Sharing the Ascension Experience
They will blow any energy density comparison out of the water, lasting anywhere from a decade to 28,000 years without ever needing a charge. The nano diamond battery has the potential to totally upend the energy equation. The graphite is rich in the carbon-14 radioisotope, which undergoes beta decay into nitrogen, releasing an anti-neutrino and … Read more
Ever try throttling back a nuclear power plant? Yeah right! Failing that, what would you do with the excess capacity? Engineers with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) faced these same challenges in the late 1960s. Their solution was to build TVA’s largest hydroelectric facility on the top of a mountain. What??? No really, the top … Read more
The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) recently held its annual conference, where investors and scientists gather to discuss the future of energy. The agency’s director Ellen Williams said the battery storage technology developed under her organization’s oversight is “on the verge of transforming America’s electrical grid” within the next five to 10 years. ARPA-E researchers … Read more
Bladeless turbines are 53% cheaper to manufacture and 51% cheaper to operate than traditional wind turbines according to company Vortex Bladeless. Their product is designed to vibrate like a guitar string. Those vibrations can be used to convert wind energy into electricity. Their current model, the 41-foot Vortex Mini tube, captures around 30% less energy … Read more
Australia achieved 3 GW or 3,000 MW of wind power generation for the first time. The largest wind power inputs came from South Australia with 1066 MW, and Victoria with 1021 MW. Australia’s largest wind farm contributed 388 MW. Australia has excellent wind power potential, especially in some of the coastal areas. A study found … Read more
Tesla will finally be passing along details on its long-awaited batteries designed for home use, plus a “utility-scale” battery. They will likely be manufactured in its new Gigafactory in Nevada. A Tesla spokesperson has confirmed the announcement: “We have decided to share a bit about what we will announce on the 30th,” Jeff Evanson, Tesla’s … Read more
In Mexico they say: “we build our homes so we have to go outside in the summer to be fresh, and in the winter we go outside to catch the rays of sun to be warm.” And so, the search is on for a concrete mix that is strong with a high insulation value. Air-entrained … Read more
Wind power accounts for roughly 2.5 percent of total worldwide electricity production but is growing a rate of about 25 percent annually. For as long as ships needed to be propelled, sails have been employed to make use of wind energy. Windmills provided mechanical power for centuries and wind pumps lifted water out of the … Read more
Dreaming tiny dreams has become a favorite pastime in the past five or 10 years. The “tiny house movement” is gaining greater traction as ever more people choose to downsize for economic or ecological reasons. A small house, usually being defined as one offering less than 400 sq ft of space, offers a stimulating challenge about living … Read more
“The way solar is progressing it will just be a matter of time before it becomes competitive with fossil fuels and eventually replace them.” So says Dr Jon Major who led a team at Liverpool University that has found a way of replacing one toxic element, used in the process of manufacturing solar cells, with … Read more