Category Archives: Emerging Tech

Solar Lily Pads To Soak Up The Rays On Clyde River, Help Power Glasgow

By Michael d'Estries  
May 13, 2008 – 1:04 pm

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Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland, is debating the implementation of a naturally-inspired solar design to help ease the use of traditional power sources and add some green to the city. Called a “Solar Lily”, the pads of photovoltaic cells would be anchored in the Clyde River — and potentially even computer-controlled — to take advantage of the changing angle of the sun’s daily path. From Ecofriend,

“Already, the winner of the International Design Awards, the concept of these lily shaped discs, from Glasgow-based ZM Architecture, has been handed to the city council with the hope that a trial project could go-ahead. Effectively, the energy gathered by these discs will be transformed and to the national grid, and integrated motors could rotate the pads in order to follow the sun for maximum output.”

One thing I would be concerned about (judging from the concept photos) is how these ‘pads’ might appear visually. It’s one thing to throw a few wind turbines up on a hill — but to choke a river with electronic pads might cause some protest. If any measure of water recreation exists on the Clyde River, such restrictions would also have to be addressed. I’m all for attempting unique ideas to make us more sustainable, but I also believe a certain level of finesse in design and aesthetic appeal is important too.

What do you think of these solar lily pads?

Inhabitat via Ecofriend

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Fuel Cells Get The Green Light For US Air Travel Carry-On Bags

By Michael d'Estries  
May 2, 2008 – 12:51 pm

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Overcoming another obstacle to their adoption (once they’re eventually mass produced and practical), the US Department of Transportation has given the green light to fuel cell accessories on airline flights. According to CNet’s Green Tech Blog, the department has decided that passengers will be allowed to carry approved methanol fuel cells and up to two spare fuel cell cartridges in their carry-on luggage. The ruling isn’t much of a precedent as Canada, China, Japan, and the UK already let passengers carry their nonexistent fuel cells onboard.

Fuel cell technology is not yet widely available on the market — however, several cell phone makers — such as Motorola and Samsung — are planning on introducing the technology sometime in 2009. The application of fuel cells as an energy source is considered safe — as one would have to hold a flame to the enclosed methanol to create a fire. As many of us know, lighters and matches are generally scooped up by aviation security before boarding.

For more information, check out the CNET article here.

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Solar Powered Aircraft Being Developed For Five-Year Flight

Skynet anyone?

By Michael d'Estries  
April 28, 2008 – 3:02 pm

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A government agency has awarded a new contract to Aurora Flight Sciences for the development of a radical and ultra-efficient aircraft capable of staying aloft in the stratosphere for five years — or more. The latest design, called Odysseus, uses solar energy to power the aircraft during the day and stored solar energy for the night. From the article,

” The objective of the Vulture program is to develop an aircraft capable of remaining on-station uninterrupted for over five years to perform intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), and communication missions over an area of interest. The technology challenges include development of energy management and reliability technologies capable of allowing the aircraft to operate continuously for such extended durations. Vulture, in effect, will be a persistent pseudo-satellite capability, in an aircraft package.”

This would be an incredible UAV if expectations are fulfilled. Currently, global climate change research, weather monitoring, and regional-scale telecommunications are the expected uses.

via ecofriend 

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Coastal Fog Tower Can Generate Water From The Air For Agriculture

By Michael d'Estries  
April 5, 2008 – 2:31 pm

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Man, every week there is something new out there that completely takes me by surprise. Take for instance this Coastal Fog Tower that may potentially be erected on the northern coast of Chile. Standing 400 meters tall, the tower is a seaside spire that traps airborne water molecules and channels them into the Huasco River valley — one of the driest places on the planet. From Inhabitat,

Its construction as a stacked weave serves to trap and wick moisture into the tower, while its spiraling structure provides a large surface area that funnels water into the basement. Here, trace minerals from the sea are filtered out via a reverse osmosis system, which is much more efficient than processing sea water into potable water via desalination plants. The end result is a water distribution system with a planned performance of 2-20 liters per square meter of vertical surface, producing from 20,000 to 200,000 liters of water per day.

Pretty incredible. Apparently, cloud-catching technology has already been proven to work in Chile — so perhaps it’s only a matter of time before we see these towers assisting with agriculture development. It would truly be a site to behold.

Check out Inhabitat for the full article.

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Solar Powercube Brings The Juice For Your Lost World Adventures

By Michael d'Estries  
March 25, 2008 – 1:10 pm

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The Powercube is a solar generator taken to the extreme. Weighing in at almost one ton and costing just under $25K, you’re not going to be using this thing to solely charge your iPod. We’re thinking the military and power-hungry camera crews or event planners might have one of these tucked in their budgets. As it is, you’re going to need something with pretty decent towing capacity — or a chopper to drop it to your location in the first place. The specs, however, are mighty impressive. Here are the details from Ecofriend:

“The 1 ton device has a host of solar panels, three to be precise, each generating 200 watts of power each. The generated power is stored onto the powercube’s 6, 200amp-hr batteries to give you power when you need it the most. To make it that bit more rugged to take on tough conditions, the powercube is (also) waterproof.”

In addition, you can also add on such options as six additional batteries, a telescopic windmill and wimax support. How do you like them apples?

For more info, jump on over to the official site.

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Methanol Fuel Cell Charger Would Give You A Month Of Cell Phone Power

By Michael d'Estries  
February 27, 2008 – 11:34 am

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The commercialization of small fuel cell chargers is proceeding rapidly, with the first portable units potentially hitting stores as early as next year. One of the companies on the forefront of fuel cell development (they recently signed a deal with Duracell) is MTI Micro. Their Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC) will be shown this week at the Fuel Cell Expo in Japan. The biggest benefit of DMFCs is that they keep portable electronics products running for longer than conventional batteries and make recharging much easier. From the article,

“DMFCs produce electricity from a reaction between methanol, water and air. The only by-products of the reaction are a small amount of water vapor and carbon dioxide, so the fuel cells are typically seen as a much greener form of energy than traditional batteries. A big advantage of DMFCs is that they can be replenished with a new cartridge of methanol in seconds. The cell-phone DMFC prototype takes advantage of this quick replenish and potentially offers an immediate recharge when the battery dies, while the camera DMFC provides twice the energy of a Lithium Ion battery-based grip.”

Before the cell phone unit hits, MTI is planning to release a DMFC-based charger. Equipped with a usb input, this device would be able to recharge a cell phone about eight to 10 times. A replacement methanol cartridge would give you another month. Obviously, for road warriors or people out in the field, the advantages of having such a power source would be enormous. MTI expects these chargers to be available in early 2009.

Check out the article for more details.

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New Solar Cell Can Effectively Generate Hydrogen From Water

Haven't we heard this before?

By Michael d'Estries  
February 18, 2008 – 4:27 pm

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I’m always on the look out for clean, efficient alternatives to harvesting hydrogen, compared to the energy-intensive options currently available. You see, if the hydrogen economy will one day become a reality, we’re not going to want coal-fired plants providing the energy to create the fuel to run these clean, green cars. Currently, for every kilogram of hydrogen produced, 9.3 kilograms of carbon dioxide are also created. No good.

Some Penn State researchers announced today that they’ve created a solar cell that can effectively split water to harvest the hydrogen. There’s quite a large amount of technical detail in the ‘how’, but the researchers expect an efficiency level of about 15%. The odd thing about this ‘discovery’ is that we’ve written about it before. In fact, a company by the name of Nanoptek recently released details on a “low-cost, durable titania electrode that can split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.” A space 50 feet by 50 feet on a sunny roof could provide enough surface area for a Nanoptek hydrogen generator to supply enough energy for a family of four. They’ve already got $4.7 million in the bank to continue research.

Odd. While I don’t see any reference, I wonder if these announcements are somehow all linked. Nanoptek seems much further ahead in terms of commercialization, but perhaps there’s more to Penn State’s announcement than I can put my finger on. Either way, exciting developments — and it’s great to see the industry continue to move forward on clean, future sources of hydrogen.

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Smart Sponge Soaks Up Pollutants

By Doris Lo  
December 14, 2007 – 10:15 am

The AbTech Smart Sponge is among the best of the latest innovations. It sounds good enough to be used on the kitchen counter. The sponge is based on polymer technology that makes it chemically selective to hydrocarbons. The sponge is capable of absorbing low levels of oil out of water, turning it into a stable solid for easy recycling. The sponge will remain in place in water until full saturation and is also designed for longevity.
AbTech has gone further to fuse the Smart Sponge with antimicrobial technology. The improved Smart Sponge Plus has a non-leaking active antimicrobial agent that binds to and destroys bacteria like enterococcus, Escherichia coli and fecal coliforms.
Find out more from CNN Money.

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“Concentrated Solar Power” Technology Headed for Boom Times, Consulting Firm Says

By Bill Hobbs  
December 13, 2007 – 3:16 am

A new study from Emerging Energy Research says that the technology known as “concentrated solar power” or CSP is the fastest growing utility-scale renewable energy alternative after wind power, with up to $20 billion expected to be invested in CSP over the next five years.

Ever used a magnifying glass to kill a bug or burn a leaf with sunlight? That’s concentrated solar power. In the energy business, rather than focus the sun’s rays to burn bugs and leaves, CSP technology uses mirrors to focus the sun’s rays and convert the sun’s energy into high-temperature heat, which is then used to generate electricity in a steam generator or, in some cases, to power a Stirling Engine.

The U.S. Department of Energy is very involved in research and development of three types of concentrating solar technologies: trough systems, dish/engine systems, and power towers.

“With natural gas prices tripling and current volatility expected to continue, CSP is well-positioned to compete against other electricity generation technologies in the near-to-medium term,” says Reese Tisdale, EER’s senior analyst. “In countries such as the U.S. and Spain with higher solar resources, land availability and sufficient government support to kick-start the industry, utility-scale solar CSP technology has the potential to become an integral part of the generation mix,” Tisdale adds.

Spain and the U.S. are currently the two leading countries in the CSP industry, and CSP installations in Spain and the U.S. are expected to surpass a combined 7,500 MW by 2020, EER forecasts.

But the U.S. market for CSP is being hampered by - what else - tax policy. Says EER: “A large potential pipeline (of CSP projects) in the US is stalled by uncertainty over the future of a 30% investment tax credit (ITC), now due to expire at year-end 2008.”

Outside Spain and the U.S., Italy, France, Portugal and Greece are all on the verge of seeing new CSP developments, as well as parts of the Middle East and North Africa, according to EER.

I’d link you to the study, except they want $3,750 per copy. But Solar Industry Magazine has a pretty good summary of the study.

Companies active in the CSP space include Solel, Solar Millennium, Abengoa Solar, Ausra, BrightSource Energy, SkyFuel and Stirling Energy Systems - which are looking to leverage their specialized technology capabilities. Also in the mix: independent power producers and utilities that are investing in CSP to go along with their other renewable power generation assets.

“It is no surprise that the largest owners of wind power plant globally are also emerging as significant players in CSP,” says Tisdale. These players, led by Iberdrola, FPL Energy, Acciona and EDP are looking to add CSP projects to their mounting wind portfolios as a means to diversity other utility scale technologies. FPL Energy, notes Tisdale, is currently the leading IPP investor in CSP, with its wnership of seven solar plants in California built in the late 1980s.

The study, “Global Concentrated Solar Power Markets and Strategies, 2007-2020,” can be found at Emerging-Energy.com.

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The Car that Pays You Back: An Electic Car that Powers the Grid

By Bill Hobbs  
December 10, 2007 – 5:46 pm

A new electric car prototype created at the University of Delaware runs on electricity alone - and also can, theoretically, generate revenue for its owner by storing and providing electricity for utilities. The technology, called “V2G” for vehicle-to-grid, lets electricity flow from the car’s battery to power lines and back.

“When I get home, I’ll charge up and then switch into V2G mode,” said Willett Kempton, UD associate professor of marine policy and a V2G pioneer who began developing the technology more than a decade ago and who is now testing the new prototype vehicle.

When the car is in the V2G setting, the battery’s charge goes up or down depending on the needs of the grid operator, which sometimes must store surplus power and other times requires extra power to respond to surges in usage. The ability of the V2G car’s battery to act like a sponge provides a solution for utilities, which pay millions to generating stations that help balance the grid. Kempton estimates the value for utilities could be up to $4,000 a year for the service, part of which could be paid to drivers.

Split that 50.50 with the utility, and a car owner might actually cover a sizeable portion of his car payment. That kind of financing leverage could enable rapid adoption of V2G-equipped cars.

Kempton says V2G technology will work on a large scale because at any given time about 95 percent of all cars in America are parked. “A car sitting there with a tank of gasoline in it, that’s useless,” he said. “If it’s a battery storing a lot of electricity and a big plug that allows moving power back and forth quickly, then it’s valuable.”

I’d just be worried that a lightning bolt would cause a power surge that blew up my car.

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