Anaconda Wave-Power Generator

 What's Hot  1 Response »
Aug 042011
 

Anacondas in the water

“Anaconda” is not just the name of a big snake anymore; Anaconda is also the name for a new wave-power generating technology. Britain is hoping to release the Anaconda into their coastal waters as an alternative, and renewable energy source. The Anaconda is an invention that could help the UK achieve it’s goal of using 15% renewable energy by 2020, a goal many experts predict they will miss by a mere 1%. (Guardian)

Like the snake, the Anaconda generator has a long and rubbery body capable of wriggling with the waves. Measuring 656 feet in length and with a diameter of 22 feet, Anaconda technology would easily become the biggest sea serpent out there. As one site put it, the generator would be “Of such colossal girth that it would require at least a dozen chorus girls hand in hand to reach around it.” (The Register)

The way that the Anaconda generates power can be related to the way water reacts within a water balloon. If you hit one side of the water balloon a wave would be sent through the rubber giving it a “giggling effect”. Whereas in a water ballon the waves would be passed back and forth, in an Anaconda, a generator attached to one end harnesses the waves energy.

The Anaconda power generating process as described by Science Daily:

“A wave hitting the end squeezes it and causes a ‘bulge wave’ to form inside the tube. As the bulge wave runs through the tube, the initial sea wave that caused it runs along the outside of the tube at the same speed, squeezing the tube more and more and causing the bulge wave to get bigger and bigger. The bulge wave then turns a turbine fitted at the far end of the device and the power produced is fed to shore via a cable.”

The Anaconda’s innovative generation method has been verified in lab test experiments (Video below), and has been supported by Carbon Trust. The Anaconda has not yet seen real action in the seas. Britain is hoping to see the Anaconda swimming by 2014.

Unlike other tidal technology, the Anaconda’s maintenance and production cost are low due to its durable and simplistic structure. The Anaconda would not be susceptible to erosion like other metal machinery because it is made of natural rubber and fabric, the lack of mechanical parts means lower maintenance than it’s tidal generating counterparts.

According Anaconda Engineer Rod Rainey,  ”If the worst comes to the worst it’ll only be washed up on the beach, and you can patch it up and put it back out there,”

The Anaconda would be anchored to the sea floor, with it’s “mouth” facing the waves, and “tail” generator producing as much as 1 megawatt of power, which could power an estimated thousand homes.

The Anaconda is an exciting technology to watch as it leaves it’s “proof-of-concept trials” and enters into production, and finally implementation.

Watch the videos below to learn more about the Anaconda:

Sources:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/06/anaconda-wave-power

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/04/anaconda_wave_power_generators/

http://www.bulgewave.com/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2009/may/05/wave-tidal-hydropower-energy?picture=346906072

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080703101329.htm

http://www.ukti.gov.uk/investintheuk/sectoropportunities/environment/item/101339.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/19/renewableenergy.alternativeenergy

Images:

http://www.reuk.co.uk/Anaconda-Bulge-Wave-Power-Generator.htm

http://www.rexresearch.com/farleywave/farley.htm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1177844/Wave-future-The-giant-rubber-sea-snakes-generate-electricity-tens-thousands-UK-homes.html

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14258-giant-rubber-snake-could-be-the-future-of-wave-power.html

The Solar Serpent Super Power Freeway

 What's Hot  No Responses »
Jun 062011
 

What is that?

Shade, grace, and power; three things the proposed Santa Monica freeway “skin” would provide. The “skin” of the Solar Serpent is made up of solar panels; diamond shaped solar panels would be interlocked just like the pattern of snake’s scales (image). 150 GWh of power could be annually delivered to local communities through this system.

Snaking its way 15 miles over the Santa Monica freeway, covered with 600,000 solar panels, the Solar Serpent could provide enough power to all of Venice, California, which has a population of 29,252.

Aside from harnessing solar power, the Serpent over the freeway would also provide shade to all those Californians who have their car air conditioning on full blast. For those who have electric cars, there are power-up stations under the Serpent in the proposed design.

Mans Tham, the Swedish architect that created the concept for the Solar Serpent, has even bigger plans for the Serpent’s power in the future. Someday, Tham would like to use advanced technology to somehow harness the C02 emitted from cars, using the Serpent “skin”, and put it to use somewhere, or at least make sure it does not make its way into the atmosphere.

The Solar Serpent would also be an aesthetically pleasing feature, as you can see from the picture it looks like a blue river or snake spanning across the distance. The location of the freeway is ideal for harnessing solar energy as more power is lost the greater distance it has to travel; the freeway runs directly through industrial communities, and could serve as a source of clean efficient power for them.

There is no information about a groundbreaking date for the construction of the Santa Monica Solar Serpent, as of now, this is a concept design. What would you think of a Solar Serpent snaking it’s way over your city’s freeways?

Sources:

http://www.zip-codes.com/city/CA-VENICE.asp

http://inhabitat.com/massive-solar-serpent-winds-along-the-santa-monica-freeway/

http://www.gizmag.com/solar-serpent-electricity-generating-freeways/16877/

http://www.greenmuze.com/climate/energy/3194-solar-serpent-highway-.html

Sources:

http://inhabitat.com/massive-solar-serpent-winds-along-the-santa-monica-freeway/

The Prius Energy Coaster

 What's Hot  No Responses »
May 092011
 

Parts of a Prius

The technology modern hybrid cars are using could be beneficial to other industry’s interested in reducing their energy consumption. One of the leaders in hybrid technology is the Toyota Prius. To demonstrate the multipurpose function of hybrid car’s technology Toyota engineers constructed a roller coaster track and built a prototype roller coaster cart. The coaster cart was fitted with an engine, wiring, batteries and the Hybrid Synergy Drive system from a Prius.

The coaster track and cart were built to see if hybrid technology could generate more power than what was being put into it. The team of engineers built a 70-foot track and set the Prius roller coaster cart at the top of a ten-foot platform.

The Prius breaking system harvests kinetic energy that would otherwise be lost to heat and friction. From the ten-foot platform down the track, 30 amps of 200 volts were being captured by the cart’s system.

In the video you can visually see the amount of power being captured as it is used to light up real amusement park signs around the track. Toyota’s project was inspired to inspire future engineers into learning how to capture the energy all around that is being lost to heat and friction.

The Drop

Toyota’s model track is simply banking off of the “what goes up must come down” concept. And is simply trying to harness the energy of objects “coming down” such as the decrease in speed in a vehicle or the stopping of an amusement park ride.

Imagine an airplane that did not land on the ground but on a platform suspended in the air, as the plane landed and gradually came down the platform to the ground it would be gathering energy from the falling motion of friction. This hypothetical landing platform could help recoup some of the energy lost during takeoff and cruising.

Sources:

http://chasnote.com/2011/05/05/toyota-prius-self-powered-roller-coaster/

http://www.notcot.com/archives/2011/05/2011-prius-rollercoaster.php

http://www.toyota.com/ideas-for-good/projectscoasterinfo.html

http://inhabitat.com/prius-powered-roller-coaster-is-made-up-of-toyota-parts/

Images:

http://www.notcot.com/archives/2011/05/2011-prius-rollercoaster.php

Generate Power on a Walk around the Block

 What's Hot  1 Response »
Mar 022011
 

Power Generating Fabric Bristles

What happens when your walking to class and your ipod and cellphone dies?  How will you get enough battery life to call your mom back? What if you could plug your ipod or cellphone directly into your jacket or jeans. With microscopic bristles rubbing against one another with every heartbeat, every step, and every handshake you could become a walking power generator.

Georgia Tech developed the technology. The bristles are coated with zinc oxide nanowires that convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. A square meter of this fabric could give your ipod the battery it needs to finish that playlist or give your cell the boost to finish the call, roughly 80 kilowatts of power.

“The two fibers scrub together just like two bottle brushes with their bristles touching, and the piezoelectric-semiconductor process converts the mechanical motion into electrical energy,” Said Professor Zhong Lin Wang who is overseeing the development of this technology at Georgia Tech.

The material could also be used in tents, curtains, awnings, umbrellas or anything else that is subject to mechanical movement by way of body, wind, or other.

We may very soon be on the verge of developing energy wherever we go. I have covered numerous innovations such as sweet and simple as this one. Combined, all of these technologies could be used to create a truly sustainable utopia. Have hope for the future.

Sources:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/20278/

http://medgadget.com/archives/2008/02/electricity_generating_fabric.html