An American software engineer has developed an 'Energy EGG' which is smart enough to sense when a room is empty and saves power by turning off electrical devices not in use. 37-year-old Brian O'Reilly hatched an idea for the 'Energy EGG' in his workshop in order to curb his family's extravagant electricity usage, the Daily Mail reported. The 'Energy EGG' uses motion sensors to detect whether someone is in the room, similar to the functioning of household alarm systems. The egg-shaped device is linked wirelessly to a control adaptor, similar to a multi-plug, into which multiple electrical goods are connected. "I've always been quite concerned about energy efficiency and recycling, which is our main focus, and I found it quite difficult with my wife and kids to get everything switched off," Brian was quoted as saying by the paper. Brian who worked as a software engineer, left his job to market his winning innovative product. He has signed a deal to distribute an initial 1,00,000 Energy EGGS to hundreds of stores in the US. The technology, which was developed along with the University of Strathclyde where Brian's company 'TreeGreen' is based, also gives a one minute warning before cutting power. The inventor is also in the process of launching the 'Smart Phone Charger' and the 'Smart Light Switch', which automatically turns off lights when a room is empty but unlike other systems, which only come on in the dark, is not confused by sunlight. "For me it's just great to know we're not wasting energy needlessly. My mum and dad's generation grew up switching stuff off and I think that's starting to come back now people are more aware of the need to save energy," Brian said, Source: Deccan Chronicle
Now, an 'Energy EGG' that turns off unused electrical items
Energy-dense biofuel from cellulose close to being economical
A new Purdue University-developed process for creating biofuels has shown potential to be cost-effective for production scale, opening the door for moving beyond the laboratory setting. A Purdue economic analysis shows that the cost of the thermo-chemical H2Bioil method is competitive when crude oil is about $100 per barrel when using certain energy methods to create hydrogen needed for the process. If a federal carbon tax were implemented, the biofuel would become even more economical. H2Bioil is created when biomass, such as switchgrass or corn stover, is heated rapidly to about 500 degrees Celcius in the presence of pressurized hydrogen. Resulting gases are passed over catalysts, causing reactions that separate oxygen from carbon molecules, making the carbon molecules high in energy content, similar to gasoline molecules. The conversion process was created in the lab of Rakesh Agrawal, Purdue's Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering. He said H2Bioil has significant advantages over traditional standalone methods used to create fuels from biomass. "The process is quite fast and converts entire biomass to liquid fuel," Agrawal said. "As a result, the yields are substantially higher. Once the process is fully developed, due to the use of external hydrogen, the yield is expected to be two to three times that of the current competing technologies." The economic analysis, published in the June issue of Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, shows that the energy source used to create hydrogen for the process makes all the difference when determining whether the biofuel is cost-effective. Hydrogen processed using natural gas or coal makes the H2Bioil cost-effective when crude oil is just over $100 per barrel. But hydrogen derived from other, more expensive, energy sources - nuclear, wind or solar - drive up the break-even point. "We're in the ballpark," said Wally Tyner, Purdue's James and Lois Ackerman Professor of Agricultural Economics. "In the past, I have said that for biofuels to be competitive, crude prices would need to be at about $120 per barrel. This process looks like it could be competitive when crude is even a little cheaper than that." Agrawal said he and colleagues Fabio Ribeiro, a Purdue professor of chemical engineering, and Nick Delgass, Purdue's Maxine Spencer Nichols Professor of Chemical Engineering, are working to develop catalysts needed for the H2Bioil conversion processes. The method's initial implementation has worked on a laboratory scale and is being refined so it would become effective on a commercial scale. "This economic analysis shows us that the process is viable on a commercial scale," Agrawal said. "We can now go back to the lab and focus on refining and improving the process with confidence." The model Tyner used assumed that corn stover, switchgrass and miscanthus would be the primary feedstocks. The analysis also found that if a federal carbon tax were introduced, driving up the cost of coal and natural gas, more expensive methods for producing hydrogen would become competitive. "If we had a carbon tax in the future, the break-even prices would be competitive even for nuclear," Tyner said. "Wind and solar, not yet, but maybe down the road." The US Department of Energy and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research funded the research. Agrawal and his collaborators received a US patent for the conversion process.Source: Renewable Energy Magazine
Phones could be powered by user's body heat
Dead cellphones could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to a new technology that can harvest enough juice for another call from the user's own body heat. Developed by researchers in the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials at Wake Forest University, Power Felt is based on tiny carbon nanotubes encased in flexible plastic fibers and uses temperature differences – room temperature versus body temperature, for instance – to create a charge. "We waste a lot of energy in the form of heat. For example, recapturing a car's energy waste could help improve fuel mileage and power the radio, air conditioning or navigation system," says graduate student Corey Hewitt "Generally thermoelectrics are an underdeveloped technology for harvesting energy, yet there is so much opportunity." Potential uses for Power Felt include lining automobile seats to boost battery power and service electrical needs, insulating pipes or collecting heat underroof tiles to lower gas or electric bills. It could also be used to lineclothing or sports equipment to monitor performance, or to wrap IV or wound sites to better track patients' medical needs. "Imagine it in an emergency kit, wrapped around a flashlight, powering aweather radio, charging a prepaid cell phone," says David Carroll, director of the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials. "Power Felt could provide relief during power outages or accidents." The reason thermoelectrics haven't been used more widely in the past is simple - cost. Standard thermoelectric devices use a much more efficient compound called bismuth telluride to turn heat into power in products including mobile refrigerators and CPU coolers, but can cost $1,000 per kilogram. But the Wake researchers are confident that, in bulk, their system could costs as little as $1 to add to a cellphone cover. Currently, 72 stacked layers in the fabric yield about 140 nanowatts of power. The team is evaluating several ways to add more nanotube layers and make them even thinner to boost the power output. There's more work to do, but Wake Forest says it's in talks with investors to produce Power Felt commercially. Source: The Ultimate UpdateBSR developing biogas plant to fuel garbage truck fleet
Having gained consent from Berlin’s Senate Department for Health, Environment and Consumer Protection in July, the German waste collection service provider, BSR Ruhleben, has commenced construction of a biogas plant in Berlin-Westend. The facility will ferment organic waste to produce biomethane to power its fleet of refuse collection trucks. Berlin’s Senator for Health, Environment and Consumer Protection, Katrin Lompscher; Spandau district councillor Carsten-Michael Röding (Department of Building, Planning and Environmental Protection); and BSR CEO Vera Gade-Butzlaff attended the recent ground-breaking ceremony of a new biogas plant in Berlin being constructed by BSR Ruhleben to provide biomethane to power its fleet of compressed natural gas (CNG) powered refuse collection vehicles. Vera Gade-Butzlaff, CEO of BSR, says the new plant will be capable of displacing 2.5 million litres of diesel per year. “About half of all collective kilometres of BSR in the future will be accomplished as climate-neutral. This usage also makes us less dependent on – predictably upward trending – price development of fossil fuels,” Gade-Butzlaff explains. By the end of 2012, and every year thereafter, the biogas generated from organic waste by BSR will be the equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 5,000 tonnes. When utilised as a diesel-substitute, the company reveals that the biomethane (upgraded biogas) it will produce will be tax free until the end of 2015. During her speech at the ground-breaking ceremony, Senator Lompscher said the use of biomethane to power the company’s fleet will also contribute to reducing noise and dust pollution, since “the biogas garbage trucks emit no diesel and they are clearly quieter than conventional diesel vehicles”. In a climate protection agreement set for the 2005 – 2010 period, BSR was hired by Berlin city council as the first municipal company to set ambitious climate targets. The company aimed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 121,000 tonnes and build a fleet of fully equipped low emission waste collection vehicles. As the final report of this agreement showed, the goal was not only met but exceeded, with the saving equivalent to 130,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide being achieved. BSR has operated a fleet of 50 Daimler CNG waste collection trucks, a filling station and a CNG fast filling a mobile station that has been operational since 2002, also adding another 30 vehicles and a second Fast Fill station in 2010. It plans to expand the fleet of 140 CNG vehicles and build another fast-fill CNG station in 2012. Source: Renewable Energy Magazine
US lab discovering the keys to improved biofuel catalysts
Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory are learning more about how nano-scale catalytic systems work, and their research could be the key to improved processes for refining biofuels and producing other chemicals. Nanospheres, tiny spheres of silica with a honeycomb of tunnels, or pores, throughout their structure and embedded with catalytic groups, were developed in the last decade
as a solution to finding a reusable catalyst for converting biomass into fuel. While scientists are now able to produce these nanospheres in ways that control the size of the pores and the type and position of the catalytic groups, understanding precisely how these chemical reactions take place will allow further fine-tuning and predictable control of catalytic processes. A collaborative team of scientists at the laboratory’s Division of Chemical and Biological Sciences have determined that though these particles were designed with hollow passages specifically to maximize the surface area available for chemical reactions, these reactions don’t happen uniformly across the entire surface area of the particle. These issues prompted James Evans to develop a new theoretical model which allows better predictions of how these complex systems will behave. Evans is an Ames Laboratory faculty scientist and Professor in Physics and Astronomy at Iowa State University who specializes in theoretical and computational tools for understanding non-equilibrium processes, including catalysis. He described the reaction behavior as being similar to a busy grocery store, where customers roam multiple aisles, grabbing items off the shelves. Because the aisles get pretty full of customers throughout, most of the action will occur near the ends of the aisles, where shoppers can get in easily, grab items, and leave easily. Shoppers in the middle of the aisles will have a harder time passing each other and getting out of the aisle with their items. In the same way, the chemical reactions deep within the pores are limited. “The catchphrase we use to describe restricted passing in narrow pores (or aisles) is single file diffusion. In this situation, reaction is controlled by the random or stochastic nature of molecular motion near the pore openings. So traditional reaction-diffusion equations which do not incorporate these stochastic features fail completely to describe reaction behavior,” Evans said. “Suitably refining traditional equations to incorporate stochastic behavior provides an efficient and reliable model to describe dependence of reaction behavior on key system parameters and guides the experimentalist in thinking about the design of nanoporous materials,” he added. Evans and graduate students David M. Ackerman and Jing Wang published their findings in a recent issue of Physical Review Letters. Igor Slowing, a scientist at the laboratory who synthesizes the particles and performs reaction studies demonstrated a dramatic decrease in catalytic yield with decreasing pore diameter. This is consistent with general expectations of transport limitations in these reaction systems for narrow pores, and with the perception that most of the "action" occurs near pore openings. “What Jim has done is develop a model to help us understand better what key properties we need to change in the material to get the desired results,” Slowing said. “You can imagine there are several possible remedies for what we are observing,” said Marek Pruski, the Ames Laboratory scientist who heads up the research team. Pruski specializes in the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies of the nano-scale particles. “You can adjust the pore diameter to facilitate passing, or reduce the aspect ratio so that pores are better utilized.” The limitations in reaction efficiency predicted by the model developed by Evans and his co-workers were confirmed in a recent Ames Laboratory study oriented to optimize a reaction routinely used in chemical manufacturing and biofuel production. This study combined new NMR methods with kinetic and surface analyses to detect the formation of catalyst inhibitors that tend to reduce the size of the pores, down to a point they behave similar to a case of single file diffusion. The researchers found that increasing the pore size by less than one nanometer improved the activity more than twenty times. Further modifications to the catalyst allowed the researchers to prevent the formation of inhibitors, which eliminates the bottleneck without making the pore wider. The study, written by Slowing, Pruski, and a team of scientists from Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University’s Chemistry Department, was published in the Journal of Catalysis. “What really inhibits the performance of these systems is poorly understood or misunderstood, and that’s why the research being done here is so fundamentally important,” said Pruski. “Ultimately, if we want to improve the catalysts, we need to have a clear understanding of the basic phenomena taking place within the pores. The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. Source: Renewable Energy MagazineWorld?s largest advanced gasification waste energy plant in the works
Air Products will build and operate the world’s largest renewable energy plant in the UK using advanced gasification energy-from-waste (EfW) technology. The Tees Valley plant, located at the New Energy and Technology Business Park, near Billingham, Teesside, will be the first of its kind in the UK, and the largest of its kind anywhere in the world with an approximate capacity of 50 MW. The plant is expected to produce enough reliable, controllable, and renewable electricity to power up to 50,000 homes. Situated in a location with good access and connectivity to the local and national electrical distribution infrastructure and in close proximity to landfill disposal facilities, it will divert up to 350,000 metric tons of non-recyclable waste from the landfill per year – helping to meet the UK’s waste diversion targets. The Westinghouse advanced gasification technology provided by AlterNRG, is a leading next generation of EfW technologies. It offers a more efficient, cleaner conversion of waste-to-power than traditional EfW technologies and has the potential to generate a wider range of useful products, including heat, hydrogen, chemicals and fuels, the company said. Longer term, the potential generation of renewable hydrogen could be deployed for commercial use, such as fuelling public transport. “Our investment in advanced gasification EfW technology is a natural extension of our onsite business model. Offering an innovative growth opportunity, it allows us to further extend our leading position in the global energy market and continue to deliver on Air Products’ commitment to sustainability,” said John McGlade, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Air Products. “The UK is committed to diversifying its sources of energy, strengthening its energy security and reducing carbon emissions," he continued. "This pioneering clean energy technology model is well-suited to these requirements, offering a sustainable solution to the UK’s waste management strategy. The facility will also create skilled jobs in the area and we are hopeful it will provide an indirect boost to the local economy through the use of local service companies, hotels and other businesses.” Air Products has secured the necessary environmental and planning approvals and the renewable energy facility is scheduled to enter commercial operation in 2014. Work has already begun to prepare the site. Full-scale construction activities will begin ramping up in the coming weeks. The plant is expected to create up to 700 construction jobs and over 50 permanent jobs once operational. “Advanced gasification has a key role to play in delivering renewable energy and I warmly welcome the decision by Air Products to proceed with its Tees Valley Renewable Energy Facility. Air Products' announcement reflects the UK’s commitment and support for clean energy, combined with our stable and transparent environment for investors,” said UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. "With the world's spotlight on the UK this summer, we are working hard through the British Business Embassy program to help UK and international companies to capitalize on new trade and investment opportunities to deliver safe, secure, sustainable and smarter energy ‘ecosystems’, from extraction through to the end user,” Clegg added. Source: Renewable Energy Magazine
New biofuel process dramatically improves energy recovery
A new biofuel production process created by Michigan State University researchers produces energy more than 20 times higher than existing methods. The results, published in the current issue of Environmental Science and Technology, showcase a novel way to use microbes to produce biofuel and hydrogen, all while consuming agricultural wastes. Gemma Reguera, MSU microbiologist, has developed bioelectrochemical systems known as microbial electrolysis cells, or MECs, using bacteria to breakdown and ferment agricultural waste into ethanol. Reguera’s platform is unique because it employs a second bacterium, which, when added to the mix, removes all the waste fermentation byproducts or nonethanol materials while generating electricity. Similar microbial fuel cells have been investigated before. However, maximum energy recoveries from corn stover, a common feedstock for biofuels, hover around 3.5 percent. Reguera’s platform, despite the energy invested in chemical pretreatment of the corn stover, averaged 35 to 40 percent energy recovery just from the fermentation process, said Reguera, an AgBioResearch scientist who co-authored the paper with Allison Spears, MSU graduate student. “This is because the fermentative bacterium was carefully selected to degrade and ferment agricultural wastes into ethanol efficiently and to produce byproducts that could be metabolized by the electricity-producing bacterium,” Reguera said. “By removing the waste products of fermentation, the growth and metabolism of the fermentative bacterium also was stimulated. Basically, each step we take is custom-designed to be optimal.” The second bacterium, Geobacter sulfurreducens, generates electricity. The electricity, however, isn’t harvested as an output. It is used to generate hydrogen in the MEC to increase the energy recovery process even more, Reguera said. “When the MEC generates hydrogen, it actually doubles the energy recoveries,” she said. “We increased energy recovery to 73 percent. So the potential is definitely there to make this platform attractive for processing agricultural wastes.” Reguera’s fuel cells use corn stover treated by the ammonia fiber expansion process, an advanced pretreatment technology pioneered at MSU. AFEX is an already proven method that was developed by Bruce Dale, MSU professor of chemical engineering and materials science. Dale is currently working to make AFEX viable on a commercial scale. In a similar vein, Reguera is continuing to optimize her MECs so they, too, can be scaled up on a commercial basis. Her goal is to develop decentralized systems that can help process agricultural wastes. Decentralized systems could be customized at small to medium scales (scales such as compost bins and small silages, for example) to provide an attractive method to recycle the wastes while generating fuel for farms. Source: Renewable Energy Magazine,
New technology can produce 'petrol from air'
A small British firm claimed to have developed a revolutionary new technology that can produce petrol using just air and electricity. A company in the north of England has developed the "air capture" technology to create synthetic petrol which experts have hailed as a potential "game-changer" in the battle against climate change and a saviour for the world's energy crisis. The technology, presented to a London engineering conference this week, works by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, The Telegraph reported. The 'petrol from air' technology involves taking sodium hydroxide and mixing it with carbon dioxide before 'electrolysing' the sodium carbonate that it produces to form pure carbon dioxide. Hydrogen is then produced by electrolysing water vapour captured with a dehumidifier. The company, Air Fuel Syndication, uses the carbon dioxide and hydrogen to produce methanol which in turn is passed through a gasoline fuel reactor, creating petrol. Company officials claimed to have produced five litres of petrol in less than three months from a small refinery in Stockton-on-Tees, Teesside. The fuel that is produced can be used in any regular petrol tank and, if renewable energy is used to provide the electricity it could become "completely carbon neutral". The company hopes to build a large plant, which could produce more than a tonne of petrol every day, within two years and a refinery size operation within the next 15 years. Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) officials admitted that while the described technology is "too good to be true but it is true", and said that it could prove to be a "game-changer" in the battle against climate change. Stephen Tetlow, the IMechE chief executive, hailed the breakthrough as "truly groundbreaking". "It has the potential to become a great British success story, which opens up a crucial opportunity to reduce carbon emissions," he was quoted as saying by the paper. "Air capture technology ultimately has the potential to become a game-changer in our quest to avoid dangerous climate change," Dr Tim Fox, the organisation's head of energy and environment, added. Peter Harrison, the company's 58-year-old chief executive said that he was "excited" about the technology's potential, which "uses renewable energy in a slightly different way". "People do find it unusual when I tell them what we are working on and realise what it means. It is an opportunity for a technology to make an impact on climate change and make an impact on the energy crisis facing this country and the world, said Mr Harrison, a civil engineer from Darlington, County Durham. "It looks and smells like petrol but it is much cleaner and we don't have any nasty bits," he said. Source: Indian ExpressSpace bugs offer new source of power
Bacteria normally found 30km above the earth have been found to be efficient generators of electricity. Bacillus stratosphericus and B. altitudinis are microbes found in high concentrations in the stratosphere -although the Newcastle University team rather more prosaically, isolated them from a nearby river after they were brought down to earth as a result of atmospheric cycling processes. Microbial fuel cells use bacteria to convert organic compounds directly intoelectricity by a process known as bio-catalytic oxidation. A biofilm – or 'slime' – coats the carbon electrodes of the MFC and as the bacteria feed, they produce electrons which pass into the electrodes and generate electricity. The team tested the power-generation of 75 different species of bacteria using a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC). And by selecting the best, they were able to create an artificial biofilm, doubling the electrical output of the MFC from 105 Watts per cubic metre to 200 Watts per cubic metre. While still relatively low, this would be enough power to run an electric light, they say, and could provide a much needed power source in parts of the world without electricity. "What we have done is deliberately manipulate the microbial mix to engineer a biofilm that is more efficient at generating electricity," says professor of marine biotechnology Grant Burgess. "This is the first time individual microbes have been studied and selected in this way. Finding B. altitudinis was quite a surprise but what it demonstrates is the potential of this technique for the future – there are billions of microbes out there with the potential to generate power."Source: The Ultimate UpdatePoo powered motorcycle kicking up a stink in Japan
The bike runs on bio-fuel from the discharge of livestock or waste water (Picture: AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
An eco-friendly motorbike powered by poo has been kicking up a stink across Japan after being unveiled this week. Created by Japan's leading toilet makers TOTO, the energy efficient bike certainly meets the motor industry's demand for more climate friendly vehicles. Talks to turn the ambitious project into reality have been on-going since 2009, with the latest version of the 'Toilet Bike Neo' making its debut at s showroom in Fujisawa, near Tokyo, on Thursday. The environmentally friendly three-wheel 250cc motorcycle features a specially customised toilet-shaped seat that runs on bio-fuel from the discharge of livestock or waste water. Despite the eye-catching seat, TOTO is keen to point out that the motorcycle does actually not run on the rider's waste. 'Toilet Bike Neo' does not have the mechanism to run on the rider's waste,' explained the company in a blog post. 'It runs biogas fuel (fertilised, purified and compressed livestock waste and household wastewater) provided by Shika-oi Town in Hokkaido and Kobe city. 'Therefore, the Neo rest seat does not function as a toilet, and has been created for promoting TOTO's environmental efforts. 'TOTO has set up the project to inform everyone about what we have done in the past, and what we will do in the future. 'Source: SAM Daily Times
Honda to recycle rare earths to be green
TOKYO — Honda Motor Co said Wednesday it will start recycling rare earths and other key materials in hybrid auto batteries this year—a key innovation in the Japanese automaker’s effort to be green. Japan is dependent on imports, mostly from China, for rare earth elements, which are essential for making high-tech products, but a steady supply has been periodically threatened over political disputes with China. Honda officials said the company was targeting September or October to begin recycling of rare earths. They said it would be a first for the auto industry. Honda President Takanobu Ito said: “In the long term, we hope to move to renewable energy sources that won’t harm the environment.” Ito outlined Honda’s efforts to reduce pollution and global warming, including experimental projects to combine solar with its fuel-cell cars—what he called the Honda “dream” to derive energy solely from nature and emit just water. Fuel cells are powered by the energy created when hydrogen combines with oxygen to produce water. They are still too expensive for commercial use and remain experimental. Ito said Honda’s roots lie in its determination to develop a fuel-efficient gasoline engine to clear U.S. pollution-control regulations of the 1970s. Honda’s CVCC engine was the first in the world to clear the standard. Japan later adopted similar pollution regulations. Honda recovered from last year's earthquake and tsunami, which disrupted the supply of auto parts and sent sales plunging. January-March profit rose 61% from the previous year, and it’s projecting record global sales of 4.3 million vehicles for this fiscal year.Source: Sam Daily Times
Mobile Phone Charger That Runs On Water
A Swedish company has invented a charger for mobile phones, cameras and GPS devices that can power-up your electronic gadgets with little more than water. The PowerTrekk has been designed for people who 'who spend time away from the electricity grid' and do not have access to conventional power in remote locations. The charger needs just a tablespoon of water to produce around 10 hours of phone
battery life. The invention works with any device that has a USB port and with almostany type of water, including salt water. It can even run on puddle water providing it isn't thickened with mud or any other sediment. "PowerTrekk has a competitive edge over traditional portable chargers" said Björn Westerholm of myFC, the company behind PowerTrekk. Fuel cell power is generated immediately and charging is not impacted by weather or the position of the sun, as for solar panels. Compared to battery powered travel chargers, PowerTrekk offers reliable charging as the fuel packs do not deplete as batteries do. 
The process is easy for users. The sodium is stored in a small round container called a PowerPukk. The PowerPukk slots into one half of an outer container. In the other half is a tiny water tank, into which you pour the water. Once the lid is sealed on the outer container the chemical reaction begins automatically and the PowerTrekk is ready to use. The chemistry process is said to besafe and eco-friendly, and the only by-product is a little water vapor. Source: Tech Guide
U Camelopardalis
Camelopardalis, or U Cam for short, is a star nearing the end of its life. As stars run low on fuel, they become unstable. Every few thousand years, U Cam coughs out a nearly spherical shell of gas as a layer of helium around its core begins to fuse. The gas ejected in the star’s latest eruption is clearly visible in this picture as a faint bubble of gas surrounding the star. U Cam is an example of a carbon star, a rare type of star with an atmosphere that contains more carbon than oxygen. Due to its low surface gravity, typically as much as half of the total mass of a carbon star may be lost by way of powerful stellar winds. Located in the constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe), near the North Celestial Pole, U Cam itself is much smaller than it appears in this Hubble image. In fact, the star would easily fit within a single pixel at the center of the image. Its brightness, however, is enough to saturate the camera's receptors, making the star look much larger than it is.The shell of gas, which is both much larger and much fainter than its parent star, is visible in intricate detail in Hubble’s portrait. This phenomenon is often quite irregular and unstable, but the shell of gas expelled from U Cam is almost perfectly spherical.Photo credit: ESA/NASA, Source: MinexSolar Impulse fly to Morocco, to conquer a new continent
Image: Technicians and the Swiss driver Bernard Piccard preparing the Solar Impulse before his flight to Morocco, June 5, 2012 in Madrid (AFP Dominique Faget).
The Solar Impulse set sail Tuesday on Morocco after taking off at dawn in Madrid, for the first time to conquer a new continent. The plane, piloted by Bertrand Piccard Switzerland, co-founder of the project, flew smoothly, almost silently, the airport of Madrid-Barajas to 5:22 (3:22 GMT). He headed to the south of Spain, flying, at sunrise, landscapes flooded with light. For an hour I had a full moon on my right and the sunrise on my left, it's absolutely magical. I had all the colors of the rainbow in the sky and also on land, told from the cockpit Bertrand Piccard, explorer, 54, reached by telephone by AFP. Solar Impulse is the first aircraft designed to fly day and night without fuel or polluting emissions, thanks to solar
Image above: The Solar Impulse solar aircraft took off from Madrid, 201 June 5 (AFP Dominique Faget).
energy. The carbon fiber aircraft is powered by four electric motors, a power of 10 horsepower each, powered by 12,000 photocells covering its huge wing. Energy is stored during the day in batteries, allowing the aircraft to fly at night. Solar Impulse has the wingspan of an Airbus A340 (63.4 meters) but weighs only 1.6 tons, or the weight of an average car. At sunrise, a camera mounted on the aircraft has released images of the valleys south of Madrid, while the aircraft was en route to Seville in southern Spain. The goal is not to use solar energy for normal aircraft, the pilot explained. The goal is to prove that we can achieve outstanding goals, almost impossible with new technologies, without fuel, and make people aware that if we can do in heaven, of course anyone can do it on the ground . After flying over the south of Spain at 3,600 meters and a speed of about 40 km / hour, Bertrand Piccard should gradually lead his plane at 8,500 meters above the Strait of Gibraltar, before entering the Moroccan airspace and flying over the port of Tangier. The landing is scheduled in Rabat from 11 p.m. (2200 GMT). The solar plane had arrived in Madrid on May 25, from Switzerland, for a scheduled stop, but had been off again
Solar Impulse description
since because of the wind. I think the challenge really is to succeed the first intercontinental flight using solar energy, said Bertrand Piccard. We will leave Europe to come into Africa across the Strait of Gibraltar, bringing a message of support to the Moroccan agency of solar energy, which is preparing a comprehensive solar program, very ambitious for this country, he added driver. According to the organizers of the flight, it was planned to coincide with the launch of construction of the largest solar thermal plant ever built in Morocco, in the region of Ouarzazate in the south. The solar plane, then controlled by the co-founder of the project, Switzerland André Borschberg, aged 59, took off on May 24 at Payerne in Switzerland for a journey of 2,500 kilometers in total to Morocco, with a stopover in Madrid . This is a rehearsal for the world tour of Solar Impulse in 2014. Seven years of work went to a team of 70 people and 80 partners to build this revolutionary aircraft. Solar Impulse had entered the history of aviation looping, in July 2010, a first flight of 24 hours without interruption and only powered by its solar panels and batteries. Solar Impulse Mission Control website: http://live.solarimpulse.com/, Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: AFP / Translation: Orbiter.ch, Greetings, Orbiter.ch, Publié par Orbiter.ch à Source: Orbiter.ch Space News
Is your phone battery low? Recharge it with water
Ananta Sports: Barcelona It is the nightmare of the wired world — a smartphone low on battery. Now Swedish group myFC says its water-powered charger could be the fix anywhere while battery giant Duracell is championing a push for carsand even stadiums to be built with energy ‘mats' that would power up phones. A Californian firm, meanwhile, has launched a phone that it claims can remain charged for up to 15 years, making it the perfect spare in emergencies or disasters. "The difference between the energy on a phone and the energy we consume isincreasing. We need to charge more often but you don't want to be hooked onto a wall," said myFC chief executive Bjorn Westerholm. His firm has therefore come up with a portable fuel cell charger which is slightly larger than a compact camera and which uses just one spoonful of water and a small metallic device called a fuel puck, to fully charge an iPhone. The PowerTrekk could appeal most to campers, aid workers or the military, said Westerholm, who is exhibiting the charger at the world's biggest mobile fair inBarcelona. "It could be sea water, fresh water. You need to carry water with you to survive anyway and the PowerTrekk needs just one spoonful," he said.Source: Ananta SportsShipping industry launches "Virtual Arrival" to save fuel, cut emissions
Renewable Energy Magazine, By : Toby Price, The Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) and the industry forum, Intertanko, recently launched the concept of Virtual Arrival in Brussels in the presence of Siim Kallas, EU Commissioner for Transport, and Mary Veronica Tovsak Pleterski, Director of the European and International Carbon Markets DG Climate Change with the EU Commission. Several international maritime associations have launched a system to reduce shipping emissions by moderating the speed at which ships arrive to a port when a delay is envisaged. The system known as "Virtual Arrival" has been developed with the support of the European Union (EU) and aims to reduce emissions by 40% in 2050. In the past, shipping operators have always taken a 'hurry up and wait' approach, whereby vessels would go full steam ahead to meet a pre-arranged schedule, which often resulted in vessels arriving early and having to moor up at port to wait for berthing slots. Just-in-time arrivals The Virtual Arrival process, however, analyses weather patterns and uses algorithms to calculate and agree a notional vessel arrival time, so that ships arrive 'just in time'. It involves a system that connects ships with their port of arrival enabling them to be slowed down when there is a delay to ensure they do not arrive before their allotted slot. This new approach reduces bunker fuel consumption and emissions, while easing congestion and enhancing safety. Furthermore, waiting time compensation, or what is known as 'demurrage', is calculated as if the vessel had arrived at the originally stipulated time, hence the name Virtual Arrival. After the voyage, any savings in bunker costs or carbon credits are calculated and shared between the counterparties. Aside from the cost savings, Virtual Arrival could also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by millions of tonnes if adopted widely. Lower fuel costs and emissions In a recent article in BP’s magazine, Garry Hallett, Deputy Director of the Oil Companies International Marine Forum, explained that "Virtual Arrival fits in so well with the OCIMF's drive to make shipping operationally smarter, which could avoid the need for unpopular levies to reduce greenhouse gases". Hallett admits that it will take a few years for Virtual Arrival to find its place in the industry, but forecasts it will be mainstream in less than a decade. "Companies won't be able to afford to operate without it. The bunker price, combined with levies or carbon credits, will ensure that ships have to steam in the most efficient way possible," he said. The participating oil companies decided to launch the system after verifying that moderating speeds at the time of docking can reduce energy consumption by 27%. Meanwhile, the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko) has emphasised that the goal is not only to reduce fossil fuel consumption now that prices have soared due to the public uprisings in North Africa, but mainly to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions. European Transport Commissioner, Siim Kallas, stressed that although the maritime sector is one of the most efficient and only accounts for 2.7% of global emissions, it must also make an effort to curb its carbon dioxide emissions. Kallas and his colleague, Commissioner for Climate Change, Connie Hedegaard, have also held a meeting with members of the maritime industry to request that the International Maritime Organization adopt an index on energy efficiency this month to improve the design of ships and reduce their emissions. Both initiatives respond to the EU’s recommendation to reduce emissions from shipping by between 40 and 50% by 2050 compared to 2005 levels, which in turn is part of the reduction target for all sectors of 20% by 2020.Source: Renewable Energy MagazineRevolutionary “green” supersonic aircraft unveiled
Yet another green project at last week’s Paris Airshow shows how the industry’s attention is shifting towards becoming more efficient and bringing down emissions. HyperMach presented a large-scale model of its ground-breaking new supersonic business jet, SonicStar, which it hopes to roll out within 10 years. For years, innovation in supersonic technology has been curbed by understandably stringent regulations on the level of aircraft noise permitted over land. But SonicStar uses innovative technology to allow control of aerodynamics leading to actively eliminating the problem of sonic boom at very high speeds. To make unprecedented travel times a reality, speed is, quite literally, of the essence. But with climate change a pressing global concern, HyperMach have put revolutionary green engine technology at the heart of SonicStar’s development. This next generation hybrid electric gas turbine engine which has been in development for seven years at SonicBlue provides the power generation capability to reduce jet emissions by 100%, increase thrust to weight ratio by 20% and reduce parts count in core engine components by 40%. No sonic boom despite going at three times speed of sound As well as curbing emissions and boosting efficiency, SonicStar will achieve the speed of Mach 3.5, while dramatically reducing sonic boom overland. “You’ll be able to fly supersonic from New York to Sydney in five hours with no sonic boom overland – changing the way in which the world does business….. forever,” explains HyperMach. Richard Lugg, HyperMach’s Chairman commented during the unveiling in Paris: “I’ve made it my life’s work to make this dream a reality. Now, in 2011, we have access to revolutionary engine technology, and a unique, very high speed aircraft design to make this kind of earth-shatteringly fast air travel possible.” The propulsion system for SonicStar is a new Hybrid engine, S-MAGJET 4000X designed by HyperMach’s engine partner SonicBlue. It is over 30% more fuel efficient then the Rolls Royce 593 Engine in Concorde. This is record breaking technology for a supersonic engine design. The 54,700 thrust class S-MAGJET engine is optimized to fly the HyperMach SonicStar aircraft at 62,000 ft, at a specific fuel consumption below 1.05 at Mach 3.5, this performance will be unprecedented and will welcome in a new era of the future of aerospace transport. HyperMach reveals that the engine technology will be developed and built in the UK and are currently in discussions with potential engine partners for the manufacture of the engine. The UK Department of Trade and Industry have agreed to support the company in the UK, as it establishes and grows the strategic Global Headquarters for the commercial engine development and manufacture of S-MAGJET 4000X. The UK’s Global Entrepreneur Programme is key to attracting some of the world’s most significant breakthrough technologies to the UK, creating the next generation of high growth sustainable global technology companies, and is involved in this new project. “We will be working with Richard Lugg and his company to explore ways for the SonicBlue engine, HyperMach and SonicStar to take advantage of the UK’s unique, global support infrastructure and network, which will help to establish the business as a dominant company in its field,” reveals Andrew Humphries, Dealmaker for the UK’s Global Entrepreneur Programme. HyperMach is currently working to secure investment and create value in preparation for launch in 2021. For additional information: Source: Renewable Energy Magazine
From pine forests to blue skies, new jet biofuel passes rigorous testing
Renewable Energy Magazine: Virent and Virdia, formerly HCL CleanTech, have announced the successful conversion of cellulosic pine tree sugars to drop-in hydrocarbon fuels within the BIRD Energy project, a joint program funded by the US Department of Energy, the Israeli Ministry of National Infrastructure and the BIRD Foundation.The project, which commenced in January 2011, successfully demonstrated that Virdia’s deconstruction process generated high-quality sugars from cellulosic biomass, which were converted to fuel via Virent’s BioForming process.Virent used Virdia’s biomass-derived sugars to produce gasoline and jet fuel, the latter being sent to the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for analysis where it passed rigorous testing. Tim Edwards of the Fuels Branch of the AFRL said, “This fuel passed the most stringent specification tests we could throw at it (such as thermal stability) under some conditions where conventional jet fuels would fail. This fuel is definitely worth further evaluation.” “While Virent’s BioForming process has previously generated fuels and chemicals from sugars in cellulosic biomass,” said Virent Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Dr. Randy Cortright, “The high-quality sugars generated from pine trees using Virdia’s process leveraged Virent’s conversion process, establishing a viable route to drop-in hydrocarbons from biomass.” “Passing the AFRL’s arduous test requirements for jet fuel further substantiates the superior value proposition of the advanced carbohydrates that Virdia is introducing,” said Philippe Lavielle, Virdia CEO. “As demonstrated by the BIRD Energy project results, Virdia’s CASE™ (Cold Acid Solvent Extraction) process can deliver the high-purity, cost-effective cellulosic sugars needed as the primary raw material for jet fuels and other applications. We are pleased to work with Virent to prove that the value of cellulosic biomass can be unlocked.” Virdia’s CASE process encompasses a sequence of proprietary extraction and separation operations. Originally developed around the Bergius process (concentrated hydrochloric acid hydrolysis of biomass), the CASE process achieves the highest yields in the industry, and produces high purity fractions of sugars and lignin. Its low temperature, low pressure hydrolysis coupled with its closed loops of acid recovery and solvent extraction establish it as one of the most economical and environmentally sustainable processes. Virent’s BioForming platform utilizes a novel combination of catalytic processes to convert water-soluble oxygenated hydrocarbons derived from biomass to non-oxygenated hydrocarbons that can be used as drop-in compounds in gasoline, jet fuel and diesel fuel. Virent’s BioForming platform catalysts and reactor systems are similar to those found in today’s petroleum oil refineries and petrochemical complexes. The development of Virent’s BioForming technology platform is supported through strategic partners including Cargill, Coca-Cola, Honda and Shell. Source: Renewable Energy Magazine
Fuel cell technology could be under your car bonnet by 2017
Carbon Trust has given a £1 million boost to four UK fuel cell pioneers. According to the Trust, their cutting-edge technology could be used under the bonnet of mass-produced hydrogen-powered cars as early as 2017. “Major manufacturers have already built hydrogen-powered fuel cell cars, but the real challenge is to bring down the costs and, in the global race to do this, UK technologies are now in pole position,” says Carbon Trust. To fuel this push by UK industry and having identified an opportunity to combine innovative technology from Runcorn-based ACAL Energy and Sheffield-based ITM Power, Carbon Trust is providing £500 thousand of funding to the companies to develop a new hybrid high-power, low-cost fuel cell design.Carbon Trust is also backing a project based at Imperial College London (Imperial) and University College London (UCL) with £500 thousand to develop a fuel cell that could offer significant cost savings by using existing high-volume manufacturing techniques employed in the production of printed circuit boards.The funding comes from the Carbon Trust’s Polymer Fuel Cells Challenge (PFCC) which was launched in 2009 to support the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s objectives to develop lower cost fuel cells and coincides with the recent launch of the Government’s UKH2Mobility project to ensure the UK is well positioned for the commercial roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. “The UK’s home-grown automotive industry hasn’t been the runaway success story many would have hoped for, but British technology is in pole position to be under the bonnet of a next generation of mass-produced hydrogen-powered cars. After a lot of hype, fuel cell technology is now a great growth opportunity for the UK,” explains Dr Ben Graziano, Technology Commercialisation Manager at Carbon Trust. “The funding that we have received from the Department for Energy and Climate Change has enabled us to support the development of some truly world-class British technologies that could slash the costs of fuel cells and transform how we all get about; by 2017 British fuel cell technologies could be powering your car.” "It is excellent news that automotive OEMs are committed to the launch of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles in 2015 timescales, and that the UK will be among the early adopters. However it is clear that continuous efforts to reduce cost will be necessary to ensure that H2FC vehicles are affordable for mass markets. This funding from the Carbon Trust PFCC is perfectly targeted to ensure that British innovation can be at the forefront of the process to get the economics of the technology right," says Amanda Lyne, VP of Strategic Business Development and Marketing, ACAL Energy Ltd. Carbon Trust’s Polymer Fuel Cells Challenge aims to speed the UK towards world-beating fuel cell solutions that can grab a significant share of a market that the Carbon Trust has estimated to be worth $26bn in 2020. Carbon Trust, which has already supported ACAL Energy and ITM Power in de-risking their unique technologies, saw an opportunity to combine these innovations to demonstrate a fuel cell that could be far cheaper to manufacture, more efficient, produce the required power and be compact enough to fit under the bonnet of tomorrow’s cars. ACAL Energy brings a revolutionary new design of fuel cell inspired by the human lung and bloodstream that is highly durable, virtually platinum-free and also significantly cheaper to produce. ITM Power brings a unique membrane technology (which has been evaluated by several global companies), proven to produce world-beating power density (widely recognised as the single most important factor in reducing fuel cell costs), which could be in fuel cell cars by as early as 2017. ITM’s current order book for delivery in the current financial year is £0.5 million. The company has recruited seven staff in the last 12 months and is currently seeking to recruit ten more. ACAL Energy has raised £6.1 million of investment since March 2010 and its staff is set to increase from 25 at that time to 35 by April 2012.The Imperial and UCL project is developing a fuel cell stack that could offer significant cost savings by using existing high-volume manufacturing techniques employed in the production of printed circuit boards. By simplifying the design and manufacture, this could reduce the costs of a fuel cell stack by more than 20%. Imperial Innovations and UCL Business are collaborating with the project to assist commercialisation of the technology. Source: Renewable Energy Magazine
Cooking oil powers Qantas aircraft
Indian Express, Agencies : Melbourne, Australian airliner Qantas today flew the country's first commercial biofuel flight between Sydney and Adelaide using a mix of conventional fuel and refined cooking oil. John Valastro of Qantas said the flight this morning was a commercial first in Australia, and would have produced far less carbon emissions than if conventional jet fuel were used."We're talking about a 60 per cent reduction in the overall life cycle of the fuel, so that's a substantial improvement," ABC News quoted him as saying. The biofuel component of the fuel used for the flight was from refined cooking oil. The report said today's flight has cost more than four times an equivalent flight using normal fuel, partly because of the shipping distance involved since the fuel came from Houston. Qantas said it absorbed the one-off cost because it was keen to highlight the need for an Australian biofuel source, at a time when airlines and passengers around the world are dealing with high jet fuel and carbon emission costs. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said that the Federal Government had given the airline 500,000 dollars to fund a study into the feasibility of alternative aviation biofuels. Joyce said establishing a sustainable aviation fuel industry was necessary given the immediate challenges ahead. "We need to get ready for a future that is not based on traditional jet fuel or frankly we don't have a future," he said. "And it's not just the price of oil that's the issue - it's also the price of carbon. From July, Qantas will be the only airline in the world to face liabilities in three jurisdictions, so our sense of urgency is justified," he added. Federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said Qantas will investigate the production and commercial viability of sustainable aviation fuel in Australia with two key objectives. "Firstly, a feed stock pathways study that will assess the long term viability of biofuels feed stock and supply chain pathways. "Secondly, a refining and distribution capacity study to investigate how Australia as a nation can use existing refinery plants and fuel distribution infrastructure for aviation biofuel production," Ferguson said. Biofuels are sometimes criticised for cutting into potential food supplies but Qantas says it has used a product that is not a food crop. The oil came from and was refined in Houston before it was shipped to Australia. Source: Indian Express
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