12jul sep nce final

VATIS UPDATE: Non-conventional Energy Jul-Sep 2012 1

Vol. 2 No. 114 Jul - Sep 2012ISSN 0971-5630

Non-conNon-conNon-conNon-conNon-convvvvventionalentionalentionalentionalentional EnerEnerEnerEnerEnergggggyyyyyVATIS UPDATE

HighlightsSpinach gives a boost to biohybrid solar cells

Making offshore wind turbines more efficient

New testing system for wave energy technology

Magnesium-air fuel cell developed

Hydrogen production using cheap catalyst

Fermentation process doubles biofuel production

ASIAN AND PACIFIC CENTRE FOR TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY (APCTT)

Apprise yourself with the latest technological innovations

2 VATIS UPDATE: Non-conventional Energy Jul-Sep 2012

The shaded areas of the map indicate ESCAP members and associate members

The Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT), a subsidiarybody of ESCAP, was established on 16 July 1977 with the objectives: to assist themembers and associate members of ESCAP through strengthening their capabilities todevelop and manage national innovation systems; develop, transfer, adapt and applytechnology; improve the terms of transfer of technology; and identify and promote thedevelopment and transfer of technologies relevant to the region.

The Centre will achieve the above objectives by undertaking such functions as:

Research and analysis of trends, conditions and opportunities;Advisory services;Dissemination of information and good practices;Networking and partnership with international organizations and key stakeholders; andTraining of national personnel, particularly national scientists and policy analysts.

Cover Photo

Heliatek has built a Tandem organic solar cell with10.7 per cent efficiency (see page 8 for details).

(Credit: Heliatek GmbH, Germany)


Vol. 2 No. 114 Jul - Sep 2012

INININININ THETHETHETHETHE NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSNEWS 44444India to go for 30 GW renewable capacity addition Sri Lanka to

provide renewable energy to four North islands Pakistan can produce150,000 MW of wind energy China dominates renewable energymarket Philippines starts accepting RE project proposals

Indonesia raises price of renewables for electricity US$65 millionfund for renewable energy in Southeast Asia Sri Lanka doubles windpower capacity Record trade in renewable energy certificates on IEX

China expands its on-grid wind power capacity Malaysia aims for5.5 per cent renewable energy share

SOLARSOLARSOLARSOLARSOLAR ENERGYENERGYENERGYENERGYENERGY 77777Highly transparent solar cells for windows Record-breaking PV

cells developed New solar panel to double solar system efficiencySpinach gives a boost to biohybrid solar cells New world record

efficiency for organic tandem solar cell

WINDWINDWINDWINDWIND ENERGYENERGYENERGYENERGYENERGY 99999Airborne wind power system Compressed air wind turbineMaking offshore wind turbines more efficient Balancing the bolting

load of wind turbines Bladeless wind turbines double energy efficiency

WAVE/TIDALWAVE/TIDALWAVE/TIDALWAVE/TIDALWAVE/TIDAL ENERGYENERGYENERGYENERGYENERGY 1 11 11 11 11 1Cheaper commercial power from ocean waves New testing system

for wave energy technology Power flows from the ocean wavesWave energy technology produces cheap power CoRMaT tidal

current turbine to be tested A new wave energy device prototype‘World’s first’ community-owned tidal turbine

FUELFUELFUELFUELFUEL CELLSCELLSCELLSCELLSCELLS 1 31 31 31 31 3 Towards long-life hydrogen fuel cells New fuel cell keeps going

after the hydrogen runs out Magnesium-air fuel cell developedNew hydrogen-powered fuel cell system Superior fuel cell material

developed

HYDROGENHYDROGENHYDROGENHYDROGENHYDROGEN ENERGYENERGYENERGYENERGYENERGY 1 51 51 51 51 5Single catalyst for oxidation and reduction of water Hydrogen

production using cheap catalyst Patent for plasma-arc-throughtechnology

BIOFUEL/BIOMASSBIOFUEL/BIOMASSBIOFUEL/BIOMASSBIOFUEL/BIOMASSBIOFUEL/BIOMASS ENERGYENERGYENERGYENERGYENERGY 1 61 61 61 61 6 Fermentation process doubles biofuel production Economically

viable fuel production Major step in electricity generation from wastewater Biofuel waste product recycled for electricity A processthat could improve biofuel production

RECENTRECENTRECENTRECENTRECENT PUBLICATIONSPUBLICATIONSPUBLICATIONSPUBLICATIONSPUBLICATIONS 1 81 81 81 81 8

TECHTECHTECHTECHTECH EVENTSEVENTSEVENTSEVENTSEVENTS 1 81 81 81 81 8

VATIS* UpdateNon-conventional Energy

is published 4 times a year to keep thereaders up to date of most of therelevant and latest technological

developments and events in the field ofNon-conventional Energy. The Update istailored to policy-makers, industries and

technology transfer intermediaries.

Website: http://www.techmonitor.net

Editorial BoardMr. Nanjundappa Srinivasan

Dr. Satyabrata SahuDr. Krishnan Srinivasaraghavan

ASIAN AND PACIFIC CENTREFOR TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY

Adjoining Technology BhawanQutab Institutional Area

Post Box No. 4575New Delhi 110 016, IndiaTel: (91) (11) 3097 3700Fax: (91) (11) 2685 6274

E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.apctt.org

The designation employed andthe presentation of material in the

publication do not imply theendorsement of any product, process

or manufacturer by APCTT.

This publication has been issuedwithout formal editing

* Value Added TechnologyInformation Service

CONTENTS


IN THE NEWS

India to go for30 GW renewablecapacity additionIndia is expected to see renewableenergy capacity addition of 30,000MW, with significant contribution fromwind power, over the coming fiveyears. Mr. Tarun Kapoor, Joint Sec-retary at the Ministry of New andRenewable Energy (MNRE), notedrecently, “At the end of 12th Five YearPlan (2012-2017), the country is ex-pected to have total renewable en-ergy generation capacity of 55,000MW.” At present, India has a renew-able energy generation capacity ofabout 25,000 MW.

Of the projected 30,000 MW capa-city addition, around 15,000 MW willbe from wind power. According toMr. Kapoor, there are certain issues– such as the financial health ofpower distribution companies andavailability of transmission lines forrenewable energy projects – thatneed resolution. Amid severe powershortage in the country, there is in-creased focus on generating elec-tricity from renewable sources likewind, solar and hydro to bring downthe demand supply gap. Presently,India has an installed power gener-ation capacity of around 200 GW.

Source: articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Sri Lanka to providerenewable energy tofour North islandsFour islands in Sri Lanka’s NorthernProvince – Delft, Nainativu, Anali-tivu and Elivativu – that do not haveaccess to the national electricitygrid will be provided electricity viarenewable energy, according to theMinistry of Power and Energy. Theproposed renewable energy projectswill be completed in 2013, with fund-ing support from the government of

the Republic of Korea. The Ministerof Power and Energy Mr. ChampikaRanawaka and the ambassador ofthe Republic of Korea made a jointinspection tour to the four islandsrecently.

On completion, the project is expec-ted to provide electricity to 2,967families living in the four islands andalso power to operate a garment fac-tory located in one of the Islands.The garment factory, which employsmore than 100 workers, is currentlyrun using diesel power generators.

Source: www.news360.lk

Pakistan can produce150,000 MW of windenergyA recent United States Agency forInternational Development (USAID)report states that Pakistan has thepotential of producing approxima-tely 150,000 MW of wind energy,which can fetch around US$2 bil-lion in investments. Official esti-mates had put the country’s solarand wind energy generation poten-tial at 143,000 MW. Pakistan is cur-rently developing wind power plantsin Jhimpir, Gharo, Keti Bandar andBin Qasim in Sindh, which will notonly reduce electricity shortagesbut also help ease the burden of oilimports costing the national excheq-uer over US$12 billion annually.

The wind speed in the Sindh cor-ridor is between 7.5m/s and 7.7m/s, as compared with the fair windspeed of between 6.2 m/s and 6.9ms/ in most parts of the world. Thenational government has plans toachieve up to 2,500 MW from windenergy by the end of 2015. Workon Zorlu wind energy power projectin Jhimpir with a 50 MW generationcapacity will start trial productionsoon. The Alternative Energy Dev-elopment Board (AEDB) of Pakis-tan recently approved the New Park

Energy Phase-I, a 400 MW windproject located near Port Qasim.

Source: www.thenews.com.pk

China dominatesrenewable energymarketAccording to the most recent GlobalRenewable Energy Country Attrac-tiveness Indices (CAI) report, Chinawill continue to dominate the globalrenewable energy market during thecurrent decade. The country hasquadrupled its solar capacity targetto 50 GW by 2020. While China isat the top of All Renewable Index(ARI), the country will have to over-come some challenges – includingover-supply of wind turbines andsolar panels – as well as solve anumber of grid transmission issuesto reach its goal.

The score of the United States isgoing down, with the country drop-ping 1.5 points to share in secondposition with Germany. The declinewas caused by ongoing uncertaintyin the United States’ long-term en-ergy strategy and failure to indicatewhether there would be an exten-sion to the Production Tax Credit forwind projects. The rise in Germany’sscore results from the government’sapproach to addressing barriers tooffshore wind development and sta-bility in its solar market. Germanyis pushing ahead with its ambitiousrenewable energy agenda, includ-ing the introduction of a new solarphotovoltaic tariff and compensationfor offshore grid connection delays,explains Mr. Gil Forer, Global Clean-tech Leader at Ernst & Young, theUnited Kingdom.

Next on the leader board is India,which fell one point owing to recentsevere blackouts causing specula-tion that the country has not attrac-ted enough private investment tomodernize its power infrastructure.


In the News

There are worries that the invest-ments in renewable energy will alsosuffer because of the unreliabilityof power grid. Rounding out the topfive is the United Kingdom, whichovertook Italy, the standing of whichfell due to worsening economic con-ditions in that country. However, theUnited Kingdom seems to be in theturbulent boat with the consensusthat policy and subsidy announce-ments have fallen short of estab-lishing transparency, certainty andlongevity within the market.

Source: domesticfuel.com

Philippines startsaccepting RE projectproposalsThe Department of Energy (DoE) ofthe Philippines is accepting appli-cations from renewable energy (RE)developers seeking an allocationfrom the limited 760 MW installa-tion target, said Energy SecretaryMr. Jose Rene D. Almendras. Onlythose projects that receive an allo-cation from this installation target– which refers to the total capacityof renewable energy projects per-mitted to be constructed within athree-year period – will be subjectto the feed-in-tariff (FiT) rates.

The eligibility criteria will be able tonarrow down the list of RE devel-opers who will be allowed to put uptheir projects and avail of the FiTrate, especially since DoE has al-ready awarded 305 service contractsfor RE projects that have a combinedpotential capacity of 5,505 MW –more than seven times the 760 MWinstallation target. Under the cur-rent installation target, 250 MW hasbeen allocated for hydropower pro-jects, 250 MW for biomass, 50 MWfor solar, 200 MW for wind powerand 10 MW for ocean power.

Ms. Marissa P. Cerezo, AssistantDirector and Officer-in-Charge of

DoE’s Renewable Energy Manage-ment Bureau, however, said thatthe details and procedures for theeligibility criteria need to be thresh-ed out. Ms. Cerezo added that theBureau is targeting to finalize thecriteria before end of 2012. DoE hasalso yet to discuss how to allocatethe limited capacity in case thereis an oversubscription for a particu-lar RE resource.

Source: business.inquirer.net

Indonesia raisesprice of renewablesfor electricityThe Indonesian government has an-nounced that it will raise the priceof three types of renewable ener-gies for electricity needs, saying themove is necessary to encourageIndonesia’s overall renewable ener-gy production. Deputy Energy andMineral Resources Minister Mr. RudiRubiandini stated that state elec-tricity company Perusahaan ListrikNegara (PLN) must now pay morefor electricity produced by biomass,geothermal and hydro power plants.

The price of geothermal electricityis now between US$0.100-0.185 perkWh from the previous US$0.09 perkWh. Biomass electricity was re-cently priced up to Rp 1,050 (US$0.108) per kWh from the previousRp 656 (US$ 0.067) per kWh. Thenew tariffs have been specified ina ministerial regulation recently is-sued by the Energy and MineralResources Ministry. The Ministryis presently drafting another regula-tion that will increase the price ofhydro electricity from Rp 656 perkWh to up to Rp 1,050 per kWh,the exact price varying dependingon the locations of the power plantsand other factors.

The Minister added that raising theprices was expected to make renew-able energy projects more luring to

investors, thus hopefully increasingthe number of renewable projects,allowing the government to meet its2025 renewable energy target. In-donesia is targeting to increase theportion of electricity generated fromrenewable energies to 17 per centof the total electricity produced by2025. The figure currently stands at5.7 per cent, far below the 49.7 percent of electricity produced fromfuel-fired power plants, 24.5 per centfrom coal and 20.1 per cent from gaspower plants.

Source: www.thejakartaglobe.com

US$65 million fundfor renewable energyin Southeast AsiaArmstrong South East Asia CleanEnergy Fund, Singapore, has statedthat it has closed on US$65 millionin funding to support investmentsin solar, wind and small hydro tech-nology in Southeast Asia. The fund-ing round was led by the GlobalEnergy Efficiency and RenewableEnergy Fund (GEEREF), Luxem-bourg, and Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH(DEG), Germany. Armstrong is tar-geting a total fund size of US$150million, which it will use to provideearly-stage capital to renewableenergy developers in Thailand, In-donesia, Malaysia and other emer-ging markets.

“To date the team has originated astrong pipeline of potential dealsand detailed negotiations are under-way. We are hopeful of completingone to two key deals soon. Small-scale solar and mini-hydro are twopriority sub-sectors the team is cur-rently focused on,” said ArmstrongAsset Management Managing Part-ner Mr. Andrew Affleck. Armstrongexpects a second close of the fundby the end of 2012, with a third andfinal close due by July 2013. The


In the News

fund intends to make 10-15 invest-ment deals, ranging from US$5 mil-lion to US$12 million over 10 years.The fund will focus on projects lessthan 10 MW in size, and Armstrongsays a salient feature of the invest-ment strategy is aggregating multi-ple small-scale operational projectassets in attractive portfolios, reali-zing investments upon trade-sales.

Source: www.solarserver.com

Sri Lanka doubleswind power capacitySri Lanka has doubled its genera-tion capacity in wind power with theaddition of three new parks, accord-ing to the nation’s Ministry of Powerand Energy. The Ministry’s spokes-person said that three farms of 10MW each were connected to thegrid recently. The plants, located inPuttalam district in northwesternKaplitiya, were built at a cost of SLRs 7.2 billion (US$54.6 million) andwill sell their power to the state-runSri Lanka Electricity Board. Theproject owners are Daily Life Re-newable, Nirmalapura Wind Powerand PowerGen Lanka.

Sri Lanka, which has a total powergeneration capacity of 3,120 MW,has set a target of getting 20 percent of its power from renewablesources by 2020, including 400 MWof wind capacity. It plans to addanother 10 MW of wind by the endof the year.

Source: www.bloomberg.com

Record trade inrenewable energycertificates on IEXIndia Energy Exchange (IEX) sawa record trading figure of renewableenergy certificates (RECs) in its 16th

trading session in August 2012. Ofthe 568,097 RECs that were avail-able for sale, 248,165 RECs were

issued – the highest issuance forany month till date – at Rs 1,500(US$28) per REC, down from Rs2,402 (US$45) per REC in the pre-vious month. In the solar REC seg-ment, IEX received buy bids of 1,728RECs and sale bids of 310 RECs.Of the sale bids, 129 RECs werecleared at Rs 12,850 (US$238) perREC.

IEX is one of the major power ex-changes of the country. RECs aregeneration-based certificates issuedto the power producers using renew-able source of energy like wind, so-lar, hydro and biomass. Solar RECsare for solar power producers whilenon-solar ones are for all other re-newable energy sources. RECs,held in electronic demat form, aregiven to producers who do not wishto sell the electricity produced atpreferential tariff.

Source: articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

China expands itson-grid wind powercapacityChina’s wind power sector has wit-nessed substantial growth, with thecountry’s on-grid wind power capa-city exceeding 50 GW, accordingto the State Grid, China’s largestutility company. On-grid wind powercapacity under State Grid’s distribu-tion has reached 50.26 GW as of2012, indicating an annual growthrate of 87 per cent for the last sixyears. However, the regional concen-tration of wind resources and tech-nical obstacles has prevented theefficient utilization of wind power,the company said.

Mr. Zhang Zhengling, spokesper-son for the State Grid, said China’swind energy utilization has reacheda “relatively high level” following astring of measures to monitor andadjust use of the energy. In 2011,

power generated from wind totalled70.6 billion kWh, about 28 times theamount generated in 2006. However,linking regional power networks tothe national power grid remains astumbling block for the growth ofthe sector, Mr. Zhang said.

“The key problem is that regionalconnections are still weak, and thereis not yet a unified national marketand corresponding grid network,”said Mr. Shu Yinbiao, Deputy Man-ager of the State Grid. China needsto speed up the construction of trans-regional power grids to meet its newenergy development goals, Mr. Shusaid. China’s on-grid wind powercapacity is expected to reach 100GW by 2015 and 200 GW by 2020.

Source: www.chinadaily.com.cn

Malaysia aims for 5.5per cent renewableenergy shareWith a goal to achieve 40 per centcut in carbon emissions by 2020,the Malaysian government plans toraise the share of renewable energyin the total energy mix to 5.5 percent by 2015, the Malaysian PrimeMinister Mr. Najib Razak has stated.The government had created supportmechanisms and launched a feed-in-tariff scheme which pays a pre-mium rate for generating electricitythrough renewable sources, saidMr. Razak. According to him, renew-able energy would get investmentsworth M$70 billion (US$23 billion)and support 50,000 jobs by 2020.“It will also avoid 42.2 million tonnesof carbon emissions, about a 40 percent reduction, which I promised atthe Copenhagen Climate Confer-ence,” he added during his keynoteaddress at the official opening ofthe third International Greentechand Eco Products Exhibition andConference Malaysia (IGEM 2012).

Source: cleantechnica.com


SOLAR ENERGY

Highly transparentsolar cells forwindowsIn the United States, researchersat the University of California-LosAngeles (UCLA) have developed atransparent solar cell that could beused on windows, building and lap-tops to generate electricity while stillallowing people to see through. Thepolymer solar cell (PSC) that theUCLA team has developed producesenergy by absorbing mainly infrared(IR) light, not visible light, makingthe cells nearly 70 per cent transpa-rent to the human eye. The devicewas made from a photoactive plasticthat converts IR light into an elec-trical current. “Our new PSCs aremade from plastic-like materials andare lightweight and flexible,” saidstudy leader Professor Yang Yang,who is also the Director of Nano Re-newable Energy Centre at Califor-nia NanoSystems Institute (CNSI).“More importantly, they can be pro-duced in high volume at low cost,”he added.

The research team from CNSI, theUCLA Henry Samueli School of En-gineering and Applied Science andthe UCLA Department of Chemistryand Biochemistry has demonstra-ted the high-performance and visiblytransparent polymer solar cells viathe incorporation of near-IR (NIR)light-sensitive polymer and usingsilver nanowire composite films asthe top transparent electrode. TheNIR photoactive polymer absorbs

more NIR light but is less sensitiveto visible light, balancing solar cellperformance and transparency in thevisible wavelength region. Anotherbreakthrough is the transparent con-ductor made of a mixture of silvernanowire and titanium dioxide nano-particles, which was able to replacethe opaque metal electrode used inthe past. This composite electrodealso permits the solar cells to befabricated economically by solutionprocessing. With this combination,4 per cent power-conversion effici-ency for solution-processed and vi-sibly transparent polymer solar cellshas been achieved.

Source: newsroom.ucla.edu

Record-breakingPV cells developedResearchers at IBM Corporation, theUnited States, along with partnersfrom Solar Frontier, Japan, TokyoOhka Kogyo, Japan, and DelSolar,Taiwan Province of China, have dev-eloped an efficient and affordablephotovoltaic (PV) cell. The new PVcell has broken the world record forPV solar-to-electric power conver-sion efficiency using earth-abundantmaterials. The materials sciencesteam from IBM wanted to create atechnology that combined the virtuesof being highly efficient, cheaplyscalable and uses easily-availablematerials. Made from copper, zincand tin sulphide and referred to asCZTS, the thin-film device achieved11.1 per cent solar-to-electric powerconversion efficiency – a world re-cord for solar PV cells composed ofearth-abundant materials – and 10per cent better than any previoussuch device. The cell can also bemade using simple ink-based tech-niques such as printing or casting.

Currently, the most widespread PVsemiconductors, made of crystal-line silicon, are abundant and veryefficient. However, their material

purity requirement is an extremelyhigh >99.9999 per cent, and theyare expensive and difficult to scaleup. The other thin-film chalcogenidematerials utilized in PV cells havecompounds that contain rare andexpensive elements that increasecost and limit their manufacturinglevels to less than 100 GW per year.IBM’s CZTS PV cells could poten-tially yield up to 500 GW/year, whichis about one-thirtieth of the renew-able electricity the planet needs.

Source:ibmresearchnews.blogspot.in

New solar panel todouble solar systemefficiencyA research team from the Univer-sity of Arizona, the United States,has developed a novel solar panelthat may be a precursor to highlyefficient solar energy systems. Thesolar panel, which is based on oldtelescope technology and the solarpanels that are often used aboardspacecraft and satellites, is claimedto offer double the efficiency seenin conventional solar energy tech-nologies. The researchers are alsodeveloping a tracking system thatwill follow the trajectory of the sunto ensure that the solar panel isconstantly exposed to sunlight.

The new solar panel makes use of adish-shaped mirror that is installedat its foundation. The mirror concen-trates solar rays, making photonsmore available for conversion intoelectricity. The researchers choseto use mirrors because of the po-tential to increase the efficiency ofthe solar energy system they hadbeen developing. The solar panelsthat collect the concentrated sun-light are able to produce more electri-city than conventional solar panels,once again drawing attention to thecapabilities of concentrated solarpower systems. The research team

The PV cell developed by theUCLA team is visibly transparent


Solar Energy

suggests that the energy systemwill be capable of generating 10 GWof electricity while the sun is out –on par with the electricity generatedfrom the Palo Verde Nuclear PowerPlant, the largest of its kind in theUnited States.

Source:www.hydrogenfuelnews.com

Spinach gives aboost to biohybridsolar cellsAn interdisciplinary team of scien-tists at Vanderbilt University in theUnited States has developed a wayto combine the photosynthetic pro-tein that converts light into elec-trochemical energy in spinach withsilicon, the material used in solarcells, in a fashion that produces sub-stantially more electrical currentthan has been reported for previous“biohybrid” solar cells. “This com-bination produces current levels al-most 1,000 times higher than wewere able to achieve by depositingthe protein on various types of met-als. It also produces a modest in-crease in voltage,” said Mr. DavidCliffel, an associate professor ofchemistry, who collaborated on theproject with Mr. Kane Jennings, Pro-fessor of chemical and biomolecu-lar engineering. With the new designMr. Jennings estimates that a two-foot panel could put out at least 100mA at 1 V – adequate to power anumber of different types of smallelectric devices.

Scientists had earlier discovered thatPhotosystem 1 (PS1) – one of theproteins involved in photosynthesis– extracted from plants like spinachcan convert sunlight into electricitywith nearly 100 per cent efficiency,as compared with conversion effi-ciencies of less than 40 per centachieved by artificial devices. Biohy-brid cells that employ PS1 can bemade from cheap and readily avail-

able materials, unlike many micro-electronic devices that require rareand expensive materials like indiumor platinum. However, the amountof power that these biohybrid cellscan produce per unit area has beensubstantially lower than commer-cial photovoltaic cells. In addition,the performance of some early testcells deteriorated after only a fewweeks. The Vanderbilt team, how-ever, succeeded in working a PS1cell for nine months with no fall inperformance. Their PS1/silicon com-bination produced 850 µA/cm2 ofcurrent at 0.3 V – nearly two and ahalf times more current than the bestlevel reported previously for a bio-hybrid cell.

The reason this combo works wellis because the electrical propertiesof the silicon substrate have beentailored using “p-doping” to fit thoseof the PS1 molecule. The research-ers extracted PS1 from spinach intoan aqueous solution and pouredthe mixture on the surface of a p-doped silicon wafer. Then they putthe wafer in a vacuum chamber toevaporate the water away, leavinga film of protein. They found that theoptimum thickness was about 1 µm,about 100 PS1 molecules thick. Thep-doped silicon also eliminates theproblem of both positive and nega-tive currents being produced simul-taneously, thereby cancelling eachother out.

Source: phys.org

New world recordefficiency for organictandem solar cellHeliatek GmbH, Germany, has seta new world record for organic pho-tovoltaic (OPV) cells with 10.7 percent cell efficiency on 1.1 cm2, con-firming the superior low light andhigh temperature performances ofOPV compared to traditional solar.The key to the success is oligomers

– a family of small organic molecules– developed and synthesized byHeliatek. “Our solar tandem cellsare made of nanometres thin layersof high purity and uniformity. Thisenables us to literally engineer thecell architecture to systematicallyimprove efficiency and lifetime,” ex-plains Dr. Martin Pfeiffer, the ChiefTechnical Officer and co-founder ofHeliatek.

Heliatek conducted efficiency mea-surements under standard testingconditions of the solar industry aswell as performance measurementsat low light and high temperaturesof up to 80°C. The test results notonly set a new world record for OPVwith 10.7 per cent cell efficiency,but also highlight the superior per-formance of Heliatek’s OPV cellsunder real life conditions. The mea-surements for low light establishedthat the efficiency not only remainsconstant, but even increases gradu-ally. At an irradiation of 100 W/m²the efficiency is 15 per cent higherthan the standard efficiency mea-sured at 1,000 W/m². The efficiencyremains constant at high tempera-tures. This behaviour is unique forOPV technology; in traditional solartechnology, efficiency drops 15-20per cent at high temperatures.

These technology advantages trans-late into a higher harvesting factorunder real life conditions. First out-door tests have shown that the har-vesting factor of Heliatek’s organicsolar cells is 15-25 per cent higherthan crystalline and thin film solar.The company is currently workingon its first roll-to-roll manufacturingline, which is to go in production inthe third quarter of 2012. Contact:Dr. Martin Pfeiffer, Chief TechnicalOfficer, Heliatek GmbH, Treidler-straße 3, 01139 Dresden, Germany.Tel: + 49 (351) 2130 3430; E-mail:[email protected]; Web-site: www.heliatek.com.

Source: www.prnasia.com


WIND ENERGY

Airborne wind powersystemAt present, land-based tower windturbines are the dominant sourceof wind power, but they take up alot of space and generally need tobe located in high visibility areas,such as the tops of hills or ridges.As they are also located close tothe ground, where friction from theEarth’s surface slows the wind andincreases its turbulence, negativelyaffecting the efficiency of the tur-bines. At the National Aeronauticsand Space Administration (NASA),the United States, engineers aredeveloping air-borne wind power sys-tems, capable of generating muchmore power.

There are two basic types of kite-based wind energy systems. Flygensystems see turbines built into thekite that generate the electricity andfeed it via a tether to a storage ordistribution device on the ground.The second features a ground-basedgenerator powered by the reeling outof the tether as the kite catches thewind. By tacking the kite upwind likea sailboat, the periodic reeling-inphase takes around 10 per cent lessenergy than is produced by the reel-ing-out phase, resulting in a 90 percent net energy gain. Both systemsrely on the aerodynamics of the kiteand autonomous flight control. It isthese two aspects of the technol-ogy that NASA engineers are lookingto improve to help make air-bornewind-energy systems a viable alter-native to ground-based turbines.

The system developed by the NASAresearchers builds on the principlethat the blade tips of a wind turbinegenerate as much as 90 per cent ofthe turbine’s power because theyare farther from the hub and spinfaster than the rest of the blade. Ineffect, placing a wind turbine at theend of a tether allows the kite toact as a flying blade tip. The plac-ing also allows the system to har-ness the faster and steadier windsfound at higher altitudes.

Mr. David North, an engineer, and hiscolleagues at NASA’s Langley Re-search Centre achieved the world’sfirst sustained autonomous flight ofa kite using only ground-based sen-sors in March 2012. They achievedthe breakthrough using an inexpen-sive digital webcam connected toa laptop computer (located on theground) to track the motion of thekite and keep it flying autonomous-ly. So far, the team’s test flights havebeen restricted to low altitudes toavoid interfering with aircrafts, butthey are trying to gain permissionto fly at 2,000 ft for long periods oftime in the airspace reserved forNASA above Wallops Island, Virgi-nia. Above 2,000 ft is consideredthe sweet spot for air-borne windenergy systems.

Source: www.gizmag.com

Compressed airwind turbineAn 89-year-old World War II veteranin Australia has developed a envi-ronment friendly wind turbine thathe says can cut also the costs ofwind power. Mr. Raymond Greenstates that his “CWP CompressedAir Enclosed Wind Turbine” can bemanufactured in sizes from person-al use portables to massive unitsthat can used in major wind farminstallations. All moving parts of theturbine are internal – the blades aremounted behind the windsock and

inner compression cone. Mr. Greensays that other advantages includea quieter and lighter-weight unit thatdoesn’t need to be mounted as highas traditional wind turbines. Sincethe turbine compresses the wind,it can be placed lower to the ground,allowing for safer installation andeasier maintenance, while “at leastdoubling the energy it creates,” hesaid.

A prototype wind turbine built by Mr.Green weighs around 21 kg, has aturbine diameter of 30 cm, a windsock opening 78 cm in diameter andcost around US$550 to build. Thewind turbine design is such that itdoesn’t harm birds and bats. SigmaDesign Co., the United States, hasbeen contracted to test, refine andmanufacture the turbine, which maybe commercially available within thenext two years.

Source:www.energymatters.com.au

Making offshorewind turbines moreefficientA study at University of Cambridge,the United Kingdom, suggests thatoffshore wind farms could be 100per cent more efficient in terms ofenergy payback if manufacturersembraced new methods for makingthe structures that support the tur-bines. Wind farms are increasinglysited offshore rather than on land,and installed at water depths of upto 40 m. Mr. Jim Platts, an engineerat the Institute for Manufacturing(IfM) of the Cambridge University,is urging the wind power industryto look again at the design of theheavy supporting towers and foun-dations used out at sea in order toimprove the energy payback accom-plished. Mr. Platts believes that thewind power sector could achievesignificantly higher payback ratiosif turbine manufacturers used guyed

The kite-based wind energysystem developed by NASA


Wind Energy

towers made in composite materi-als rather than free-standing towersmade in conventional steel.

A preliminary study undertaken atIfM suggests that payback ratios foroffshore wind farms could be doubledif the industry embraced new con-struction methods. The effectivenessof wind turbines is determined bya key figure: the harvesting ratio –a measure of the energy it providesset against the energy utilized inmanufacturing it. In wind turbine in-stallations, the tower is usually con-structed of steel and the foundationin steel and concrete. For a turbinedesigned for use on land, the en-ergy embedded in the moving partsforms two-thirds of the total energyinvested in the installation while thesupporting structure (tower + foun-dation) represents the remainingthird. Onshore turbines typicallyachieve a harvesting ratio of 40:1.When wind turbines are sited off-shore, the towers required are bothtaller and heavier and the founda-tions more massive, using up to fourtimes the amount of concrete andsteel – materials that are highly en-ergy-intensive to produce. Hence,the harvesting ratio of offshore tur-bines reduces to typically 15:1 – farlower than for on-shore turbines. Ontop of this, off-shore turbines aresubject to corrosion, which reducesthe lifespan of the steel used.

A study by IfM suggests that guyedtowers offer significant advantagesover conventional towers. The useof steel cables, fixed to the sea bedby screw anchors, means that thetowers can be significantly slimmer– the tent-like guyed shape distri-butes the loads more efficiently tothe seabed. Similarly, the founda-tions required are substantially lessheavy. The resulting reduction in thevolume of steel and concrete need-ed means that a harvesting ratio of25:1 can be achieved. The secondstep would be to manufacture tow-

ers in composite materials that areless energy-intensive to make thansteel and also have a longer life.Using these new materials couldincrease the harvesting ratio stillfurther to 32:1 and extend the life-time of a turbine installation to up to60 years from the present 20 years,claimed Mr. Platts.

Source: phys.org

Balancing the boltingload of wind turbinesMr. Mikel Abasolo, a researcher atFaculty of Engineering of Universityof the Basque Country (UPV/EHU),Spain, has built a simplified simu-lation model for wind turbines. Allone has to do is enter the character-istics that the tower and its parts willhave, and in a matter of seconds themodel predicts the load that has tobe given to each of the bolts, whichfacilitates construction and main-tenance processes. Owing to theirgreat heights, wind turbine towersare built in two or three parts andare subsequently bolted together.However, joining elements of suchdimensions and quantities of boltsis very complex. All the bolts musthave the same load so that they allwork equally, but achieving this isno easy task.

“In an adjustment sequence, whenyou tighten one bolt, the previousones lose part of their load,” saysMr. Abasolo. If, for example, in onesequence a load of 100 points is as-signed to all the bolts one by one,by the end of the sequence mostof them will not remain the samebecause when one is adjusted, theprevious ones lose load. Only a fewbolts will continue to have 100 pointswhile the rest will fall below that.Therefore, to keep all the bolts atthe level of 100 points, one has toadjust them a number of times. Thismeans a loss of time and money,Mr. Abasolo points out.

The simplified model of Mr. Abasolocan predict what load has to be ap-portioned to each bolt at the mo-ment of assembly, so that by theend of the process the load endsup being uniform. Data input intothe model include tube geometry,the exterior and interior diameter,the metrics and resistance of thebolts or the final load required. Theresults are output within seconds.This model can be used for periodi-cal maintenance tasks, such as re-adjusting the load on bolts that haveloosened over time.

Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Bladeless windturbines doubleenergy efficiencyConventional wind turbines work byharnessing the kinetic energy of thewind to spin propeller-type bladesat low torque. The blades rotate ashaft connected to a generator thatmakes electricity. While the processis rather simple, it is not the mostefficient way of generating power.Saphon Energy, Tunisia, believesthat it has a new technology thatcan change that. The company hasdeveloped ‘Zero-Blade’ wind turbinesthat do nor have the typical blades,rotors or gearboxes.

The design is inspired by sailboats,with turbine blades replaced by agiant sail that harnesses the wind bya back-and-forth motion. This kineticenergy captured is converted intomechanical energy using pistons,thereby creating hydraulic pressure.This pressure can either be storedin a hydraulic accumulator or usedto make electricity via a hydraulicmotor and a generator. Saphon saysthe technology is 2.3 times moreefficient than conventional wind tur-bines and cuts costs by some 45per cent.

Source: revmodo.com


WAVE/TIDAL ENERGY

Cheaper commercialpower from oceanwavesEco Wave Power (EWP), Israel, hassuccessfully demonstrated the con-cept of producing cheaper electri-city from ocean wave energy withits inventions such as “Power Wing”and “Wave Clapper”. The EWP con-verters draw energy from wave powerthroughout uniquely shaped buoysthat rise and fall with the up-and-down motion, lifting force, changeof water level, hydraulic air lock andincident flux of waves. The “WaveClapper” and the “Power Wing” areequipped with sensors that conti-nuously monitor the performance ofthe various sub-systems and sur-rounding ocean environment. As aresult, data transmission to shoreis in real time. In the event of up-coming storms, the system auto-matically “recognizes” the type ofwaves, and independently “decides”whether to raise the buoys over thewater level, or to create a processof buoy submersion into the ocean,in order to protect the system frommechanical injuries. When the waveheights return to normal, the systemunlocks and recommences energyconversion and transmission of theelectrical power ashore.

The energy from motion of the floatsis delivered to shore by a subma-rine cable. The on-shore machinery– a hydro pneumatic system – con-verts the energy from this motioninto fluid pressure, which is usedto spin a generator, producing elec-tricity. One of the clear advantagesof the system is that only the buoysand pistons are located in the water,while all other equipment operateon land, thereby improving reliabi-lity and providing easy access formaintenance and repair. The floatsare attached by robust arms to anytype of structure, such as break-waters, peers, poles, and floating

and fixed platforms. At large scalecommercial size sea wave powerplants, the waves will enable the lift-ing of up to 100 floats in turn. Thiswill enable continuous energy pro-duction and a smooth output.

Source: www.ecowavepower.com

New testing systemfor wave energytechnology

A new test centre for public waveenergy has been launched in theUnited States. The US$1.5 millionOcean Sentinel, sited off the Ore-gon coast, is among the few centresin the United States that tests newpublic wave energy technology fromindustry or academia. The Newporttest facility has been establishedby Oregon State University’s North-west National Marine RenewableEnergy Centre (NNMREC). Themuch-needed mobile unit will alsobe used to measure and learn moreabout wave resources and examinewave energy production and othercritical matters.

Mr. Sean Moran, NNMREC’s OceanTest Facilities Manager, says, “TheOcean Sentinel will provide a stand-ardized, accurate system to com-pare various wave energy technolo-gies, including systems that maybe better for one type of wave situ-ation or another. We have to find outmore about which technologies workbest, in what conditions, and what

environmental impacts there maybe.” The Ocean Sentinel can testand measure the amplitude of waves,energy output, ocean currents, thespeed of the wind and more.

It is thought that no single technol-ogy will dominate wave power gen-eration. Some get better results withflatter waves and others need roughseas, says Mr. Moran. The area inwhich the Ocean Sentinel operateshas been specially selected for itsphysical aspects as well as localbiology. A major element of the ma-rine centre’s programme is to studypossible environmental factors fromvariations in acoustics, electromag-netic fields, differences in marinelife, sediment and more. It will alsopromote research, public outreachand education.

Source: www.earthtimes.org

Power flows from theocean wavesThe Wave Energy Technology-NZ(Wet-NZ) converter, which genera-tes electricity by ocean wave power,is undergoing tests off the coast ofOregon, the United States. Withthese tests, the device designed inNew Zealand is one step closer tobreaking into the massive UnitedStates energy market. It is a majormilestone for the eight-year projectin New Zealand – a collaborationbetween Industrial Research Ltd.(IRL), a Crown Research Institute,and Power Projects Ltd., a privatecompany.

Wet-NZ had been refined based onthe results of deployments at vari-ous sites around New Zealand, aswell as extensive wave tank model-ling. The device was designed to ex-tract as much energy as possiblefrom three different types of wavemotion. A half-scale, 18.4 m longversion would be moored upright tothe sea floor off Oregon, with wave

Ocean Sentinel wave energytesting system


Wave/Tidal Energy

movement converted into energy bya system of on-board hydraulics.After this test, the next step wouldbe to develop and trial a full-scaleversion of the device. That wouldneed to be tested in bigger, morepowerful waves in another part ofthe country, said IRL General Man-ager of Industry Engagement, Mr.Gavin Mitchell.

Source: www.nzherald.co.nz

Wave energytechnology producescheap powerSDE Sea Wave Power Plants fromIsrael is concluding construction ofits second plant in a series of threefor China, which will generate 150kW/hour using the energy of oceanwaves, and will be followed by athird such plant that generates 500kW/hour. SDE power plants operateautomatically, employing a hydro-pneumatic circular system with anengine and buoys that enable theuse of waves at their rise and fall,as well as the return from break-waters. This way, the system canbe more efficient, and generate asmuch energy as possible from a sin-gle wave, according to SDE.

The motion of the waves createshydraulic pressure, which causes agenerator to spin and create elec-tricity. While this process involvesuse of a hydraulic oil, the companystressed that this type of oil is en-vironmentally friendly and does notcause any damage to underwaterplants and animals. An added ben-efit of the technology, says SDE,is that it has low production costsof only US$0.02 per kWh. The sys-tem is resistant to storms, as only10 per cent of plant parts are in thewater and because systems use fullforce of waves to generate powerfrom their rise and fall.

Source: www.jpost.com

CoRMaT tidal currentturbine to be testedIn the United Kingdom, the Mull ofKintyre, southwest Scotland, is tobe the first test site for a new gen-eration of tidal energy technologydeveloped by Nautricity, which hasreceived development and demon-stration funding from the Scottishgovernment. Nautricity will use the£1.4 million towards the cost of de-ploying its CoRMaT tidal currentturbine in the sea. Electricity gen-erated by the device will be fed intothe electrical network. It is hopedthe test phase can be completedby March 2014, followed by full-scale commercial deployment. Thedevice, which could generate 500kW of electricity, uses a patentedrotor system that overcomes manyof the problems that have made ti-dal energy production uneconomicuntil now. While conventional tidaldevices resemble wind turbines fixedto the seabed, incurring engineer-ing and deployment costs, CoRMaTis a small capsule, tethered to a sub-surface float, which uses a novel,contra-rotating rotor-generator sys-tem to harness tidal energy.

Source: www.theengineer.co.uk

A new wave energydevice prototypeSUBMARINER, a European projecton the sustainable uses of Balticmarine resources, is exploring po-tential for development of a waveenergy industry in the Baltic Sea.One of the project activities that areunder way is the technical imple-mentation of wave energy genera-tors for the very specific Baltic Seaconditions. A wave generator proto-type developed is being tested offthe coast of Lithuania. The proto-type will be further developed andrefined on the basis of environment-al conditions and test results.

The linear generator – a vital partof the prototype – received the firstprize in the “engines” category ina recent innovation contest. Thewave energy device prototype hasbeen designed to meet the specificconditions of the Baltic Sea – occa-sional harsh storms and relativelylow energy in a yearly run. The fur-ther development focuses on mini-mizing the investment costs whilemaximizing the generator’s effici-ency. Contact: Ms. Joanna Przedr-zymirska, The Maritime Institute inGdañsk, D³ugi Targ 41/42, PL-80-830 Gdañsk, Poland. Tel: +48 (58)301 1641; Fax: +48 (58) 301 3513;E-mail: [email protected]; Website:www.im.gda.pl.

Source: www.submariner-project.eu

‘World’s first’community-ownedtidal turbineIn the United Kingdom, the world’sfirst community-owned tidal turbinewill be deployed off the ShetlandIslands, the United Kingdom, earlynext year, according to ScottishFirst Minister Mr. Alex Salmond.Nova Innovations, the United King-dom, will supply the grid-connected30 kW demonstrator device, whichis set to be used by a communityin North Yell to power a local iceplant and industrial estate. Nova hascommissioned Steel EngineeringLtd. to manufacture the tidal turbine.

The Nova-30 tidal turbine employsa well proven, horizontal axis, three-bladed rotor to extract reliable andpredictable energy from the tides.The generating unit, consisting ofa Siemens gearbox and generator,is housed in a watertight nacelle.The turbine is fully yawable and isconnected to a solid gravity moor-ing and anchoring mechanism onthe seabed.

Source: www.novainnovation.co.uk


FUEL CELLS

Towards long-lifehydrogen fuel cellsRecent studies have shown that goldnanoparticles can remove carbonmonoxide (CO) impurities from hy-drogen in fuel cells by catalysis un-der mild temperature and pressureconditions. Unfortunately, gold nano-particles tend to lose their catalyticactivity after a few hours of use – aproblem that need to be overcome ifgold nanoparticles are to be used.At the Agency for Science, Tech-nology and Research (A*STAR) inSingapore, scientists have identifiedthe subtle, atomic-scale structuraltransformations that can activateand de-activate gold nanoparticlecatalysts – a finding that may leadto longer-lasting hydrogen fuel cells.Along with their colleagues, Dr. ZiyiZhong at the A*STAR Institute ofChemical and Engineering Scien-ces and Dr. Ming Lin at the A*STARInstitute of Materials Research andEngineering set out to design animproved catalyst for preferentialoxidation (PROX) reactions. Theirapproach transforms CO impuritiesin hydrogen gas – which can havea detrimental impact on the per-formance of fuel cells – into carbondioxide (CO2) on a ceramic supportcontaining metal catalysts.

The research team has previouslyfound that silica-based supports,called SBA-15, could boost CO re-moval by selectively absorbing theCO2 by-product. The researcherstook advantage of another SBA-15feature – a mesoporous frameworkdecorated by terminal amine groups– to engineer a novel PROX cata-lyst. First, the team used aminemodification to disperse a mixtureof gold and copper(II) oxide (CuO)precursors evenly over the SBA-15support. They then used heat treat-ment to generate gold and CuOnanoparticles on the SBA-15 sup-port. The numerous pores in SBA-

15 and the CuO particles work to-gether to hinder agglomeration ofgold nanoparticles – a major causeof catalyst de-activation.

The team then achieved an almostunprecedented chemical feat: local-ized structural characterization oftheir catalyst at atomic scale, usinghigh-resolution transmission elec-tron microscopy (HR-TEM) and 3-D electron tomography. These im-aging techniques revealed that theactive catalyst sites – gold or gold-copper alloy nanoparticles in the im-mediate vicinity of amorphous andcrystalline CuO – remained stablefor up to 13 hours. Eventually how-ever, the reducing atmosphere trans-forms CuO into copper(I) oxide andfree copper; the latter of which thenalloys with the gold nanoparticlesand deactivates them. Fortunately,heating to above 300°C reversed thealloying process and restored thecatalyst’s activity.


New fuel cell keepsgoing after thehydrogen runs outImagine a kerosene lamp that con-tinued to shine after the fuel wasspent, or an electric stove that couldremain hot during a power outage.Materials scientists at the School ofEngineering and Applied Sciences(SEAS) of Harvard University, theUnited States, have demonstratedan equivalent feat in clean energygeneration with a solid-oxide fuelcell (SOFC) that converts hydrogeninto electricity but can also storeelectrochemical energy like a bat-tery. This fuel cell can continue toproduce power for a short time afterits fuel has run out.

According to principal investigatorDr. Shriram Ramanathan, AssociateProfessor of Materials Science atSEAS, “This thin-film SOFC takes

advantage of recent advances in low-temperature operation to incorpo-rate a new and more versatile ma-terial.” Vanadium oxide (VOx) at theanode behaves as a multifunctionalmaterial, permitting the fuel cell toboth produce and store energy. Thefinding will be most salient for small-scale, portable energy applications,wherein a very compact and light-weight power supply is crucial andthe fuel supply may be interrupted.

The new SOFC uses a bi-layer ofplatinum and VOx for the anode,which allows the cell to continueoperating without fuel for up to 14times as long (3 minutes and 30seconds, at a current density of 0.2mA/cm2). This early result is onlya “proof of concept”, according toDr. Ramanathan, and his team pre-dicts that future improvements to thecomposition of the VOx-platinumanode will further extend the cell’slifespan. During normal operation,the amount of power produced bythe novel device is comparable tothat produced by a platinum-anodeSOFC. The special nanostructuredVOx layer sets up various chemi-cal reactions that continue after thehydrogen fuel has run out.

Three reactions that potentially takeplace within the cell due to the VOxanode, says Dr. Ramanathan. “Thefirst is the oxidation of vanadiumions, which we verified through XPS(X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy).The second is the storage of hydro-gen within the VOx crystal lattice,which is gradually released and oxi-

Laboratory set-up for testing solid-oxide fuel cells


Fuel Cells

dized at the anode. And the thirdphenomenon we might see is thatthe concentration of oxygen ions dif-fers from the anode to the cathode,so we may also have oxygen anionsbeing oxidized, as in a concentra-tion cell.” All the three reactions arecapable of feeding electrons into acircuit, but it is currently unclear ex-actly what allows the new fuel cellto keep running.

Source: www.seas.harvard.edu

Magnesium-airfuel cell developedResearch by Professor Takashi Yabeat the Tokyo Institute of Technology,Japan, on the potential of magne-sium in terms of energy generationhas shown that the metal holds agreat deal of promise in energy sys-tems. In terms of transportation, amagnesium-air fuel cell could be 7.5times more effective than lithium-ion batteries. Despite the potentialof these energy systems, the majo-rity of the fuel cell industry and itssupporters remain focused on hy-drogen. However, MagPower Sys-tems Inc. from Canada believes thatmagnesium-air fuel cell technologyis completely capable of compet-ing against hydrogen variants, if notreplacing them entirely.

MagPower Systems has developeda lightweight and efficient magne-sium-air fuel cell that it believes willbe a viable energy system in thenear future. The cell makes use ofhydrogen inhibitors, which reducethe prevalence of hydrogen gas. Thefuel cell also makes use of a gasdiffusion cathode and magnesiumimmersed in an electrolyte, a com-bination that generates a strongelectric current. Magnesium is arelatively inexpensive material, mak-ing the manufacture of the fuel cellcost-effective. MagPower notes thatthe magnesium-air fuel cell may bea popular energy system in military

and vehicle markets. Contact: Mag-Power Systems Inc., Suite 20, 1480Foster Street, White Rock, B.C.,Canada V4B 3X7. Tel: +1 (778) 2943211; Fax: +1 (778) 294 3212.


New hydrogen-powered fuel cellsystemToyota Motor Corporation, based inJapan, has developed a power sup-ply system that utilizes electricityproduced within a fuel cell bus tosupply electrical power to devicessuch as electrical appliances. Thefuel cell bus, which is powered byhydrogen fuel, has two electricaloutlets (100 VAC, 1.5 kW) insidethe cabin that can supply a maxi-mum output of 3 kW. Toyota is alsodeveloping a vehicle-to-home (V2H)system for supplying electricity froma fuel cell bus to a building’s exist-ing electrical wiring, with the goalof providing a maximum output of9.8 kW for 50 hours. With a full tankof hydrogen, a fuel cell bus with theV2H system could be used to powerthe lights inside an average schoolgymnasium (with a power consump-tion of approximately 100 kWh) forapproximately five days.

Source: www.newstatesman.com

Superior fuel cellmaterial developedCurrent commercially available fuelcells use platinum nanoparticlesas the catalyst because platinum

is the only metal that can resist thehighly acidic conditions inside sucha cell. However, the widespread useof fuel cells has been impeded bythe high cost of platinum and its lowstability. To overcome this limita-tion, a research team led by Prof.Jackie Y. Ying, Executive Directorof the Institute of Bioengineering andNanotechnology (IBN), Singapore,has discovered that by replacingthe central part of the catalyst withgold and copper alloy and leavingjust the outer layer in platinum, thenew hybrid material can provide fivetimes higher activity and greaterstability than the commercial plati-num catalyst.

IBN’s new nanocomposite materialcan produce at least 0.571 A of elec-tric current per milligram of platinum,compared with 0.109 A for commer-cial platinum catalysts. This is alsothe first time that a catalyst has beenshown to enhance both the stabilityand activity for the fuel cell reactionwith a significantly reduced platinumcontent. To make this catalyst moreactive than the commercial platinumcatalyst, the researchers designedthe core of the nanocrsytalline ma-terial to be gold-copper alloy, whichhas slightly smaller lattice spacingthan the platinum coating on thenanocrystal’s surface. This createsa compressive strain on the surfaceplatinum atoms, making platinummore active in the rate-limiting stepof oxygen reduction reaction for thefuel cell. Replacing the core of thenanoparticle with the less expen-sive gold-copper alloy cuts down theusage of platinum.

Source: phys.org

Open Energy InformationOpen Energy Information (OpenEI) is a knowledge sharing online com-munity dedicated to connecting people with the latest energy informationand data. It providesg access to energy-related information via geographicdiscovery, visualizations and apps, and topic-oriented gateways. For moreinformation, access:

http://en.openei.org


Single catalystfor oxidation andreduction of waterScientists at University of Grenoble,France, have developed a catalystbased on cobalt that generates hy-drogen from water in a simple elec-trochemical process, with the addedbonus that it can also be used toproduce oxygen. Mr. Vincent Arteroand his colleagues used reductiveelectrodeposition of cobalt dinitratehexahydrate in a potassium phos-phate buffer onto a fluorine-dopedtin oxide electrode. This producesa nanoparticulate coating of a layerof metallic cobalt on the electrode,covered by a cobalt-oxo/hydroxo-phosphate layer on the outside.

When this electrode is operatedagainst a silver/silver chloride elec-trode in an electrolyte of aqueouscobalt dinitrate, hydrogen gas isproduced at a potential differenceas low as 50 mV, which is far lowerthan those reported for other cobalt-based catalysts. Remarkably, whenthe same electrode is operated ata positive potential, typically +1.16V relative to the silver/silver chlorideelectrode, a stable anodic currentdensity is achieved and oxygen isproduced. This is made possible bya change in the structure of the cat-alyst under negative and positivepotentials.

Spectroscopic studies show thatthe cobalt layers act like a catalystwith two types of structure on thesame electrode. About half of theoriginal cobalt film is changed intoa cobalt oxide-based material atpositive potentials in a fast, redox-dependent transformation that isfully reversible without loss of acti-vity. This is the first time that a non-noble metal catalyst has exhibitedsuch behaviour and it is possiblebecause the materials on the elec-trode exist in equilibrium with metal

ions in solution. While the devicefor the use of the catalyst remainsto be developed, the prospects forcommercialization of the technol-ogy are good, says Mr. Artero.

Source: www.rsc.org

Hydrogen productionusing cheap catalystResearchers at University of Cam-bridge, the United Kingdom, haveproduced hydrogen from water usingan inexpensive catalyst under in-dustrially relevant conditions. Leadauthor of the research Dr. ErwinReisner, Head of Christian DopplerLaboratory at the University, said:“A hydrogen evolution catalyst thatis active under elevated oxygen lev-els is crucial if we are to develop anindustrial water-splitting process –a chemical reaction that separatesthe two elements that make up wa-ter. A real-world device will be expo-sed to atmospheric oxygen and willalso produce oxygen in situ as aresult of water splitting.”

According to the university, one ofthe many problems that scientistsface is finding an efficient and inex-pensive catalyst that can functionunder real-world conditions in water,under air and at room temperature.Currently, highly efficient catalystssuch as platinum are too expensiveand cheaper alternatives are typi-cally inefficient. The researchersdiscovered that a simple catalystcontaining cobalt, a comparativelyinexpensive and abundant metal,operates as an active catalyst inpH-neutral water and under atmos-pheric oxygen. Dr. Reisner said in astatement: “Our research has shownthat inexpensive materials such ascobalt are suitable to fulfil this chal-lenging requirement. Many hurdles,such as the rather poor stability ofthe catalyst, remain to be addres-sed, but our finding provides a firststep to produce green hydrogen

under relevant conditions.” The re-sults demonstrate that the catalystworks under air and the research-ers are currently working on a solarwater-splitting device, where fuelhydrogen and the by-product oxy-gen are produced simultaneously.

Source: www.theengineer.co.uk

Patent forplasma-arc-throughtechnologyMagneGas Corporation, the UnitedStates, has secured a patent for its“Plasma-Arc-Through Apparatus andProcess for Submerged ElectricArcs,” related to a technology thatconverts liquid waste into a hydro-gen-based metal working fuel andnatural gas alternative. The compa-ny’s patented Plasma Arc FlowTM

process entails flowing liquid wastethrough a submerged electric arcbetween coal electrodes. The arcdecomposes the liquid moleculesinto atoms and creates a plasmaaround the tips of the electrodes atabout 5,500°C.

The ‘Plasma Arc Flow’ moves theplasma away from the electrodesand controls the formation of thegas – MagneGasTM – that bubblesto the surface for collection. In thisway, the liquid waste is convertedinto MagneGas and sterile liquideffluent, with carbonaceous preci-pitates collected in a strainer forperiodical removal. MagneGas is aclean burning hydrogen-based fuelthat is essentially interchangeablewith natural gas. The gas can beutilized for metal working, cooking,heating, powering bi-fuel automo-biles, etc. The fuel gas has very lowgreenhouse gas emissions whencompared with fossil fuel. The re-finery has no odour or noise pollu-tion as it runs quietly in a totallysealed environment.

Source: www.magnegas.com

HYDROGEN ENERGY


BIOFUEL/BIOMASS ENERGY

Fermentation processdoubles biofuelproductionDr. Hao Feng, a scientist at Univer-sity of Illinois, the United States, hasfound a way around the bottleneckthat has frustrated biofuel produ-cers in the past and could signific-antly reduce the cost of the energyinvolved in making it as well. “Thefirst challenge in butanol productionis that at a certain concentration, thefuel being created becomes toxicto the organism used to make it(Clostridium pasteurianum and otherstrains), and that toxicity limits theamount of fuel that can be made inone batch. The second issue is thehigh energy cost of removing buta-nol from the fermentation broth atthe high concentrations used by theindustry. We have solved both pro-blems,” Dr. Feng says.

Dr. Feng’s team successfully testedthe use of a non-ionic surfactant, orco-polymer, to create small struc-tures that capture and hold butanolmolecules. “This keeps the amountof butanol in the fermentation brothlow so it doesn’t kill the organismand we can continue to produce it,”he says. The process, called ex-tractive fermentation, increases thequantity of butanol produced dur-ing fermentation by 100 per centor more. The research team thenmakes use of one of the polymer’sproperties – its sensitivity to tem-perature. When the fermentationprocess is finished, the scientistsheat the solution until a cloud ap-pears and two layers form.

“We use a process called cloudpoint separation,” explains Dr. Feng.“Two phases form, with the secondfacing the polymer-rich phase. Whenwe remove the second phase, wecan recover the butanol, achieving athree- to four-fold reduction in energyuse there because we don’t have to

remove as much water as in tradi-tional fermentation.” A bonus is thatthe co-polymers can be recycledand can be reused at least threetimes after butanol is extracted withlittle effect on phase separation be-haviour and butanol enrichment abili-ty. After the first recovery, the volumeof butanol recovered is slightly lowerbut is still at a high concentration,Dr. Feng says.

Source:www.laboratoryequipment.com

Economically viablefuel productionIn the United States, a new processdeveloped by Gas Technology In-stitute (GTI) to produce fuel frommunicipal waste, algae, corn stalksand similar materials was present-ed at the 244th National Meeting &Exposition of the American Chemi-cal Society (ACS). The new processmakes use of a technology namedIntegrated Hydropyrolysis and Hy-droconversion (IH2), which utilizeshydrogen fuel that is produced inter-nally as well as a series of catalyststhat are used to generate chemicalreactions. The process then usesthese chemical reactions to convertnon-food biomass materials, suchas wood or corn stalk, into petrol,diesel or jet fuel. GTI claims thatthe process is both efficient and via-ble in terms of fuel production as itis capable of producing high volumesof clean fuel.

The fuel produced by the processis ready-to-use as soon as it iscreated. This sets the GTI processapart from other biofuel productionmethods. Conventional biofuel pro-duction requires the fuel to be re-fined before it can be used. The IH2technology makes use of existingmaterials and equipment that makesit economically viable and keeps theproduction of greenhouse gaseslow. The technology also produces

the hydrogen it needs internally. TheUnited States National RenewableEnergy Laboratory has examinedthe IH2 technology and determinedthat it can produce petrol at a costof approximately US$0.53 per litre.


Major step inelectricity generationfrom wastewaterEngineers at Oregon State Univer-sity (OSU), the United States, havemade a breakthrough in the perform-ance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs)that can produce electricity directlyfrom wastewater, opening the doorto a future in which waste treatmentplants not only will power themsel-ves, but will sell excess electricity.The new OSU technology can nowproduce 10-50 more times the elec-tricity per volume than most otherapproaches used in MFCs and 100times more electricity than some.Researchers say this could even-tually change the way that waste-water is treated all over the world,replacing the widely used “activa-ted sludge” process that has beenin use for almost a century.

OSU researchers reported on thepromise of this technology severalyears ago, but the systems in useat that time produced far less elec-trical power. With new concepts –reduced anode-cathode spacing,evolved microbes and new separa-tor materials – the technology cannow produce more than 2 kW/m3 ofliquid reactor volume. This amountof power density far exceeds any-thing else done with MFCs. The sys-tem also treats wastewater moreeffectively than anaerobic diges-tion, and does not have any of theenvironmental drawbacks of thattechnology, such as the productionof unwanted hydrogen sulphide orthe release of methane.


Biofuel/Biomass Energy

This technology cleans sewage bya very different approach than theaerobic bacteria used in the past.Bacteria oxidize the organic matterand, in the process, produce elec-trons that run from the anode to thecathode within the fuel cell, creatingan electrical current. Almost anytype of organic waste material canbe used to produce electricity – notonly wastewater, but also grass,straw, animal waste, and by-pro-ducts from such operations as thewine, beer or dairy industries. TheOSU system has been proven at asubstantial scale in the laboratory,said Ms. Hong Liu, an associateprofessor in the OSU Departmentof Biological and Ecological Engi-neering, and the next step would bea pilot study.

Source: esciencenews.com

Biofuel waste productrecycled forelectricityDistiller’s Dried Grain with Solubles(DDGS) is a waste product from bio-ethanol production that is common-ly used as a low-cost animal feed.At University of Surrey, the UnitedKingdom, researchers incorpora-ted DDGS together with bacteria-inoculated sludge from a wastewatertreatment plant in their microbial fuelcell (MFC). The design of the MFCphysically separated the bacteria,

which used the DDGS for growth,from their oxygen supply, forcingthe bacteria into sending electronsaround a circuit leading to a supplyof oxygen. By tapping into this elec-tron flow, electricity could be gener-ated from the waste.

MFCs offer the ability to convert awide range of complex organic wasteproducts into electrical energy. How-ever, finding cost-efficient startingproducts is necessary to help com-mercialize the process, explainedMs. Lisa Buddrus who is conductingthe research. “The next step for usis to identify the electrogenic bac-terial species that grow on DDGS.Furthermore, by looking at geneticsacross this microbial community,we will be able to better understandthe metabolic processes and essen-tial genes involved in electron lib-eration and transfer,” she said.

“We have found something reallyuseful from a waste product withoutaffecting its value as animal feedand at the same time improving itsenvironmental status,” said Profes-sor Mike Bushell who is leading thegroup. Besides being low-cost, useDDGS in MFCs is very environment-friendly. The waste that is left fol-lowing electricity generation is ofgreater value, as it is less reactivewith oxygen and so less polluting.


A process that couldimprove biofuelproductionA new patented process developedby microbiologists at Missouri Uni-versity of Science and Technology,the United States, could reduce thecost and the reliance on fossil fuelsin biofuel production, while stream-lining the process. Prof. MelanieMormileb has found a bacterium,Halanaerobium hydrogeniformans,that can be used to streamline the

production of biofuel. Because thebacterium thrives in high-alkaline,high-salt conditions, it can eliminatethe need to neutralize the pH of thebiomass, a step required in the alkalitreatment of biomass for productionof hydrogen fuel and other biofuels.

The conventional method of biofuelproduction involves steam-blastingof switchgrass and straw to sepa-rate lignin from the cellulose, whichis needed to create the biofuel. Theprocess requires electricity, produ-ced by either coal or natural gas, togenerate the steam. The processreleases considerable amounts ofcarbon dioxide, while maintainingthe dependency on fossil fuels. Thedegradation of lignin produces cer-tain compounds that impede fer-mentation and leads to overall lowhydrogen yields. Treating switch-grass and straw with an alkalinesubstance removes the lignin withlimited formation of the harmful com-pounds, but the resulting slurry ishighly alkaline and very salty. Aneutralization step was thereforerequired before the fermentation pro-cess could begin. The discovery ofH. hydrogeniformans has elimina-ted this step.

“We are seeing hydrogen produc-tion similar to a genetically modifi-ed organism and we haven’t begunto tweak the genome of this bac-terium yet,” said Dr. Mormile, whois now looking for ways to optimizegrowth of the organism and minim-ize the cost. She is working in col-laboration with Dr. Oliver Sitton, anassociate professor of chemicaland biochemical engineering, tooptimize growth of the bacterium ina bioreactor. “We have shown thatwe can produce hydrogen in a lab-scale reactor,” Dr. Mormile stated.“The next step in the project is tofind the best growth medium andoptimize the hydrogen productionfrom this organism.”

Source: news.mst.edu

Ms. Hong Liu works on the MFCthat treats wastewater


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