EB Insights Google Kicks up Wind Storm

Google is kicking up quite a wind storm. It is doing it along with some co-investors that would eventually ante up a total of $5 billion to build a 350 mile under-water transmission off the Atlantic coastline to harness the wind there.

Boosting the country's off-shore wind potential is the central issue here. To that end, this project, which would take place over at least 10 years, would have the potential of delivering 6,000 megawatts of wind energy to residents along the East coast while possibly displacing some of the region's fossil-fuel usage. That would increase the venture's attraction despite being more expensive than on-land generation.

"This new American super grid off the Mid-Atlantic coast will unlock an important untapped resource, creating the foundation for a new industry and jobs for thousands of American workers," says Bob Mitchell, chief executive of Trans-Elect that proposed the idea and which has recruited Google, Good Energies and Japanese trading firm Marubeni as investors. Construction could begin in 2013 and be completed by 2021.

One has to also ask why an internet search engine company would be interested in building a complex under-water transmission system. For starters, this is not Google's first foray into the energy sphere or even the wind power component of it. It's already invested nearly $39 million in two wind farms that will generate 170 megawatts of electricity in North Dakota that are owned by NextEra Energy.

Google is a ravenous consumer of electricity and it must find a way to become more efficient and cleaner. By placing its bets on green energy, it is attempting to understand how it works and to help create economies of scale so that it can be cost-effectively generated. It operates hundreds of thousands of servers that use tons of electricity, which are often derived from coal. As the global leader in internet technologies, the web-based giant says that it can do better.

Solar Wind Power: Generating Power In The Future

As the world discovers new ways to meet its growing energy needs, energy generated from Sun, which is better known as solar power and energy generated from wind called the wind power are being considered as a means of generating power. Though these two sources of energy have attracted the scientists for a very long time, they are not able to decide, which of the two a better source to generate power is. Now scientists are looking at a third option as well. Scientists at Washington State University have now combined solar power and wind power to produce enormous energy called the solar wind power, which will satisfy all energy requirements of human kind.

Advantages of Solar wind power.

* The scientists say that whereas the entire energy generated from solar wind will not be able to reach the planet for consumption as a lot of energy generated by the satellite has to be pumped back to copper wire to create the electron-harvesting magnetic field, yet the amount that reaches earth is more than sufficient to fulfill the needs of entire human, irrespective of the environment condition.
* Moreover, the team of scientists at Washington State University hopes that it can generate 1 billion billion gigawatts of power by using a massive 8,400-kilometer-wide solar sail to harvest the power in solar wind.
* According to the team at Washington State University, a1000 homes can be lit by generating enough power for them with the help of 300 meters (984 feet) of copper wire, which is attached to a two-meter-wide (6.6-foot-wide) receiver and a 10-meter (32.8-foot) sail.
* One billion billion gigawatts of power could also be generated by a satellite having 1,000-meter (3,280-foot) cable with a sail 8,400 kilometers (5,220 miles) across, which are placed at roughly the same orbit.
* The scientists feel that if some of the practical issued are solved, Solar wind power will generate the amount of power that no one including the scientists working to find new means of generating power ever expected.

How does the Solar wind power technology work?
The satellite launched to tap solar wind power, instead of working like a wind mill, where a blade attached to the turbine is physically rotated to generate electricity, would use charged copper wire for capturing electrons zooming away from the sun at several hundred kilometers per second.

Disadvantages of Solar wind power
But despite the fact that Solar wind power will solve almost all the problems that we were to face in future due to power generating resources getting exhausted, it has some disadvantages as well. These may include:

* Brooks Harrop, the co-author of the journal paper says that while scientists are keen to tap solar wind to generate power, they also need to keep provisions for engineering difficulties and these engineering difficulties will have to be solved before satellites to tap solar wind power are deployed.
* The distance between the satellite and earth will be so huge that as the laser beam travels millions of miles, it makes even the tightest laser beam spread out and lose most of the energy. To solve this problem, a more focused laser is needed.
* But even if these laser beams reach our satellites, it is very doubtful that our satellites in their present form will be able to tap them. As Greg Howes, a scientist at the University of Iowa puts it, “The energy is there but to tap that energy from solar wind, we require big satellites. There may be practical constraints in this.”

Will Robots Clean Up Future Oil Spills?

Cleaning oil spills can be costly business. If eco-friendly robots can take over and clean all the mess it will be good for marine life and humans too. MIT is developing Seaswarm robots that will utilize a special substance to absorb and collect oil from the sea surface. If everything turns out well, these robots can be used commercially in a year. These robots work best collectively. They can detect the oil spills on their own and then convey the message to their robotic group and chalk out a strategy among themselves to clean the mess.

YouTube: Seaswarm Robots | More Videos


Design of a Seaswarm:
Assaf Biderman supervised this project at MIT. He is also the associate director of MIT’s Senseable City Lab. According to him the $20,000 robots will be put on exhibition in Venice, Italy. The Seaswarm robots give the appearance of a conveyor belt of a treadmill. The conveyer belt contains material which the MIT guys call a paper towel for oil spills. It can absorb up to 20 times its weight in oil. This belt floats on the sea surface and connected to an ice cooler. When it turns the belt pushes the robots frontward and absorbs the oil with the aid of a nanomaterial. This nanomaterial is designed to attract oil and repel water. Biderman explains it as a carpet rolling on the surface of the water.

How Seaswarm works:
After soaking up the oil on the sea surface the robot can burn it on the spot or it can leave the oil in a bag which can be collected later. The heater is located on the “ice cooler” part of the body. The oil stored in the bag can be reused. According to Biderman, robots are good team players. They coordinate with one another with the help of GPS location data. They devise a strategy to clean up the mess in an effective way.

Advantages of Seaswarm:
Cost effective: If the Seaswarm robots are being deployed at the oil spill site they prove to be relatively cheap, quick and effective at cleaning up oil spills. Otherwise cleaning oil spills is quite costly as it need big ships and trained crews in large numbers. Biderman is of the opinion that if the Seaswarm robots would have been used at the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, the robots would have cleaned up the oil in two months. The cost of the whole operation would have amounted to $100 million to $200 million. If we care to look at the statistics about 800 skimming boats were in service to clean up the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. It would have needed only 5,000 to 10,000 of MIT’s autonomous robots to complete the same task.

Eco Friendly: The Seaswarm robots use clean and green solar energy. They need only 100 watts of power, or about that of a bright light bulb for their operations. You can utilize them on sea for months and they won’t ask for overtime for working incessantly.

Stability: Biderman says, “Because it (conveyor belt) adheres to the surface of the water, it cannot capsize,” he said, “So it can withstand quite severe weather. Imagine this like a leaf that lands on the surface of the water and moves with the waves and the currents and cannot be flipped over.” The robots can work under extreme conditions and rough weather. Biderman said MIT’s oil-sopping robot would be most effective in situations like the recent oil disaster, where oil is spread out.

Damage can be confined to a smaller area: Biderman shares his opinion, “Ideally, when spillage happens, the best thing to do is to contain it right where the spillage occurs. But quite often the oil goes out of containment, and this is where this technology would be most effective.”

Vanguard Energy installs solar systems for two New Jersey schools

Vanguard Energy (Vanguard), a company engaged in the design and installation of solar electric systems, has completed two solar power systems for the municipalities of Sparta and Hardyston, New Jersey.

Vanguard installed an 88kW solar photovoltaic (PV) system on the rooftop of Sparta's municipal building that will generate approximately 97,160kWh per year. The solar electric system is comprised of 377 modules and will produce nearly 15% of the energy needed to power the building.

In addition to reducing electricity costs, Sparta's solar system is expected to lessen the town's environmental impact by reducing carbon emissions by 129,827 pounds per year.

Hardyston’s constructed 75kW solar PV array was installed atop a solar support structure that will serve simultaneously as a carport for the police department's vehicles. The solar system is comprised of 324 modules and will generate approximately 77,196kWh per year or 21% of the building's energy needs.

Both towns will utilize Noveda Technologies' SunFlow Monitor, an online energy monitoring system that will track the facilities' power consumption, solar production and system efficiency.

Paul Zensky, president of Vanguard, said: "Vanguard is pleased to support Sparta and Hardyston's commitment to their citizens and the environment. New Jersey has demonstrated world class leadership with solar renewable energy and we are happy to support the state's green economy."

DOE Takes Action to Stop the Sales of Air-Con Air Conditioner Models Shown to Violate Federal Energy Efficiency Appliance Standards

September 23, 2010

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced today that it has taken action against Air-Con, International, requiring the company to stop selling certain air conditioning systems in the U.S. that have been shown to violate minimum energy efficiency appliance standards. DOE is proposing a civil penalty of more than $230,000 for importing and distributing these inefficient cooling products. This action and the proposed penalties are part of the Department's continued commitment to act aggressively to remove unlawful products from the market. To date, nearly 70 different non-compliant products have been removed from commerce since 2009.

"Nothing is more important to our enforcement efforts than removing products from the market that violate our minimum energy efficiency standards," said DOE General Counsel Scott Blake Harris. "The sale of these products is unlawful, imposes unnecessary costs on American consumers, and wastes energy."

In March 2010, the Department issued a subpoena requiring Air-Con to submit detailed information about the energy consumption of its products and how the company marketed and sold them in the United States. Based on Air-Con's responses to the subpoena, the Department has found that the company imported and distributed nearly 2,000 air conditioning units that are rated at 10 SEER, while the federal standard requires a minimum 13 SEER rating. The following two air conditioning unit models are covered by today's announcement: ACN-09/12/18/24-GCH and ACN-MTS-09CO/12CO/09EV/12EV.

Today's notice proposes the maximum penalty for selling non-compliant products and requires Air-Con to immediately cease further U.S. sales and provide written notification to its customers that purchased these units. Air-Con is also required to update the information it has provided to the Department, including a record of the company's U.S. sales since it last responded to DOE. If Air-Con fails to cease distribution of these models in the United States, the Department will seek a judicial order to prevent further sales.

Hydrogen-Powered Personal Helicopter

A personal helicopter weighing just 230 lb created sizzling news when it flew on hydrogen with zero emission. With an ability to carry payloads up to 800 lbs, this pocket Hercules can fly for 90 minutes. Fitted with easy controls, this reaches a speed of 100 knots thanks to a pair of small yet powerful motors mounted on it. Two common and easily available things – Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and a catalyst – combined to bring about a milestone in personal aviation history with attention to the environmental issues as well! Avimech has combined these two to power engine in to an innovative machine.

YouTube: Avimech Dragonfly | More Videos



A unique combination:
Avimech has combined two ideas – a rocket and a helicopter – to create this cute little personal aviation machine baptizing it as ‘Dragonfly.’ Actually this idea to utilize H2O2 and a catalyst has been around for some time. But to use them to power this hybrid version of a rocket in a helicopter is the brain child of Avimech.

Motors at rotor tips:
There are two powerful small motors fitted at rotor tips which resemble rocket nozzles. These nozzles propel the rotors getting power from the reaction of H2O2 with the catalyst. There is no gearbox. There are two fuel tanks to store H2O2. The H2O2 reacts with the catalyst in the rocket nozzles and the reaction powers the rotor nozzles which sets the rotor tips in high-speed motion.

Common ingredients:
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is very safe environmentally and easily available chemical. Usually printing presses are cleaned with H2O2. This commercial-grade H2O2 is diluted and used in the rotor nozzles. The reaction of H2O2 with the catalyst produces the high pressure which sets the blades into motion.

A simple but great machine:
The motors are 8-inch long and they can generate 102 hp which helps the aircraft peak a speed of 100 knots. The H2O2 is diluted to about 50-70%. And when the catalyst reacts with the H2O2, only water vapor gets released and no other harmful emission occurs.

“(ERA) helicopter:”
Acclaimed as the first ever created environmentally responsible aviation (ERA) helicopter, Dragonfly certainly deserves this epithet. Emitting nothing but water vapor and running on only hydrogen- an environmentally safe fuel, this helicopter does not pollute the space with harmful emissions like carbon.

Future plans?
This hydrogen-powered, zero-carbon-emission environmentally friendly but expensive helicopter has been the brainchild of Ricardo Cavalcanti of Avimech. Though at present the engines are not fuel-efficient – guzzling 11 gallons of fuel per hour, the day may not be far off when this is also rectified and a perfect eco-friendly personal aviation machine may be available.

A Power Sticker to Boost Solar Power Generation

September 20th, 2010 - What do you think?

Solar Power Sticker New and unique ways of making solar panels more efficient in power generation are coming to light every day. The new kid in the block of one such device is a large transparent sticker applied to the front of the panel which increases the power output by about 10% or so. Genie Lens Technologies is the firm which has developed these polymer film stickers. These polymer films are imprinted with special kind of microstructures. Even the panels that have been prior installed and working can have these polymer stickers applied easily to them and the stickers will boost their efficiency.

Specialty of the microstructures:
The microstructures on the polymer stickers are capable of bending and redirecting the sunlight. These materials in the panel are made to absorb more light and so more power is generated. Seth Weiss, CEO & Cofounder of Genie Lens, Englewood, CO is confident of the advantages of using these special films.

Three purposes of the polymer films:
There are three main actions that are activated by these polymer films:

* Preventing light from reflecting off the solar panel surfaces.
* Trapping light to stay inside the semiconducting materials which absorb the light and then convert it into power.
* Redirecting the light that comes in so that the light will travel along the semiconductor material surface and not just pass through the material; this increases the likelihood of absorption of light more than before.

Special algorithms for the microstructures:
All the above three purposes are achieved by the special pattern the microstructures. The polymer films direct and re-direct the light rays that fall on the solar panel. The glass cover that protects the solar panels, the semiconductor material that is within and the panel’s back surface – all react with the polymer films in a special pattern.

Just so re-direction of light rays:
The polymer films bend the light just the optimal amount so it will not be reflected off and lost. It makes the light to be redirected right into the solar panel again to reap the maximum power generation. Improvement is present even when sky is cloudy.

Results claimed:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory results prove the fact that the films increase power output between 4-12.5% even when cloudy weather makes the light diffuse. Just adding the films increase cost of power generation by 1-10% but benefits far outweigh the cost, claims the lab. The question to be proved is the test of durability – which will be best answered by future.