How to Make a Cheap Battery for Storing Solar Power | MIT Technology Review
Whitacre’s batteries are expected to last twice as long as lead-acid
batteries and cost about the same to make. They won’t require
air-conditioning and will use nontoxic materials. Electrical current in
the battery is generated as sodium ions from a saltwater electrolyte
shuttle between manganese oxide–based positive electrodes and
carbon-based negative ones.
One place the battery could make a big
difference: in poor regions of the world that lack an existing electric
grid. By 2030, one billion people are expected to get electricity for
the first time. That will mean a lot more use of fossil fuels unless
renewable power options are as cheap, safe, and reliable as possible. If
“even a fraction of that billion can use solar because of our
batteries,” Whitacre says, the company will be able to reduce not only
carbon dioxide emissions but also local pollution from diesel
generators.
To match the cost of lead-acid batteries, which are
among the cheapest types, Whitacre uses inexpensive manufacturing
equipment repurposed from the food and pharmaceutical industries.
Hydraulic presses originally designed to make aspirin pills stamp out
wafers of positive and negative electrode materials, and robot arms
built to wrap chocolates are used to package electrode wafers with foils
that act as current collectors. At the end of the line, the
briefcase-sized batteries are stacked and bolted together. A pallet of
84 batteries, about a meter tall, will store 19.2 kilowatt-hours of
electricity. Whitacre says you’d need about 60 such pallets to serve a
village of 200 people in a poor country. Two pallets would power a U.S.
home for a day.
The technology has its limits. It is best suited
for slow and steady operation, not rapidly charging and discharging
large amounts of power as some utilities require. And while the
batteries are cheaper than other kinds, pairing them with solar panels
still can’t beat the economics of conventional power plants in most
areas. That is why Whitacre is focusing initially on regions without an
existing electricity grid. Aquion has already started shipping batteries
to customers for evaluation. The company expects to start full-scale
production by this spring, making enough batteries each year to store
about 200 megawatt-hours of electricity—enough for roughly 150
solar-powered villages. The factory in Pennsylvania could be replicated
in other countries. “If our technology proves out, we won’t be able to
make them fast enough,” Whitacre says.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
New thin film PV Design May Lower Manufacturing Cost of Thin Film Solar Cells | Solar Thermal Magazine
Superabsorbing Design May Lower Manufacturing Cost of Thin Film Solar Cells | Solar Thermal Magazine
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a “superabsorbing” design that may significantly improve the light absorption efficiency of thin film solar cells and drive down manufacturing costs.
The superabsorbing design could decrease the thickness of the semiconductor materials used in thin film solar cells by more than one order of magnitude without compromising the capability of solar light absorption.
“State-of-the-art thin film solar cells require an amorphous silicon layer that is about 100 nanometers (nm) thick to capture the majority of the available solar energy,” says Dr. Linyou Cao, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and senior author of a paper describing the work. “The structure we’re proposing can absorb 90 percent of available solar energy using only a 10 nm thick layer of amorphous silicon.
“The same is true for other materials. For example, you need a cadmium telluride layer that is one micrometer thick to absorb solar energy, but our design can achieve the same results with a 50 nm thick layer of cadmium telluride. Our design can also enable a 30 nm thick layer of copper indium gallium selenide to fully absorb solar light. That’s a huge advance.”
Cao notes that the deposition of semiconductor materials stands as a major bottleneck for improving manufacturing productivity and lowering the cost of thin film solar cells. “A decrease in the thickness of semiconductor materials by one order of magnitude would mean a substantial improvement in manufacturing productivity and reduction in cost,” Cao says, because the cells would use less material and the thin films could be deposited more quickly.
In cross-section, the new design looks like a rectangular onion. The light-absorbing semiconductor material coats a rectangular core. The semiconductor, in turn, is coated by three layers of anti-reflective coating that do not absorb light.
To develop the design, the researchers began by examining the maximum light absorption efficiency of semiconductor materials using light-trapping techniques. They found that maximizing solar absorption requires a design in which the light-trapping efficiency for solar light is equal to the intrinsic absorption efficiency of the semiconductor materials. In other words, in order to maximize solar absorption, you need to match the amount of solar light trapped inside the structure and the amount of solar light that could be absorbed. The researchers then designed the onion-like structures to match their light-trapping efficiency with the absorption efficiency of the semiconductor materials in thin film solar cells.
“We first theoretically predicted the maximum solar light absorption efficiency in given semiconductor materials, and then proposed a design that could be readily fabricated to achieve the predicted maximum. We developed a new model to do this work, because we felt that existing models were not able to find the upper limit for the solar absorption of real semiconductor materials,” Cao says “And if this works the way we think it will, it would fundamentally solve light-absorption efficiency problems for thin film solar cells.
“The superabsorbing structure is designed for the convenience of fabrication, and we are looking for partners to produce and test this design,” Cao adds. “The structure should be very easy to produce with standard thin film deposition and nanolithography techniques. We are happy to work with industry partners to implement this design in the production of next-generation solar cells.”
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a “superabsorbing” design that may significantly improve the light absorption efficiency of thin film solar cells and drive down manufacturing costs.
The superabsorbing design could decrease the thickness of the semiconductor materials used in thin film solar cells by more than one order of magnitude without compromising the capability of solar light absorption.
“State-of-the-art thin film solar cells require an amorphous silicon layer that is about 100 nanometers (nm) thick to capture the majority of the available solar energy,” says Dr. Linyou Cao, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and senior author of a paper describing the work. “The structure we’re proposing can absorb 90 percent of available solar energy using only a 10 nm thick layer of amorphous silicon.
“The same is true for other materials. For example, you need a cadmium telluride layer that is one micrometer thick to absorb solar energy, but our design can achieve the same results with a 50 nm thick layer of cadmium telluride. Our design can also enable a 30 nm thick layer of copper indium gallium selenide to fully absorb solar light. That’s a huge advance.”
Cao notes that the deposition of semiconductor materials stands as a major bottleneck for improving manufacturing productivity and lowering the cost of thin film solar cells. “A decrease in the thickness of semiconductor materials by one order of magnitude would mean a substantial improvement in manufacturing productivity and reduction in cost,” Cao says, because the cells would use less material and the thin films could be deposited more quickly.
In cross-section, the new design looks like a rectangular onion. The light-absorbing semiconductor material coats a rectangular core. The semiconductor, in turn, is coated by three layers of anti-reflective coating that do not absorb light.
To develop the design, the researchers began by examining the maximum light absorption efficiency of semiconductor materials using light-trapping techniques. They found that maximizing solar absorption requires a design in which the light-trapping efficiency for solar light is equal to the intrinsic absorption efficiency of the semiconductor materials. In other words, in order to maximize solar absorption, you need to match the amount of solar light trapped inside the structure and the amount of solar light that could be absorbed. The researchers then designed the onion-like structures to match their light-trapping efficiency with the absorption efficiency of the semiconductor materials in thin film solar cells.
“We first theoretically predicted the maximum solar light absorption efficiency in given semiconductor materials, and then proposed a design that could be readily fabricated to achieve the predicted maximum. We developed a new model to do this work, because we felt that existing models were not able to find the upper limit for the solar absorption of real semiconductor materials,” Cao says “And if this works the way we think it will, it would fundamentally solve light-absorption efficiency problems for thin film solar cells.
“The superabsorbing structure is designed for the convenience of fabrication, and we are looking for partners to produce and test this design,” Cao adds. “The structure should be very easy to produce with standard thin film deposition and nanolithography techniques. We are happy to work with industry partners to implement this design in the production of next-generation solar cells.”
Monday, February 24, 2014
India designs World's first Thorium based Nuclear Reactor
India designs World's first Thorium based Nuclear Reactor
It is also said to be the most secured and safest reactor, which in future, could be set up in populated cities, like - Mumbai or Delhi, "within the city".
The latest AHWR design incorporates several passive safety features. These include: Core heat removal through natural circulation; direct injection of emergency core coolant system (ECCS) water in fuel; and the availability of a large inventory of borated water in overhead gravity-driven water pool (GDWP) to facilitate sustenance of core decay heat removal. The emergency core cooling system (ECCS) injection and containment cooling can act (SCRAM) without invoking any active systems or operator action.
The reactor also incorporates advanced technologies, together with several proven positive features of Indian pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs). These features include pressure tube type design, low pressure moderator, on-power refueling, diverse fast acting shut-down systems, and availability of a large low temperature heat sink around the reactor core.
The construction on the first AHWR is scheduled to start in 2016 - though no site has yet been announced. Sources says, "nothing has decided, it could be Tarapur in Mumbai or some other location in India".
Source:- Design of World's first Thorium based nuclear reactor is ready : North, News - India Today
It is also said to be the most secured and safest reactor, which in future, could be set up in populated cities, like - Mumbai or Delhi, "within the city".
The latest AHWR design incorporates several passive safety features. These include: Core heat removal through natural circulation; direct injection of emergency core coolant system (ECCS) water in fuel; and the availability of a large inventory of borated water in overhead gravity-driven water pool (GDWP) to facilitate sustenance of core decay heat removal. The emergency core cooling system (ECCS) injection and containment cooling can act (SCRAM) without invoking any active systems or operator action.
The reactor also incorporates advanced technologies, together with several proven positive features of Indian pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs). These features include pressure tube type design, low pressure moderator, on-power refueling, diverse fast acting shut-down systems, and availability of a large low temperature heat sink around the reactor core.
The construction on the first AHWR is scheduled to start in 2016 - though no site has yet been announced. Sources says, "nothing has decided, it could be Tarapur in Mumbai or some other location in India".
Source:- Design of World's first Thorium based nuclear reactor is ready : North, News - India Today
Saturday, February 22, 2014
World Water Day: 60 Posts on Water & Cleantech | CleanTechnica
World Water Day: 60 Posts on Water & Cleantech | CleanTechnica
a ton of useful info on water and sewage cleaning
a ton of useful info on water and sewage cleaning
Excellent charts about deployment and costs of Renewable Energy | ZacharyShahan.com
About Renewable Energy | ZacharyShahan.com
I’ve shared the following two graphics a few times in the past couple years. They make a rather important point that doesn’t seem to get enough attention: solar power projects go up relatively fast, while nuclear and coal power plants require many more years to get designed, planned, permitted, and built. With nuclear and coal costs rising while solar costs are quickly falling, by the time a new nuclear or coal power plant would be built, its electricity would already be more expensive than electricity from solar (or wind, for that matter):
In fact, one report from 2010 found that the solar–nuclear crossover occurred a few years ago.
Now, an assumption in all of these projections mentioned above is
that solar prices will consistently drop at a good rate. And that’s
exactly what’s been happening. As I just shared a couple weeks ago, here
are a few nice graphs of solar PV price drops in Germany:
Lest you think it’s only Germany seeing such price drops, below are similar graphs from the US.
This first one shows that the installed price of residential and commercial solar dropped from an average of about $12/W in 1998 to about $6/W in 2011 (~50%).
Similarly, this next one shows the drop in the price of solar modules from 1985 to 2011 (from over $6.5/Wp to about $1/Wp):
I’ve shared the following two graphics a few times in the past couple years. They make a rather important point that doesn’t seem to get enough attention: solar power projects go up relatively fast, while nuclear and coal power plants require many more years to get designed, planned, permitted, and built. With nuclear and coal costs rising while solar costs are quickly falling, by the time a new nuclear or coal power plant would be built, its electricity would already be more expensive than electricity from solar (or wind, for that matter):
Solar
is cheaper than coal, practically speaking. (To enlarge, hold down
‘ctrl’ or ‘command’ and click the ‘+’ key, or click on the image and
then click on the link to the image on the next page — that’s the link
that indicates the size of the image.)
Solar
is cheaper than nuclear power, practically speaking. (To enlarge, hold
down ‘ctrl’ or ‘command’ and click the ‘+’ key, or click on the image
and then click on the link to the image on the next page — that’s the
link that indicates the size of the image.)
Solar and Nuclear Costs: The Historic Crossover
October 2012
This first one shows that the installed price of residential and commercial solar dropped from an average of about $12/W in 1998 to about $6/W in 2011 (~50%).
Similarly, this next one shows the drop in the price of solar modules from 1985 to 2011 (from over $6.5/Wp to about $1/Wp):Friday, February 21, 2014
Keystone and GHG, Obama steps back, climate-change promises aired at Amigos summit - Politics - CBC News
No deals but immigration, climate-change promises aired at Amigos summit - Politics - CBC News:
But as he continued, Obama changed course and repeated his insistence that the pipeline's impact on GHG emissions would be a key factor in his eventual decision to approve Keystone or not.
The science is irrefutable," Obama said. "We're already seeing severe weather patterns increase, and that has consequences for our businesses, for our jobs, for our families, for safety and security."
In reply, Harper suggested that the U.S. State Department's review was "pretty definitive" that Keystone would not add to GHG emissions — though some would argue that's a generous interpretation of a finding that said oil sands development would proceed with or without the pipeline.
And Harper pointedly referenced his government's decision to streamline environmental reviews, to give investors "certainty."
As well, Harper didn't budge either on the biggest irritant in Canada-Mexico relations. The visas imposed on Mexican travellers in 2009, he said, will remain.
Canadian officials, speaking on background, said that, since 2009, the number of bogus refugee claims from Mexican visitors dropped by 85 per cent, saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
Perhaps because he was host, Mexico's Peña Nieto was more gracious in his response, praising Harper for being willing to continue working on ways to end the restriction.
So, tensions clearly remain among the Three Amigos.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Design of world's first Thorium based nuclear reactor is ready : North, News - India Today
Design of world's first Thorium based nuclear reactor is ready : North, News - India Today:
Finally, the wait is over. The design of World's first Thorium based nuclear reactor is ready.
India Today Online brings you the first look of design and prototype of the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor, also termed as AHWR.
It is the latest Indian design for a next-generation nuclear reactor that will burn thorium as its fuel ore.
The design is being developed at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), in Mumbai, India and aims to meet the objectives of using thorium fuel cycles for commercial power generation.
The AHWR is a vertical pressure tube type reactor cooled by boiling light water under natural circulation. The unique feature of this design is a large tank of water on top of the primary containment of vessel, called the gravity-driven water pool (GDWP). This reservoir is designed to perform several passive safety functions.
Dr R K Sinha, chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, in an exclusive interview to India Today Online said, "This reactor could function without an operator for 120 days."
The AHWR is a unit that will be fueled by a mix of uranium-233 and plutonium - which will be converted from thorium by previously deployed and domestically designed fast breeder reactors.
Thorium is an element that is three times more abundant globally than uranium. As all mined thorium is potentially usable to breed reactor fuel. India's abundant reserves of thorium, constitute 25 per cent of the world's total reserves.
Earlier, India produced the world's first thorium nuclear reactor, the Kakrapar-1, in 1993, and as part of India's three-stage fuel cycle plan, a new Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) is being designed, slated for operation in 2016. The country hopes to use thorium-based reactors to meet 30 per cent of its electricity demands by 2050.
The AHWR is slated to form the third stage in India's three-stag fuel-cycle plan. It is supposed to be built starting with a 300 MW prototype in 2016. Later, the first megawatt of electricity would be be generated by 2025. "To generate a single megawatt of electricity from this world's first thorium based reactor it would take at least 7-8 years," said Dr Sinha.
Dr Sinha said, "This will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, mostly imported, and will be a major contribution to global efforts to combat climate change."
It is also said to be the most secured and safest reactor, which in future, could be set up in populated cities, like - Mumbai or Delhi, "within the city".
The latest AHWR design incorporates several passive safety features. These include: Core heat removal through natural circulation; direct injection of emergency core coolant system (ECCS) water in fuel; and the availability of a large inventory of borated water in overhead gravity-driven water pool (GDWP) to facilitate sustenance of core decay heat removal. The emergency core cooling system (ECCS) injection and containment cooling can act (SCRAM) without invoking any active systems or operator action.
The reactor also incorporates advanced technologies, together with several proven positive features of Indian pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs). These features include pressure tube type design, low pressure moderator, on-power refueling, diverse fast acting shut-down systems, and availability of a large low temperature heat sink around the reactor core.
The construction on the first AHWR is scheduled to start in 2016 - though no site has yet been announced. Sources says, "nothing has decided, it could be Tarapur in Mumbai or some other location in India".
Finally, the wait is over. The design of World's first Thorium based nuclear reactor is ready.
India Today Online brings you the first look of design and prototype of the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor, also termed as AHWR.
It is the latest Indian design for a next-generation nuclear reactor that will burn thorium as its fuel ore.
The design is being developed at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), in Mumbai, India and aims to meet the objectives of using thorium fuel cycles for commercial power generation.
The AHWR is a vertical pressure tube type reactor cooled by boiling light water under natural circulation. The unique feature of this design is a large tank of water on top of the primary containment of vessel, called the gravity-driven water pool (GDWP). This reservoir is designed to perform several passive safety functions.
Dr R K Sinha, chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, in an exclusive interview to India Today Online said, "This reactor could function without an operator for 120 days."
Thorium is an element that is three times more abundant globally than uranium. As all mined thorium is potentially usable to breed reactor fuel. India's abundant reserves of thorium, constitute 25 per cent of the world's total reserves.
Earlier, India produced the world's first thorium nuclear reactor, the Kakrapar-1, in 1993, and as part of India's three-stage fuel cycle plan, a new Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) is being designed, slated for operation in 2016. The country hopes to use thorium-based reactors to meet 30 per cent of its electricity demands by 2050.
The AHWR is slated to form the third stage in India's three-stag fuel-cycle plan. It is supposed to be built starting with a 300 MW prototype in 2016. Later, the first megawatt of electricity would be be generated by 2025. "To generate a single megawatt of electricity from this world's first thorium based reactor it would take at least 7-8 years," said Dr Sinha.
Dr Sinha said, "This will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, mostly imported, and will be a major contribution to global efforts to combat climate change."
It is also said to be the most secured and safest reactor, which in future, could be set up in populated cities, like - Mumbai or Delhi, "within the city".
The latest AHWR design incorporates several passive safety features. These include: Core heat removal through natural circulation; direct injection of emergency core coolant system (ECCS) water in fuel; and the availability of a large inventory of borated water in overhead gravity-driven water pool (GDWP) to facilitate sustenance of core decay heat removal. The emergency core cooling system (ECCS) injection and containment cooling can act (SCRAM) without invoking any active systems or operator action.
The reactor also incorporates advanced technologies, together with several proven positive features of Indian pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs). These features include pressure tube type design, low pressure moderator, on-power refueling, diverse fast acting shut-down systems, and availability of a large low temperature heat sink around the reactor core.
The construction on the first AHWR is scheduled to start in 2016 - though no site has yet been announced. Sources says, "nothing has decided, it could be Tarapur in Mumbai or some other location in India".
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Thorium: An Alternative for Nuclear Energy? | Uranium Investing News
Thorium: An Alternative for Nuclear Energy? | Uranium Investing News
How thorium energy works
Unlike uranium, thorium can’t split to make a nuclear chain reaction — in scientific terms, it isn’t fissile. However, if it is bombarded by neutrons from a fuel that is fissile, like uranium-235 or plutonium-239, it’s converted to uranium-233, itself an excellent nuclear fuel. After the process begins, it’s self-sustaining — fission of uranium-233 turns more thorium nearby into the same nuclear fuel. There are complexities beyond the scope of this article, including the mechanics of molten-salt versus pressurized-water reactors in burning thorium, but the reaction described above is the main appeal of thorium, and its principal promise.
Thorium vs. uranium
Thorium is an appealing alternative to uranium to many countries. It is both more cheap and more abundant than uranium, whose price is expected to rise yet more as backlash from the Fukushima disaster dies down, according to Energy and Capital. There are other benefits of thorium as well. During a thorium-powered nuclear reaction, most of the thorium itself is consumed, which leads to less waste, most of which is rendered non-hazardous in 30 years. The most dangerous nuclear waste material currently in use must be stored for 10,000 years, by way of contrast. Furthermore, 1 metric ton of thorium is equal to 250 metric tons in terms of efficiency in a water reactor.
Extraction of thorium would be less expensive per unit of energy than extraction of uranium as well, because it is present in higher concentrations by weight than the other metal, according to Dauvergne. The source also mentions another peculiar trait of thorium: it is nearly impossible to weaponize, as it contains no fissile isotope. This in itself has slowed uranium research, according to a 1997 international scientific symposium on nuclear fuel cycles.
The dangers of uranium – widely publicized in the wake of the Fukushima disaster – often lead analysts and others to consider thorium more seriously. As thorium is not fissile on its own, reactions could be stopped in case of emergency, according to Forbes. The publication suggests thorium could allow countries like Iran and North Korea to benefit from nuclear power without causing concern that they are secretly developing nuclear weapons, as well.
Thorium can also be used together with conventional uranium-based nuclear power generation, meaning a thriving thorium industry would not necessarily make uranium obsolete.
Where thorium is found
Thorium is present in small quantities in soils and rocks everywhere, and it’s estimated to be about four times more plentiful than uranium. Large reserves, rather than the trace amounts of the metal in the average backyard, exist in China, Australia, the US, Turkey, India and Norway, according to Reuters.
How thorium energy works
Unlike uranium, thorium can’t split to make a nuclear chain reaction — in scientific terms, it isn’t fissile. However, if it is bombarded by neutrons from a fuel that is fissile, like uranium-235 or plutonium-239, it’s converted to uranium-233, itself an excellent nuclear fuel. After the process begins, it’s self-sustaining — fission of uranium-233 turns more thorium nearby into the same nuclear fuel. There are complexities beyond the scope of this article, including the mechanics of molten-salt versus pressurized-water reactors in burning thorium, but the reaction described above is the main appeal of thorium, and its principal promise.
Thorium vs. uranium
Thorium is an appealing alternative to uranium to many countries. It is both more cheap and more abundant than uranium, whose price is expected to rise yet more as backlash from the Fukushima disaster dies down, according to Energy and Capital. There are other benefits of thorium as well. During a thorium-powered nuclear reaction, most of the thorium itself is consumed, which leads to less waste, most of which is rendered non-hazardous in 30 years. The most dangerous nuclear waste material currently in use must be stored for 10,000 years, by way of contrast. Furthermore, 1 metric ton of thorium is equal to 250 metric tons in terms of efficiency in a water reactor.
Extraction of thorium would be less expensive per unit of energy than extraction of uranium as well, because it is present in higher concentrations by weight than the other metal, according to Dauvergne. The source also mentions another peculiar trait of thorium: it is nearly impossible to weaponize, as it contains no fissile isotope. This in itself has slowed uranium research, according to a 1997 international scientific symposium on nuclear fuel cycles.
The dangers of uranium – widely publicized in the wake of the Fukushima disaster – often lead analysts and others to consider thorium more seriously. As thorium is not fissile on its own, reactions could be stopped in case of emergency, according to Forbes. The publication suggests thorium could allow countries like Iran and North Korea to benefit from nuclear power without causing concern that they are secretly developing nuclear weapons, as well.
Thorium can also be used together with conventional uranium-based nuclear power generation, meaning a thriving thorium industry would not necessarily make uranium obsolete.
Where thorium is found
Thorium is present in small quantities in soils and rocks everywhere, and it’s estimated to be about four times more plentiful than uranium. Large reserves, rather than the trace amounts of the metal in the average backyard, exist in China, Australia, the US, Turkey, India and Norway, according to Reuters.
Experimental Breeder Reactor II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Experimental Breeder Reactor II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It is a sodium cooled reactor with a thermal power rating of 62.5 megawatts (MW), an intermediate closed loop of secondary sodium, and a steam plant that produces 19 MW of electrical power through a conventional turbine generator. The original emphasis in the design and operation of EBR-II was to demonstrate a complete breeder-reactor power plant with on-site reprocessing of metallic fuel. The demonstration was successfully carried out from 1964 to 1969. The emphasis was then shifted to testing fuels and materials for future, larger, liquid metal reactors in the radiation environment of the EBR-II reactor core. It operated as the Integral Fast Reactor prototype. Costing more than US$32 million, it achieved first criticality in 1965 and ran for 30 years. It was designed to produce about 62.5 megawatts of heat and 20 megawatts of electricity, which was achieved in September 1969 and continued for most of its lifetime. Over its lifetime it has generated over two billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, providing a majority of the electricity and also heat to the facilities of the Argonne National Laboratory-West.
Curiously it does not mention that thorium was its fuel, this thing also eats nuclear waste stockpiles and leaves a whole lot less spent fuel, of lower halflife!
Not to be confused with Experimental Breeder Reactor I.
Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) is a reactor designed, built and operated by Argonne National Laboratory in Idaho.[1] It was shut down in 1994. Custody of the reactor was transferred to Idaho National Laboratory after its founding in 2005.It is a sodium cooled reactor with a thermal power rating of 62.5 megawatts (MW), an intermediate closed loop of secondary sodium, and a steam plant that produces 19 MW of electrical power through a conventional turbine generator. The original emphasis in the design and operation of EBR-II was to demonstrate a complete breeder-reactor power plant with on-site reprocessing of metallic fuel. The demonstration was successfully carried out from 1964 to 1969. The emphasis was then shifted to testing fuels and materials for future, larger, liquid metal reactors in the radiation environment of the EBR-II reactor core. It operated as the Integral Fast Reactor prototype. Costing more than US$32 million, it achieved first criticality in 1965 and ran for 30 years. It was designed to produce about 62.5 megawatts of heat and 20 megawatts of electricity, which was achieved in September 1969 and continued for most of its lifetime. Over its lifetime it has generated over two billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, providing a majority of the electricity and also heat to the facilities of the Argonne National Laboratory-West.
Curiously it does not mention that thorium was its fuel, this thing also eats nuclear waste stockpiles and leaves a whole lot less spent fuel, of lower halflife!
Contents
David Suzuki: Will thorium save us from climate change? | Georgia Straight, Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly
David Suzuki: Will thorium save us from climate change? | Georgia Straight, Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly
One idea is to use thorium instead of uranium for reactor fuel. Thorium is more abundant than uranium. Unlike uranium, it’s not fissile; that is, it can’t be split to create a nuclear chain reaction, so it must be bred through nuclear reactors to produce fissile uranium.
Thorium-fuelled reactors produce less waste, and while some trace elements in spent uranium fuels remain radioactive for many thousands of years, levels in spent thorium fuels drop off much faster. China and Canada are working on a modified Canadian design that includes thorium along with recycled uranium fuel. With the right type of reactor, such as this design or the integral fast reactor, meltdown risks are reduced or eliminated.
Thorium can be employed in a variety of reactor types, some of which currently use uranium—including heavy water reactors like Canada’s CANDU. But some experts say new technologies, such as molten salt reactors, including liquid fluoride thorium reactors, are much safer and more efficient than today’s conventional reactors.
So why aren’t we using them?
One idea is to use thorium instead of uranium for reactor fuel. Thorium is more abundant than uranium. Unlike uranium, it’s not fissile; that is, it can’t be split to create a nuclear chain reaction, so it must be bred through nuclear reactors to produce fissile uranium.
Thorium-fuelled reactors produce less waste, and while some trace elements in spent uranium fuels remain radioactive for many thousands of years, levels in spent thorium fuels drop off much faster. China and Canada are working on a modified Canadian design that includes thorium along with recycled uranium fuel. With the right type of reactor, such as this design or the integral fast reactor, meltdown risks are reduced or eliminated.
Thorium can be employed in a variety of reactor types, some of which currently use uranium—including heavy water reactors like Canada’s CANDU. But some experts say new technologies, such as molten salt reactors, including liquid fluoride thorium reactors, are much safer and more efficient than today’s conventional reactors.
So why aren’t we using them?
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
WORLDS FASTEST street legal ELECTRIC CAR
iframe width 480 height 270 src //www.youtube.com/embed/369h-SEBXd8 frameborder 0 allowfullscreen> /iframe>
this guy takes on the baddest dragsters on the strip, and is the fastest!
this guy takes on the baddest dragsters on the strip, and is the fastest!
During Fiery Heatwaves Australian PM Looks To Stall Thriving Clean Energy Sector | ThinkProgress
During Fiery Heatwaves Australian PM Looks To Stall Thriving Clean Energy Sector | ThinkProgress
A pattern is emerging in which Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott
chooses to ignore the prominent signs that climate change is severely
impacting Australia and instead focus on rapidly extracting more fossil
fuels from the ground. In December, his environmental minister, Greg
Hunt, approved
a massive coal mine in northeastern Australia that will produce up to
40 million tons of coal a year and emit as much CO2 as a small European
country. Abbott has also denied any link between harmful bushfires and a
changing climate — evidenced by Australia experiencing its hottest year on record in 2013.
During an especially dry start to the summer season this year a nasty spate of bushfires broke out around Sydney. After brushing off the idea that climate change could have anything to do with it, Abbott said “fire is part of the Australian experience … it has been since humans were on this continent.”
Now, amidst another round of smothering heatwaves and deadly bushfires, Abbott is focusing on a different element: wind. However, unlike with fires, he’s taking a more critical eye towards this eternal staple of Australian history.
Last week Abbott floated revisiting the possibility that wind farms might have a negative impact on health, suggesting that that National Health and Medical Research Council hadn’t looked into the subject in a while. The timing on this seems very odd, considering the NHMRC reviewed the issue in 2010, and in 2012 started another review, with the results scheduled for public consultation early this year.
According to the NHMRC website, possible impacts of wind farms on human health include audible and inaudible noise, shadow flicker and electromagnetic radiation.
“There have been no less than 19 reviews of the evidence on wind farms and health published since 2002,” Renew Economy reported regarding Abbott’s recent statements. “All have concluded that while sometimes a minority of people exposed report adverse health effects from living near turbines, there is no good evidence that these effects are directly attributable to the turbines.”
So why is Abbott calling for this redoubled effort to find negative health impacts associated with wind farms when it seems like ignoring climate change is the real danger? The recent weather has been so hot that thousands of bats are dropping dead from trees and kangaroos are struggling to stay upright. Even Australia’s native eucalyptus, around as long as fires have been burning them, are struggling with survival under the long-term stress of climate change. And it’s not just mother nature’s creations that are suffering — iPods don’t work under such conditions either.
Meanwhile, Australia has one of the lowest costs of wind energy anywhere, with the Bureau of Resource and Energy Economics recently saying that wind power is now competitive with fossil fuel plants. In fact, recent studies have found that Australia could have a 100 percent renewable electricity grid by 2040 and all the country would have to do is slightly increase solar and wind power deployment.
The main impediment to this at the moment would appear to be the Australian government itself, and Abbott’s anti-climate, anti-clean energy agenda. Abbott has already invested serious political capital in dismantling Australia’s internationally leading carbon emissions scheme. In November he cut the budget for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, which funds renewable energy projects and research. Then last week he announced that the Australian Cleantech Competition would be renamed the Australian Technologies Competition — so it would appear even uttering words like climate or clean energy isn’t in the cards anymore.
During Fiery Heatwaves Australian PM Looks To Stall Thriving Clean Energy Sector
By Ari Phillips
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January 13, 2014 at 12:31 pm
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January 13, 2014 at 12:31 pm
"During Fiery Heatwaves Australian PM Looks To Stall Thriving Clean Energy Sector"
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CREDIT: http://www.bom.gov.au
During an especially dry start to the summer season this year a nasty spate of bushfires broke out around Sydney. After brushing off the idea that climate change could have anything to do with it, Abbott said “fire is part of the Australian experience … it has been since humans were on this continent.”
Now, amidst another round of smothering heatwaves and deadly bushfires, Abbott is focusing on a different element: wind. However, unlike with fires, he’s taking a more critical eye towards this eternal staple of Australian history.
Last week Abbott floated revisiting the possibility that wind farms might have a negative impact on health, suggesting that that National Health and Medical Research Council hadn’t looked into the subject in a while. The timing on this seems very odd, considering the NHMRC reviewed the issue in 2010, and in 2012 started another review, with the results scheduled for public consultation early this year.
According to the NHMRC website, possible impacts of wind farms on human health include audible and inaudible noise, shadow flicker and electromagnetic radiation.
“There have been no less than 19 reviews of the evidence on wind farms and health published since 2002,” Renew Economy reported regarding Abbott’s recent statements. “All have concluded that while sometimes a minority of people exposed report adverse health effects from living near turbines, there is no good evidence that these effects are directly attributable to the turbines.”
So why is Abbott calling for this redoubled effort to find negative health impacts associated with wind farms when it seems like ignoring climate change is the real danger? The recent weather has been so hot that thousands of bats are dropping dead from trees and kangaroos are struggling to stay upright. Even Australia’s native eucalyptus, around as long as fires have been burning them, are struggling with survival under the long-term stress of climate change. And it’s not just mother nature’s creations that are suffering — iPods don’t work under such conditions either.
Meanwhile, Australia has one of the lowest costs of wind energy anywhere, with the Bureau of Resource and Energy Economics recently saying that wind power is now competitive with fossil fuel plants. In fact, recent studies have found that Australia could have a 100 percent renewable electricity grid by 2040 and all the country would have to do is slightly increase solar and wind power deployment.
The main impediment to this at the moment would appear to be the Australian government itself, and Abbott’s anti-climate, anti-clean energy agenda. Abbott has already invested serious political capital in dismantling Australia’s internationally leading carbon emissions scheme. In November he cut the budget for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, which funds renewable energy projects and research. Then last week he announced that the Australian Cleantech Competition would be renamed the Australian Technologies Competition — so it would appear even uttering words like climate or clean energy isn’t in the cards anymore.
Friday, February 7, 2014
Why Is British Columbia Pushing Fossil Fuels When green is competitive?..
The Disaffected Lib: Why Is British Columbia Pushing Fossil Fuels When ...: I sat in on a discussion presented by Canada's sole Green Party MLA in Port Alberni Tuesday night. The MLA for Victoria's toney Oak...
I sat in on a discussion presented by Canada's sole Green Party MLA in Port Alberni Tuesday night.
The MLA for Victoria's toney Oak Bay/Gordon Head riding and leading Canadian environmental scientist, Dr. Andrew Weaver touched on a lot of topics including British Columbia's unique alternative energy resources. Our province's capacity for generating clean, renewable energy is unlike any other.
B.C. has enormous resources from tidal energy, wind energy, ocean current and wave energy, hydro-electricity, solar and geo-thermal. It's all there and in huge abundance. Continental west coasts get westerly winds that build across the open ocean. We get wave energy that likewise builds across the ocean. Those winds bring rainfall that drives our hydro-electric system. The Pacific is wide which means high tides and plentiful tidal energy. Powerful ocean currents line the coasts. Being on the Pacific means being on the Ring of Fire which means strong, geo-thermal options. In fact, Weaver pointed out that Canada is the only Pacific Rim country that hasn't tapped its geo-thermal energy.
We have the ocean and we also have mountains. Mountains are ideal for placement of wind turbines. They're also great for energy storage. During peak energy production you can use the surplus to pump water into mountain reservoirs that can release the water for hydro-electric (turbine) generation as needed. Weaver pointed out that the desert of the Okanagan valley would be ideal for solar power generation on an industrial scale.
Properly developed, these resources could allow British Columbia to be the power plant for western Canada. As though we needed another reason to pry loose the cold, dead, boney fingers of the
I sat in on a discussion presented by Canada's sole Green Party MLA in Port Alberni Tuesday night.
The MLA for Victoria's toney Oak Bay/Gordon Head riding and leading Canadian environmental scientist, Dr. Andrew Weaver touched on a lot of topics including British Columbia's unique alternative energy resources. Our province's capacity for generating clean, renewable energy is unlike any other.
B.C. has enormous resources from tidal energy, wind energy, ocean current and wave energy, hydro-electricity, solar and geo-thermal. It's all there and in huge abundance. Continental west coasts get westerly winds that build across the open ocean. We get wave energy that likewise builds across the ocean. Those winds bring rainfall that drives our hydro-electric system. The Pacific is wide which means high tides and plentiful tidal energy. Powerful ocean currents line the coasts. Being on the Pacific means being on the Ring of Fire which means strong, geo-thermal options. In fact, Weaver pointed out that Canada is the only Pacific Rim country that hasn't tapped its geo-thermal energy.
We have the ocean and we also have mountains. Mountains are ideal for placement of wind turbines. They're also great for energy storage. During peak energy production you can use the surplus to pump water into mountain reservoirs that can release the water for hydro-electric (turbine) generation as needed. Weaver pointed out that the desert of the Okanagan valley would be ideal for solar power generation on an industrial scale.
Properly developed, these resources could allow British Columbia to be the power plant for western Canada. As though we needed another reason to pry loose the cold, dead, boney fingers of the
Sealevel rise is acutely felt in England recently with repeated storms, read Should coastal Britain surrender to the tides? | Environment | The Guardian
Should coastal Britain surrender to the tides? | Environment | The Guardian
New kinds of coastal adaptation must be judged when the going gets tough. The largest managed realignment scheme on the open coast in Europe was completed late last year at Medmerry, West Sussex. Like most locals, Alan Chamberlain, manager of Medmerry Park holiday village, was horrified when the Environment Agency proposed punching a hole in the sea defences and "letting the sea go". But it protected homes with four miles of new floodbanks inland and turned agricultural land into lakes and marshes. Locals scoffed that £28m was being spent on creating a bird reserve, but when it was hammered by the January storms, it worked. "It's really been tested. We're just amazed at how well we've come out of it," says Chamberlain. "Normally by now we would've had flooding, but we've had none at all."
Sometimes, there is no need to choose between protecting people or countryside: Medmerry's new wetlands have enabled the holiday village to revamp itself as an ecotourism destination. And realignment projects that help wildlife can tap into funding unavailable to conventional coastal defences. Orford Ness coped with the winter storms better than expected because of new ditches, sluices and lagoons created by a €1m wildlife project funded by EU LIFE+. Ironically, this was designed to help rare birds during droughts, but the measures have alleviated the floods.
New kinds of coastal adaptation must be judged when the going gets tough. The largest managed realignment scheme on the open coast in Europe was completed late last year at Medmerry, West Sussex. Like most locals, Alan Chamberlain, manager of Medmerry Park holiday village, was horrified when the Environment Agency proposed punching a hole in the sea defences and "letting the sea go". But it protected homes with four miles of new floodbanks inland and turned agricultural land into lakes and marshes. Locals scoffed that £28m was being spent on creating a bird reserve, but when it was hammered by the January storms, it worked. "It's really been tested. We're just amazed at how well we've come out of it," says Chamberlain. "Normally by now we would've had flooding, but we've had none at all."
Sometimes, there is no need to choose between protecting people or countryside: Medmerry's new wetlands have enabled the holiday village to revamp itself as an ecotourism destination. And realignment projects that help wildlife can tap into funding unavailable to conventional coastal defences. Orford Ness coped with the winter storms better than expected because of new ditches, sluices and lagoons created by a €1m wildlife project funded by EU LIFE+. Ironically, this was designed to help rare birds during droughts, but the measures have alleviated the floods.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
China's 12 GW Of New Solar: What's It Mean? | EarthTechling
China's 12 GW Of New Solar: What's It Mean? | EarthTechling
The 12 GW in 2013 was the most for any country ever in a single year (by a long shot; as far as we can tell, the old record was Germany’s 7.6 GW in 2012). And more is on the way, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said:
Still, the question persists: Is it enough? Or more to point, given its coal use, can China’s renewable efforts really make a difference in the long-term carbon-emissions trajectory of the country?
The question was quite correctly raised by Armond Cohen, in a blog post on the website of the Clean Air Task Force, where Cohen is executive director, and that was republished here on EarthTechling. I went in a similar direction myself last September when a report revealed that China was likely to add 38 gigawatts of coal capacity per year until 2022 before slowing down the pace.
Cohen makes a strong case that with so many new coal plants being built in China, it’s going to be very difficult for the country not to continue to burn large amounts of the stuff for many, many years in the future. That’s why he’s a big proponent of carbon capture and storage. As he wrote last October:
The 12 GW in 2013 was the most for any country ever in a single year (by a long shot; as far as we can tell, the old record was Germany’s 7.6 GW in 2012). And more is on the way, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said:
The Chinese government is targeting 14 GW of additional PV capacity in 2014. Transmission grid-connected projects were the vast majority of China’s solar market last year, but the government is aiming for at least 60 percen of this year’s installations to be rooftop capacity, which is connected to the distribution grid rather than the transmission grid. A shift to rooftops rather than remote deserts will bring additional legal and financial complications for developers and so Bloomberg New Energy Finance expects the target to be slightly undershot in 2014 – but with higher growth in 2015.China also had a solid year with wind, adding 14.92 GW last year; not its biggest year, but about 2 GW more than the U.S. has ever added in a single year.
Still, the question persists: Is it enough? Or more to point, given its coal use, can China’s renewable efforts really make a difference in the long-term carbon-emissions trajectory of the country?
The question was quite correctly raised by Armond Cohen, in a blog post on the website of the Clean Air Task Force, where Cohen is executive director, and that was republished here on EarthTechling. I went in a similar direction myself last September when a report revealed that China was likely to add 38 gigawatts of coal capacity per year until 2022 before slowing down the pace.
Cohen makes a strong case that with so many new coal plants being built in China, it’s going to be very difficult for the country not to continue to burn large amounts of the stuff for many, many years in the future. That’s why he’s a big proponent of carbon capture and storage. As he wrote last October:
Without CCS applied widely in China, the nation’s coal fleet will remain the largest global clustered source of carbon dioxide emissions, with a ‘long tail’ that could last for much of the 21st century – making most climate management plans, such as the “trillion ton cap” that was implied this month by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, nearly impossible to reach.Still, after the 12 GW figure was reported, I couldn’t help but be in awe of China’s achievement, and, perhaps irrationally, begin to believe that it might be setting off on a miraculous solar adoption binge. I asked Cohen what he thought. In his post, he had mistakenly understated China’s 2013 solar growth, pegging it at 3.6 GW based on partial-year data (an error he told me he intends to correct). Does the fact that it was more than three times that, and that the wind addition was nearly twice as big as he originally thought, give him hope?
“I am hopeful on solar but more hopeful on nuclear (and maybe CCS)
due to high CFs!” he replied (CFs refers to capacity factors, which are
much higher for nuclear and coal with CCS than for solar). Alas, not
exactly a ringing endorsement. Drats.
Earthship in Argentina
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A few months ago, our section of Cinema and Architecture showed us the story of Michael Reynolds, a visionary and rebel architect who has driven a number of pilot initiatives around the world, challenging the status quo and promoting a new kind of architecture based on recycling and self-sufficiency.
The "Tol-Haru, Spaceship Earth End of the World" project, located in Ushuaia, Argentina (in a central land donated by the Municipality) - has been completely built from recycled materials and have the ability to calefaccionarse and cooled through wind and solar energy, reuse rainwater and to recycle their own waste.
More details of the new venture Reynolds in South America, after the jump.
The proposal, dubbed "the first self-sustaining housing in Latin America" began its construction in the early days of January this year and has been driven by the actors Mariano Torre and his wife, Elena Roger, members of the NAT Foundation (Nature Applied of Technology), in addition to the backing of the Mayor of Ushuaia, Federico Sciurano.
Reynolds, who is part of Earthship Biotecture , an organization dedicated to fostering such buildings globally, chose this city in the "end of the world" as a symbol of "a new relationship between man and earth, not is so destructive, "says Mariano Torre.
As part of the project, the architect made the city the first
"International Training Academy for building self-sustaining", for 50
students selected by him and a group of 10 Fuegians interested.
The Project
The house was built by 60 people (from different parts of the world) through recycling of tires 333, 3000 aluminum cans, 5,000 plastic bottles and glass bottles 3000. The construction consists of two cylindrical volumes of 50 square meters of glass and a frame that allows the housing to maintain a constant temperature between 18 and 22 degrees, saving electricity.
The builders say that the sustainability of the project is defined
based on the cooling and heating by thermal mass (avoiding the use of
fossil fuels) and construction with natural and recycled materials, and
integrate the collection, filtering and cleaning water rain, sewage
treatment, sustainable production of fruits and vegetables, and energy
supply through wind and solar power.
The actress and singer Elena Roger-developer of the "Spaceship Earth" - said: "For
us it is more important to carry out this project because we see that
cities are completely saturated and I think Ushuaia is time to reverse
that. This construction shows that we can bring to the planet rather than saturate it ".
More details of sustainable experience in the following link.
References: Earthship / Rio Black / Nuevo Diario Web Santiago del Estero
Pictures © Earthship Biotecture
A few months ago, our section of Cinema and Architecture showed us the story of Michael Reynolds, a visionary and rebel architect who has driven a number of pilot initiatives around the world, challenging the status quo and promoting a new kind of architecture based on recycling and self-sufficiency.
The "Tol-Haru, Spaceship Earth End of the World" project, located in Ushuaia, Argentina (in a central land donated by the Municipality) - has been completely built from recycled materials and have the ability to calefaccionarse and cooled through wind and solar energy, reuse rainwater and to recycle their own waste.
More details of the new venture Reynolds in South America, after the jump.
The proposal, dubbed "the first self-sustaining housing in Latin America" began its construction in the early days of January this year and has been driven by the actors Mariano Torre and his wife, Elena Roger, members of the NAT Foundation (Nature Applied of Technology), in addition to the backing of the Mayor of Ushuaia, Federico Sciurano.
© Earthship Biotecture
© Earthship Biotecture
© Earthship Biotecture
The house was built by 60 people (from different parts of the world) through recycling of tires 333, 3000 aluminum cans, 5,000 plastic bottles and glass bottles 3000. The construction consists of two cylindrical volumes of 50 square meters of glass and a frame that allows the housing to maintain a constant temperature between 18 and 22 degrees, saving electricity.
© Earthship Biotecture
The actress and singer Elena Roger-developer of the "Spaceship Earth" - said: "For
us it is more important to carry out this project because we see that
cities are completely saturated and I think Ushuaia is time to reverse
that. This construction shows that we can bring to the planet rather than saturate it ". More details of sustainable experience in the following link.
References: Earthship / Rio Black / Nuevo Diario Web Santiago del Estero
Pictures © Earthship Biotecture
Sunday, February 2, 2014
America’s Fukushima? - Newsweek
America’s Fukushima? - Newsweek
A poster from the recent Occupy Portland protests called Hanford "North America's Fukushima." That isn't just left-wing, anti-corporate fear mongering - a catastrophic accident involving radioactive waste scares the two most prominent Hanford whistle-blowers, nuclear engineer Walter L. Tamosaitis, fired from the site last month, and Donna Busche, a nuclear safety compliance officer who remains employed by URS, a Hanford subcontractor, even as her legal complaints - which include allegations of everything from pressure to downplay safety concerns to sexual harassment - proceed. Unprompted, Busche told Newsweek she is worried about "when 'Fukushima Day' hits."
Last year, nuclear scientist Donald H. Alexander, formerly of the DOE, likened Hanford to the doomed 1986 Challenger mission, a disaster arising from an excess of confidence.
Speaking of the cosmos: Some have suggested we launch our nuclear waste into space, to be swallowed by the sun. That may sound insane, but spend a little time sorting through the Hanford morass, and just about anything other than the status quo will seem appealing.
A poster from the recent Occupy Portland protests called Hanford "North America's Fukushima." That isn't just left-wing, anti-corporate fear mongering - a catastrophic accident involving radioactive waste scares the two most prominent Hanford whistle-blowers, nuclear engineer Walter L. Tamosaitis, fired from the site last month, and Donna Busche, a nuclear safety compliance officer who remains employed by URS, a Hanford subcontractor, even as her legal complaints - which include allegations of everything from pressure to downplay safety concerns to sexual harassment - proceed. Unprompted, Busche told Newsweek she is worried about "when 'Fukushima Day' hits."
Last year, nuclear scientist Donald H. Alexander, formerly of the DOE, likened Hanford to the doomed 1986 Challenger mission, a disaster arising from an excess of confidence.
Speaking of the cosmos: Some have suggested we launch our nuclear waste into space, to be swallowed by the sun. That may sound insane, but spend a little time sorting through the Hanford morass, and just about anything other than the status quo will seem appealing.
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