NewNergy discusses the latest inventions, innovations and breakthroughs in the energy & environmental sciences.
New Energy Technologies Develops ‘Spray on’ Solar Solution
Posted on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 posted by posted by Mak @ 1:10 AM
New Energy Technologies has reached the next development stage of a process for spraying solar cells and their related components onto glass. This product is still awaiting patent and is in the early stages, yet if successful, is expected to make significant changes to the BIPV market.
"The ability to spray solar coatings directly onto glass follows on the heels of our recent breakthrough which replaced visibility-blocking metal with environmentally-friendly see-thru compounds, and marks an important advance in the development of our see-thru glass windows capable of generating electricity," announced Meetesh V. Patel, president and CEO of New Energy Technologies.
In commercial terms, this new spray technology could translate into important manufacturing advantages for our SolarWindow, including significant cost-savings, high-speed production, and room-temperature deposition--common barriers to commercial success for innovative solar technologies.
An American invention that turns waste heat into electricity by operating like a "super-kettle", has been licensed by a Scottish energy company, which aims to turn over £40 million within the next three years by manufacturing the devices for the European market. Thistle Energy – a spin-out company from family-owned Thistle Generators in Bothwell, Lanarkshire – will initially sell Electra Therm's "green machine" in the UK but also has plans to assemble it in Scotland before the end of the year.
The green machine is designed to work on industrial machinery that runs round the clock, such as generators or incinerators that give off waste heat.The device operates in a similar way to a kettle on a stove. Waste heat from industrial machinery boils a fluid inside the device, which in turn drives a generator to produce electricity.That could then be fed into the National Grid and sold at a profit or, in the offshore market, could be used to power operations such as accommodation barges.
Posted on Monday, January 4, 2010 posted by posted by Mak @ 8:20 PM
Risø DTU has recently completed the world's first successful test on a wind turbine with a laser-based anemometer built into the spinner in order to increase electricity generation.The results show that the system called wind LIDAR can predict wind direction, gusts of wind and turbulence.
It is expected that the technology can increase energy production by up to 5%, primarily because it is possible to use longer blades. For a 4 MW wind turbine, this means a financial gain of 200,000 Danish kroner a year. Compared to the Danish Energy Agency's predictions, this technology could cut CO2 emissions by 25,000 tons by 2025, if every 10th turbine is equipped with a wind LIDAR. At the same time, the technology can be combined with "smart blades" and thereby increase longevity.
Sopogy Inaugurates World’s First MicroCSP Solar Plant
Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 3:28 AM
Sopogy Inc has inaugurated the world’s first MicroCSP solar thermal plant at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii. The 2MW thermal energy project spans 3.8 acres in the hot Kona desert and makes use of 1000 Sopogy MicroCSP solar panels.
The panels are equipped with mirrors and optics and an integrated sun tracking system, which betters the efficiency of the plant. The system also uses a unique thermal energy storage buffer that allows energy to be produced during cloudy periods and to shift energy produced from the day to evening periods.
Southwest Solar Technologies Finds a Unique Energy Storage Solution
Posted on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 3:40 AM
Solar Southwest Technology, a Phoenix based company is out with an interesting and innovative idea to store energy. Under the plan whenever excess energy is available from any source, it is utilized to pump air into a subterranean cavern. Nearly 350 pounds of air is pumped in a square inch.
Whenever electricity is required, the air in the cavern is used to spin a turbine that is capable of converting the energy of a passing gas into rotary energy. The turbine in turn spins a generator and puts power on the grid on demand, rather than at the whim of sun or breeze. In order to obtain better results, the air must be heated so that it expands and drives the turbine blades even more efficiently. A mirror dish is used to heat the air. This dish helps in focusing the sun’s energy on a receptacle filled with a fluid, which captures the heat at up to 1,700 degrees and carries it to where it is required.
The project is currently in its initial stages and the company has installed a prototype solar dish and turbine. An electrically driven compressor provides compressed air for the prototype solar dish system.
Od-Do Arhiteckti has come up with a sustainable lamp that harvests clean energy during the day for sustainable lighting after dark.The lamp is incorporated with photovoltaic cells that can harvest solar energy during the daytime and stores it in an onboard battery. After dark the energy stored is used to power a set of energy-efficient LED light bulbs for sustainable illumination.
Toyota Industries Develops Solar-powered EV Charging Stations
Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 3:17 AM
Toyota Industries Corp. has developed a new charging station for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles that is powered by solar energy. The municipal government of Toyota City has adopted the stations and plans to build 21 stations at 11 places.
The charging station produces 1.9KW of solar power, which is stored in an 8.4KWh battery pack. The station is also connected to the grid, which enables commuters to charge their rides after the stored electricity runs out and the solar array isn’t producing any charge.
WaveRoller : An Invention to Harness Underwater Wave Energy
Posted on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 2:09 AM
It was a Eureka moment for Rauno Koivusaari, and he started to work on harnessing the powerful motion for generating underwater wave power.Now, fifteen years later, the EU is funding the WaveRoller invented by that former diver, with $4.4 million,for his company AW-Energy to build the first full scale demo of his invention.
Each one at full size weighs 20 tons and produces 300 KW.Each 20 ton WaveRoller “door” can be connected together in threes to make up a nearly 1 MW unit. Obviously you can make a modular farm of any size under the ocean of these three-packed units, so the output can be as much as you can build tons-worth of “doors”.
AW-Energy’s WaveRoller uses the roiling currents under the sea to make energy from the repetitive surge motion at the sea floor in what Koivusaari calls the surge zone. The kinetic energy produced is collected by a piston pump. This energy can be converted to electricity by a closed hydraulic system in combination with a hydraulic motor/generator system.This year the company will get the results of a full scale demo built off the coast of Portugal. See more
Posted on Friday, October 30, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 8:50 PM
Sweden-and Uk- based Minesto, has developed a new concept called Deep Green "Underwater Kites"; which uses hydrodynamics to harness tidal currents and makes the flow velocity to increase ten times.
The lite spins in a repeated manner by the force of the tidal current. This process will increase the flow speed entering the turbine ten times. When the tide hits the wing it turnsdown, and creates a little force. The kite is mounted to the ocean bed with a tether and is controlled by a rudder trajectory. This system will use a conventional plant to convert the movement onto electric power.
According to the company, the Deep Green Kite has a wingspan of 12 meters depth at sites with a tidal flow of 1.2 - 2.2 meters/second. The company estimates it'll cost Euro 0.06 - 0.14 per KWh. The company is now preparing to build a scale 1.4 prototype of the technology, which will be ready in 2011.
Posted on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 3:08 AM
SoloPower, a California-based manufacturer of thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules has announced that a prototype of its flexible copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS ) photovoltaic module will be on display at the Solar PowerInternational 2009 conference in Anaheim, California on October 27-29, 2009.
SoloPower`s flexible CIGS modules represent a breakthrough solar product. Because of their lighter weight, they will be deployable with lower installation costs, providing less expensive solar electricity for utility, commercial and industrial customers.SoloPower’s unique and proprietary CIGS technology is a major break-through in low-cost, high-quality, high-volume manufacturing and commercialization of CIGS-based photovoltaics.
SoloPower`s flexible modules will present new opportunities to large rooftop sites that glass-plate modules cannot service due to factors such as weight, high wind conditions, or roof penetrations.SoloPower flexible CIGS modules are expected to be available for sale later in 2010. See more
Posted on Thursday, October 8, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 1:45 AM
The first practical test of an innovative technology to generate electricity was conducted by Innowattech and the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.The test was accomplished by drivers passing through the Hefer intersection,Israel, without even realizing it.They generated electricity while driving over a ten-meter strip of asphalt,underneath which lie generators capable of producing some 2,000 watt-hours (Wh),the power was relayed to batteries situated beside the road.
The technology is based on piezoelectric materials that enable the conversion of mechanical energy exerted by the weight of passing vehicles into electrical energy. As far as the drivers are concerned, the road is the same.Edery-Azulay added that expanding the project to a length of one kilometer along a single lane would produce 200 KWh, while a four-lane highway could produce about a MWh - sufficient electricity to provide for the average consumption in 2,500 households.
If the pilot test is successful, the project is expected to be expanded. Generators will be situated in one-kilometer strips along Israel's highways. see more
Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 4:28 AM
Energy harvesting revolving doors capture otherwise wasted human energy and convert it to electricity to power the installation site, for example lighting and signage.
Designers Jennifer Broutin and Carmen Trudell at design studio Fluxxlab have created Revolution Door, which is a modified revolving door made up of three parts - a redesigned central core replacing that of any existing or new revolving door, a mechanical/electrical system that harnesses human energy and redistributes electricity to an output, and an output device that maps the harnessed energy. The energy harvesting revolving door was exhibited in Manhattan's Eyebeam art and technology centre. When visitors walked through the door, the energy harnessed was used to power a sign that lights up as people pass through. see more
Gold Coast company Tidal Energy has developed a turbine that can produce potentially limitless clean electricity from water currents.The design includes a submerged water-current turbine similar to a jet engine. It draws water through a hydrofoil system to turn an impellor that converts the kinetic energy of the water into mechanical energy that can power an electrical generator. It resembles a wind generator under water.The technology could add to existing power sources, not replace them at this stage. see more
Electricity from the Artificial Fluorescent Lighting
Posted on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 2:41 AM
New Energy Technologies is trying to develop a solar cell that makes electricity just from that nasty fluorescent tube lighting buzzing over your head.
New Energy’s solar cells in their transparent SolarWindow™ generate electricity by using the visible light in artificial fluorescent lighting typically installed in offices and commercial buildings. In tests published in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy they outperformed regular solar cells by orders of magnitude; producing two to ten-fold more power.
Researchers tested the ultra-small solar cells on a 1”x1” substrate against today’s popular solar materials for their capacity to produce electricity under varying artificial light conditions, mimicking the levels of light exposure in homes and commercial offices.
Under normal office lighting conditions, without any natural light from windows, New Energy’s ultra-small solar cells produced not just twice the power of monocrystalline silicon, but achieved:
1. 8-fold greater output power density than copper-indium-selenide, known for its high optical absorption coefficients and versatile optical and electrical characteristics. 2. 10-fold greater output power density than flexible thin-film amorphous-silicon.
Posted on Monday, July 20, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 2:37 AM
Gills Onions, one of the largest processor of fresh onions, has built an anaerobic digester system at its Oxnard, California facility, which will help the company convert the hundreds of thousands of pounds of onion waste into electricity to power the plant.
Presently the company produces over 300,000 pounds of onion waste each day, which is utilized by the system to generate electricity, enough to power 460 homes. The electricity generated is stored in two 300KW fuel cells, which will also offset 30,000 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere each year.
The system will also help save the company $700,000 in electricity costs each year. Since the company is generating electricity for itself on site, it is also eligible to receive $2.7 million from Southern California Gas Company. see more
Posted on Thursday, June 11, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 1:22 AM
At GE’s Global Research Center near Munich, Germany, scientists have developed a new waste heat recovery technology called ORegen — which is a device that converts waste heat from exhaust streams generated by equipment such as small gas turbines and industrial processes into usable electricity.This technology can help customers address the challenges of rising fuel costs and the increased demand for more efficient, environmentally friendly power systems and industrial plants.
They have modified Organic Rankine Cycles (ORC) - an old technology which can use lower heat input temperatures.Therefore, heat recovery now offers a great opportunity to conserve fuel by productively using waste energy to reduce overall plant energy consumption and simultaneously decrease CO2 emissions. For example, when an ORegen (Organic Regenerator) unit is joined to GE Oil & Gas’ PGT25 gas turbine, it can provide up to an additional 25 percent more power on top of the output of the turbine itself. full article here
'Green Machine': Technology Generating Power from Waste Heat
Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 12:22 AM
Green Earth, Inc. is an environmental company taking up the challenge of ‘greener industry' for the 21st century.A new technology offered by Green Earth Inc. is the "Green Machine" manufactured by ElectraTherm Inc., in Carson City, NV.
The "Green Machine" recovers energy value from heat that would have been lost, and uses it to produce additional electricity without emissions. The result is revenue from additional kilowatts generated, reduced emissions per kilowatt, and greater compliance with emissions standards. This technology has been tested and proven in Europe; and Green Earth recently completed an agreement with Electra Therm to introduce this breakthrough technology into the industrial markets of the Midwest.The Green Machine has the ability to create 50 to 500Kw of electricity from waste heat.The next generation of "Green Machine" products will be in the 5Kw range and extend these savings to smaller users in additional industry segments. see more
Laser Treatment Could Make Plain Light Bulb Much More Efficient
Posted on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 8:54 PM
A team of Researchers at the University of Rochester developed a process that makes a 100-watt incandescent bulb use less electricity than a 60-watt bulb. The process, they say, would keep the cost of a traditional light bulb well under that of its fluorescent counterpart while maintaining the more pleasant light an incandescent bulb gives off.
The team developed a laser process that treats the tungsten filament in a traditional bulb. The process creates nano- and micro- level structures on the filament that dramatically improve its efficiency. The process involves an incredibly short femtosecond laser pulse, which lasts only a few quadrillionths of a second.
It’s not immediately clear how long it would take to commercialize the discovery. But it could be relatively simple to implement in a manufacturing environment once refined.Other technologies are also crowding the field. The U.S. Navy is promoting LED and HID lighting in its ships. Cambridge Researchers say they’ve developed a LED bulb that costs $3 and last 60 years. A technology called ESL is headed to market as well. It will be interesting to see if the Rochester process finds a place on store shelves.
Concentrated Solar Power Could Generate 25% of the World’s Electricity by 2050
Posted on Sunday, May 31, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 8:25 PM
A new study from Greenpeace, the European Solar Thermal Agency, and the International Energy Agency’s SolarPACES Group has shown that concentrated solar power (CSP) could generate a quarter of the world’s energy needs by 2050–and create thousands of new jobs and prevent millions of tons of CO2 from being released.
CSP uses mirror to focus sunlight on water. The reaction creates steam that turns turbines and generates electricity. Unlike photovoltaic solar panels, CSP only works in places with reliable sunny weather, such as parts of the southern U.S., North Africa, Mexico, and India.
Sven Teske, co-author of the study, estimates that current investments in CSP ($2.8 billion) could grow under a moderate scenario to over $11 billion by 2010 and produce 7% of the world’s electricity generating capacity. By 2050, investments could grow to $93 billion. Combined with geothermal and wind farms, alternative energies could provide a significant portion of our overall energy needs in the next few decades.
Posted on Monday, May 11, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 1:01 AM
A new invention called Optiwind Compact Wind Accelerating Turbine has solved the problem of three-blade turbines that are generally used requiring a lot of free space.With only six meters in diameters, the Optiwind consists of a series of five bladed fans that funnel in the wind and accelerate it in order to generate more power.
The Optiwind comes in two models. The first can generate 150 kilowatt and can be used by buildings that spend up to $35,000 a year in electricity while the bigger model can generate up to 300 kilowatt and can be used in conditions that normally would require about $75,000 a year in electricity money.
Eventhough it is an ideal turbine that can be used by schools, hospitals and hotels, according to local zoning laws, we need about 3.5 acres of open land available to get an authorization for the Optiwind. Another problem with this turbine is it generates some noise compared to other turbines.
Nitride-Based Thin-Film Solar Cells for High Efficiency
Posted on Friday, May 8, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 3:55 AM
BluGlass Ltd,Australia,intends to expand the market potential of its remote plasma chemical vapor deposition (RPCVD) manufacturing technology to thin-film solar cells incorporating group III-nitride materials. The firm currently develops and commercializes RPCVD for depositing thin films such as gallium nitride (GaN) and indium gallium nitride (InGaN) in the production of LEDs.
Group III nitride semiconductors have many advantages over current materials, such as,
The alloy indium gallium nitride (InGaN) having a direct energy bandgap with wide tunability, giving the potential to convert almost the full spectrum of sunlight (infrared, visible and ultraviolet radiation) to electrical current.Such properties hence allow more energy from the solar spectrum to be captured efficiently by a solar cell and converted to electrical power.Research has established that InGaN solar cells could produce efficiencies of more than 50% [Jani et al. Applied Physics Letters 91, 132117-3 (2007)].
Being a low-temperature process, it is suited to the growth of InGaN: during the growth process, the alloy's fragile bonds crack at high temperature, leading to poor-quality material. A low-temperature process would hence allow indium-rich InGaN layers to be grown.
InGaN also has superior resistance to energy radiation and high-temperature tolerance. Hence nitride solar cells could maintain high performance under extreme conditions, including space applications such as powering satellites and space probes.
If successful, InGaN solar cells promise to be long lasting, relatively inexpensive and highly efficient.Following recent research on InGaN, BluGlass aims to develop a prototype high-efficiency solar cell for industrial testing.
New Wind Turbine Blades to Improve Electricity Production
Posted on Tuesday, May 5, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 11:50 PM
Researchers at the Purdue University and the Sandia National Laboratories have created a new method of supervising the wind turbine blades, which employs sensors and computational software to establish the best orientation for the generators.Shifting wind and varying intensities in the way air hits the blades are just two of the main reasons why wind farms lose a great deal of efficiency and produce current at fluctuating levels. This new development in turbine blade technology could lead to an increased efficiency, and could finally make the wind a resource able to compete with established fossil fuels.
The ultimate goal is to feed information from sensors into an active control system that precisely adjusts components to optimize efficiency. The upgrades could help turbines become less likely to lose precious time and energy-producing potential while spinning for nothing when the wind shifts. The sensors will be able to pick up minute variations in wind intensity, and to accordingly adjust the entire structure. It could also provide the controlling software with all the information it needs to move the blades in a manner that will ensure an almost uninterrupted energy production. The system will also be able to prevent the blades from getting damaged by high winds, by alerting them of incoming bursts of air at high speeds. see more
New Wave Energy Device to Harness the Power of Sea
Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 10:44 PM
A new wave energy device known as "Anaconda" is the latest idea to harness the power of the seas.Its inventors claim the key to its success lies in its simplicity: Anaconda is little more than a length of rubber tubing filled with water.Waves in the water create bulges along the tubing that travel along its length gathering energy.At the end of the tube, the surge of energy drives a turbine and generates electricity.
The device is being developed by Checkmate Seaenergy Ltd, which has been testing a small-scale 8m-long prototype in a wave tank owned by the science and technology company Qinetiq.The company is now looking to raise £7m from investors to build a larger version to test at sea.The long-term plan is to have hundreds of these devices offshore where waves are big, in northern Scotland for example.It is claimed that a group of 50 full-size Anacondas - each 200m long - could provide electricity for 50,000 homes.
U.S. Military Looks Into Clean-burning Cyclone Engine
Posted on Sunday, May 3, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:33 PM
Schoell, a Florida inventor, envisions a day when his external combustion engine replaces most of today's gasoline- and diesel-powered internal combustion engines. The U.S. Army and U.S. Navy think it may be an efficient way to generate electricity.
The Cyclone engine works by pumping fuel and air into a round combustion chamber, where it swirls cyclonelike and burns at about 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Combustion gas passes into a heat exchanger, where it heats deion-ized water to 1,200 degrees under 3,200 pounds of pressure.The water turns into steam, but under pressure the steam remains in a fluid state and is referred to as a "supercritical fluid,".
The steam passes through a valve and into a cylinder, where it expands with almost explosive force to drive a piston. When the piston is pushed to the far end of the cylinder, the steam exits through an exhaust port.From there, the steam enters another heat exchanger, where heat is recovered and cycled back to the combustion chamber. Now cooler, the steam exits the heat exchanger and enters an air-cooled condenser, where it is turned back into water and is pumped back to the first heat exchanger to go through the cycle again.
Schoell has run his engines on gasoline and diesel fuel, but also on fuel made from orange peels, palm oil and chicken fat.cyclonelike swirl of fuel and air in the combustion chamber enables complete combustion so there is little except carbon dioxide as exhaust.In February, Cyclone Power Technologies announced the completion of tests with Raytheon of a Cyclone engine designed for the Navy to use in unmanned underwater vehicles and torpedoes. see more
Posted on Thursday, April 30, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:57 PM
New solar thermal technology overcomes a major challenge facing solar power – how to store the sun's heat for use at night or on a rainy day.
In the high desert of southern Spain,the Mediterranean sun bounces off large arrays of precisely curved mirrors that cover an area as large as 70 soccer fields. These parabolic troughs follow the arc of the sun as it moves across the sky, concentrating the sun's rays onto pipes filled with a synthetic oil that can be heated to 750 degrees Fahrenheit. That super-heated oil is used to boil water to power steam turbines, or to pump excess heat into vats of salts, turning them a molten, lava-like consistency.
Engineers can use the molten salts to store the heat from solar radiation many hours after the sun goes down and then release it at will to drive turbines. That means solar thermal power can be used to generate electricity nearly round-the-clock. full article here
Posted on Thursday, April 23, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 11:28 PM
In a public bid for transparency and awareness in home electrical consumption, a Maine family of four is broadcasting their electricity use live via the web and a Twitter feed.
Peter Troast found that by simply measuring the family’s energy use, they created an awareness of it which resulted in an almost immediate 15% reduction in use, and he believes it can work for anyone.Troast has connected an electricity usage monitoring device called The Energy Detective (TED) to the junction box in his basement and rigged it to transmit the data to the internet. Viewers can watch the Troast family’s electrical use at any time via their website at Energy Circle TED display.
Posted on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 11:24 PM
Coconut husks and groundnut shells usually are an eyesore, but they can actually be used to light up your house. That too with limited pollution, promises biomass power generator AllGreen Energy India Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of Singapore-based AllGreen Energy Pte Ltd.
The projects will use Indian Institute of Science or IISc-patented biomass gasification technology to turn biomass into gases, which will then power Jenbacher engines—made by strategic partner GE Energy India—to produce electricity. AllGreen says the process will create only carbon dioxide and negligible particulate matter as pollutants.
The process works by converting solid biomass into a mixture of combustible gases through controlled pyrolysis, or decomposing matter at high temperatures. Once cooled and cleaned, the resulting fuel gas is used to generate electricity with the GE engine. The extra heat produced in the process is used to generate chilling capacity for the cold storage facility.
Posted on Monday, April 20, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:19 PM
Allen — A local area resident Jeff Baird’s newest invention is an engine that uses a technology that really isn’t new at all. It’s electromagnets.It’s probably 60 or 70-year-old technology.Many have tried and failed to get these engines to run efficiently and Baird said he has fixed what others couldn’t.All they’re doing is pulling on the pistons which has been done before.
The current prototype can generate enough electricity to power lights, televisions and computers. It is a work in progress and bigger and better engines are on the way, Baird said. Large batteries fire the magnets and the motor acts as an alternator that keeps the batteries charged continuously. Because it does not use fossil fuels, it is environmentally friendly. see more
The LSA (Liquid Solar Arrays) is a simple revolutionary solar technology that has the potential to produce electricity at costs comparable to fossil fuel generators. LSAs are solar panels that are designed to float in water. When storms hit, they simply submurge themselves under the water until it passes. It's built using lightweight, readily available plastic with existing solar concentrator technologies, so they're ready to go now. We'll see if they end up catching on in the near future.
Vibration-Power Generators Turn Road Traffic into Electricity?
Posted on Sunday, April 19, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 7:56 PM
The vibrations of every passing vehicle are now being turned into electricity by a venture company whose technology is powering one of 108 LED (light-emitting diode) lights on the Goshiki Zakura Ohashi bridge over the Arakawa River in Tokyo's downtown Adachi Ward -- and whose pioneering work may one day lead to aircraft that fly across oceans and continents without using fossil fuels.
For the time being, though, that LED light shines because it is connected to 10 generators set beneath the roadbed of the Metropolitan Expressway crossing the bridge, where vehicles' vibrations make the pendulums in the generators swing and so generate electricity.
After many failed trials with various materials, Kouhei Hayamizu, who invented the vibration-power generators, found that substances called piezoelectric elements - made of barium titanium oxides - generate electricity when pressure is applied to them.
Posted on Friday, April 10, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:11 PM
Grady Mayeaux's newly unveiled peel-and-stick solar panel proven to power a golf cart to 36 holes, rain or shine. In fact, Yamaha was able to take a golf cart on 50 holes using just the Going Green Solar Panel, said Mayeaux.
In direct sunlight, the peel-and-stick panel produced 80 volts or three amps of electricity, which is more than enough to power both the 36 or 48 volts needed for standard golf carts. Mayeaux said his latest invention is the first solar panel to be proven to produce energy in the shade.
The Going Green Solar Panel is made from three layers of amorphous silicon and each layer is tuned to a different level of sunlight frequency. Unlike the glass solar panels, the peel-and-stick panel is durable enough to continue working normally even after being punctured.
Breakthrough Made in Energy Efficiency, Use of Waste Heat
Posted on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:52 PM
Engineers at Oregon State University have made a major new advance in taking waste heat and using it to run a cooling system – a technology that can improve the energy efficiency of diesel engines, and perhaps some day will appear in automobiles, homes and industry.This heat-actuated cooling system, which will probably find its first applications by the U.S. Army, could ultimately be applied to automobiles, factories or other places where waste heat is being generated, and used to provide either air conditioning or electricity.
Conceptually, the system works somewhat like existing heat pumps, but it's powered by waste heat, not electricity. What makes the technology unique is the use of microchannel heat transfer components and an efficient "vapor expander" to provide high heat transfer rates and smaller, lighter and more efficient heat exchangers. see more
Swimming Fish Could be Key to Generating Electricity
Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 9:18 PM
Harnessing the power of swimming fish could hold the key to generating electricity to power Britain's homes in the future, according to Government scientists. The Environment Agency's Horizon Scanning Team found the nation's rivers are full of untapped energy in the form of fish migrating upstream.By installing networks of electric prongs along the riverbed, the energy can be captured and fed into the National Grid. Environmentalists welcomed the opportunity to not only generate clean energy but ensure rivers are maintained for wildlife.
Plans are now underway for a large scale trial over a year along the River Severn because it has such a strong tidal current which forces fish to move at optimum speeds as they swim upstream. This will help to ensure the technology can be rolled out across England and Wales in the future.
Posted on Thursday, March 26, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:23 PM
A new machine dubbed the "Black Phantom" can turn biomass into manmade coal. Carbonscape, a New Zealand-based start-up, describes its invention as an industrial-sized microwave that can cook plant waste, wood waste, and "even sewage" into coal. Carbonscape also claims that the machine captures and stores more carbon than the amount of carbon generated by the electricity needed to power it for the process. The invention combines two popular environmental efforts: using biochar for carbon capture and storage (CCS), and developing alternative fuel sources from biomass.
New Green Energy Machine Turns Trash Into Treasure
Posted on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 2:59 AM
It’s mobile, it’s virtually emissions free, it reduces garbage volume by 95% and it turns waste into energy – it’s the Green Energy Machine (GEM).Produced by Massachusetts-based IST Energy, the GEM originated from a U.S. military request for proposals to deal with its waste. Once deposited in the GEM, the waste is shredded, the water removed, the remaining material formed into pellets, and the pellets gasified to produce a flammable synthetic gas that can be used to generate electricity or heat. One unit processes up to three tons of waste daily, providing the energy to power and heat a 200,000 square foot building housing more than 500 people. IST says the system can reduce annual waste disposal and energy costs by about $250,000.
Zero Point Energy : A New Source of Cheap, Fuel-Free Electric Power?
Posted on Sunday, March 8, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:04 PM
Dr. Robert Forward, a physicist at Hughes Aircraft discussed, in a pioneering paper appearing in Physical Review B in 1984, how Zero Point Energy (ZPE) might become a source of electricity.
Several U.S. Patents have issued claiming ZPE might be converted and used as a source of energy. The most recent: QUANTUM VACUUM ENERGY EXTRACTION was issued to Bernard Haisch and Garret Moddel, May 27, 2008.
Everything from cell phones to homes and power plants can be powered by this safe, inexhaustible, fuel-free energy resource. Electric vehicles powered by ZPE will need no batteries or recharge. When parked, they will wirelessly be able to transmit up to 150 kW to the local utility. The sale of electricity may pay for the vehicles over a reasonable period of time. Cars so equipped will also be emergency power plants for homes and businesses. Mass production of such vehicles can happen within 5 years.
Posted on Sunday, March 1, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 7:56 PM
Wireless power is emerging as a popular concept since the profusion of personal and portable electronic devices has created a need for a convenient means to power these gadgets, eliminating the inconvenience and mess of several chargers and wires.New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Wireless Power Supplies and Contactless Energy Transfer, finds that induction based wireless power could represent the next wave in powering portable electronics. It could also enable new applications in other sectors such as healthcare for powering implants to increase patient convenience and quality of life.
Power From Cattle Manure- An Alternative Energy Economy
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:27 PM
Cattle manure and Alberta ingenuity are combining to produce a fledgling alternative energy economy.Two huge tanks with rounded, mushroom lids loom above the snowdrifts, the first glimpse of Alberta's oddest-looking electricity plant and also its greenest.About one megawatt of power flows out on the wires — enough power to run the next-door feedlot and turn on the lights in 700 homes in Vegreville and Two Hills.
The project starts with new technology invented by their company, Highmark Renewables, to turn cattle manure into biogas, a product similar to natural gas from the ground. Highmark calls it "renewable natural gas" (since there's an endless supply of manure) and with a little cleaning up, it could heat your home.Right now, Highmark burns its biogas to make electricity. The company has developed 40 secret recipes to turn almost any kind of organic waste — slaughterhouse waste, sugar beet waste, municipal sewage — into biogas.
Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 8:30 PM
LED light bulbs are already more efficient than our average bulb, but researchers at the Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new kind of LED that exhibits both improved energy efficiency and lighting performance. The researchers‘ polarization-matching LED shows an 18 percent increase in light output and a 22 percent increase in wall plug efficiency (the amount of electricity that the LED converts into light).Renssalaer’s LED is more powerful thanks to a reduction in “efficiency droop”, which makes LEDs most efficient when receiving low-density electrical currents and least efficient when higher density electrical currents are received.
Nanotech catalysts For Alcohol- Powered Green Cars
Posted on Monday, January 26, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:01 PM
Scientists at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a new nanotechnology catalyst that could make alcohol-powered fuel cells possible for the first time.Like batteries that never die, fuel cells convert hydrogen and oxygen into water while producing electricity. However, hydrogen is difficult to produce and explosively dangerous to store and transport.
As an alternative, hydrogen-rich compounds like ethanol - basically, pure alcohol - can be oxidised into the hydrogen ions and electrons that are needed to generate electricity. Up until now, though, scientists have been unable to find a catalyst capable of breaking the bonds between ethanol's carbon atoms.
The DOE's breakthrough is to develop an electrocatalyst, made from platinum and rhodium atoms on carbon-supported tin dioxide nanoparticles, that can break carbon bonds at room temperature, with just carbon dioxide as a by-product.
Painting Photovoltaic (PV) Cells For Efficient Solar-Cell System
Posted on Friday, January 23, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:36 PM
A simple solar-cell method being developed in the UK could provide as much electricity as that produced by 50 wind turbine farms.UK Trade & Investment publication Trade with Britain says that scientists are developing this new ecofriendly technology, after having investigated ways of painting photovoltaic (PV) cells onto the flexible steel sheeting and surfaces commonly used for cladding homes, offices or buildings.
Unlike conventional solar cells, the materials being developed at Swansea University, in Wales, are more efficient at capturing low-light radiation. Paint is applied to ordinary steel cladding when it is passed through rollers during the manufacturing process.The researchers believe that the same approach could be used to build layers of the solar-cell system, with the aim of producing cells that can be painted onto a flexible steel surface at a rate of 30m2 to 40m2 a minute.
They have been collaborating with the steel industry for decades but have tended to focus their attention on improving the long-term durability and corrosion resistance of the steel.Worsley maintains that the potential for the product is immense. Corus Colors (manufacturers of pre-finished steels), produces around 100-million square metres of steel building cladding a year. If this was treated with the PV material, and assuming a conservative 5% energy conversion rate, then we could be looking at generating 4 500 GW of electricity through the solar cells annually, which is the equivalent output of roughly 50 wind farms.
According to UK journal New Scientist, the new PV paint will be based on dye-sensitised solar cells. The report notes that instead of absorbing sunlight using silicon like conventional solar panels, these use dye molecules, attached to particles of the titanium dioxide pigment used in paints.
Posted on Thursday, January 22, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:09 PM
The makers of PowerBeam, which is being showcased at a gadget show in Las Vegas this week, believe their invention will make the word 'recharge' redundant.They claim their technology – billed as WiTricity – will enable any gadgets which use batteries or power cords to be powered by electricity supplied by an invisible beam.
Similar in design to the way wireless hubs allow access to the internet without the need for wires, the PowerBeam could revolutionise the way laptops, music systems and other household electrical items are powered."The optical technology turns electricity into optical power," the creators say."That power is then beamed across open space into a receiver. Similar to a solar cell, the receiver turns the optical power back into electricity. Whatever device is attached to the receiver is powered without any wires."
The technology can currently send about 1.5 watts of power to a solar cell situated 10 metres away and PowerBeam's co-founder David Graham suggests this can be increased without difficulty. An average laptop uses between 30 and 50 watts.Fears have been raised about the health consequences of using wireless technology such as this, but these have been dismissed.
Plastic Solar Cells For Portable Electronic Devices
Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 8:08 PM
Solarmer Energy Inc. is developing plastic solar cells for portable electronic devices that will incorporate technology invented at the University of Chicago.
The invention, a new semiconducting material called PTB1, converts sunlight into electricity.Inventors Luping Yu, Professor in Chemistry, and Yongye Liang, a Ph.D. student, both at the University of Chicago, and five co-authors describe the technical details of the technology in an online article published Dec. 18, 2008, in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
The active layer of PTB1 is a mere 100 nanometers thick, the width of approximately 1,000 atoms. Synthesizing even small amounts of the material is a time-consuming, multi-step process. An advantage of the Chicago technology is its simplicity. Silicon-based solar cells dominate the market today. Industry observers see a promising future for low-cost, flexible solar cells. If people can make them sufficiently efficient, they may be useful for all sorts of applications beyond just the traditional solar panels on your house rooftop.
Nano particles to Improve the Efficiency of photo-cells
Posted on Sunday, January 11, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:52 PM
Nano particles may improve the working of photo-cells.An important reason for the conversion efficiency being low is that all the light that strikes the photo cell does not get used and also that the cell cannot convert all the colours of light that are there in sunlight.
Kylie R Catchpole and Albert Polemen, working in the Institute for Atomic and Molecular physics at Amsterdam, have reported in their paper that the nano-particle method they have developed seeks to remedy these two shortcomings of solar cells.
In the normal course, a photon striking a metal would be absorbed, allowed to pass through or reflected. When the metal is in the form of a nano-particle, of the dimensions of the wavelength of light and atomic particles, however, different processes kick in - there is formed on the surface of the nano-particle a wave of electron motion, called a 'surface plasmon', which can be very intense if the properties of the particle and the light wave should match - resonance, in fact.
The Amsterdam researchers covered a solar cell with a thin coating of nanoscopic (a millionth of a millimeter) metal particles. First of all, the barrier scattered the incoming light and made sure that more of it remained within the solar cell.And then, with careful control of the size of the nano-particles, the capture of different colours of light could be tuned and the performance of poor colours also improved.
Wireless thermostat- A new product to cut down current energy bills
Posted on Thursday, January 8, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 2:39 AM
Jonathan Froggatt, director of Housetech Solutions,has designed wireless thermostat, which regulates the amount of time a household radiator is on. The device can be controlled by a computer.The thermostat would allow home owners to regulate which radiators in the house are on and can turn others off to save energy.
The idea has been patented and has been passed on to secretary of state for energy and climate change.Jonathan said: “We have worked out that the device, which is really simple, will save people up to 35 per cent on their current energy bills.”The idea was thought up in Denmark by Lars Jensen, the brother of Jonathan’s business partner, and was trialed in Scandinavia for 18 months before being brought to England.Energy firm EDF is one of those interested in the thermostats, which are individually charged at £69.
Ocean Harvester:A New Approach of Electricity Generation from waves
Posted on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:22 PM
Mikael Sidenmark, founder of Ocean Harvesting Technologies, and the inventor of the Ocean Harvester, has developed a method of generating electricity from waves
The system should produce a consistent level of power throughout the wave motion, over changing wave sizes, and even in storms. Besides generating efficiently and evenly, the simplicity of its design will allow the Ocean Harvester to be easily protected in rough conditions, and make its manufacture impressively cost-efficient.
What is unique with the Ocean Harvester is the way a counterweight is used to achieve a leveled and controlled load on the generator. As a result, excess energy from larger waves can be accumulated and used to compensate for shortage from smaller waves. In combination with the flexible mooring, this also composes a simple and efficient storm protection system
Vegawatt(TM) : Waste vegetable oil to generate on-site Electricity
Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 8:55 PM
Owl Power Company, developer and manufacturer of clean energy cogeneration systems, has announced Vegawatt(TM),an innovative new cogeneration system for restaurants and food service facilities. Vegawatt(TM) uses waste vegetable oil from any food service operation as a fuel to generate on-site electricity and hot water, saving the restaurant thousands of dollars as well as providing a clean, renewable source of energy. Vegawatt is installed and has been running since early December at Finz Seafood and Grill.
Any food service location with fryers can use the Vegawatt(TM) system to save $800 monthly. It is a fully automated system that requires no intervention or maintenance by restaurant staff, no additional chemicals, and produces no liquid byproducts.
Ethanol from yeast fermentation:A Breakthrough for hydrogen power
Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 8:39 PM
A team of scientists, led by a professor from the University of Aberdeen, have achieved a leap forward in the process of using hydrogen to provide clean electricity.Using a catalyst, they have converted ethanol fermented from biofuels into hydrogen.
The process developed by scientists in Aberdeen to produce hydrogen for fuel cells from biofuels starts with fermentation.Crops are fermented using yeast, producing ethanol and water.Then a catalyst made using the metals rhodium and palladium is added to the ethanol and water, at temperatures of about 500C.This converts the ethanol and water into hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
Although this has been done before, it had never been effective as it had never been achieved without producing waste products, such as carbon monoxide, which is poisonous. It took the team of scientists from across the world, led by Prof Idriss, more than ten years to hone the technique.The hydrogen could be used to power fuel cells, which can provide clean electricity for vehicles, homes and even large buildings. see more
Hydrogen Producing Bacteria: A New Source of Hydrogen for Fuel Cell Technology to Create Electricity
Posted on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 posted by posted by visa @ 5:32 AM
Scientists from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and North Carolina State University are in process of identifying hydrogen producing bacterial strains. The hydrogen gas produced from these strains can be used in fuel cell technology to create electricity. The electricity produced from fuel cells are used in automobiles as a clean alternative to gasoline.
Honda MCHP (Micro-CHP) - A Breakthrough in Home Energy Conservation
Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 10:56 AM
Pretty soon, though, the biggest contribution we can make as individuals to reducing carbon footprint may not be a Prius in the driveway. Instead, it’ll be a Honda in the basement.
Last year Climate Energy in Medfield ran a demonstration project in sixteen Massachusetts homes, replacing their gas-fired forced-hot-air heating systems with a new high-efficiency “freewatt” system featuring a Honda MCHP (Micro-CHP) unit. CHP stands for “Combined Heat and Power.” The unit is a small generator that takes advantage of heat thrown off generating electricity to provide a second home heating source.
The results were impressive. Using the same amount of gas (or in some cases a bit less), the homeowners were able to both heat their homes and dramatically cut their electrical bills. When home electrical use was low, the owners had the pleasure of actually seeing the electrical meter run backwards.
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 10:54 AM
Toyota Motor Corp plans to provide, for the third year in a row, home-use fuel cell cogeneration units as part of a government project to verify the practical use of CO2-reducing stationary fuel cells.
The municipal-gas-fueled 1-kW home-use fuel cell cogeneration units—which generate electricity and capture waste heat for household heating—are to play a role in the continuing Large-Scale Stationary Fuel Cell Demonstration Project of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Twenty-four of the units will be provided to project participant Toho Gas Co., Ltd. (Toho), which will install them in homes in three central-Japan prefectures (Aichi, Gifu and Mie) to collect data toward commercialization. The government project, which was originally scheduled to conclude on March 31, 2008, is now expected to run until the end of March 2009.
Texas Instruments Breakthrough Microcontrollers for Reduced Power Consumption
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 2:05 AM
Texas instruments announced a new line of microcontrollers today that it claims offers a breakthrough in performance while requiring a miniscule amount of power. The microcontrollers are from the MSP430F5xx family and offer up to 25MHz of performance with as 160 µA/MHz of power needed.
The controllers will enable portable devices to have longer battery life, additional memory, and on-chip peripherals. The peripherals include things like RF, USB, encryption and LCD interfaces. TI says that the microcontroller will be seen in devices like consumer electronics, home automation, and more.
Toyota to Provide Home-use Fuel Cell Cogeneration Units
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:40 AM
Toyota Motor Corp plans to provide, for the third year in a row, home-use fuel cell cogeneration units as part of a government project to verify the practical use of CO2-reducing stationary fuel cells.
The municipal-gas-fueled 1-kW home-use fuel cell cogeneration units—which generate electricity and capture waste heat for household heating—are to play a role in the continuing Large-Scale Stationary Fuel Cell Demonstration Project of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Twenty-four of the units will be provided to project participant Toho Gas Co., Ltd. (Toho), which will install them in homes in three central-Japan prefectures (Aichi, Gifu and Mie) to collect data toward commercialization. The government project, which was originally scheduled to conclude on March 31, 2008, is now expected to run until the end of March 2009.
Nanosolar Breakthrough Makes Solar Electricity Cheaper Than Coal
Posted on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 11:24 AM
A new combination of nano and solar technology has made it possible for solar electric generation to be cheaper than burning coal. Nanosolar, Inc. has developed a way to produce a type of ink that absorbs solar radiation and converts into electric current. Photovoltaic (PV) sheets are produced by a machine similar to a printing press, which rolls out the PV ink onto sheets approximately the width of aluminum foil. These PV sheets can be produced at a rate of hundreds of feet per minute. More from here
Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 10:18 PM
Whenone of the world’s mightiest corporations throws everything it’s got at a project, and when it shreds its rule book in the process, the results are likely to be impressive. Still, even for General Motors, the Volt is a reach. If it meets specifications, it will charge up overnight from any standard electrical socket. It will go 40 miles on a charge. Then a small gasoline engine will ignite. The engine’s sole job will be to drive a generator, whose sole job will be to maintain the battery’s charge—not to drive the wheels, which will never see anything but electricity. In generator mode, the car will drive hundreds of miles on a tank of gas, at about 50 miles per gallon. But about three-fourths of Americans commute less than 40 miles a day, so on most days most Volt drivers would use no gas at all.
Because it will have both an electric and a gasoline motor on board, the Volt will be a hybrid. But it will be like no hybrid on the road today. Existing hybrids are gasoline-powered cars, with an electric assist to improve the gas mileage. The Volt will be an electric-powered car, with a gasoline assist to increase the battery’s range.
E-Zip 2008 Trailz - The $350 Electric Commuter Bike
Posted on Monday, May 5, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:55 PM
The E-Zip 2008 Trailz is an electric bike by Currie Technologies. This electric bike is quite inexpensive -- compared with $700 up to $3000 for other bikes.
Using the electric motor on this bike is simple -- once you've started pedaling, you can turn the throttle, and the motor kicks in, giving you an immediate boost. The range of a fully-charged battery is about 10 miles -- and this could be made to something like 30-40 miles with some modifications or depending on the type of activity you use it for.
If you use this bike for a commute that is 20 miles or less, this could be an ideal alternative transport mechanism for you. It was easy to achieve speeds of 25 mph while pedaling lightly.
So while bike is heavy and lithium-ion batteries would be nice, it's certainly an inexpensive way to enter the world of electric biking.
Vitamin B-2 makes Electricity from Shewanella Bacteria
Posted on Sunday, May 4, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 12:34 AM
Vitamin B-2 revealed as secret ingredient in process capable of generating usable electricity from common bacteria
Researchers have this week revealed that they have unlocked one of the secrets surrounding certain strains of bacteria that are capable of generating electricity, in a breakthrough that could one day allow power plants to generate renewable energy from pools of bacteria.
Scientists have long known that Shewanella bacteria, which are commonly found in soil and water, are capable of converting simple organic compounds, such as lactic acid, into electricity. However, until now they have been unsure as to what drives the process.
Now researchers at the University of Minnesota's BioTechnology Institute claim to have come up with the answer after observing that by increasing vitamin B-2 levels the bacteria produced more power.
The researchers found that bacteria growing on electrodes naturally produced the vitamin B-2, which was able to carry electrons from the living cells to the electrodes. Consequently, rates of electricity production from the bacteria increased almost fivefold as the vitamin accumulated.
Nanowire Clothing Makes Electric Energy from Our Movement - Zhong Lin Wang
Posted on Saturday, May 3, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:57 AM
Professor Zhong Lin Wang of Georgia Tech has harnessed the power of nanowires to come up with materials that can convert kinetic energy into electrical current. The professor's main idea is to make clothing woven from these fibres that would allow your body's natural motion to power any electrical device you may be carrying.
His idea is for a shirt but there's no reason why it would have to be the human body's movement. Campers could harness electrical energy by the motion of the wind blowing on their tents or by trailing a kite made of these fibres.
The nanowires work on the piezoelectric effect which describes a property whereby materials create electric potential under physical stress. So far, Zhong Lin Wang has measured four millivolts from a 1cm fibre but he predicts that a metre square of such fabric could generate up to 80 milliwatts of power.
SUNRGI XCPV Solar to Produce Electricity @ 5 Cents per KWh
Posted on Friday, May 2, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 11:56 PM
The SUNRGI solar system uses a special lens to magnify sunlight more than 1,600 times to produce a very bright, powerful, focused spot of light
A new patents pending solar energy system will soon make it possible to produce electricity at a wholesale cost of 5 cents per kWh (kilowatt hour).
This price is competitive with the wholesale cost of producing electricity using fossil fuels and a fraction of the current cost of solar energy.
XCPV (Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics), a system that concentrates the equivalent of more than 1,600 times the sun s energy onto the world s most efficient solar cells, was announced today by SUNRGI, a solar energy system designer and developer, at the National Energy Marketers Association s 11th Annual Global Energy Forum in Washington, DC.
The technology will enable power companies, businesses, and residents to produce electricity from solar energy at a lower cost than ever before
New Ways to Store Solar Energy Using Fluids, Molten Salt
Posted on Thursday, May 1, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:32 AM
Solar power, the holy grail of renewable energy, has always faced the problem of how to store the energy captured from the sun’s rays so that demand for electricity can be met at night or whenever the sun is not shining. The difficulty is that electricity is hard to store. Batteries are not up to efficiently storing energy on a large scale.
The idea is to capture the sun’s heat. Heat, unlike electric current, is something that industry knows how to store cost-effectively. Solar thermal systems are built to gather heat from the sun, boil water into steam, spin a turbine and make power, as existing solar thermal power plants do — but not immediately. The heat would be stored for hours or even days, like water behind a dam.
Ausra, of Palo Alto, Calif., is making components for plants to which thermal storage could be added, if the cost were justified by higher prices after sunset or for production that could be realistically promised even if the weather forecast was iffy. Ausra uses Fresnel lenses, which have a short focal length but focus light intensely, to heat miles of black-painted pipe with a fluid inside. A competitor a step behind in signing contracts, but with major corporate backing, plans a slightly different technique in which adding storage seems almost trivial. It is a “power tower,” a little bit like a water tank on stilts surrounded by hundreds of mirrors that tilt on two axes, one to follow the sun across the sky in the course of the day and the other in the course of the year. In the tower and in a tank below are tens of thousands of gallons of molten salt that can be heated to very high temperatures and not reach high pressure.
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:17 AM
Electricity is usually made using nuclear power by heating steam to rotate turbines that generate electricity. Now, materials that directly convert radiation into electricity could produce a new era of spacecraft and even Earth-based vehicles powered by high-powered nuclear batteries, say US researchers.
Beginning in the 1960s, the US and Soviet Union used thermoelectric materials that convert heat into electricity to power spacecraft using nuclear fission or decaying radioactive material. Dispensing with the steam and turbines makes those systems smaller and less complicated. But thermoelectric materials have very low efficiency. Now US researchers say they have developed highly efficient materials that can convert the radiation, not heat, from nuclear materials and reactions into electricity.
Posted on Friday, May 11, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:49 AM
Cut Your Energy Bill in Half, or How I Saved Over $500 this Winter
The author of this blog reports that he saved an astonishing 500+ $ previous bills, by following these "secrets":
1. Replaced all lights with CFLs - Every one. The light is the same. They hardly burn out. 2. Better management of phantom loads (things that are “on” even when “off”, for instance anything with a remote control, a clock, cell phone chargers, printers, monitors, etc.) 3. Switching to natural gas appliances 4. Buying Energy Star appliances - As you replace your old appliances, pay a little bit more for ones with the “Energy Star” label. They are more efficient and save more money in the run. 5. Buy a window air conditioner, instead of central AC 6. Efficient management of the refrigerator, such as turn off the ice maker at suitable times.
Sugar-fuelled battery soon to power portable electronics
Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 10:10 PM
Sugar-fuelled battery soon to juice up portable electronics
New technology uses any sugar source from soft drinks to tree sap for fuel
Liz Tay (PC World) 26/03/2007
Fuel cell technology that is currently in development boasts the ability of extracting energy from virtually any sugar source to power portable electronics like cellular phones, laptops, and sensors. The new technology is expected to be biodegradable, environmentally friendly and more energy efficient than current options, providing a green alternative to current Lithium-ion batteries.
The cell operates at room temperature and uses enzymes to oxidize sugars, hence generating electricity. So far, researchers have run the batteries on glucose, flat soft drinks, sweetened drink mixes and tree sap.
Posted on Monday, March 26, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 2:30 AM
Geothermal Energy Data, Stats
Geothermal power generation capacity worldwide rose from 7,972.7 MW in 2000 to 8,933 MW in 2005, with 8,035 MW running. This is about 0.2% of the total world installed power generating capacity.
In Quest for Cleaner Energy, Texas City Touts Plug-In Car
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:15 AM
In Quest for Cleaner Energy, Texas City Touts Plug-In Car
AUSTIN, Texas -- Austin city Mayor Will Wynn is pushing a new version of the electric car called the plug-in, which runs almost entirely on electricity and has a big rechargeable battery. Mayor Wynn envisions the parked electric cars plugging into a network operated by the city's utility, which would then use the powerful car batteries as a big storage system from which to draw power
Wind Energy for US School to Provide Major Savings
Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 9:08 PM
Going green: Local schools, city find new energy initiatives can pay
Click-2-Listen March 10, 2007
A major university with a $13.5 million electric bill switches to windpower, saving $2 million a year while helping save the atmosphere.
Baylor University just signed a 10-year contract with WPS Energy of Wisconsin to buy power that will be generated mostly from Texas wind turbines, starting in 2008.
Consumers attracted to energy savings of compact fluorescent lamps (CFL)
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 8:56 PM
Bright idea: Consumers attracted to energy savings of compact fluorescent lamps
ERIC SHACKLETON March 10, 2007
Excerpts:
1. Compact fluorescents provide high energy efficiency 2. Nova Scotia's energy minister says the province plans to give retailers four or five years to prepare for a ban on incandescent light bulbs 3. Project Porchlight, a campaign organized by a not-for-profit energy conservation group, is working to deliver one CFL bulb to every household in Canada. 4. the PL bulbs, also called CFLs, have a longer life and will save the buyer money. 5. CFLs are also environmentally friendly because less energy is used.
More from this news report @ Brooks Alberta Business News
Houston Area Power Plant Runs Entirely on Biodiesel
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 10:57 AM
Houston Area Power Plant Runs Entirely on Biodiesel
08 Mar 2007
Oak Ridge North, Texas [via RenewableEnergyAccess.com]
Biofuels Power Corp. has begun producing and selling electricity into the ERCOT Power Grid from its biodiesel powered generating plant in Oak Ridge North, Texas, which is run entirely on biodiesel.
Biofuels Power plans to build a series of biodiesel powered electric generating plants to serve residential and industrial customers in the Houston Metropolitan area.
In the beginning, there were algae, but there was no oil Then, from algae came oil. Now, the algae are still there, but oil is fast depleting In future, there will be no oil, but there will still be algae
So, doesn't it make sense to explore if we can again get oil from algae? This is what we try to do at Oilgae.com - explore the potential of getting oil from algae
