Could the cars and laptops of the future be fuelled by old chip fat? Engineers at the University of Leeds believe so, and are developing an energy efficient, environmentally-friendly hydrogen production system. The system enables hydrogen to be extracted from waste materials, such as vegetable oil and the glycerol by-product of bio-diesel. The aim is to create the high purity hydrogen-based fuel necessary not only for large-scale power production, but also for smaller portable fuel cells.
The system being developed at Leeds – known as Unmixed and Sorption-Enhanced Steam Reforming - mixes waste products with steam to release hydrogen and is potentially cheaper, cleaner and more energy efficient.
A hydrocarbon-based fuel from plant or waste sources is mixed with steam in a catalytic reactor, generating hydrogen and carbon dioxide along with excess water. The water is then easily condensed by cooling and the carbon dioxide is removed in-situ by a solid sorbent material.
full article
Friday 17 July 2009
Thursday 16 July 2009
World's largest wave farm
South-West England will become the world's largest wave farm under government plans to create a new leading centre in wave and tidal technologies.
The Wave Hub project will see a giant national grid-connected socket built on the seabed off the coast of Cornwall in a pioneering energy project.
Announcing an investment of £9.5 million for the scheme, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said it would create up to 1,800 new jobs.
The project will see infrastructure built including a sub-station building and an adjacent connection point to the distribution network.
From there, a cable will be taken through a duct beneath the sand dunes and then across the seabed to an eight square kilometre area within which the devices will be moored.
The European Regional Development Fund Convergence Programme also announced it would invest £20 million in Wave Hub, which will be commissioned next summer.
The first equipment orders for the project were placed this week.
full article
Wednesday 15 July 2009
Low carbon way 'to reshape lives'
Ambitious plans to generate one third of UK electricity from renewables by 2020 form the centrepiece of government plans for a low carbon future.
Financial packages for wind and wave energy and changes to planning procedures are among key components of the Low Carbon Transition Plan.
"Smart" meters are to be deployed in 26 million homes by 2020.
The government says the plan will create up to 400,000 "green jobs" without a major hike in energy prices.
"The strategies we are launching today outline the government's vision for achieving a low carbon future for the UK, reshaping the way we live and work in every element of our lives," said Business Secretary Lord Mandelson.
Many observers believe the targets are stretchingly ambitious.
"We need a sixfold increase in renewable energy generation in just 11 years," commented Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust.
"This can be achieved but will require not just a transformation in technology, but in political, economic and industrial thinking."
The government says these measures, when combined with an expansion in home insulation and smart meters, will not raise energy prices up to 2015, though probably will do by 2020.
From 2011, the poorest households will receive mandatory help with fuel bills.
full article
Financial packages for wind and wave energy and changes to planning procedures are among key components of the Low Carbon Transition Plan.
"Smart" meters are to be deployed in 26 million homes by 2020.
The government says the plan will create up to 400,000 "green jobs" without a major hike in energy prices.
"The strategies we are launching today outline the government's vision for achieving a low carbon future for the UK, reshaping the way we live and work in every element of our lives," said Business Secretary Lord Mandelson.
Many observers believe the targets are stretchingly ambitious.
"We need a sixfold increase in renewable energy generation in just 11 years," commented Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust.
"This can be achieved but will require not just a transformation in technology, but in political, economic and industrial thinking."
The government says these measures, when combined with an expansion in home insulation and smart meters, will not raise energy prices up to 2015, though probably will do by 2020.
From 2011, the poorest households will receive mandatory help with fuel bills.
full article
Sunday 12 July 2009
'Cashback' pledge for green power
Households that contribute electricity to the National Grid are to receive payments under a new government scheme.
Towns and villages will be encouraged to generate their own power with wind, water and solar energies, and then be paid for how much they produce.
Critics warn that small-scale production is expensive and projects may require government subsidy.
But Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said the project will "help create the clean energy of the future".
Similar "clean energy cash back" schemes already operate in 19 European countries including Germany.
'Feed-in tariffs'
At present, anyone in the UK who feeds electricity into the National Grid can get a reduction on their fuel bills through smart meters.
But ministers hope that the promise of cash in people's pockets will encourage them to seek new ways of generating their own power.
In Germany, whole towns have grouped together to buy wind turbines, build biomass plants and erect solar panels on all private houses.
They are then paid a guaranteed fixed price for every kilowatt of energy they produce - a higher sum than for electricity made from fossil fuels in traditional power stations.
Three wind turbines can make £15,000 a year for a single village.
Since so-called "feed-in tariffs" were introduced in Germany, some 400,000 homes, particularly in the sunnier south of the country, have installed solar panels.
But the government has had to subsidise such projects in order to keep them viable.
At present, only about 2% of Britain's energy comes from renewable sources, but the government has pledged to increase that to 15% within the next 12 years.
full article
Towns and villages will be encouraged to generate their own power with wind, water and solar energies, and then be paid for how much they produce.
Critics warn that small-scale production is expensive and projects may require government subsidy.
But Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said the project will "help create the clean energy of the future".
Similar "clean energy cash back" schemes already operate in 19 European countries including Germany.
'Feed-in tariffs'
At present, anyone in the UK who feeds electricity into the National Grid can get a reduction on their fuel bills through smart meters.
But ministers hope that the promise of cash in people's pockets will encourage them to seek new ways of generating their own power.
In Germany, whole towns have grouped together to buy wind turbines, build biomass plants and erect solar panels on all private houses.
They are then paid a guaranteed fixed price for every kilowatt of energy they produce - a higher sum than for electricity made from fossil fuels in traditional power stations.
Three wind turbines can make £15,000 a year for a single village.
Since so-called "feed-in tariffs" were introduced in Germany, some 400,000 homes, particularly in the sunnier south of the country, have installed solar panels.
But the government has had to subsidise such projects in order to keep them viable.
At present, only about 2% of Britain's energy comes from renewable sources, but the government has pledged to increase that to 15% within the next 12 years.
full article
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