Scientific collaboration to develop affordable High Concentration PhotoVoltaic Thermal (HCPVT) system

Scientists have announced a collaboration to develop an affordable photovoltaic system capable of concentrating, on average, the power of 2,000 suns, with an efficiency that can collect 80 percent of the incoming radiation and convert it to useful energy.

The proposed system can be built anywhere sustainable energy, drinkable water and cool air are in short supply at a cost of three times lower than comparable systems.

A three-year, $2.4 million (2.25 million CHF) grant from the KTI - Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation has been awarded to scientists at IBM Research; Airlight Energy, a supplier of solar power technology; ETH Zurich (Professorship of Renewable Energy Carriers) and Interstate University of Applied Sciences Buchs NTB (Institute for Micro- and Nanotechnology MNT) to research and develop an economical High Concentration PhotoVoltaic Thermal (HCPVT) system.

Based on a study by the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association and Greenpeace International it would take only two percent of the Sahara Desert's land area to supply the world's electricity needs.

Unfortunately, current solar technologies on the market today are too expensive and slow to produce, require rare Earth minerals and lack the efficiency to make such massive installations practical.

The prototype HCPVT system uses a large parabolic dish, made from a multitude of mirror facets, which is attached to a tracking system that determines the best angle based on the position of the sun.

Once aligned, the sun's rays reflect off the mirror onto several microchannel-liquid cooled receivers with triple junction photovoltaic chips—each 1x1 centimeter chip can convert 200-250 watts, on average, over a typical eight hour day in a sunny region.

The entire receiver combines hundreds of chips and provides 25 kilowatts of electrical power. The photovoltaic chips are mounted on microstructured layers that pipe liquid coolants within a few tens of micrometers off the chip to absorb the heat and draw it away 10 times more effective than with passive air cooling.

The coolant maintains the chips almost at the same temperature for a solar concentration of 2,000 times and can keep them at safe temperatures up to a solar concentration of 5,000 times.

The direct cooling solution with very small pumping power is inspired by the hierarchical branched blood supply system of the human body and has been already tested by IBM scientists in high performance computers, including Aquasar.

Prof. Ralph Eichler, President of ETH Zurich and Dr. John Kelly, Senior Vice President IBM Research, present Aquasar. 

Photo: Michael Lowry, IBM Research – Zurich

Aquasar is an HPC system developed together by the two institutions using water to directly cool the integrated circuits.

The water with a temperature of about 60o C is used to heat the building of ETH Zurich.

The goal of this research project is to reduce the energy footprint of computing systems: It is assumed that computers use about 5 to 10% of the electricity worldwide.

Aquasar has a computing power of 6 Teraflops and consumes about 20 kilowatt of electricity. Water cooling on the chip may be the big next step to build larger supercomputers and to go to Exaflops (Computer processing speed of one quintillion (10^18) floating point operations per second).

Liquid air 'offers energy storage hope' - Video

Turning air into liquid may offer a solution to one of the great challenges in engineering - how to store energy.

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) says liquid air can compete with batteries and hydrogen to store excess energy generated from renewables.

IMechE says "wrong-time" electricity generated by wind farms at night can be used to chill air to a cryogenic state at a distant location.

When demand increases, the air can be warmed to drive a turbine.

Engineers say the process to produce "right-time" electricity can achieve an efficiency of up to 70%.

IMechE is holding a conference today to discuss new ideas on how using "cryo-power" can benefit the low-carbon economy.

The technology (The Dearman Engine) was originally developed by Peter Dearman, a garage inventor in Hertfordshire, to power vehicles.

A new firm, Highview Power Storage, was created to transfer Mr Dearman's technology to a system that can store energy to be used on the power grid.



The process, part-funded by the government, has now been trialled for two years at the back of a power station in Slough, Buckinghamshire.

Dr Fox, of IMechE, urged the government to provide incentives in its forthcoming electricity legislation for firms to store energy on a commercial scale with this and other technologies.

IMechE says the simplicity and elegance of the Highview process is appealing, especially as it addresses not just the problem of storage but also the separate problem of waste industrial heat.

The process follows a number of stages;

• "Wrong-time electricity" is used to take in air, remove the CO2 and water vapour (these would freeze otherwise) 
• the remaining air, mostly nitrogen, is chilled to -190C (-310F) and turns to liquid (changing the state of the air from gas to liquid is what stores the energy) 
• the liquid air is held in a giant vacuum flask until it is needed 
• when demand for power rises, the liquid is warmed to ambient temperature. 

As it vaporizes, it drives a turbine to produce electricity - no combustion is involved IMechE says this process is only 25% efficient but it is massively improved by co-siting the cryo-generator next to an industrial plant or power station producing low-grade heat that is currently vented and being released into the atmosphere.

The heat can be used to boost the thermal expansion of the liquid air. More energy is saved by taking the waste cool air when the air has finished chilling, and passing it through three tanks containing gravel.

 The chilled gravel stores the coolness until it is needed to restart the air-chilling process.

Hybrid Technology: Plug-In Retrofit Kit designed for mileage savings - YouTube

Powered by at least nine MTSU students' work since 2008, Dr. Charles Perry continues driving toward success in the development of the plug-in hybrid retrofit kit for any car.

Perry, who holds the Russell Chair of Manufacturing Excellence, and a five-member team saw gas mileage increase anywhere from 50 to 100 percent on a 1994 Honda station wagon retrofitted with laboratory prototype plug-in hybrid capability.

Learn more about the project.

Recharging Vehicles: Japan demo shows electricity entering EV through tires

Electric vehicles' future continues to tease scientists to devise promising and practical ideas to keep these cars moving along the highways without having to pull over and wait for a battery recharge.

Solutions for the so called “charging and range problem” took yet another twist this month when a Japanese university team demonstrated how electricity can be transmitted to a pair of tires through a four-inch-thick block of concrete, the type of concrete used on some roads. 

The team took its demo to WTP (Wireless Technology Park) 2012, a trade show on wireless technologies, earlier this month in Yokohama.

 

Their solution is in the form of a wireless power prototype that can successfully transmit electricity through the concrete block. They consider the prototype as an early step to improve on, and that such an approach can be used one day to keep electric vehicles on the move.

Takashi Ohira, an electrical engineering professor at the Toyohashi University of Technology, who leads the team, has developed his electric field coupling system to supply a charge to a car through its tires. The goal is to enable power transmission as the vehicle’s tires travel along the road with suitable efficiency and power transfers.

In the demo, a metal plate was placed along with a four-inch layer of concrete, representing the road surface. Electricity between 50 and 60 watts was transmitted to actual-size automobile tires. The demo also showed a light bulb, attached between the two demo car tires, turning on.

The university team’s project is called EVER (Electric Vehicle on Electrified Roadway). The focus is research aimed at using wireless power transmission technologies based on electric field coupling for transmitting power to a running vehicle.

The July demo is the latest of similar past efforts by the researchers. Last year, Toyota Central R&D Labs and Ohira reported on their work to allow electric cars to drive unlimited distances on an electrified roadway.

They reported a system that similarly transmits electric power through steel belts inside the two tires and a metal plate in the road.

They presented their work at a workshop in Kyoto. To test how much energy would be lost as electricity traveled through the tire rubber, the researchers also set up a lab experiment with metal plates.

"Less than 20 percent of the transmitted power is dissipated in the circuit," said Ohira at that time. With enough power the system could run typical passenger cars, he added.

To make their present technology useful, the electric power needs to be increased by 100 times. But, moving ahead, the group said that they are up to the task of meeting the project's challenges.

NASA JPL Project Morpheus: Lander undergoes engine testing

Morpheus is a vertical test bed demonstrating new green propellant propulsion systems and autonomous landing and hazard detection technology.

Designed, developed, manufactured and operated in-house by engineers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, the Morpheus Project represents not only a vehicle to advance technologies, but also an opportunity to try out “lean development” engineering practices

Engine Testing
After sticking to the ground for upgrades the past several months, the Project Morpheus prototype lander took to the skies at Johnson Space Center again on Tuesday.

Since its last round of tests in 2011, the Morpheus team has given the liquid oxygen/liquid methane-fueled lander a new engine, new avionics and a power unit redesign.

In addition, the vehicle software has been substantially updated in preparation for the integration of its Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) payload.

The lander has the same oxygen and methane tanks, and the same structure, but otherwise it’s practically an all-new vehicle.

“The first series of tests gave us a basic understanding of our ability to control the vehicle and allowed us to initially characterize the performance of the subsystems on the vehicle,” Morpheus Project Manager Jon Olansen said.

“With that information we were able to go back and design in upgrades to improve performance and reliability.”

Once the upgrades were complete, it was time to start up a new series of tests. Like last time, they started with hot fire tests to demonstrate engine operation, and this week worked up to tethered testing.

On Tuesday, the refitted lander successfully hovered 15 feet above the ground for 40 seconds, firing the engine for a total of 50 seconds with ignition, ascent and descent.

Personalised Tron Lightcycle up for auction

If you are impressed with the All-Electric Lightcycle, you now have the chance to get one in their garage, and help the environment.

The opportunity comes courtesy of Charitybuzz, which is auctioning off a replica Lightcycle, otherwise known as a Xenon Light Motor Bike.

The vehicle on offer was designed by Parker Brother Choppers and donated by Evolve Motorcycles, which created a custom lithium ion battery system to power the bike's electric motor. The bike features a handcrafted fiberglass frame and 32-inch hub-less wheels offset by OLED light tape.

Although the auction listing cites a range of 100 miles and a top speed of 50 mph (80 km/h) for the bike, it also says the winning bidder will be able to choose the bike's battery and motor type.

The personalization options will also extend to the bike's light tape colour.

Evolve sells the bike for US$55,000 and as of publication the bidding stands at $24,000, so you might just be able to nab a bargain. The auction closes on March 14, 2012 with all proceeds benefiting Global Green USA.

Source: Charitybuzz

GeoThermal Energy Project: Pouring water into volcano

In May 16, 2008, Newbery Crater project drilling manager Fred Wilson stands near a drilling rig at the Newberry Crater geothermal project as he describes the work near LaPine, Ore. 

Geothermal energy developers plan to pump 24 million gallons of water into the side of the dormant Central Oregon volcano this summer to demonstrate new technology they hope will give a boost to a green energy sector that has yet to live up to its promise. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)

They hope the water comes back to the surface fast enough and hot enough to create cheap, clean electricity that isn't dependent on sunny skies or stiff breezes - without shaking the earth and rattling the nerves of nearby residents.

Renewable energy has been held back by cheap natural gas, weak demand for power and waning political concern over global warming. Efforts to use the earth's heat to generate power, known as geothermal energy, have been further hampered by technical problems and worries that tapping it can cause earthquakes.

Even so, the federal government, Google and other investors are interested enough to bet $43 million on the Oregon project. They are helping AltaRock Energy, Inc. of Seattle and Davenport Newberry Holdings LLC of Stamford, Conn., demonstrate whether the next level in geothermal power development can work on the flanks of Newberrry Volcano, located about 20 miles south of Bend, Ore.

"We know the heat is there," said Susan Petty, president of AltaRock. "The big issue is can we circulate enough water through the system to make it economic."

The heat in the earth's crust has been used to generate power for more than a century. Engineers gather hot water or steam that bubbles near the surface and use it to spin a turbine that creates electricity. Most of those areas have been exploited. The new frontier is places with hot rocks, but no cracks in the rocks or water to deliver the steam.

To tap that heat - and grow geothermal energy from a tiny niche into an important source of green energy - engineers are working on a new technology called Enhanced Geothermal Systems.

"To build geothermal in a big way beyond where it is now requires new technology, and that is where EGS comes in," said Steve Hickman, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif.

Wells are drilled deep into the rock and water is pumped in, creating tiny fractures in the rock, a process known as hydroshearing.

The Air Powered Motorcycle: O2-Pursuit

 

Last month industrial designer Dean Benstead unveiled the 02 Pursuit — a prototype for a motorcycle fueled not by gas or electricity, but by compressed air.

Based on the geometry of a 250cc motocrosser, the O2 Pursuit prototype uses the breakthrough engine technology developed by Angelo Di Pietro of Engineair.

Benstead, a recent graduate of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), has harnessed the power that exists in the air tanks to mechanically drive the vehicle.

According to Benstead, testing of the motorcycle showed close to a quarter of an hour running time with stops at around 25-45 km/h. 

During stationary testing, Benstead’s team timed the speed off the back wheel, registering over 100 km/h. 

Preliminary testing of the prototype was limited to an indoors factory environment on a circular track.

“The bike is running a standard scuba tank which runs air compressed up to 200 bar, with further developments, we would be looking at running a tank at 400 bar with increased capacity to also increase the range,” he said.

The innovation was the result of Benstead’s final-year design research into the future of motorcycles, looking at air as a genuine alternative to petrol and electricity.

“Air was the starting point back in 2010, but I continued to explore this for the prototype because of its low-tech nature,” Benstead said. 

“A solar panel and a compressor now becomes your refinery and without huge battery packs to dispose of, we now have a low-cost to free powered bike with minimum impact on the environment.”

The project began mid last year at the RMIT Ecomoto, the only motorcycle-specific design studio in Australia. 

Led by RMIT Lecturer and Acting Program Director Simon Curtis, Benstead’s super motard bike project won him the Product Design – Automotive and Transport award at the 2010 Melbourne Design Awards.

The air engine developed by Engineair is still yet to be commercialized. The motor used in the 02 Pursuit was one of five prototypes in the world.

Benstead, recently named in Melbourne’s Top 100 most influential people, is currently working with Australia’s Engineair on a new design that can bring the technology to the market.

02 Pursuit specs:

• Top Speed: >100 km/h
• Weight: <100kg
• Engine: ‘Di Pietro’ 9 chamber air engine
• Engine Weight: 10kg
• Material: Aluminium
• Development: Melbourne

Self-Balancing Electric Unicycle - YouTube

Stephan Boyer, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has created the world's first self-balancing electric unicycle. Designed like a mini Segway, it is fondly named "Bullet" by its inventor.

The cyclist has to adjust his position to avoid falling; needing to lean forward to accelerate and backward to slow down. However, Boyer has admitted it isn't quite so easy to ride the cycle, adding that even his unicycling friends struggled to come to grips with it. The principal problem seems to be that the unicycle veers to the right, at the slightest inclination.

Boyer stated, on his blog, it took him several hours to learn to ride in a straight line and several more to control his turns. Although the bike takes some getting used to, it does offer a top speed of 15 mph and can travel up to five miles on a single charge.

The unicycle also includes a panic button, designed to turn off the electric motor in case of an emergency.

Honda Microcommuter Concept: Can it outsmart the Smart

Honda's Micro Commuter Concept EV has heads-up display, social networking, advanced aerodynamics, seating for three (1+2 like the T25 and T27 city cars), luggage capacity, a customizable exterior and a fold-up electric bike for last mile transport.

Honda's Micro Commuter Concept looks like it will take the basic design Micro Car design and update it to the world of today, with advanced aerodynamics, seating for three (1+2), luggage capacity, a customizable exterior and last mile transport in the form of an ingenious fold-up electric two-wheeler known as the Motor Compo.

Very little has been revealed by Honda in its pre Tokyo Motor Show press release, but the electric city commuter vehicle looks like a winner from the get-go.

Studying the photos released with the press blurb suggests that the Micro Commuter Concept has seen plenty of time inside a wind tunnel to optimise its aerodynamics for the low to medium speed range of urban roads.

The relationship between the compact, fold-up Motor Compo electric two-wheeler is not clear as yet, but one of the very few indications of the functionality of the two-wheeler in the press releases states it to be a "compact EV commuter which offers the casual and convenient mobility of a two-wheeler, but also strives to be useful even when it's not being ridden.

This model can be loaded into the Micro Commuter Concept, with the battery that drives this commuter detachable and designed to be used as a power source in everyday life."

The Micro Commuter Concept and Motor Compo are just two of seven concepts to be shown in Tokyo, but Honda clearly has the concept of last mile transport still firmly in its mind.

It may be difficult for Americans living in cities with a lot of space to comprehend the problems faced by other city dwellers around the world, but as urban roads become more crowded, the distance between where you park and your final destination is set to become a significant part of the daily commute.

Read the full article here

Brammo: Electric motorcycle maker raises $28 million

US based electric motorcycle manufacturer Brammo announced on Wednesday that it has raised $28 million from investors to boost development of electric powertrain technology.

Leading the charge was investor Polaris Industries, a powersports giant that makes all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, motorcycles and road-legal electric vehicles.

This company's innovations are under development, including military vehicles that can shrug off small arms fire and his company’s entry into sustainability, from supply chain simplification to the company’s first electric vehicles, launched in 2009.

“We’re not going to buy something to get bigger; we’re going to buy something to get better, faster,” he said when asked about future acquisitions.

It would appear that time is now.

The deal extends Brammo’s powertrain technology to different vehicle types much in the way that Tesla supplies Toyota with its all-electric powertrain.

It gives Polaris, inventor of the first snowmobile and the market leader for its various segments, a leg up on EV technology that it knows will replace the Swiss-developed four-stroke engines it traditionally uses.

It also gives Brammo more places to reap revenues for its R&D efforts. The company has dabbled in off-road vehicles before, with its Encite motorcycle, but cooperation with Polaris opens the door for more applications.

Back from the Future! DeLorean to be resurrected

If you fell in love with the DeLorean in the Back to the Future movie series, the good news is that in 2013, you'll be able to buy a real one again.

It won't have a flux capacitor, won't time-travel and it'll still be a thirty year-old design (albeit styled by Giugiaro and structurally redesigned by Colin Chapman of Lotus fame after Delorean himself screwed up the first design).

It will have a 200+ bhp electric motor, not the original asthmatic V6 producing 130 bhp, and those awesome gull-wing doors and it'll be really retro cool.

It won't be called the DMC-12 any more either, because the 12 stood for its new price at launch - US$12,000. The new one will cost you between US$90,000 and US$100,000.

Background
Texas entrepreneur Stephen Wynne started the current "De Lorean Motor Company" in 1995 after acquiring the name and remaining parts inventory and since 2007, around 40 whole De Lorean cars have been produced from the spare parts cars.

Now the company is to go another step, and at an International De Lorean Owners Event in Houston a few days back, the new electric De Lorean was announced.

"Now we are working with electric-car startup Epic EV to put an all-electric DMC-12 into production by 2013" was the announcement on the De Lorean web site. The three-wheeled Epic EV just happens to use a 200 bhp+ electric motor too.

The Orginal
One of the original De Lorean machines used in the shooting of the "Back to the future" film franchise is to go under the hammer at an auction in December. The car is expected to fetch in the ballpark of $400,000-$600,000.

Check out the video of the new Epic EV below.

Closer To Home-Brewed Electricity With Personalised Solar Energy

A simple inexpensive rooftop solar panel can convert sunlight to electricity. In a new study, an expert describes progress toward an efficient and inexpensive method for storing and distributing solar energy in the home

New scientific discoveries are moving society toward the era of "personalized solar energy," in which the focus of electricity production shifts from huge central generating stations to individuals in their own homes and communities.

That's the topic of a report by an international expert on solar energy published in the ACS' Inorganic Chemistry, a bi-weekly journal.

It describes a long-awaited, inexpensive method for solar energy storage that could help power homes and plug-in cars in the future while helping keep the environment clean.

Daniel Nocera explains that the global energy need will double by mid-century and triple by 2100 due to rising standards of living world population growth. Personalised solar energy - the capture and storage of solar energy at the individual or home level - could meet that demand in a sustainable way, especially in poorer areas of the world.

The report describes development of a practical, inexpensive storage system for achieving personalized solar energy. At its heart is an innovative catalyst that splits water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen that become fuel for producing electricity in a fuel cell.

The new oxygen-evolving catalyst works like photosynthesis, the method plants use to make energy, producing clean energy from sunlight and water. "Because energy use scales with wealth, point-of-use solar energy will put individuals, in the smallest village in the nonlegacy world and in the largest city of the legacy world, on a more level playing field," the report states.

Norway Open First Osmosis Plant for Green Energy

Statkraft said the plant is intended mostly for testing and development purposes, with the goal of building a commercial plant within a few years. Osmotic power's global potential is estimated to be equivalent to 50 percent of the EU's total power production.



A Norwegian power company announced Tuesday Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit will head the opening of the world's first osmotic power plant.

Statkraft, Europe's largest renewable energy company, said the plant at Tofte, outside Oslo, will generate power by using the energy produced when fresh water and seawater are mixed, the Norway Post reported.

Osmotic power is an emissions-free energy source that will make a global contribution to eco-friendly power production, Statkraft said, adding it has been researching osmotic power for 10 years.

"In an era of major climate change and an increasing need for clean energy, we are proud to be presenting a renewable energy source which has never been harnessed until now. We are also most grateful that the crown princess wishes to lend her support to this milestone in our development of osmotic power," Statkraft CEO Bard Mikkelsen, said.

Statkraft said the plant is intended mostly for testing and development purposes, with the goal of building a commercial plant within a few years.

Osmotic power's global potential is estimated to be equivalent to 50 percent of the EU's total power production.

Osmotic power plants can, theoretically be built wherever fresh water runs into the sea, and they produce no noise or pollution emissions, the Norway Post reported.