|
Written by Philip Proefrock on 03/06/13
|
The first grid-connected floating wind turbine has been launched off the coast of Maine, moving the US forward in its deployment of offshore wind power. Offshore wind has been well developed, particularly in Europe. But, despite having extensive wind resources, the US has done very little until now in the way of establishing offshore wind power.
The VolturnUS turbine is actually only a 1:8 scale development model from the University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center. Nonetheless, the structure is a 65 foot (19.8 meters) tall, and produces enough power that it can be tied to the grid.
This turbine will serve primarily for design study and data collection. According to the Department of Energy, the VolturUS "will collect data to validate and improve floating wind turbine designs, while helping to address technical barriers to greater offshore wind cost reductions."
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Sarah Rich on 14/06/13
|
|
Scaling up solar energy collection means addressing a critical problem. While additions like anti-reflective coatings can boost efficiency on solar panels, the more solar energy a collector gathers, the hotter it gets--and if temperatures rise too high the heat could damage the device.
A group at IBM Research - Zurich is addressing this problem and announced on Earth Day 2013 that they are developing a High Concentration PhotoVoltaic Thermal (HCPVT) system. IBM says the collector will be able to generate significantly more electrical power from the sun’s rays than comparable systems while staying cool enough to function.
According to IBM, the proposed HCPVT system’s dish contains hundreds of photovoltaic chips, and the rate at which it can generate electrical power is about 25kW. With the help of a microchannel water cooling system, the system is capable of concentrating the power of 2,000 suns, on average, and converting 80 percent of the radiation collected.
In a video, a research scientist at Zurich explains the solar radiation concentration methods that will be used in the proposed system.
The design offers other efficiency boosts: the hot water produced in the microchannels can be used for air conditioning or filtered for drinking. More electrical power and a useful hot water byproduct aren’t the only boons; as with many systems designed to increase efficiency, it promises to be more cost effective as well. Although IBM’s press release on the proposed system doesn’t mention any market plans, it does claim that the design is suitable for mass production. If they do go beyond prototype stages, IBM states these systems could be built at a cost three times lower than comparable systems, and may help deliver electricity, fresh water, and cool air to remote locations.
via: Engadget
screencaptured image via IBM Social Media
|
|
|
|
Written by Philip Proefrock on 19/06/13
|
Apple has recently hired former EPA chief Lisa Jackson to be its new Vice President for Environmental Initiatives. While the company has had a strong environmental record, Apple has been criticized in recent years for some of its practices, including producing and briefly leaving EPEAT.
Greenpeace sees the good in Jackson's hiring, calling her, "a proven advocate with a track record of combating toxic waste and the dirty energy that causes global warming..."
The question is whether Jackson is coming on board to continue to push things forward in groundbreaking new ways, or whether her administrative background will have her instead leading an effort of well-spun greenwashing. Her political background might seem to suggest the latter, although her career at EPA included steps to regulate greenhouse emissions. We hope her tenure at Apple is that of a true ecogeek, and that Apple continues to improve its environmental record.
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Philip Proefrock on 17/06/13
|
Most of the new power technology we learn about these days falls on one side or the other of the power-generation/power-storage divide. But a power cell developed by researcher Zhong Lin Wang at Georgia Tech both produces and stores power in the same tiny unit.
The self-charging cell uses a "piezoelectric membrane that drives lithium ions from one side of the cell to the other when the membrane is deformed by mechanical stress. The lithium ions driven through the polarized membrane by the piezoelectric potential are directly stored as chemical energy using an electrochemical process."
According to the researchers, the direct transfer of physical energy (such as a shoe hitting pavement) to chemical energy is as much as five times as efficient as separate generation and storage systems.
The self-charging power cell is only a device the size of a coin, and only provides enough power to operate a small calculator. But the potential for use in wearable computing (as well as the everpresent "military applications," given DARPA sponsorship of the research) make this technology an interesting one to watch for further development.
images: Gary Meek/GT Research News
|
|
|
|
Written by Sarah Rich on 18/06/13
|
While Project Better Place has met its end, the EV company Tesla Motors is gaining momentum. The company, which is gearing up to have its Model X join the Model S on the market in 2014, recently made a triumphant announcement: it has repaid its Department of Energy loan in full.
Tesla finally made a profit during the first quarter of 2013, $11.2 million from $561.8 million in revenue. But it was the nearly $1 billion raised in a stock and note sale, not profits, that the company used to pay this federal debt nine years early. The outstanding balance of Tesla’s 2009 Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) loan was $451.8 million, profiting US taxpayers just a bit with roughly $12 million in interest. This massive final payment on Tesla's startup loan makes it the first motor vehicle company to pay back its loan from the ATVM loan program.
via: The Atlantic Wire
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Share
JUN 03
"Any chance the subsurface element of a unit like this could be designe..."
View all Comments