Solar Cell Nanotechnology. The Desertec Solar Energy Project Has Run into Trouble. Supporters hailed the Desertec Industrial Initiative as the most ambitious solar energy project ever when it was founded in 2009. Major industrial backers pledged active involvement, politicians saw a win-win proposition and environmentalists fawned over Europe's green energy future. For a projected budget of €400 billion ($560 billion), the venture was to pipe clean solar power from the Sahara Desert through a Mediterranean super-grid to energy-hungry European countries. Today, a scant three years later, there is still little to show for the project but the ambition. The list of recent setbacks is daunting. The project has failed to break ground on a single power plant. "Much to his regret, Minister Rösler could not participate in the third Dii Desert Energy Conference due to conflicting schedules," the German Economy Ministry said in a statement explaining Philipp Rösler's absence.
Political backing for energy from the desert, in other words, is evaporating. 'Where Is the Tax Money? ' Solar storm as desert plan to power Europe falters. The Desertec Solar Energy Project Has Run into Trouble. Solar_Cell_Inspired_by_Plants.pdf. Advantages and Disadvantages Of Hydrogen Energy. Hydrogen energy is an important part of developed nation’s clean energy plan.
Like most sources of clean energy it is relatively new, and as such there is much more to discover about it. Lets look at and answer a few questions about hydrogen energy with our focus being a survey of its positives and negatives. Hydrogen is the most basic of all Earth elements. The hydrogen atom is made up of a single proton and a single electron. As such, it is very abundant, but it doesn’t really exist as a separate form of matter. Instead it is usually combined with other elements. Advantages of Hydrogen Energy 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 8. Disadvantages of Hydrogen Energy And yet, hydrogen energy is not quite the perfect, super clean and cheap energy source that so many companies and governments would love to get their hands on. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. References: National Hydrogen Association: Frequently Asked Questions U.S. U.S. UNEPs programme for reducing ghg emisions. Building in Zimbabwe Modeled After Termite Mounds. Biomimicry’s Cool Alternative: Eastgate Centre in Zimbabwe The Eastgate Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe, typifies the best of green architecture and ecologically sensitive adaptation.
The country’s largest office and shopping complex is an architectural marvel in its use of biomimicry principles. The mid-rise building, designed by architect Mick Pearce in conjunction with engineers at Arup Associates, has no conventional air-conditioning or heating, yet stays regulated year round with dramatically less energy consumption using design methods inspired by indigenous Zimbabwean masonry and the self-cooling mounds of African termites!
Termites in Zimbabwe build gigantic mounds inside of which they farm a fungus that is their primary food source. The fungus must be kept at exactly 87 degrees F, while the temperatures outside range from 35 degrees F at night to 104 degrees F during the day. The Eastgate Centre, largely made of concrete, has a ventilation system which operates in a similar way. Termite Mounds | Science Articles. Consider this: Buildings use 40% of all energy consumed by people. How is it that in nature, species such as termites create remarkable temperature-control systems to keep themselves cool, without fans, air blowers, or air conditioners? Imagine for a moment a termite mound on the African savanna, where temperatures swing between 40°C (104°F) during the day and 1°C (34°F) at night. Termites survive, though, only if their environment has a constant temperature of 30°C (86°F).
That’s the temperature needed to grow the fungus that is their food. So how do the termites keep a mound at a consistent temperature? First, let’s take a look at how the mounds are built. Termites create small openings in the wet mud at the bottom of the mounds. The termite mound also makes use of natural air currents. Applying Lessons from Termites Architect Michael Pearce based his design of the Eastgate Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe, on the design of termite mounds. Related Links. Biomimicry Institute - Termite-Inspired Air Conditioning. Architect Mick Pearce collaborated with engineers at Arup Associates to build a mid-rise building in Harare, Zimbabwe that has no air-conditioning, yet stays cool thanks to a termite-inspired ventilation system. The Eastgate building is modeled on the self-cooling mounds of Macrotermes michaelseni, termites that maintain the temperature inside their nest to within one degree of 31 °C, day and night, - while the external temperature varies between 3 °C and 42 °C.
Eastgate uses only 10 percent of the energy of a conventional building its size, saved 3.5 million in air conditioning costs in the first five years, and has rents that are 20% lower than a newer building next door. The TERMES project, organized by Rupert Soar of Loughborough University, is digitally scanning termite mounds to map the three dimensional architecture in a level of detail never achieved before. Eastgate Center in Harare, Zimbabwe. Hygroskin | Architect Achim Menges takes inspiration from natural materials to create a structure that changes form depending on the climate. The Desertec Solar Energy Project Has Run into Trouble. Sahara desert project. Perhaps one of the most important distinctions shown in the list of comparisons above is that conventional human-made systems are engineered to maximise one goal whereas ecosystems have developed over time towards an optimised overall system. The team has been working to develop the idea of system optimisation as far as possible in developing a whole cluster of technologies that can be connected up so that the waste from one becomes the resource for another.
The team intend to use biomimicry throughout the design and development process. In the future it may be possible to make mirrored surfaces from proteins at ambient temperature and pressure as silver Scarabaeidae beetles do, scratch-free coatings for the mirrors based on the sand skink which can swim in sand without suffering from abrasion, linings for the sea pipe that use the same anti-fouling furanones found in seaweeds, condensation surfaces based on camel’s nostrils and many other innovations that would add to the project.
Furture. Fog basking beetle. Ivanpah Solar power. John Dabiri - more Efficient Wind Farms Inspired by Schools of Fish. Wind turbine designs have improved significantly in recent years, but wind farms are still pretty inefficient. That’s because traditional wind turbines — the ones with three huge blades — interfere with each other. Putting two or more large turbines in close proximity produces wind blocks and vortices that decrease the efficiency of the overall wind farm. But CalTech biophysicist and MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” winner John Dabiri discovered a solution to that problem by studying the movement of schools fish. He found that vertical-axis wind turbines with blades that resemble fins can work together to more efficiently harness wind energy. There is a reason that wind energy developers use those large, three-blade wind turbines: When standing alone, a single traditional windmill is much more efficient than other types of wind turbines.
“Schools of fish swimming in the ocean have to contend with vortices and disturbances caused by the other fish,” Dabiri told Sierra Magazine. John Dabiri. John Dabiri is a biophysicist whose work draws on a wide range of fields—including theoretical fluid dynamics, evolutionary biology, and biomechanics—to unravel the secrets of one of the earliest means of animal locomotion. He studies some of the simplest multicellular organisms, jellyfish (medusae), which propel themselves by contracting cells in their bell-shaped outer skin and generating jet forces in the tail end, with tentacles trailing behind. From a theoretical engineering perspective, he has shown that elucidating the mechanisms of locomotion depends on detailed mathematical analysis of the fluid vortex rings that jellyfish form in the surrounding water by contracting their bell; his results significantly increase our knowledge of the impact of size and speed on the formation of optimal vortex rings.
Renzo Piano's Dragonfly-Inspired Turbine Can Harvest Energy from the Slowest Winds. As we shift away from fossil fuels, many utilities have focused on building the biggest and most powerful wind turbines possible to meet growing energy needs. Architect Renzo Piano has taken a different approach, however, focusing his efforts on a compact, yet super-efficient wind turbine that anyone can erect in their backyard. Called the “Dragonfly Invisible Wind Turbine” the two-blade design mimics the delicate dragonfly’s ability to float on the slightest of breezes. Based on the physics of dragonfly flight, Piano’s mini-turbine can harvest energy from winds that blow as slow as four miles an hour.
The dragonfly-inspired turbine is currently undergoing testing by the international renewable energy corporation ENEL Green Power. Wondering why they are interested in a tiny wind turbine rather than a massive one? Most residential turbine designs are big, loud, and often have an adverse affect on property values. All images via Renzo Piano/ENEL Green Power via PSFK. How much do current wind turbines cost? Wind turbines come in many shapes and sizes, but here is a general guideline on how much they cost: Total costs for installing a commercial-scale wind turbine will vary significantly depending on the number of turbines ordered, cost of financing, when the turbine purchase agreement was executed, construction contracts, the location of the project, and other factors.
Cost components for wind projects include things other than the turbines, such as wind resource assessment and site analysis expenses; construction expenses; permitting and interconnection studies; utility system upgrades, transformers, protection and metering equipment; insurance; operations, warranty, maintenance, and repair; legal and consultation fees. Other factors that will impact your project economics include taxes and incentives. The costs for a utility scale wind turbine in 2012 range from about $1.3 million to $2.2 million per MW of nameplate capacity installed.
For More Information: Interview janine - wind farms. Noain City Hall, designed by Zon-e Arquitectos was designed from the ground up to accentuate its state of the art passive and active energy saving systems. The futuristic building has a double skinned façade encased with a metal exoskeleton, with bright foliage sprouting through. The innovative building looks more like a nature reserve than a stuffy governmental building - we hope that other cities take note!
Since energy conservation is the theme and focus of the building, almost every aspect of the design reflects this. The first step that Zon-e took to conserve energy was to maximize the usage of natural light, cutting down on electricity costs. The plan of the building is a series of layers, which let light flow freely from space to space. Additionally, the entre façade, aside from the windows, forms a translucent skin, which glows at night and lets filtered light in during the day. The active systems are just as impressive. . + Zon-e Arquitectos Via Arch Daily. Notes on video.