New cells to provide more life for mobile phones
French company SunPartner has developed an ultra-thin, transparent solar cell module that can fit under a smart phone’s touchscreen, so that the phone can potentially remain charged with less time spent plugged into the mains. The company claims that the use of the new module could extend a phone’s battery life by 20 per cent and that it is working to improve this performance to 50 per cent. It still needs to convince smart phone manufacturers of the benefits, but it confidently expects to have its products in the market next year.
Estimates suggest that mobile devices alone could account for 30 per cent of global electricity capacity in less than 20 years from now.
Trade row over solar panels pits China against EU
Disagreement between the EU and China over solar panels has shown little sign of abating, despite meetings between top trade officials from both sides aimed at defusing tensions and, potentially, setting the stage for a negotiated solution.
The EU is China’s main export market for solar panels, making up nearly 80 per cent of Chinese export sales, according to European Commission data. In 2011 alone, China exported €21 billion-worth of solar panels and components to the 27-member bloc.
However, the European Commission agreed on provisional anti-dumping tariffs – penalties imposed on exporters that sell goods more cheaply abroad than in their domestic market – on imports of solar panels from China, its second largest trading partner. The news met with criticism from Beijing, which argued that the duties are unwarranted and protectionist.
EU member states will ultimately need to sign off on the final duties in December, assuming the Commission recommends maintaining them. Ironically, the ongoing growth in solar power investment in Europe, and elsewhere, has been greatly helped by the falling prices of panels.
Geothermal power development spreads
More than 4 GW of geothermal power capacity could come online worldwide between now and 2018, according to a new report. Apart from the USA, the Asia-Pacific region has the most reported capacity under development, followed by Latin America and Africa.
A study by Navigant Research reveals that, at the moment, there are 56 projects in either active drilling or construction stages and all these are in the USA, the Philippines and Indonesia. But according to Mackinnon Lawrence, research analyst with Navigant, there are many more projects at early stages of development. The Asia Pacific region has a reported 7.4 GW currently in the pipeline, representing 40 per cent of the global capacity under development.
Latin America and Africa account for a combined 3.8 GW of additional capacity under development, or 20 per cent of the pipeline.
Climate map redrawn
Four key strategies to try to limit global temperature increases without harming economic performance have been spelled out by the International Energy Agency in a new report, ‘Redrawing the Energy-Climate Map’.
■ Targeted energy efficiency measures in buildings, industry and transport, so that there could be a clear reduction of emissions by 2020. The additional investment required would be more than offset by reduced spending on fuel
■ Limiting the construction of coal-fired power plants, while investing in renewable alternatives
■ Action to halve releases of methane from the oil and gas industry
■ Implementation of a partial phase-out of fossil fuel consumption subsidies, which would account for 12 per cent of the hoped-for reduction in emissions
“Climate change has, quite frankly, slipped to the back burner of policy priorities. But the problem is not going away – quite the opposite,” said IEA executive director Maria van der Hoeven.
Australia feels the scorch of climate change
Temperatures in Australia have been climbing ever higher, with scientists linking successive heatwaves to the high concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which has now surpassed 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in more than three million years.
Since December 2012, Australia has experienced its hottest day, hottest month and hottest summer since records began more than 100 years ago. The first week of January saw the national average maximums exceed 39˚C every day. The high temperatures continued into May, which is Australia’s autumn, showing national average maximum temperatures at 5.35˚C above the average for the time of year.
New clean energy projects get funding
A total of 28 new projects to increase clean energy use and access in developing countries have been awarded funding by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).
The projects include solar-powered cold-storage for fishing communities in Indonesia, solar-powered pumps for irrigation in Kenya and Burkina Faso, and improved energy efficiency in agriculture in China.
REEEP projects have received their foreign funding contributions mainly from the UK, Switzerland and Norway. The latest approvals were costed at a total of €3.95 million.
Harvard students design electricity-generating ball
A group of Harvard students have created a soccer ball that captures energy generated by the forces exerted on the ball during play. Fittingly named the ‘Soccket’, the ball, using an induction coil and a magnet, rapidly oscillates when the ball is in motion, from which the energy generated is then stored on an on-board battery. This stored energy can then be used to power a multitude of appliances through the AC adaptor fitted behind one of the Soccket’s panels.
While the creators’ imagine its primary use being to charge mobile phones, the students hope that the Soccket might serve a more humanitarian purpose. In developing countries where electricity is a luxury and football is passion, the ball could be used to power lights or heating sources.
First electric taxis launched in Hong Kong
In a step towards reducing the city’s pollution levels, BYD – a Chinese electric vehicle producer – launched 45 bright red taxis named the BYD e6. The five-door sedans are powered by iron phosphate batteries that take two hours to charge, and can travel for about 300 km before a stop is required at one of the nine charging locations that will be set up near car parks.
The BYD e6’s are expected to not only reduce the city’s pollution levels, but to cost far less to run than their diesel and petrol equivalents, which means that taxi drivers will earn more. Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary, John Tsang said that he is committed to “promoting environmental sustainability by laying the foundation for Hong Kong to become a zero emissions city”.
Rainforest ‘plays critical role in hydropower generation’
A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found that the rainforest is critical in generating the streams and rivers that ultimately turn turbines. As a result, if trees continue to be felled, the energy produced by one of the world’s biggest dams – the proposed Belo Monte dam in Brazil – could be cut by a third.
Many countries in tropical regions are turning to hydropower as an untapped source of energy. In Brazil alone, around 45 new hydro plants are in the planning stage. Rainforests, by their very name, are prime locations for the dams that are usually required to create the force of water needed to generate electric power. Until now the presumption has been that cutting down the trees near a dam actually increased the amount of water flowing into the dams. But in this new study, researchers took a broader look at the climate projections for the Amazon basin, rather than looking just at the rivers on which the dams were built.
They found that rainforests are more critical than previously thought, as they produce the rain that fills the streams that ultimately drive the rivers and the turbines. Predictions for 2050 suggest a 40 per cent loss of forest, which is likely to entail significantly less rain and thus 35-40 per cent less power generated
Everest excrement to be used as energy source
Sherpa chefs in Nepal could soon be cooking food using a fuel source left behind by international visitors to Mount Everest.
The tiny village of Gorak Shep, at the foot of the tallest mountain in the world, is seeking a solution to a serious problem – what to do with more than 12 metric tons of human excrement from the Everest, Pomori, Lhoste and Nupste base camps that are dumped in Gorak Shep’s open pits.
A spring 2012 National Science Foundation (NSF) survey found that one of the two major sources of water to Gorak Shep had been contaminated by the messy problem. A volunteer group of Seattle-based engineers is working on an innovative solution, and one that will hopefully provide energy to the village too.
The group completed a design for a biogas reactor to convert climbers’ faeces into methane gas to serve as a cooking fuel for the Sherpa villagers. If it is a success, the Mount Everest Biogas Project will be the world’s highest-elevation biogas reactor and proof-of-concept for an invaluable tool to protect iconic high-mountain ecosystems.
Solar Impulse’s US journey
On 3 May, a solar-powered aircraft – named the Solar Impulse – began the first leg of its journey on a mission to become the first aircraft to fly coast-to-coast across the US without using a single drop of fuel. The Solar Impulse is powered entirely by the sun, requiring no fossil fuels and emitting no pollution. Instead, the aircraft is covered in almost 12,000 silicon solar cells that drive four electric motors to turn the plane’s propellers day and night, assisted by special batteries that store power for night flight.
Weighing in at approximately 400 kg, the batteries account for more than 25 per cent of the plane’s total mass.
Smart meter project delayed
The introduction of energy smart meters in 30 million UK homes will be delayed for more than a year, the government has announced. The £11.7bn project will now start in the autumn of 2015. Smart meters, which show customers how much gas and electricity is being used, should bring an end to estimated bills, as the technology sends back an accurate meter reading to an energy company every day. But their primary purpose is to improve electricity efficiency, as consumers become more savvy as to which appliances are using most power and tailor their usage accordingly.
Sea Angel tests its enormous wings
One of the world’s largest wind turbine systems has gone for testing by a German wind technology institute based at Bremerhaven. Known as Sea Angel, the system uses a turbine designed to generate 7 MW of power from a rotor that measures an enormous 167 metres across – with each of its blades having a length of 81.6 metres and a weight of 33 tonnes.
Commissioned by Japan’s Mitsubishi, a production team based at an experimental manufacturing facility on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen sought to improve on the established dynamics of standard 55-metre blades with the use of innovative materials, some of them derived from the aerospace industry. The manufacturer, Berlin-based Euros, has received an order to supply the blades for a planned floating offshore turbine to be located near Japan’s former nuclear plant at Fukushima.
