Showing posts with label solar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label solar. Show all posts

Greenhouse Pollution Reduced by Natural Gas

Plants destroyed in australia
| Impact on greenhouse gases reduced with LNG over coal power generation greenhouse computer pollution to type on reduced numbers natural greenhouse figure pollution keys gas text natural in letters keyboard gas paragraph greenhouse create pollution colors code software gas eh reduced pollution color greenhouse or natural up reduced || global warming climate strategic electricity generation environmental shale oil energy emissions || emissions energy oil shale environmental electricity strategic climate warming global || emissions company energy reduce oil power study methane development ghg community leakage producing global studies information companies shale production plants giving local communities spirit operations worldwide fact share states united industry flaring sustainable questions resources water innovative market produce magazine libya brunei timor-leste australia china indonesia malaysia qatar norway colombia canada alaska standards data agency protection environmental wells joined generation electricity analysis strategic institute joint published liquids university year areas plan venting change climate technology releases warming compared estimates common contact presentations corporate search career locations reporting impact seekers grant employee education math stewardship biodiversity working safely cooperation business solutions creating exploring find explore legacy sheets exploration independent || independent exploration sheets legacy explore find exploring creating solutions business cooperation safely working biodiversity stewardship math education employee grant seekers reporting locations career search corporate presentations contact common estimates compared warming releases technology climate chang venting plan areas year university liquids published joint institute strategic analysis electricity generation joined wells environmental protection agency data standards alaska canada colombia norway qatar malaysia indonesia china australia timor-leste brunei libya magazine produce market innovative water resources questions sustainable flaring industry united states share fact worldwide operations spirit communities local giving plants production shale companies information studies global producing leakage community ghg development methane conocophillips study power oil reduce energy company emissions || impact ||
Natural gas story

WA Meteorite Makes Things Clearer for Astronomers

Science: the latest meteorite give insight into formation of the solar system
Scientists are interested in a space rock. The meteorite crashed into the Australian outback a year ago and has unique features. It is currently in London undergoing tests and will eventually be returned to the Museum of Western Australia.
Western Australian Meteorite
The meteorite is small, only as big as a tennis ball. Because its trajectory was tracked its origin is known. This is unusual: of the 50,000 meteorites that have hit the Earth over the last 200 years  the sources of only 10 have been ascertained.

Tracking of the meteorite was carried out by Curtin University, London's Imperial College and the Ondrejov Observatory in the Czech Republic. The point of impact was only 100m from the projected point. Meteorites are the oldest rocks being 4.5 billion years old. Critical information about the formation of the solar system will be gained.
 Astronomy by Ty Buchanan 
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Nanodots From Pencil Leads

If you want to improve the efficiency of solar cells, use your pencil. Well, the graphite in pencils can now be used to make tiny nanodots. Graphite rods in sodium hydroxide solution produce nanodots which can potentially be used to augment existing solar panels.
Nanodots from pencil leads
The Pencil study involved using pencil "leads" as the cathode and anode, which were dropped into ethanolic sodium hydroxide. Nano particles of 3 nanometers (nm) were produced. Nanodots in a compound with carboxyl and hydroxyl collected on the anode. The nanodots were then drawn into the pores of a titanium and silicon dioxide template.

Other mesoporous materials have been tested. They each have particular properties in regard to sensing, catalysis and optoelectronics. This allows for fine tuning of solar panels. The pencil lead system improved current transfer from simulated sunlight by 38 per cent.
 Chemistry by Ty Buchanan 
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NASA Announces That Life is Out There

There is something out there - so NASA says. The U.S. space body announced that life producing water exists on Mars and more information on Pluto is about to come out soon. The New Horizons spacecraft is working perfectly and data collection is continuing.
New Horizons spacecraft photographing Pluto
High resolution photographs have been taken of Pluto for some time now. They have been analyzed. Findings will interesting. It seems we are not totally alone. Life seems to be everywhere in the cosmos.

Pluto even has its own weather. The "environment" changes like here on Earth. Apparently the planet is geologically active. NASA has only downloaded 10 per cent of the data so far. Some fascinating insights will be made known on Thursday.
Science by Ty Buchanan
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 LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS SAYS NASA

Organic sem-conductors

The path to develop better solar energy products from silicon are exhausted. Other materials need to be examined to provide more efficient solar panel operation. Scientists are analyzing a wide spectrum of materials.
Solar panels
Plastics show a great deal of promise, particularly at the molecular level. Organic sem-conductors appear to be the key to future developments. This is a type of plastic that conducts electricity.  More effective conductivity seems to be the key not so much heat generation.

It is expensive to make silicon conductors for solar cells. OSCs can be manipulated at the molecular level to reduce energy loss, thus more energy is accumulated. Improved efficiency will see the whole production method change for solar cells.
 
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Battery Technology Not Advancing Quickly Enough

Despite claims that battery technology will improve over the next few years, the battery has remained the same for half a century. Sure base materials that make the battery store electricity have changed, but not that much in recent years.
Communication batteries
All the same battery technology
Due to mass production and increasing demand the price of batteries will fall. This is just economics really. The cost of Solar has fallen 80 per cent in five years. Don't expect batteries for your phone or tablet to fall this much though.

The great hope is that advances in solar technology in electrical catchment and storage can be "transferred" to other products. Communication and motor vehicle manufacturers could be putting too much faith in this, however. It may not happen.

Batteries can be charged in a matter of minutes now. The future could see people carrying a "spare" mobile phone power pack in their pocket. Exchange stations could spread and be ubiquitous everywhere.
Technology by Ty Buchanan
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Biomass is the Wrong Way forward

Much has been said about the adoption of biomass technology to replace wind and solar energy production. Biomass involves the burning of sugars, starches and oils from crops to make biodiesel and ethanol. The cost of gathering this waste has not been factored in. Wind and solar need maintenance but for the most part they just sit there and do their job.

Farmers have simply left waste in the fields - ultimately burning or plowing them in. They do not see money in gathering up the left overs from crops. Environmentally, biomass looks good. However, financially they are a no-go. Who will pay a higher price for electricity? Charges are already extremely high using coal which is just dug from the ground.

The biggest problem is that biomass involves burning while wind and solar do not. Just substituting biomass for widely available conventional fossil fuels is not a an ideal move forward. This is like electric cars which are only substitutes for petrol motor vehicles - a poor and inefficient one at that.

Saying that biomass can be made from wood and straw and could reduce the use of normal fossil fuels is a mistake. It is not as if oil is running out: it isn't. Australia is a "bowl" of natural resources. We do not have to be efficient with industrial waste like European countries which have to import oil.

To make biomass productive will take capital that Australia does not have. This country has a large deficit. It caused the Coalition government to abandon the carbon tax and redistribute savings back to the consumer. After tax collection costs, the government got very little income from the tax. It is simply not rational for Australia to abandon coal in power generation when other countries do nothing to reduce carbon emissions.
Technology by Ty Buchanan
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Efficient Solar Panel Paint Developed

There is about to be a revolution and it is not wearable technology. A spray on paint to quickly make solar panels has been perfected. The paint's main ingredient is perovskite - a calcium titanium oxide mineral. Furthermore, it costs very little.

Soon cheaper solar panels will be flooding out of factory production lines. They will be used everywhere - even on wearables! Perovskite is twice as effective as current spray-on solar collectors.

The environment will be "covered all over" with this new effective paint. Every surface facing upward whether on something mobile or static will have this coating.

Dramatic change will seen on buildings. Indeed, it will be available in many colors and will become an important part of the designed environment. Battery powered cars will have the paint completely covering the vehicle. It will become as common as ordinary paint is today.
Technology by Ty Buchanan
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Australia Breaks Supercritical Steam Record to Replace Coal

Australia has made a new world record in "supercritical" steam. This involves the use of solar panels to generate heat that boils water and generates steam. The steam could be used instead of coal in power plants.

Pressure reached 3,400 psi at a heat of 1,058°F. This is peak performance "stuff". It rivals coal in its efficiency. The first time a non-carbon source has at least equalled the efficiency of coal.

Six hundred mirrors (heliostats) were used and their beams were directed at two towers housing solar receivers and turbines. In the future power generation could be virtually free from the sun during daylight hours.

This technology is new and supersedes older "subcritical" steam production. More work has to be done but there is no doubt power generation will eventually not need coal. It is not good news for Australian exports. It is good for the world though.
Science by Ty Buchanan
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Vast Solar Builds New Solar Thermal Plant

With such a hot sunny climate Australia should invest more in solar energy. The heat also needs to be converted into electricity. With the sun beating down on us, there is almost free energy to be had.  Sure there is a cost. Even if it costs as much as coal generation we should go ahead and develop it. China has signed a gas agreement with Russia. As time goes by they will reduce their purchases of coal from Australia. This country should heed the signs and change policy at home as well.

Vast Solar had built the nation's first solar thermal standalone plant at Forbes, NSW. It will generate 6MWth of electricity. Storage will enable electricity to be pushed into the grid 24 hours a day.  There are plans to construct a 30MW operation, and other countries are showing interest in having similar plants established by Vast Solar. The big step has been with improved storage making a viable day and night supply. The new plant has been called the concentrated solar thermal (CST) system because it continually provides power.

Wind generation is changeable. Some days there is no wind so no electricity is produced. Plants can be built in windy regions with wind generators alongside as backup.

Tony Abbott's intention to close all such plants to protect the coal industry is backward looking. He is blind to the changes that are occurring in the world. Demand for coal will fall as countries move to gas and pollution free production systems. Anyway, Tony Abbott's plans will not pass the Senate.
Technology by Ty Buchanan
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Individual Solar Power Systems Will Replace Power Stations

So the energy companies have Australians by the "..." in regard to charging what they like for electricity? This may be fact now but in a few years the tables will be turned. By 2018 the cost of off-grid power will be on par with charges by electricity producers and distributors.

Battery storage from solar generators will be adopted by people living in the bush. Some are so far away from the main grid that they do not have an electricity connection at all. The methods they find cost effective will be copied by city people. There are varied methods and combinations so choices can be made.

Rural towns could pool resources and create a generating system for the whole town. They will have to solve the problem of the unevenness of power flow to households which results in failing TVs, fridges and washing machines first though.

Because of costs saved from higher scale production those in higher populated centers could set up non-carbon electricity system cheaper, so hobbyists and experimenters could be first to go off-grid.

With this trend, the part-privatization of electricity by allowing another level of distributors into the market will prove to be a problem. These distributors will face falling profits and cost cutting could begin. The average consumer could face lower charges.

Non-carbon energy methods no longer need government subsidies. They are now cost effective. Indeed, set up costs are falling very rapidly. Increases in recent electricity charges due to generating companies repairing old infrastructure could be money wasted. The new electricity poles could be left standing with no active wiring in the very near future.
Conservation by Ty Buchanan
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