Ontario Completely Off Coal

Written by Philip Proefrock on April 16, 2014

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A new, grid-tied offshore wave energy project called CETO is being readied off the west coast of Australia, near Perth. Carnegie Wave Energy is installing what is called the “first operating wave energy array scheme in the world.” The installation will consist of three submerged buoys 11 meters (36 feet) in diameter, which will be anchored offshore. The buoys will create high pressure water which will be pumped to an onshore generating station to produce electricity.

In addition to producing power, the CETO technology incorporates an interesting synergy – it is also used to provide fresh water. The system provides for more efficient desalination of seawater, since the water is already being pumped onshore from the buoys. Once it has powered the turbines, some of the water can be diverted into conventional desalination equipment. For regions in need of water desalination, the combination is ideal, and additional energy is not required for pumping water in from the sea.

The submerged operation of the CETO buoys helps provide storm survival capacity for the buoys and keeps the bouys out of view to minimize visual impact.

In comparison to wind turbines, the CETO system is small-scale. Each buoyant actuator has a rated capacity of 240 kW, so the installation being built will have less than 1 MW of capacity, whereas many current wind turbines have individual capacities of several mwgawatts. Nonetheless, it is another step forward for another energy generating technology. Carnegie hopes to expand commercialization of this technology and is targeting having 1000 MW of capacity installed by 2020.

Whey is generally a waste byproduct from cheese- and yogurt-making. Producers need to find ways to dispose of it, and often it is discharged into wastewater systems. Research at the Polytechnic University of Turin is being done to explore the use of whey as a replacement for toxic compounds used as flame retardants.

Treated fabrics are kept from burning as readily because the casein from whey forms a layer of char on the surface when it is exposed to heat, which prevents the fire from spreading as readily. Tests on cotton and polyester materials often self-extinguished, and tests on cotton-polyester were also inhibited and burned more slowly.

While the tests have been promising, the process is not yet ready for commercialization because “the cheese-treated fabrics stink.” But, if the compounds that cause the odor can be removed, this can be a technology to remove more harmful chemicals from common use and make use of a waste product at the same time. And, it could give the word “cheesecloth” a whole new meaning.

image: CC BY-SA 3.0 by Oscar/Wikimedia Commons

via: Environmental Building News

Rocket fuel is the latest in a long line of fuels being developed from bio sources instead of being produced from petrochemicals. Numerous other fuels have been developed from bio-diesel and synthetic gasolines to aviation fuels are now being made from microorganisms or from converting bio feedstocks. And now, scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Joint BioEnergy Institute have been able to produce a key component of JP-10 high energy fuel from bacterial sources.

Pinene is a component that is used in fuels that are used for missiles and rockets. It is found in tree sap, but it is primarily extracted from crude oil. Since only a small amount of pinene can be produced from each barrel of crude oil, it is expensive and difficult to obtain.

The researchers developed strains of E. coli which has been able to produce small quantities of pinene in the laboratory. There are still further steps to take before this becomes scalable and commercially viable, but the initial development has been the major milestone, and researchers on the project expect to be able to further improve the process as they continue their work.

There is also a much stronger economic drive to develop bio-based rocket fuel as compared to other fuels. At present, petroleum-based JP-10 costs about $25 per gallon, so a difference of a dollar or two per gallon could be significant, as well as being able to produce fuel for space travel without needing ot rely on petrochemical sources.

image: CC BY-SA 3.0 by Image courtesy of SpaceX/Wikimedia Commons

via: Solar Thermal Magazine

Many people are very familiar with the V formation used by migrating flocks of birds, and scientists have determined that this is an efficient mode of travel which helps the birds conserve energy, especially on long migratory journeys. But the same concept is being considered to improve the efficiency of commercial jetliners.

Among aircraft manufacturers, Airbus is one of the companies looking at the advantages of commercial flocking. “In a V formation of 25 birds, each can achieve a reduction of induced drag by up to 65 per cent and increase their range by 7 per cent. While efficiencies for commercial aircraft are not as great, they remain significant.”

It is possible that, in the future, commercial flights might flock together in this way to save fuel. The initial tests of this approach might be carried out with trans-ocreanic flights originating in separate Australian cities which would coordinate their schedules and meet up in order to cross the Pacific together, before they “peel off and head to their separate destinations.”

image credit: Airbus

via: Quirks & Quarks

As we’ve done for the past several years, EcoGeek went to this year’s North American International Auto Show (the Detroit Auto Show) to see what is new in clean and green transportation. However, this year’s displays continue to move away from a focus on environmental awareness as a major selling point. This has seemed to be the trend over the past few years. In retrospect, it seems that the peak of the green focus was probably the 2009 Detroit Show.

Green isn’t gone entirely. MPG is still a factor that is touted at some brands, but it seems to matter no more than other numbers like horsepower or cargo volume that manufacturers use to compete with one another. Electric drive continues to work its way into more and more cars (with mild hybridization becoming more common). But cars are not green-focused the way they were a few years ago. The fact that Ford has five different hybrid and electric drive vehicles would have been a big story just a couple years ago, but now it is just part of a major automaker having a complete line.

Where once they seemed like an outsider, Tesla seems to have developed into a mainstream member of the club. For this year’s display, Tesla had two of their Model S coupes and display panels about interior finish choices; the Roadster was not in sight. The only non-traditional manufacturer on the display floor this year was VIA trucks, which had vehicles in three different places. Michelin (who has always been a major sponsor of the Detroit Show) and a couple other parts suppliers also had space on the main floor, but not to the extent as during the depths of the economic decline.

The common theme across much of the show this year was the engine-on-a-stick. It’s not that it hasn’t been done before, but it seemed to be much more prevalent. Lots of “here’s what the engine looks like,” and usually nothing, or very little, in the way of explanatory text to accompany it. Overall, the show did seem to be moving back toward a more car-centric focus on the basic stuff that the core car-people really love. With that in mind, it’s not at all surprising that the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray was named Car of the Year.

The driving course on the lower level is gone this year, as well. When it was introduced a few years ago, there were literally dozens of different vehicles, primarily electrics and hybrids, that could be driven, to introduce the public to the experience of driving a vehicle with something other than a gasoline engine. Over the past few years, this became less and less of a feature, and is now completely omitted from the show.

Although green cars have largely become a sideline, rather than the focus of the Auto Show, the fact that they have become a part of most manufacturers’ lines should be taken as a sign of progress. There certainly were some interesting new vehicles at this year’s show, and we will take a more detailed look at some of these.

The science of power storage has a new variety of options and new materials to investigate thanks to some recent developments in the chemistry of materials used in flow batteries. Until now, flow batteries have largely relied on metallic compounds for the active chemicals they use. But new materials have been found that are cheaper and more effective than the chemicals which have been most used in flow batteries until now.

The research undertaken by scientists at Harvard University has identified a range of organic compounds known as quinones, which are have the potential to be especially useful for flow batteries. Initial research indicates they are inexpensive and efficient materials well suited for use in power storage. A recently published paper in the journal Nature discusses the use of 9,10-anthraquinone-2,7-disulphonic acid (AQDS), a compound found in rhubarb, in a flow battery.

Large-scale energy storage is an area where flow batteries can excel, because the equipment needed to build a large energy storage system is basic, industrial gear, rather than highly specialized equipment. To increase storage capacity, a flow battery just needs a couple of larger storage tanks.

The AQDS materials are naturally abundant and very stable. They are potentially safer than metal-based flow batteries because the materials are “less likely to react violently if they accidentally come in contact with each other.” When used in a flow battery, they show very good cycle efficiency and “[represent] a new and promising direction for realizing massive electrical energy storage at greatly reduced cost.” The chemicals needed to store a kilowatt-hour of energy would cost $27, which is roughly one-third the cost of other systems.

via: Business Insider