Author: Philip Proefrock

One of the most frequent objections to renewable energy systems is that their production is too variable. But technologies continue to be developed that will allow storage of power generated from wind, solar, and other intermittent renewable sources. The latest development comes from researchers at Isentropic in Cambridge, England who propose giant batteries filled with gravel and argon gas. These batteries would provide a number advantages over pumped hydro, which is presently used for almost all electricity storage today, as well as over underground compressed air storage.

The gravel battery system would use excess capacity generated by a renewable source to heat and pressurize the argon gas and then pump it through a gravel filled silo to store energy. Then, when demand calls for electricity, the system is simply operated in reverse to generate electricity. According to the company, the system’s “round trip efficiency is over 72% – 80%.” This is comparable to the efficiency of pumped storage hydro, which has an efficiency of 70% – 85%. But gravel batteries are much more compact, and can be more readily installed in relatively flat areas characteristic of many areas with good windpower potential, such as the American Great Plains. A gravel battery can use far less land (1/300th) than that required for a pumped hydro lake, as well.

Underground compressed air storage is another technology that has been suggested, but that requires the presence of underground caverns, which are not always present where you might want to put a power storage facility. In addition to being able to be located anywhere, gravel batteries could be relatively inexpensive because they do not need costly materials. Costs could be as low as $55/kWh, and $10/kWh at scale for large installations.

via: Worldchanging

Plans are being considered to turn the famous Dutch dikes into tidal power generators. Although originally built to protect the people and land of the Netherlands, now a committee of various government representatives has issued a recent report including some suggestions to revise the operation of the dikes to create a more pleasant and more natural land behind the dikes, and to provide a source of power. Openings in the series of dikes would provide ideal locations for tidal power plants.

The Netherlands have had protective ocean dikes to guard the coastline since the disaster in 1953 when more than 1800 people were killed and over half a million acres of land was flooded by the North Sea. After this tragedy, the extensive Delta Works were constructed over the next four decades, and the last parts of the project were finally completed in 1997.

Energy, however, is not the primary motivator for this. Instead, it is an interest in restoring the natural condition to estuaries and tidal flats whose character has significantly degraded over the years since the dikes were installed. “Opening water locks would allow the tide to return to now stagnant waters, the report stated. This would be a boon to nature, because certain plants and animals, which have all but disappeared since the estuaries were closed off, can return. Deeper into the delta lies a fresh water basin where smelly algae bloom in the summer. Allowing salt water to reach these outer stretches again could improve conditions for residents and holiday-makers.”

In the aftermath of a catastrophe, it is all to easy to focus solely on preventing that tragedy, no matter the cost. “With all the focus on safety after 1953,” [committee director Joost] Schrijnen said, “other aspects were neglected.” He now wants to change that. “But without sacrificing safety,” he added. Turning the dikes into a power generating solution, as well as improving environmental quality seems like a solution that will provide multiple benefits, in addition to protecting the land from the sea.

link: nrc handelsblad

via: Slashdot

Some interesting Earth Day news comes from Chevy. It’s a new Volt, which is being unveiled in China today: “Chevrolet is leveraging Auto China 2010, which starts today in Beijing, to introduce the Volt MPV5 electric concept. The five-passenger multi-purpose crossover concept demonstrates the potential of the Voltec propulsion system by utilizing the same foundation as the Volt, for gas- and tailpipe emissions-free electric driving.“

The MPV5 uses the same Voltec propulsion system found in the Volt. “The same T-shaped 16 kwh lithium ion battery and 1.4 L 4 cylinder generator is used, but in this configuration only has an EV range of 32 miles, with an additional 300 miles of gas range on a full tank.”

The Volt MPV concept is slightly bigger in all dimensions, as well as being in a crossover configuration. The Volt MPV5 has a slightly longer wheelbase, and is about 7 inches (181 mm) longer, 3 inches (73 mm) wider, and 7 inches (182 mm) taller than the Volt. The Volt MPV5 also offers 62.3 cubic feet (1764 liters) of cargo space with the seats folded and 30.5 cubic feet (863.7 liters) of space with the seats up.

GM obviously believes in the REEV platform they have developed with the Volt. Although there are no production plans for this concept vehicle yet, it is good to see potential alternatives that could leverage GM’s work and reach other consumer segments with different versions of the electric car concept.

via: GM-Volt.com

Although we’ve been sceptical about the financial viability of vertical farming schemes, that doesn’t mean we are opposed to bringing more greenery into urban areas in any way, and systems that merge vegetation with buildings can be both beneficial and beautiful. We are definitely fans of green roofs.

Parabienta is a wall garden panel system that provides a growth medium to support plants and allow them to grow along vertical surfaces. Vegetated vertical panels help to reduce solar gain on walls, much the same as green roofs help reduce the heat island effect and lower temperatures on roofs. As an added benefit, Parabienta panels have also been shown to help buffer noise, particularly desirable in an urban environment.  It might not grow tomatoes, but it will add some welcome green to an urban context.

Parabienta was originally developed by the Shimizu Corporation in Japan. But, while they appear to have used it on projects themselves, the company’s website has only a single brief mention of the material. Although it has been around for a few years now, it doesn’t appear to be readily available as a product for project use, though it was reported that the company was hoping to grow sales of the system (at a cost of about $80 per square foot, including installation and irrigation) to a few million dollars per year.

via: Transmaterial

The Solar Impulse HB-SIA, a solar-powered aircraft under development for an emissions-free around-the-world flight, had its maiden flight on April 7. Bertrand Piccard, the adventurer who first flew a balloon non-stop around the globe, is the chairman of the Solar Impulse project. The plane was flown to an altitude of 4,000 feet during its 87 minute test flight in Switzerland.

The single-seat plane has the wingspan of a 747 covered with nearly 12,000 solar cells which provide the power for the four electric motors. Further tests, including longer duration flights to test batteries and verify the ability of the plane to fly through the night will be the next step for this project. Solar Impulse plans a flight to cross the Atlantic in 2012 in preparation for an eventual non-stop, around the globe flight.

video link: Solar Impulse

via: EERE News

Previous Solar Impulse articles on EcoGeek

Solar panels are one of the greenest and least controversial types of renewable power generation technology. Some neighborhoods don’t like how they look on roofs of houses, but there are no concerns about harming wildlife, as with wind turbines or tidal power systems. And the technology to make them is continuing to improve.

But not all solar panels are created equally. Solar panels are energy intensive to produce, and potentially harmful materials such as cadmium and lead are sometimes used in their production. The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition has begun to assemble a ‘Solar Scorecard’ that evaluates solar panel manufacturers.

Because the Scorecard is based on company self-reporting, presently there are only ten PV module manufacturers and one solar cell manufacturer with scores listed. Four companies also have a gold star, indicating that the company “has a takeback program and has policies against exporting waste and using prison labor to dismantle end-of-life panels.”

Scoring is based on a 100-point scale, with four major categories: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Takeback, which deals with end-of-life and recycling for the panels; Supply Chain Monitoring and Green Jobs, which looks at employee exposure to toxic materials among other issues; Chemical Use and Lifecycle Analysis, which looks at hazardous material use; and Disclosure, which considers a company’s transparency about these issues. The survey was originally sent to 27 solar PV companies in October 2009 and the survey deadline was extended to late January 2010. Hopefully more companies will respond and the listing can be kept current in coming years, providing consumers with more information about the panels they are considering.

link: Solar Scorecard

A recent report from the Carbon Trust notes that there are “more carbon emissions from crisps (potato chips) than cement.” Although it may be a surprising bit of news at first, it conceals the greater issue of scale. Undoubtedly though, someone is certain to rail against potato chips and argue that we don’t need to worry about cement production when snack foods are the bigger problem. While the Carbon Trust’s statement is factually correct from one perspective, as the famous saying goes, there are “Lies, damned lies, and statistics“, so let’s talk about numbers a bit.

First, let’s take a look at the amount of CO2 produced for each item. Producing cement releases about an equivalent amount of CO2 (producing one ton of cement releases one ton of CO2), while producing potato chips releases about 2.3 times as much CO2 (producing one ton of potato chips releases 2.3 tons of CO2). What is key here is that the factor of CO2 produced is in relationship to the weight of the finished product. Cement is much denser and heavier than potato chips, so a sack of cement has a much, much higher carbon footprint than an equivalent volume of potato chips.

Secondly, let’s consider the annual production of each item. A figure for yearly global production of potato chips wasn’t readily available, but just looking at relatively recent US consumption, roughly 3 million tons of potato chips are produced annually, yielding about 7 million tons of CO2. However, US cement production is around 100 million tons per year, yielding about 100 million tons of CO2.

Even though cement produces less CO2 per pound, cement production is still nearly 15 times more significant to US production of CO2. Although there is more CO2 per unit of potato chips, a lot more cement is produced, which helps make that the larger problem.

However, there’s more to it than just that. Global cement production in 2000 was 1.56 billion tons. The US production is only about 6% of that total. On the other hand, the US is probably responsible for a higher percentage of total potato chip consumption, so the global figure for cement production is even more significant.

Big numbers and surprising ratios can catch our attention, but it’s important to look at the overall picture. Although more CO2 per pound was released when the potato chips were made, a one pound bag of potato chips still represents less impact than an 80 pound sack of cement; the bags are far from equivalent to one another.  And even though producing a pound of chips releases more CO2 than producing a pound of cement does, that doesn’t make potato chips a greater environmental hazard than cement.

Thanks @MelStarrs

Image credit: CC-By-SA-2.5 by Paul Hurst

Engine idling is a significant factor in gasoline engine inefficiency, making up as much as 17% of the fuel consumed in urban driving. To address this, some manufacturers are looking at incorporating hybrid-style technology such as start-stop systems as a way of gathering some of the “low-hanging fruit” of hybrid efficiency for the non-hybrid vehicles in their fleet.

Start-stop (turning off the engine instead of idling at red lights and other times when the car isn’t moving) is already a staple of hybrid vehicles. But start-stop technology only costs $300-400 per vehicle, as opposed to the thousands of dollars a full-hybrid version of a vehicle represents.

European and Asian markets have taken to this more readily, while in the US, Mazda has encountered EPA testing regulations that offer no fuel-efficiency credit for their i-stop system. BMW, Smart, Mercedes-Benz, and Mini are also working on adopting this technology to vehicles in their fleets.

via: bnet

image: Mazda 3 i-stop

Energizer’s DUO Charger is a battery charger for NiMH (nickel metal hydride) rechargeable batteries. (This isn’t the same as USB batteries that have a built-in USB port on the batteries themselves.) Energizer provided a nice little desktop app for computers so that the user could see the charge status of their batteries along with the charger. We’re not sure what the point of this is, really. I mean, is the indicator light on the charger not enough for you?

Unfortunately, that app included a Trojan that would compromise security and open a back door for unauthorized access on Windows machines. The trojan allows files to be sent and executed on your machine without your permission. There are alerts about this from both the computer security company Symantec as well as from US-CERT (Computer Emergency Readiness Team). Energizer has an advisory notice on their site where the software was downloaded from.

Only users with Windows computers who downloaded the software are at risk; there is nothing in the battery charger hardware itself that threatens computers. If you have installed this software, you need to uninstall it to prevent it from putting your computer system at risk.

The question is, does Energizer think that this is OK…Or is it a rogue piece of software that managed to slip past quality control? Either one is troubling, but this makes me very suspicious of Energizer. Why taint an otherwise fantastic product with badly designed (or worse) software.

My advice, never install software for a piece of hardware that obviously doesn’t need it. Battery chargers should charge batteries, there’s no reason to make that relationship more complicated.

Link: Energizer advisory (PDF)

Legislators in California have introduced a bill that would require electric utilities to provide grid-scale energy storage in their operations. The bill would call for a capacity of 2.25% of daytime peak demand by 2014 and 5% of peak demand by 2020.

A variety of technologies could be included in the mix to provide grid energy storage, including pumped storage hydro, compressed air storage, utility-scale batteries, and flywheel storage systems.

This may have the indirect effect of encouraging the utilities to promote efficiency measures and to encourage load shifting, in order to lower the amount of storage that would be required.

via: Building Energy Performance Info

image credit:

INGOCAR is a developmental concept for a 5 passenger car with a hydraulic drive system in place of a conventional power-train. With the weight reduction this offers and other efficiencies in the systems, the designers say their vehicle could get 170 mpg.

The INGOCAR is a hydraulic hybrid vehicle. Like some electric hybrids such as the Chevy Volt, it uses the motor indirectly instead of using the mechanical motion of the motor to move the car. But rather than using a motor as a generator to produce electricity, the INGOCAR has a highly-efficient 2-stroke diesel engine which is used to pressurize a hydraulic tank called the accumulator. Pressure from this tank is then used to turn individual wheelmotors in each wheel.

Hydraulic power makes the regenerative braking of the INGOCAR much more efficient than that in electric motor vehicles, as well. Regenerative braking with hydraulics is able to recover 75 to 85% of the energy which is used to repressurize the system. The wheelmotors that serve as both propulsion and braking for the vehicle are smaller than the disc brakes they replace.

The INGOCAR’s efficiencies work to benefit it in several ways. For instance, eliminating the conventional power-train provides a 30% weight reduction for the car. Also, the engine only needs to run for a short period of time to recharge the pressure tank. It can also be smaller since it is only being used to develop pressure, rather than needing to be strong enough to run the car directly.

The vehicle is able to be significantly lighter than an electric hybrid because the motors are much lighter. “A comparable electric power-train, able to recapture the entire braking energy, is significantly heavier. The weight of the currently best electric motors is 20 times higher than that of the new hydraulic motor. The weights of the energy storage devices (battery, accumulator) are about the same. As result, the weight of the car would increase by about 50% – from 2200 lb to 3300 lb – consequently increasing the fuel consumption.”

The 5 passenger INGOCAR would weigh 2200 lbs (998 kg). The Chevy Volt’s curb weight is expected to be around 3500 lbs, and the current Toyota Prius curb weight is also around 3000 lbs.

link: Valentin Technologies

Conventional gasoline engines are terribly inefficient things. Only 13% of the energy of the fuel actually moves the car. 62% is lost in the engine as waste heat, and driveline losses, accessories, and idling also reduce the efficiency.

Transonic Combustion is planning to build automobile engines with improved efficiency obtained through heating and pressurizing gasoline before injecting it into the combustion chamber. “This puts it into a super-critical state that allows for very fast and clean combustion, which in turn decreases the amount of fuel needed to propel a vehicle,” according to MIT Technology Review. A transonic test vehicle achieved 64 MPG in highway driving, compared to a 48 MPG hybrid Prius, and running at a steady cruising speed of 50 mph, the test vehicle achieved 98 MPG.

Like diesel and HCCI, the Transonic Combustion technology operates without needing a spark plug. Timing software also further enhances the operating efficiency of the system. Transonic injection is being developed for use with gasoline engines at present, but will also be compatible with advanced low carbon footprint bio-fuels in the future. Transonic expects its system will be comparable in cost to other current high-end fuel injection systems.

Because of the higher operating pressure, the longevity and durability of the engine will be important considerations the company will need to address. The company plans to build its production facility in 2013 and expects to be building engines for production vehicles in 2014.

via: Inhabitat

Beginning today, Google has begun providing bicycle directions for its Google Maps service with directions for cyclists in 150 cities in the United States. Google already incorporates public-transit and walking directions in addition to automobile driving directions, and the bicycling community has been calling for Google to add bike routes for some time.

The routing suggested for cyclists is designed to avoid freeways and high-traffic areas, and to select gentler terrain by routing around hills. To make it even more useful for riders on the go, Google expects to have a mobile version available in the near future, as well.

A new study from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies has identified on-road transportation as the most significant overall source contributing to global warming. Power generation, while having the greatest total impact, also includes a large number of compounds that increase cloud reflectivity and provide other effects to offset some of the warming they are responsible for.

In the study, rather than looking at specific chemicals and compounds, the range of airborne pollutants is broken down by economic sector. The study looks at the range of gases and aerosols that are released by each of 13 sectors of the economy, and finds that on-road transportation has the greatest overall effect on global warming.

“Cars, buses, and trucks release pollutants and greenhouse gases that promote warming, while emitting few aerosols that counteract it. The researchers found that the burning of household biofuels — primarily wood and animal dung for home heating and cooking — contribute the second most warming. And raising livestock, particularly methane-producing cattle, contribute the third most. On the other end of the spectrum, the industrial sector releases such a high proportion of sulfates and other cooling aerosols that it actually contributes a significant amount of cooling to the system. And biomass burning — which occurs mainly as a result of tropical forest fires, deforestation, savannah and shrub fires — emits large amounts of organic carbon particles that block solar radiation.”

The intent of this study is to make the information about climate change more accessible and understandable. “We wanted to provide the information in a way that would be more helpful for policy makers,” according to Nadine Unger, leader of the research team. “This approach will make it easier to identify sectors for which emission reductions will be most beneficial for climate and those which may produce unintended consequences.”

No one should mistake the point of this study to indicate that coal burning and other power-generation and industrial processes are benign and therefore do not need to be scaled back. Although industrial processes mitigate their adverse effects with regard to global warming, the sulfates and aerosols that are beneficial in this one manner are responsible for a range of other, negative environmental impacts.

The paper was published online on Feb. 3 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

via: Worldchanging

A recent article from Lawrence Berkely Laboratory suggests that readers should ‘Pull the plug. Your battery will thank you.‘ Researcher Venkat Srinivasan writes about batteries and battery chemistry rather specifically, but without becoming overwhelmingly technical.

He explains how batteries begin to fail and suggests keeping your computer unplugged as a way of extending the life of your battery. I pulled the plug on mine as soon as I read the article, and I’m now writing this on battery power.

On the other hand, if you charge the battery and then pull the plug (so to speak), the battery discharges some, the voltage drops, and these reactions become less of a problem and your battery life goes up. So the best things you can do is to charge the laptop (or cell phone, camera, etc.) and once its charged, pull the plug. Your battery will thank you for it.

This also has relevance for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle owners, whose batteries have the same characteristics. A car sitting in a garage for hours, full charged, is going to be slowly deteriorating the battery. Manufacturers may already be incorporating measures into battery packs to address this problem, but this highlights just one of the many potential issues battery makers need to address in order to keep portable electrical devices functioning.

This week in batteries may not be on everyone’s RSS feed right away. But engineers for computer companies, electric vehicle manufacturers, cell phone, and other portable device makers should be following him. While the articles run to the technical, the information is accessible for all kinds of battery geeks.

While the focus continues to be on expanding means and methods for generating electricity from renewable sources, the limits of the existing grid to handle that generated power and distribute it to where it is needed are beginning to show.

Last weekend in Texas, wind power reached a record high point of 6,242 MW represented 22% of demand. That’s fantastic news, and we love to see that kind of records being broken.

However, utility officials were forced to curtail wind power generation “because the supply of electricity outstripped the capacity of lines to move the power to urban areas such as Dallas-Fort Worth.”

Production needs to continue to increase. But this points out what may become a more frequent problem, and dealing with the grid cannot be forgotten either.

image: CC 2.0/ roxannejomitchell

Energy savings of 99% over previous methods probably sound like snake oil. But some math geeks have been able to find a way so that computers can use only 1% of the energy (and the time) necessary for some tasks.

IBM has announced a new data-processing algorithm that enables large sets of data to be processed in a fraction of the time and with only a fraction of the electricity, as was previously needed. Supercomputer testing of the algorithm showed that the process speeds the calculations and reduces the power consumption by two orders of magnitude.

“The new method was tested on the fourth largest supercomputer in the world and what would normally have taken a day, was crunched in 20 minutes. In terms of energy savings, the analysis required 700 kilowatt-hours total, compared with 52800 kilowatt-hours total.”

Not only does this mean that far less electricity is needed for data-intensive operations, but also more work will be able to be scheduled onto the same number of machines. And while the demonstration was carried out on a powerful supercomputer, the intent of the research was to make intensive data-processing activities more readily available and accessible to scientists who do not have supercomputers.

via: Slashdot

image: IBM press release

We’ve seen Toshiba’s SCiB (super-charge ion batteries) before at last summer’s Consumer Electronics Show, where they were providing the power storage for a battery-assisted bike. SCiB batteries are useful for a wide range of functions, from electric bicycles and hybrid and electric vehicles, to industrial equipment and renewable energy storage. Toshiba has now opened a US-based technical support center to aid in developing the SCiB, particularly for vehicles, grid storage, and wind and solar power applications.

The SCiB has characteristics that make it very appealing. It performs like an ultracapacitor with rapid charge times, reaching 90% charge in about 5 minutes. It is good for thousands of cycles without extensive capacity loss, and it has a life span of 10 years or more. And, of potentially particular interest for vehicle manufacturers, it is able to perform even at low temperatures down to -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit).

The SCiB batteries are based on lithium chemistry, as are many other batteries currently in use. However, according to Toshiba, in addition to the other beneficial features the SCiB offers, they also have an internal structure which helps prevent short circuits and avoid “thermal runaway” even if they do develop a short circuit.

Link: Toshiba

via: NA Windpower

Ford Motor Company has taken another step forward in adding electric vehicles to their fleet by announcing an all-electric version of their Transit Connect van. The conventional version of the Transit Connect was named Truck of the Year at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year. A small number of electric Transit Connect trucks will be available later this year, with subsequent production levels to be based on demand.

The truck is an all-electric vehicle, and is targeted at commercial uses such as route driving with fairly regular, predictable driving. However, Ford has also said that they “would not exclude retail sales” for the van.

The electric Transit Connect has an expected range of 80 miles from a 28 kWh lithium ion battery pack. It is designed to recharge at a 240 volt charging station over a period of 6-8 hours. Charging from a 120 volt supply is also possible.

via: Ford press release

General Motors announced today that it will be expanding its capabilities for designing and manufacturing electric traction motors, the motors used to propel electric and hybrid-electric vehicles. GM plans to have the first GM-designed and -built electric motors installed in some 2013 vehicles.

“In the future, electric motors might become as important to GM as engines are now,” said Tom Stephens, GM Vice Chairman, Global Product Operations. “By designing and manufacturing electric motors in-house, we can more efficiently use energy from batteries as they evolve, potentially reducing cost and weight – two significant challenges facing batteries today.”

Of course, the benefits from GM designing and building its own electric motors will include weight-reduction, range-extension, energy-use optimization, and coordination of motors and batteries, all of which will make for better, longer running, more energy efficient electric vehicles in the future.

GM and its long-time rival, Ford, seem to be starting a new round of competition. With this announcement from GM and Ford’s recent announcement about bringing battery resaerch and production in-house, both companies are moving to position themselves for the design and manufacture of components and systems for electric vehicles. Like a new space race, the benefits of this competition may reinvigorate both companies. Developments could also spill over into other fields. And maybe, all of this could lead to a resurgence of Detroit in the automotive world

Link: GM Press Release

Photo Credit: Photo by John F. Martin for General Motors