for our range of buses and recognize the benefits the Capstone microturbine system offers our customers,” said TATSA CEO Vicente San Salvador. “The demonstration project is for a transit bus operating on natural gas. We have a unique opportunity to manufacture a high efficiency, low emissions bus and then have our parent company, Grupo Plaza, validate the performance and financial benefits in actual transit operation.”

The Capstone Drive Solution is suitable for a range of electric vehicle applications, from passenger cars to Class 8 trucks, delivery vehicles, buses, as well as construction equipment and marine applications. The Capstone Drive Solution makes it easy for vehicle, equipment manufacturers and boat builders to integrate Capstone C30 and C65 microturbines into a series hybrid electric vehicle or vessel.

The inverters and traction motors are mobile-hardened and engineered for these demanding applications.

“We are working with vehicle OEMs and boat builders that want to improve efficiency and reduce emissions of their products,” said Jim Crouse, Capstone’s Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “This project with TATSA demonstrates that transit companies are seeking new technologies to meet increasingly stringent emissions requirements and to reduce the carbon footprint of their fleets.”

“A successful demonstration of the Capstone Drive Solution in this transit application can have an immediate impact, because the bus manufacturer also is the bus operator,” said Darren Jamison, Capstone President and CEO. “This latest project will build on our recent success with other hybrid electric vehicles and vessels.”

TATSA (Tecnologia Avanzada en Transporte S.A.) (www.tatsa.com.ar) is a forerunner in the development of public transport vehicles. The company is a member of GRUPO PLAZA, one of the largest transportation companies in South America founded 50 years ago. Among the diverse segments of transportation in Argentina and its neighboring countries, GRUPO PLAZA moves 180 million passengers annually with over 1,700 buses.

by stuart on July 13, 2010

Solar and wind power projects are much in vogue this year supported on the one side by environmentalists keen to see us move to a low carbon future regardless of the cost and on the other by politicians keen to secure funding for their regions that could lead to employment and favorable headlines. Am I being unduly critical in those comments? May be, I am sure most of those involved are motivated by the best of intentions but sometimes when everyone jumps on the same bandwagon some more deserving causes get overlooked in the headlong rush to subsidize this or that. The technology being overlooked and which is capable of delivering so much more than wind power or solar power for a fraction of the cost is Co-generation or Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Technology.

CHP can be applied to pretty much any process that involves the production of electricity or thermal energy, by which I mean supplying heat for industrial or commercial activities. Take electricity production for example, according to Richard Munson, Senior VP Strategy of Recycled Energy Development (RED) quoted in a YouTube recording of a short but interesting speech recently that the energy efficiency of electricity generation has barely changed since Eisenhower was in the White House. It still takes 3 units of fuel to make one unit of electricity. The balance 67% is wasted as heat and yet the focus is on trying to remove at great cost the CO2 from that waste, rather than finding ways to reduce the amount of electricity required in the first place or trying to produce more energy from the original three units of fuel than the paltry 33% efficiency rate that is the norm. The same can be said of many industrial processes, in a recent article on FoxNews Michael Tobin makes a compelling case for the application of CHP by describing the example of ArcelorMittal at a steel plant of theirs in East Chicago. AM takes coal and reduces it in coke ovens to pure carbon coke used in the smelting of iron in the company’s blast furnaces. This is done in some 260 coke ovens where the coal is heated and in a controlled burn the impurities are driven off – in the process a huge amount of heat is consumed and released.  AM partnered with RED and installed boilers on the top of these coke ovens to capture the heat before it dissipated into the atmosphere. The steam from the boilers was then used to generate some 220 MW of electricity and in the process AM saved US$100 million per year. In fact that one project is said to generate more clean energy than all the clean energy projects in the US MidWest.

West Virginia Alloys, a silicon producer, reduces quartz to silicon in furnaces heated to 3000 degrees requiring a huge input of thermal energy. They then cooled the product with chillers so that it could be handled and stored. By incorporating a CHP system WV Alloys now generates 45-50 MW of electricity and saves US$65m per year. As a result, they have become so efficient the business has expanded, they have added a new furnace and employed an additional 30 workers.

Saving the planet needn’t cost money, it can be a great money spinner. 69% of all CO2 emissions in the US comes from electricity generation and thermal power production yet nearly all the financial incentives are poured into car emissions and wind/solar power production.

The good news according to a Chicago Tribune article is that opportunities for similar efficiency gains abound in the US. According to the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a large-scale expansion of co-generation could provide 20% of U.S. generating capacity by 2030, generate $234 billion in new investment, and create nearly 1 million jobs. Such an expansion would also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 800 million tons per year, the equivalent of taking more than half the current U.S. passenger vehicles off the road.

And hey here is one other big advantage of CHP. Unlike solar panels or wind turbines the US doesn’t import this technology or the jobs that go with it from abroad. Although the US lags many other parts of the world in applying the technology it is more than capable of applying the techniques via home grown engineering firms.

–Stuart Burns

http://www.cogeneration.org/news/2010/100503_NewLoopEnergy.pdf

CHATSWORTH, Calif., May 17, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Capstone Turbine Corporation (Nasdaq:CPST), the world’s leading clean-technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, today announced it is working with trucking company US 1 Industries and CalMotors to install a Capstone C65 in a Class 8 tractor-trailer truck. The ultra low-emission C65 will serve as the on-board generator.

US 1 Industries (OTCBB:USOO), which operates over 1,400 trucks across the United States, will work with Capstone and CalMotors to install the low emission, microturbine powered electric drive system in a US 1 Class 8 truck that will serve the Port of Los Angeles and areas within 30 to 50 miles of the port. Class 8 trucks are large tractor-trailer trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating above 33,000 pounds (14,969 kilograms).

CalMotors, a green-focused company in Southern California that develops high quality electric and hybrid powertrain systems for cars, truck and other vehicles, identified the Class 8 truck as an excellent application for a Capstone microturbine.

“The Capstone turbine is well suited as an on-board generator in trucks because of its outstanding emission profile, high efficiency and low vibration and noise levels,” said CalMotors Chief Executive Officer Mike Kasaba.

Today’s hybrid-electric vehicles offer low emissions when driving in electric mode. However, their range is extremely short between battery charges. A microturbine dramatically extends the driving range of an HEV vehicle.

“Capstone already has a strong track record in installing microturbines in buses, and we’ve initiated a similar program for cars, trucks and boats,” said Jim Crouse, Capstone’s Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “The large number of trucks operating around the world, combined with trucking executives’ desire to reduce fuel and maintenance costs, and government programs to limit vehicle emissions, make Capstone microturbines the ideal technology for vehicles.”

The US 1 truck initially will operate on 100 percent battery power in zero-emissions mode. Then, when the batteries reach a pre-determined state of discharge, the Capstone microturbine will quietly and efficiently recharge the batteries on the fly to extend the driving range.

“US 1 wants to promote the use of trucks that operate with less emissions,” said US 1 Chief Financial Officer Hal Antonson. “Capstone microturbines are the key to significantly reducing truck emissions while extending the trucks’ range much farther than what’s available in electric-only vehicles today.”

He continued, “The Port of Los Angeles has a strict Clean Truck Program for freight-hauling vehicles that serve the port. By teaming with Capstone, US 1 will be a leader in reducing air pollution in and around this port and, eventually, in port cities across the United States.”

US 1 and Capstone will gather data from the prototype truck for several months, then plan to install similar systems in additional US 1 trucks.

Capstone microturbines produce ultra-low emissions and require less maintenance than traditional combustion engines found in today’s vehicles. The microturbines can run on diesel, bio-diesel, propane and natural gas. Capstone recently was awarded a Department of Energy grant to develop a flex-fuel turbine that will operate on agricultural syngas and hydrogen.

About Capstone Turbine Corporation

Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com) is the world’s leading producer of low-emission microturbine systems, and was the first to market commercially viable microturbine energy products. Capstone Turbine has shipped over 5,000 Capstone MicroTurbine(R) systems to customers worldwide. These award-winning systems have logged millions of documented runtime operating hours. Capstone Turbine is a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Combined Heat and Power Partnership, which is committed to improving the efficiency of the nation’s energy infrastructure and reducing emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases. A UL-Certified ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 certified company; Capstone is headquartered in the Los Angeles area with sales and/or service centers in the New York Metro Area, Mexico City, Nottingham, Shanghai and Singapore.

by Diane Ivey

Taylorville Energy Center, a proposed “clean coal” power plant, is backed by supporters for its eco-friendliness and job creation potential, but some environmental and business groups say the project may cause more harm than good for Illinois.

Taylorville Energy Center, which could generate enough electricity to power about 600,000 homes, is currently under review by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Project backers have submitted their financial report to the ICC in hopes of receiving state subsidies. If the state approves the costs, every utility in Illinois will be required to purchase up to five percent of its power from Taylorville Energy Center.

According to studies by Tenaska, the international power development company managing the project, nearly 10 million labor hours would be needed to build the power plant, resulting in nearly 2,500 construction jobs and hundreds of permanent plant and mining jobs.

But the STOP Coalition, a group of business and trade associations, says the mandatory five percent may actually promote job loss, not job growth.

Philip O’Connor, a member of the STOP Coalition and former chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission, says the Taylorville Energy Center will drive up electricity costs, causing long-term expenses that may force businesses into layoffs.

“If one were to increase energy costs by these amounts, then businesses and consumers will have to compensate by reducing their spending in other areas,” O’Connor says. “The consequence of that is a loss of employment and other economic activity.”

Residential and small business customers would pay about two percent more for electricity and utilities, O’Connor says. Larger businesses could see an increase from three to seven percent, he says.

“At the end of the day, the Taylorville Energy Center, as proposed, would irrefutably and significantly raise electric rates for all Illinois consumers,” he says. “The decision by the state legislature on Taylorville will be felt for decades.”

Clean Coal Illinois, a group that supports the Energy Center, says the proposed plant will capture and store underground up to 50 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, cutting carbon emissions to levels comparable to that of a plant fueled by clean-burning natural gas. The plant will also use 70 percent less water than conventional plants, the organization says.

The power plant proposes to gasify coal into synthetic gas, which would then be either burned to create electricity, or sold to natural gas companies. Turning coal into gas reduces emissions, the Energy Center says, creating a “clean coal” power plant.

Opponents say the Energy Center’s financial estimates are unreliable, and it would be risky for Illinois to agree to their plan. According to the Illinois Sierra Club, the project has already received up to $25 million from state grants, approval for $500 million in loan guarantees from the Illinois Finance Authority and approval for $2.5 billion in loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Energy.

“This plant is being propped up by ratepayer, state and federal taxpayer money that would be better spent on cleaner, proven energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies,” says Becki Clayborn, regional representative of the Sierra Club. “Instead, the state is taking on all the investment risk of building an experimental power plant that will still emit up to 3 million tons of global warming pollution annually, while Taylorville Energy Center is taking practically zero risk on this project. The state and ratepayers are taking almost all the risk.”

The ICC is slated to submit a report to the General Assembly analyzing the facility’s projected costs and environmental impact. April 16 was the deadline to submit comments or documents for or against the project.

The Illinois Commerce Commission received more than 1,100 public comments regarding the proposed power plant, which would be located a mile northeast of Taylorville.

To view the Energy Center’s report, visit www.icc.illinois.gov.

WASHINGTON, Apr 15, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) –Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com ) (Nasdaq:CPST), the world’s leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, joined more than 80 business, labor, environmental and government organizations this week urging Congress to adopt a new tax policy to significantly enhance industrial energy efficiency. If adopted, the United States can expect increased manufacturing competitiveness, creation of new jobs and reduced pollution.

On April 12, Capstone and other supporters sent letters to the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee asking for tax credits to expand use of combined heat and power (CHP) and waste-energy recovery. Both technologies are capable of roughly doubling the energy efficiency of an industrial plant or other energy user. The result is significantly lowered energy costs and a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

“Capstone’s American-made, ultra clean microturbine products have helped customers worldwide reduce energy consumption and lower pollution for more than a decade,” said Darren Jamison, President and CEO. “An increased tax credit will enable future customers to purchase the cleanest and most efficient technologies available and receive shorter paybacks.”

Supporters of industrial and commercial energy efficiency are asking for passage of the bipartisan S. 1639, which is sponsored by Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). The supporters are also requesting passage of H.R. 4144, which is sponsored by Representative Jay Inslee (D-WA), and H.R. 4751, which is sponsored by Representative Paul Tonko (D-NY). The legislation encourages near-term, shovel-ready projects that will create and maintain thousands of jobs within the industrial and commercial sectors. In addition, the bills support the manufacture, installation and operation of CHP and waste-energy recovery equipment.

According to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a large-scale expansion of CHP could provide 20 percent of U.S. generating capacity by 2030, generate $234 billion in new investment and create nearly 1 million highly-skilled, technical jobs in America. Such an expansion would reduce CO2 emissions by more than 800 million tons per year, the equivalent of taking more than half the current U.S. passenger vehicles off the road.

Waste-energy recovery, which captures waste energy from industrial facilities, now receives no tax benefits. Combined heat and power (CHP), a process by which manufacturers and businesses generate electricity and heat on site, obtains only a 10 percent investment tax credit for the first 15 megawatts of a project limited to 50 megawatts in size. The bills now in the House and Senate would remove the limitation to small projects and apply the tax credit to a project’s first 25 megawatts (S. 1639 and H.R. 4144), and provide a 30 percent tax credit for recycled energy and CHP with efficiencies above 70 percent (H.R. 4751).

Supporters of the legislation include:

Business

Capstone Turbine Corporation
Caterpillar
Cummins Power Generation
Dow Chemical
Fluor
GE Energy
Ingersoll Rand
Libbey Glass Inc.
LS Power
Mosaic Company
Ormat
PPG Industries
Primary Energy
Saint-Gobain Containers
Solar Turbines
United Technologies Corporation
Veolia Energy North America Holdings
ACCO Engineered Systems (California,Washington, Idaho, Nevada)
ACR Sheet Metal Company
Avalon Consulting, Inc. (Illinois)
BHP Energy (Ohio)
Calnetix Power Solutions, Inc. (Florida)
Charles P. Blouin Inc. (New Hampshire)
Circle “R” Mechanical, Inc. (Indiana)
Climate Energy (Massachusetts)
DCO Energy (New Jersey)
Dresser-Rand/Aircogen (Massachusetts)
ECR International (New York)
Endurant Energy LLC (Illinois)
Energenic LLC (New Jersey)
Energy Solutions Center (Washington,D.C.)
Ernest D. Menold, Inc (Pennsylvania)
GEM Inc. (Ohio and Georgia)
KGRA Energy Corporation (Illinois)
Lewis and Lambert Industries, Inc.(Texas)
National Heating & Ventilating (New Mexico)
NV Energy (Nevada)
NewLoop Energy (Illinois)
Melrose Metal Products (California)
Midwest Fabricators, LLC
Recycled Energy Development (Illinois)
RHP Mechanical Systems (Nevada)
RSP Systems (New York)
Rudolph Libbe Companies (Ohio and Michigan)
Sheet Metal Engineering, Inc. (Iowa)
Tal-Mar Custom Metal (Illinois)
Turbine Air Systems (Texas)
Turbosteam (Massachusetts)
Tweet/Garot (Wisconsin)
Zeledyne (Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee)

Contractor and Industry Associations

American Chemistry Council
American Forest and Paper Association
The Association of Union Constructors
Electricity Consumers Resource Council
Glass Manufacturing Industry Council
International District Energy Association
Mechanical Contractors Association of America
National Council for Advanced Manufacturing
National Electrical Contractors Association
Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association
Steel Founders’ Society of America
U.S. Clean Heat and Power Association

Labor

International Brotherhood of Boilermakers
Sheet Metal Workers International Association

Environmental/Government/Non-Profit

Alliance to Save Energy
Association of State Energy Research & Technology Transfer Institutions
Business Council for Sustainable Energy Center for American Progress Action Fund
Energy Future Coalition
National Association of State Energy Officials
Northeast-Midwest Institute
Sierra Club
World Alliance for Decentralized Energy

March 29, 2010 8:48 AM EDT

Capstone Turbine CorporationCapstone Turbine Corporation (NASDAQ: CPST) today announced that the New Jersey Corporation for Advanced Technology (NJCAT) verified that Capstone’s natural gas C200 turbine meets the state’s air quality regulations for being classified as an “insignificant source” of emissions.

NJCAT is a non-profit membership corporationmembership corporation created to promote in New Jersey the retention and growth of technology-based businesses developing innovative environmental and energy technologies. NJCAT assists developers of new technologies and services with the regulatory, commercial, financial and technological assistance required to bring their technologies to market by providing third party credible and independent verification of their technology performance claims.

“For Capstone C200 installations in New Jersey office buildings, manufacturing plants, hospitals, universities, landfills, wastewater treatment plants and other sites, NJCAT verification simplifies the air-permitting process required by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection,” said Jim Crouse, Capstone’s Executive Vice President for Sales and Marketing.

The NJCAT verification document specifically states, “The Capstone C200 LP MicroTurbine fired with natural gas when operated at 40 percent or greater load has demonstrated by source emission testing that it emits less than 1) 0.40 pounds of nitrogen oxide (NOx) per megawatt hourmegawatt hour, and 2) 0.25 pounds of carbon monoxide (CO) per megawatt hour; and, therefore, that it is not a significant source of NOx and CO emissions in accordance with N.J.A.C 7:27-82(f) 1.i.”

Other models of Capstone microturbines have received air-quality certification or verification. In 2009, the C200 received Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certification in accordance with UL 2200 and UL 1741. In 2008, the C65 ICHP natural gas microturbine earned certification for meeting stringent California Air Resources Board (CARB) requirements for low emissions. In addition, the company’s C30 microturbine demonstrated emission levels compliant with the Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board (CARB) 2010 requirements for Heavy Duty Diesel Engines in buses and other combustion engines.

This is not your brother’s Prius.  Found on DailyNews.com.

By Dana Bartholomew, Staff Writer

It could be a Ferrari, but it’s nearly silent. It could be a Tesla, but it’s juiced by a jet. It could even be a GM Volt, but has double the range and speed.

Instead, the CMT-380 is the world’s first hybrid-electric sports car powered by a microturbine. Co-created by a video game designer with key components from the San Fernando Valley, the wicked matte-black machine debuted Thursday at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

“It’s a jet engine on wheels,” said Jim Crouse, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Capstone Turbine Corp. of Chatsworth, a partner in building the prototype.

It would be more fun to launch the 240-horsepower electric car on a lonely desert road. Or on a sexy Sunset Strip.

It can blast 60 mph from a dead start in 3.9 seconds, only inches behind the new 561-hp Mercedes Benz AMG gull wing, or a $375,000 Lexus LFA sports coupe.

It can top out at an electronically limited 150 mph. And because of the extended range made possible by its microturbine generator, it can cruise for 500 miles – 80 of them on pure electrons. That’s twice as far as a GM Volt, with its gasoline engine generator.

And the ultra-low emissions from its Capstone C30 microturbine, fueled by diesel or biodiesel, can rival any hybrid car on the market.

Cruise it on Sunset, and the CMT-380 is low and sleek enough to beckon any babe or hunk into its carbon-fiber racing passenger seat.

“It’s a great opportunity for showcasing our designs,” said Capstone Turbine President and CEO Darren Jamison.

It was 21 years ago that the Chatsworth company, then called NoMac Energy Systems, was founded to build small gas turbines for use in hybrid electric vehicles. But the clean, efficient microturbine tested at Willow Springs raceway in the Antelope Valley a decade ago fizzled for lack of demand in a world of SUVs.

Since then, Capstone Turbines has shipped more than 5,000 microturbines around the world to power offices, hospitals, hybrid electric buses and other industrial uses. The publicly traded firm, which employs 220 people, did $48 million in business last year.

But it still dreamed of supplying microturbines for the ballooning green car market.

Enter Richard Hilleman, a former electrician at the Nuclear Test Site in Nevada and now chief creative director for video game firm Electronic Arts. As a hobby, the 48-year-old geek behind such games as “Ferrari Formula 1,” “John Madden Football” and “Tiger Woods Golf” tinkered with electric cars.

After converting his vintage Porsche 550 Spyder into a 200-horsepower electric, he set out to build a hybrid sports car with legs.

After five years he completed the wundercar hours before its L.A. launch.

“I’ve been responsible for both scourges of the 20th century – nuclear devices and video games,” Hilleman said. “Now this.

“I’m trying to be on the right side of time here, one of those rare cases where I can be politically correct and cool at the same time.”

Hilleman and Capstone officials tout their technology as being green and practical. Its C30 microturbine – essentially a small jet engine – cranks out 30 kilowatts by spinning a small turbine at up to 96,000 rpms. Capstone officials say the limited production turbine that now sells for $30,000 could be brought down to a tenth of the cost if it was mass produced for the auto market.

And after the CMT-380s batteries fade, it can fully charge them in an hour. The microturbine hybrid supercar can get equivalent of 75 mpg to 210 mpg, depending on the measurement standard.

Some, however, aren’t convinced microturbines make practical electric-car generators.

“Compared to a small gas engine, it’ll cost more and be noisier for an automotive application,” said Jake Fisher, senior engineer for Consumer Reports’ auto test track, who looked at the CMT-380 at the L.A. Convention Center. “Engines are cheap. They’re out there. They’re proven. And they’re efficient. It’ll be hard to compete with them in the near term.”

Capstone has no plans to build the car, but hopes instead to sell its technology to a willing automaker.