Global warming could cut number of Arctic hurricanes, study finds

Research says storms that hamper the exploitation of Arctic reserves may halve by 2100, but experts warn against oil rush.

Photo: treehugger.com
A reduction in storms may open up some Arctic regions, but they would simply move to other areas.

Global warming could halve the frequency of Arctic hurricanes – extreme storms that strike the north Atlantic during winter – by 2100, according to a new study, potentially encouraging exploitation of the region's oil reserves.

"Our results provide a rare example of climate change driving a decline in extreme weather, rather than an increase," says Matthias Zahn at the University of Reading. His study, published in the Nature journal, is the first to use a global climate model to assess how Arctic hurricanes may behave in a warmer world.

The results of his study may provide encouragement to to oil and gas companies that currently consider drilling in the northern north Atlantic very risky he says. "As the likelihood of hurricanes destroying oil rigs declines, drilling in the region may become a more attractive option.".

Arctic hurricanes, also known as polar lows, are explosive storms that develop and die over a few days. They form when…

See more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/16/global-warming-arctic-hurricanes-oil 

Cheaper solar energy? Millennium Technology Prize goes to dye-sensitised solar cells

It was his invention of third-generation, low-cost, dye-sensitised solar cells that brought professor Michael Grätzel from Switzerland the Technology Academy Finland award this June.

With its Millennium Technology Prize, the academy, in partnership with Finnish organisations, industry and the state, contributes to promoting and developing innovations that are expected to have a positive impact on the quality of life and environment.

The grand prize of 800 000 euro will help to accelerate such research, so that the benefit of the promising invention for cheaper solar energy will be able to be seen as soon as possible.

The “Grätzel cells”, named after the inventor, could help in avoiding upcoming energy crises and play a significant role in developing new renewable energy technologies.

Photo:electricbrave.worldpress.com
How nature keep its balance and uses natural elements has been an inspiration to many scientist. For Grätzel, photosynthesis was this staring point, which is why his technology is often described as “artificial photosynthesis”.

Unlike silicon cells, which have to separate positively charged carriers from negatively charged ones, and for that need a positively doped and negatively doped layer of almost 100 per cent pure silicon, the dye-sensitised solar cells generate charges by dye molecules, and the process of separation is close to what photosynthesis does in green leaves, Grätzel explained in The Guardian.
This makes Grätzel cells cheaper than the conventional ones, and very environmentally friendly, without any energy-intensive, high-vacuum methods or toxic elements in their production.

See more: http://www.energetika.net/eu/novice/clanki/cheaper-solar-energy-millennium-technology-prize-goes-to-dye

Could CO2 become the car fuel of the future?

The University of Bath, the University of Bristol and the University of West of England recently received £1.4 million in funding from the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to develop a method to capture atmospheric CO2 and transform it into fuel that will power cars in the future.

 The team of scientists includes chemists, chemical engineers, biologists and life-cycle analysts who will work together on the creation of an innovative technology that will absorb carbon dioxide from the air and then convert it, chemically, to a state that would permit fuel to be produced from it.

Such would be an effective system for reducing carbon emissions and providing a green car fuel alternative, eliminating the need for additional fossil fuels, oil, coal and natural gas.

This, however, is not an unknown process, as in nature, trees and algae uses CO₂ in unlocking the chemical energy inside their molecules to power metabolic processes.

The idea here is to convert CO₂ into carbon monoxide (CO) by removing one of the oxygen atoms. After obtaining CO, the process of producing hydrocarbon fuels, such as petrol, is much simpler.
But the subsequent conversion of CO₂ into fuel requires a lot of energy – the key challenge is to find an efficient way of doing it.

Researchers are trying to develop porous materials that could absorb CO₂ from the air. These porous materials would be part of the factory’s chimneys, which would absorb carbon dioxide and ultimately reduce the effects of climate change.

See more: http://www.energetika.net/eu/novice/articles/could-co2-become-the-car-fuel-of-the-future

Unusual feed supplement could help reducing greenhouse gases produced by cows

Penn State, Department of Dairy and Animal Science, announced on its web site on Thursday, August 26, 2010, that they developed unusual feed supplement that could help reducing greenhouse gases produced by cows.Compared to carbon dioxide, methane has 23 times the potential to create global warming, and its production is a natural part of the digestive process of cows and other ruminants, such as bison, sheep and goats.

It is estimated that large percentage of cattle emits around 37 percent of anthropogenic methane, that’s why finding the natural methane-reduction supplement is very good news for the environment.

Experiments revealed, an oregano-based supplement could contribute in methane reduction in dairy cows by 40 percent, and it resulted with increased daily milk production.

Methane production is an energy loss for the animal, and by decreasing energy loss, the cows can use that energy for other processes, such as making milk, according to Alexander Hristov, an associate professor of dairy nutrition.

The possible natural solution was recognized after six years of researching without demonstrating any negative effects during the experiments.

Currently, Prof. Hristov wants to identify some active compounds including carvacrol, geraniol and thymol, found in oregano, which presumably have more important role in methane suppression.

If this is right, the active compounds could be easier commercially produced as pure and be more economical for farmers to use.

Written by Jasmina Nikoloska
Source:  http://live.psu.edu/story/48055

Brazilian scientists see new source of renewable energy in atmospheric humidity

Believing that electricity could be generated from the air, Brazilian scientists are working to discover the processes involved in the formation and release of electricity from water in the atmosphere.

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Contrary to the previous belief that water droplets in the atmosphere were electrically neutral and remained so even after coming into contact with the electrical charges on dust particles and droplets of other liquids, the latest evidence has shown that water in the atmosphere really does pick up an electrical charge, Wired UK reported on 27 August 2010.

The research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston by study leader Fernando Galembeck, PhD, from the University of Campinas (Brazil), who confirmed that laboratory experiments had proven “hygroelectricity”, or humidity electricity, which meant that “water in the atmosphere can accumulate electrical charges and transfer them to other materials it comes into contact with”.

See more: http://www.energetika.net/eu/novice/ecology/brazilian-scientists-see-new-source-of-renewable-energy-in-a

Installation of Wave Hub creates world's largest test site for wave energy technology

On 6 September, the South West Regional Development Agency announced on its website the successful installation of Wave Hub off the coast of Cornwall, in South West England, creating the world's largest test site for wave energy technology.

Wave Hub is a major marine renewables infrastructure project that will create an electrical “socket” on the seabed through its connection to the shore via a 25-kilometre, 1300-ton sub-sea cable to hold it in place.

Photo: geteconow.com
The South West RDA project has been in the works for seven years, this due partly to any number of delays. The deployment of Wave Hub on the seabed earlier this month was the fruit of a delicate operation of lowering the 12-ton hub into 55 metres of water, 16 kilometres offshore.

Wave Hub, which will have an initial maximum capacity of 20 MW, enough electricity to power approximately 7000 homes, has been designed with the future potential to scale up to 50MW. The first energy devices following this initial launch are expected to be deployed in 2011, after number of tests on how well they work and how much power they generate preceding their commercial production and deployment.

The main cable linking the hub to the national grid on-shore splits into four 300-metre cable “tails” to which groups of wave energy devices can be attached and monitored. As well, a new electricity sub-station at Hayle has been built.
 
See more: http://www.energetika.net/eu/novice/new-technologies/installation-of-wave-hub-creates-worlds-largest-test-site-fo