Archive for the ‘energy generation’ Category

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The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

The New Delhi, India headquartered TERI’s stated objective is to deal with the huge problems that humankind is likely to face owing to (i) Depletion of earth’s non-renewable energy resources and (ii) Pollution caused by existing ways of using the energy resources.

    Over the years since its establishment in 1974, TERI’s objectives have got enhanced to cover environment and sustainable development. TERI also expanded its operations to North America, Europe and several countries in Asia including Japan, Malaysia and Gulf countries. The Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) is an annual event that focuses on sustainable development while pursuing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

    DSDS was successful in attracting leaders from government, industry, research and academia and civil society. Buoyed by its success, TERI has now established the World Sustainable Development Forum (WSDF). WSDF will seek to carry the DSDS message to other countries of the world and to evaluate worldwide developments towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals.

    The TERI University established in 1998 is a research-oriented institution of higher learning with programs leading to Masters and PhD level degrees.

    TERI’s research projects extend over several areas, including Energy-Environment Policy and Technology Development, Environmental and Industrial Biotechnology, Regulatory Studies and Governance, Resources and Global Security, Social Transformation, Sustainable Development Outreach and more.

    Read more at the TERI website.

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    Posted in energy generation, environment, renewable energy, sustainable development | No Comments »

    Reserve Batteries and Nanotechnology Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

    Reserve batteries are inactive batteries that can be activated in different ways. The basic principle of these batteries is to keep the electrolyte and electrode separate till activation becomes necessary. The activation can be initiated with water, air, heat and mechanical means.

    Reserve batteries are different from backup batteries in that the latter are already active. The continued activated state can result in exhaustion of the power. Reserve batteries can carry their power for years till activated.

    Reserve batteries find applications in varied contexts, including military applications, consumer products and advanced systems.

    The traditional reserve batteries needed separate storage for the electrolyte and some mechanical means to bring it into contact with the electrode for activation. It was difficult to miniaturize it and the mechanical activation also meant slow power ramp up. These traditional batteries cannot also be integrated into microprocessor chips.

    New generation nancotechnology based reserve batteries claim to eliminate these handicaps. Using nanoscale components, miniaturization is no problem. Nanotechnology also makes it possible to achieve the controlled chemical reactions involved in power generation in ways compatible with semiconductor processing, and do it far more quickly.

    Read about the technology at mPhase Technologies website.

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    Posted in energy generation, energy storage, nanotechnology, technology commercialization | 1 Comment »

    Infinite Power from Ambient Sources and Rechargeable Batteries Thursday, April 8th, 2010

    Infinite Power Solutions manufactures solid state, rechargeable thin film bateries in volume. The company announced recently that it has achieved the international quality certification, ISO 9001:2008.

    The micro-energy storage devices are used in a variety of micro-electronic applications such as in the wireless sensor, RFID, powered smart card and medical devices industries, among others.

    The company’s micro-energy cell products, THINERGY™ MEC are reported to be deeply embeddable and capable of providing perpetual power solutions when combined with ambient energy harvesting. According to the company, it is a battery that never needs to be replaced.

    Ambient energy harvesting involves converting ordinary things into electricity. For example, the small movements we make, our body fluids, dirt, vegetation, light, UV rays, etc can act as sources of power generation. The small amounts of power so generated can be sufficient for small devices, which are proliferating in this age of micro-everything.

    The bicycle dynamo and solar calculator are some “ancient” examples of ambient energy generation. While the dynamo converts our cycling effort into the power needed by the bicycle light, the calculator draws its energy from sunlight. The generated energy can be stored using a capacitor or rechargeable battery.

    More details at the company’s website and in an ambient energy article.

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    Posted in business, energy generation, energy storage, innovation, nanotechnology | No Comments »

    Producing Electricity Using a hitherto unknown Phenomenon Monday, March 15th, 2010

    A hitherto unknown phenomenon described as thermopower waves, discovered by MIT researchers, reportedly opens up a new area of energy research. The new phenomenon can be used to send powerful waves of energy through minuscule carbon nanotube wires.

    A moving pulse of heat traveling along a microscopic wire drives electrons along creating electric current. Carbon nanotubes are a few billionths of a meter in size and qualify as a microscopic wire. These tubes are lattices of invidividual carbon atoms, and constitute one of the most promising current development in nanotechnology.

    A complicated process initiated by coating the tube with a fuel that produces heat by decomposing, and then igniting the fuel was observed to push electrons along and create a substantial electrical current. The size of the voltage peak that resulted from the experiment surprised the researchers.

    Weight for weight, the above process is reported to create 100 times more energy than a lithium-ion battery. The researchers attribute this high energy output to a process they call electron entrainment. It is similar to ocean waves picking up debris and carrying it along.

    Applications include producing tiny devices that are distributed in the environment like dust and act as sensors. According to the sceintists, the power does not leak when not used, as it happens in batteries. Instead, it can remain available indefinitely until used.

    Read the report at: NanoRealm

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    Posted in energy generation, nanotechnology | No Comments »

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