Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Tidal Energy in the U.S.
In my initial research on tidal power as a feasible source of renewable energy, it is becoming clear that implementation of this technology has to be in areas that will be productive enough to justify the large initial capital investment. I am currently trying to target these sites based on tidal flow rate and proximity to consumers, in addition taking into account potential shipping lanes and environmental impacts.
Pictured above is a tidal power generator installed in Northern Ireland. This particular set-up is capable of producing 1.2 MW, supplying power to about 1000 homes. This design has adjustable blades allowing it to harness both incoming and outgoing tidal energy. A turbine design like the one above is an attractive option for U.S. implementation because of its efficiency in operation. On the flip side, cost as well as depth of the turbine rotors need to be explored before I am fully convinced of this designs practicality in U.S. waters.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Nuclear Power from Thorium?
Just found this article from the guardian which describes China's recent move to develop a prototype reactor that runs on thorium instead of uranium. This would be big news if they managed to get one going because thorium is more widespread across the globe and in greater quantities than uranium (about 3 to 4 times as much). The waste from thorium would theoretically only last decades instead of millennia.
Here's the link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2011/feb/16/china-nuclear-thorium
Monday, February 14, 2011
Wind Energy Research Begins
I started seriously collecting sources on the potential for wind energy. The good news is there are plenty of studies out there- the bad news is its going to be quite a long task finding the most useful information! So far, the future of wind looks pretty optomistic- a study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and AWS Truewind finds that the capacity for wind energy in the US is 10.5 GW. However, that is making a lot of assumptions about how much space we are able to take up and how high wind turbines would be perched above the ground. While we are not delving into the political and social potential to implement these renewable energy solutions, there are clearly many barriers to be addressed while considering the feasiblity of wind energy.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Greensulate (degradable insulation)
Polystyrene and other insulations are incredibly energy intensive. According to Eben Bayer one square foot of insulation foam (which falls under the category, disposable plastics, make up %25 of US landfills) contains the same energy content as 1.5 Liters of petrol [13.185 KWHr].
His company Ecovative Design has come up with a solution to petroleum based insulation. He calls it Greensulate and it is made of agricultural byproducts, like cotton-seed hulls, buck-wheat hulls, and mushrooms. It is fully biodegradable, competitively priced with conventional insulation, and uses a fraction of the petroleum that regular home insulation uses.
The future of building insulation rests in innovative environmental designs, much like the one devised by Eben Bayer and Ecovative Design.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
MISSION STATEMENT
Environmentalists and foreign policy experts have joined in a call for America to rid itself of its fossil fuel habit; we have been called “addicted” to oil. Environmentalists, because fossil fuels contribute - or cause - global warming, foreign policy experts, as well as some economists, because of the high military and economic cost of securing oil fields and transportation routes.
Sounds good. There is plenty of sunlight, the sun also powers strong winds, provides biomass and hydropower, and there are lots of geothermal and tidal energy sites in the country as well. And nuclear power plants have already been operating for decades, and new reactor designs are extremely promising.
However, energy from the sun is very dilute and variable, drilling for geothermal energy causes earthquakes, nuclear plants produce much radioactive waste and produce material which if enriched, could produce lethal weapons. And it all may be very expensive. Can it be done?
The class will find out. With each class member becoming part of a research team, we will conduct research and calculations to determine exactly how hard it will be to get off the fossil fuel habit, and how we can do it. Each class member will have a particular semester long assignment - solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, wind, biomass, geothermal, energy efficiency, nuclear, and so forth - and will conduct research to determine what contribution to America’s energy needs each of these technologies can make.
A portion of each class will be devoted to receiving reports from each researcher, and discussing the results. Each research should spend about half an hour - no more - before each class session doing research, and spend about five minutes - no more - of class time making a report. [Given different schedules, it is conceivable that some researchers may find it better to do one hour of work before every other class session; this is totally acceptable.]
In all of these activities, we will be mindful of the costs and benefits to all parts of the population, particularly poor people. It is likely that some measures will increase costs to working people, such that some amelioration will be necessary. These measures will be included in our analysis.
The result will be a full report, complete with calculations as accurate as can be given current knowledge of the technology, which will be given to an appropriate body (say the Environmental Studies program and the Science and Math department). All researchers will participate in the presentation.
It is an ambitious project, to be sure, but if all the researchers work as a team, with every person pulling his or her own weight, it can be done. It will even be exciting!
Sounds good. There is plenty of sunlight, the sun also powers strong winds, provides biomass and hydropower, and there are lots of geothermal and tidal energy sites in the country as well. And nuclear power plants have already been operating for decades, and new reactor designs are extremely promising.
However, energy from the sun is very dilute and variable, drilling for geothermal energy causes earthquakes, nuclear plants produce much radioactive waste and produce material which if enriched, could produce lethal weapons. And it all may be very expensive. Can it be done?
The class will find out. With each class member becoming part of a research team, we will conduct research and calculations to determine exactly how hard it will be to get off the fossil fuel habit, and how we can do it. Each class member will have a particular semester long assignment - solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, wind, biomass, geothermal, energy efficiency, nuclear, and so forth - and will conduct research to determine what contribution to America’s energy needs each of these technologies can make.
A portion of each class will be devoted to receiving reports from each researcher, and discussing the results. Each research should spend about half an hour - no more - before each class session doing research, and spend about five minutes - no more - of class time making a report. [Given different schedules, it is conceivable that some researchers may find it better to do one hour of work before every other class session; this is totally acceptable.]
In all of these activities, we will be mindful of the costs and benefits to all parts of the population, particularly poor people. It is likely that some measures will increase costs to working people, such that some amelioration will be necessary. These measures will be included in our analysis.
The result will be a full report, complete with calculations as accurate as can be given current knowledge of the technology, which will be given to an appropriate body (say the Environmental Studies program and the Science and Math department). All researchers will participate in the presentation.
It is an ambitious project, to be sure, but if all the researchers work as a team, with every person pulling his or her own weight, it can be done. It will even be exciting!
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