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http://www.fcci.com.au/2011/08/1246/

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

The heat given off by electronics, automobile engines, factories and other sources is a potentially huge source of energy, and various technologies are being developed in order to capture that heat, and then convert it into electricity. Thanks to an alloy that was recently developed at the University of Minnesota, however, a step in that process could be saved – the new material is able to convert heat directly into electricity.

The multiferroic alloy, with the catchy name Ni45Co5Mn40Sn10, was created by combining its various elements at the atomic level. Multiferroic materials are known for having unique elastic, magnetic and electric properties, and in the case of this alloy, that takes a form of an usual phase change. When heated, the non-magnetic solid material suddenly becomes a strongly magnetic solid.

In a lab test, upon becoming magnetic, the material absorbed heat in its environment and proceeded to produce electricity in an attached coil. Although some of the heat energy is lost in a process known as hysteresis, the U Minnesota researchers have developed a method of minimizing that energy loss.

“This research is very promising because it presents an entirely new method for energy conversion that’s never been done before,” said aerospace engineering and mechanics professor Richard James, who led the research team. “It’s also the ultimate ‘green’ way to create electricity because it uses waste heat to create electricity with no carbon dioxide.”

The research was recently published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

CHARGING YOUR BATTERY IN ONLY MINUTES IS POSSIBLE

A diagram of a lithium-ion battery constructed using Braun’s nanostructured bicontinuous cathode (left), and a scanning electron microscope image of the nanostructure (right)
(Image: Paul Braun, University of Illinois)

Of all the criticisms of electric vehicles, probably the most commonly-heard is that their batteries take too long to recharge – after all, limited range wouldn’t be such a big deal if the cars could be juiced up while out and about, in just a few minutes. Well, while no one is promising anything, new batteries developed at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign do indeed look like they might be a step very much in the right direction. They are said to offer all the advantages of capacitors and batteries, in one unit.

“This system that we have gives you capacitor-like power with battery-like energy,” said U Illinois‘ Paul Braun, a professor of materials science and engineering. “Most capacitors store very little energy. They can release it very fast, but they can’t hold much. Most batteries store a reasonably large amount of energy, but they can’t provide or receive energy rapidly. This does both.”

The speed at which conventional batteries are able to charge or discharge can be dramatically increased by changing the form of their active material into a thin film, but such films have typically lacked the volume to be able to store a significant amount of energy. In the case of Braun’s batteries, however, that thin film has been formed into a three-dimensional structure, thus increasing its storage capacity.

Batteries equipped with the 3D film have been demonstrated to work normally in electrical devices, while being able to charge and discharge 10 to 100 times faster than their conventional counterparts.

To make the three-dimensional thin film, the researchers coated a surface with nanoscale spheres, which self-assembled into a lattice-like arrangement. The spaces between and around the spheres were then coated with metal, after which the spheres were melted or dissolved away, leaving the metal as a framework of empty pores. Electropolishing was then used to enlarge the pores and open up the framework, after which it was coated with a layer of the active material – both lithium-ion and nickel metal hydride batteries were created.

The system utilizes processes already used on a large scale, so it would reportedly be easy to scale up. It could also be used with any type of battery, not just Li-ion and NiMH.

The implications for electric vehicles are particularly exciting. “If you had the ability to charge rapidly, instead of taking hours to charge the vehicle you could potentially have vehicles that would charge in similar times as needed to refuel a car with gasoline,” Braun said. “If you had five-minute charge capability, you would think of this the same way you do an internal combustion engine. You would just pull up to a charging station and fill up.”

Braun and his team believe that the technology could be used not only for making electric cars more viable, but also for allowing phones or laptops to be able to recharge in seconds or minutes. It could also result in high-power lasers or defibrillators that don’t need to warm up before or between pulses.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

]]> http://www.energy-options.info/2010/12/1025/feed/ 0 http://www.energy-options.info/2010/12/sustainable-technologies-survey/ http://www.energy-options.info/2010/12/sustainable-technologies-survey/#comments Fri, 17 Dec 2010 07:03:02 +0000 Editor http://energy-options.info/?p=993
As someone interested in QWESTNet, we value your input.

We are continually striving to improve QWESTNet to meet your needs. With your help we can continue to bring together sustainable technology users and retailers to provide the opportunity for like-minded participants to network and build business relationships.

The following survey will gather information regarding the success of the forums, how well they are targeted to your needs, the types of business contacts made as a result of the forums and suggestions you have for future forums.

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Received & published by Henry Sapiecha

RavenSkin insulation stores up daytime heat for release when temperatures drop

RavenBrick, the company that brought us the smart tinting RavenWindow, has added to its folio of temperature regulating building materials with RavenSkin. Unlike traditional insulation that blocks all heat equally, this innovative wall insulation material absorbs heat during the day to keep the interior cool and slowly releases the stored heat at night to warm the building when the sun goes down. Read More

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Sahara Solar Breeder Project aims to provide 50 percent of the world’s electricity by 2050

This is ambition with a capital A. Universities in Japan and Algeria have teamed up on a project that aims to solve the world’s energy problems. Called the Sahara Solar Breeder Project, the plan is to build manufacturing plants around the Sahara Desert and extract silica from sand to make solar panels, which will then be used to build solar power plants in the desert. The power generated by the initial plant or plants would be used to “breed” more silicon manufacturing and solar power plants, which will in turn be used to breed more again, and so on. The ultimate goal is to build enough plants to provide 50 percent of the world’s electricity by 2050, which would be delivered via a global superconducting supergrid. Read More

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

by Cynthia Booth

New Jersey school of architecture professor presents us how to construct an environmental-friendly home with limited funds

Did you know 2 New York based architects designed an asymmetrical home with a fixed cost of $250,000?

Architects and Jersey City residents Richard Garber (assistant tutor at the Newjersey Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture and Design in Newark) and Nicole Robertson of GRO Architects in New York City rose to the challenge of designing and managing the construction of a single-family house that’s an authentic evidence of both revolutionary design and environmental-friendly technologies.

Denis Carpenter not too long ago bought one small vacant lot and, to accomplish his concern for the planet, wanted a house that was cost-efficient and easy to maintain.

What’s so exceptional about this home?

- In the home, on the floor level, radiant heating below the exposed cement floor gets warm the full bathing room and a couple of bedrooms.

- In the loft-like second level, sleek aluminum and stainless steel railings accent the bamboo stairway to the mezzanine, living room and an artfully designed kitchen made with salvaged home appliances and cabinetry.

- Passive air conditioning strategies like ceiling fans and clerestory windows make it easy for home owners to remain cool during summer months and warm during winter months.

- The roof consists of 260 sq ft of solar panels that provide nearly 2,000 kilowatts of energy annually to a battery stored in the basement.

This single family 1,600-square-foot home was constructed in six months and won a 2009 American Institute of Architects merit award and the 2010 Green Building of the Year Award from the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency.

Now what? How could you convert your home into an environmentally-friendly home without investing too much money?

If you’re remodeling a home, perform an energy audit first to help you identify what energy efficiency improvements should and can be made to your home. In this way you’ll evaluate how much energy your home needs.

My personal favorite eco-friendly methodology is the passive solar cooling/heating design.

Passive solar usually means that your home’s windows, walls, and floors can be designed to collect, store, and distribute solar power in the form of heat in the winter season and reject solar heat in the summer time.

Existing houses can be adapted or “retrofitted” to passively collect and store solar heat too.

The next five aspects constitute a comprehensive passive solar home design:

The Collector – The area through which sunlight enters the building (usually windows).

The Absorber – The hard, darkened surface of the storage element. Sunlight hits the surface and is absorbed as heat.

The Thermal Mass – The components that retain or store the heat produced by sunlight below or behind the absorber surface.

The Distributor – The system by which solar heat circulates from the collection and storage points to different areas of the house.

The Controller – Roof overhangs may be used to shade the aperture area during warm weather or Thermostats that signal a fan to turn on.

The author – Cynthia Booth contributes articles for the <a href=”http://www.architecturecareers.org/”>architecture careers advice</a> blog. It’s a nonprofit web-site dedicated to provide help for beginning architects who need resources for their careers. With this she would like to raise the awareness on eco-friendly home design and change the general public conception of energy efficiency.

America’s first public-use quick-charge station for electric vehicles opens

Portland General Electric and NEC have joined forces to declare North America’s first public-use, quick-charge station for electric vehicles open for business. Heralded as a tipping point for the roll-out of electric vehicles in the U.S., the Takasago Rapid Charging Station is said to provide batteries with up to 80 per cent full strength in 20 to 30 minutes. Company officials and Governor Ted Kulongoski took the opportunity to power up a visiting Nissan LEAF before it left for a two-day tour of the area. Read More

Received & published by Henry Sapiecha

Energy storage system to top up peak electricity supply

The amount of power drawn from the electricity grid can vary greatly at different times of the day. It usually peaks in the early evening for a couple of hours after the mass exodus from school and work, while short-lived spikes are also common after major televised sporting events, during commercial breaks and in the morning hours. This can cause headaches for energy companies as they struggle to match supply with demand. But researchers have now found a way to manage these short-lived draws on the electricity grid far that could halve the fuel needed. Read More

Received & published by Henry Sapiecha