| Using Rust to Capture CO2 from Coal Plants |
| Researchers at Ohio State University are developing a novel process for generating electricity from coal that also promises to make capturing carbon-dioxide emissions cheaper. |
| Chemical looping could be a big improvement over systems for capturing carbon dioxide from conventional power plants. The typical systems reduce the power output of coal plants by as much as 30 percent and, because of the reduced power output and the cost for additional equipment, increase the cost of electricity by 85 percent. Read more at www.technologyreview.com |
Norway opens world’s first osmotic power plant |
Norway opened on Tuesday the world’s first osmotic power plant, which produces emissions-free electricity by mixing fresh water and sea water through a special membrane. |
The prototype, on the Oslo fjord and about 40 miles south of the Norwegian capital, has about 2,000 square meters of membrane.
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Europe’s osmotic power potential is seen at 180 terawatts, or about 5 percent of total consumption, which could help the bloc reach renewable energy goals set to curb emissions of heat-trapping gases and limit global warming.
Read more at news.cnet.com |
Vancouver trials a system to convert wastewater into biogas into electricity and heat. Innovative Technologies Help Canada Enhance Its Public Infrastructure |
| Coined the “B.C. Bioenergy to Biogas Project,” innovative, locally-developed technology will allow the plant to more efficiently convert its wastewater by-product into biogas, which will then be converted into electricity and heat for use by the plant. In addition to reducing the plant’s operating costs, emissions and waste disposal by up to a third or more, this project is expected to model increased productivity of wastewater plants and enhance public infrastructure in British Columbia and Canada. |
“We see this as a big step toward meeting our goals of sustainable energy, reduced emissions and improved air quality as expressed in our Sustainability Framework,” said Metro Vancouver Chair Lois Jackson. “We’re hoping to make this a sustainability showcase for wastewater treatment plants worldwide.” Read more at www.egovmonitor.com |
If only the world had listened to Tesla. | Two years ago, after months of equation crunching and computer modelling, Soljacic literally had a light bulb moment when he flicked the switch of a 60-watt lamp. No big deal except that the electricity powering the light was travelling two metres through thin air. |
Soljacic and his team at MIT have since formed a company called WiTricity. |
Last July, its chief executive, Eric Giler, came to Oxford to demonstrate a wireless television. In front of an amazed audience at a technology conference, he powered up a giant plasma screen TV that had no cables. Read more at www.nzherald.co.nz |
Nanowire anodes could let lithium-ion batteries run twice as long. |
A start-up based in Menlo Park, CA, plans to sell a new type of anode for lithium-ion batteries that, the company says, will let electric vehicles travel farther and mobile devices last longer without a recharge. Amprius‘ lithium-ion anodes are made of silicon nanowires, which can store 10 times more charge than graphite, the material used for today’s lithium-ion battery anodes. According to the company, electric vehicles that run 200 miles between charges could go 380 miles on its batteries, and laptops that have four hours of run time could last for seven hours between charges. Read more at www.technologyreview.com |
Several companies are chasing CVT as a way to reduce costs for wind power generation. A continuously variable transmission could lead to cheaper wind power–if it is rugged enough. |
Federal stimulus funds awarded to a wind-energy research consortium led by Illinois Institute of Technology will accelerate testing of small wind turbines that could point the way towards more efficient utility-scale machines. The eight-kilowatt turbines, the product of Cedar Park, TX-based Viryd Technologies, use a mechanical approach–continuously variable transmission (CVT) technology–to convert fluctuating wind speeds into the precise stream of alternating current required by power grids. If it can replace the pricey power electronics that regulate power in most turbines today, the same technology could cut the cost of wind-power generation at any scale. Read more at www.technologyreview.com |
There is increasing investment on research to reduce aviation radar interference by wind farms. | Stealth-Mode Wind Turbines |
Coatings and composites ease the air-traffic worries dogging wind power. |
| Last month Danish wind turbine company Vestas and U.K. defense contractor QinetiQ demonstrated the first “stealth” wind-turbine blade–their solution to the aviation radar interference problem holding up the installation of gigawatts-worth of proposed wind farms worldwide. |
Wind turbines can interfere with radar in several ways. The turbines can reflect the radar systems’ microwave signals, creating a shadow that erases airplanes from radar operators’ screens and clutters those screens with the turbines’ signature. The signature is also always changing, as blades accelerate and decelerate with the wind, reaching speeds of well over 200 kilometers per hour. Aviation safety and military authorities insist that the potential for confusion and accidents is real. Read more at www.technologyreview.com |
Researchers have found a new way to increase efficiency by wrapping solar cells around optical fibers. | Wrapping Solar Cells around an Optical Fiber |
Dye-sensitized cells get a double boost from nanowires and optical fiber. |
| a group of researchers at Georgia Tech has made dye-sensitized solar cells with a much higher effective surface area by wrapping the cells around optical fibers. These fiber solar cells are six times more efficient than a zinc oxide solar cell with the same surface area, and if they can be built using cheap polymer fibers, they shouldn’t be significantly more expensive to make. |
Fiber-optic solar cells could also be used in ways that aren’t possible currently. Zhong Lin Wang, professor of materials science and engineering at Georgia Tech, says fiber solar cells would take up less roof area than planar cells because long lengths of the fibers could be nestled into the walls of a house like electrical wiring. Read more at www.technologyreview.com |
We’re a long way to ’smart’ already, says Orion chief |
| There is already a degree of digital intelligence in the distribution network of lines companies, says Roger Sutton, CEO of lines company Orion, and the companies themselves have plans to grow the network’s intelligence further. |
| “The key thing for us is how we turn loads on and off,” Sutton says. Here, he suggests, New Zealand is ahead of most other countries, having for some decades used “ripple control” – a digital signal transmitted along the wires to turn off non-essential loads such as water heating at times of high demand. |
| Major customers are already given information about the true cost of their power and being offered differential rates to encourage efficient power use, Sutton says, and this thinking is beginning to work its way into the retail market.Read more at computerworld.co.nz |
Australian Smart Meters to use WiMAX |
| The Victoria, Australia’s Government Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) program took another step today with the announcement of an agreement to roll out 680,000 smart meters by 2013. The agreement — between SP AusNet and a dozen companies — will utilize WiMAX technology to communicate electrical consumption from the meters back to the distribution system.Read more at www.govtech.com |
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Using Rust to Capture CO2 from Coal Plants
