sexta-feira, 8 de fevereiro de 2013

Tiny Rooftop Turbine Could Make Urban Wind Farms A Reality


There's a reason that wind farms are placed offshore rather than in urban areas—the turbines are typically huge, difficult to erect, and need a solid sustained gust to produce any meaningful amount of current. This prototype, on the other hand, will assemble easily and take up little space as it quietly produces kilowatts atop skyscrapers.

Conventional wind farms need wind that is both steady and strong but with very little turbulence. Their turbines are mounted atop 300-foot pylons to avoid the roiling currents at ground level and employ enormous blades to drive their MW generators. Everything operates on a grand scale with these farms, but they're impractical in an urban environment.

Yet cities can be so windy—tightly-packed buildings funnel and redirect natural air currents, resulting in irregular, gusty winds. That's exactly what conventional turbines can't handle. What's more, finding the real estate to safely install a 300-foot tall turbine in the middle of, say, New York City, is impossible. So a new vertical-axis turbine, the McCamley MT01 Mk2, is a designed specifically these dense urban areas.

McCamley MT01 Mk2 - An introduction (Youtube)

quarta-feira, 6 de fevereiro de 2013

Lights out – France to force shops and offices to go dark overnight

Retirado do jornal Guardian:

"French light pollution law is expected to save 250,000 tonnes of CO2 a year

Katie Davies
guardian.co.uk,

France light pollution law
France's light pollution law comes into effect on 1 July. Photograph: Guardian

domingo, 27 de janeiro de 2013

Energia Solar em França/Espanha/Alemanha

Notícias referencidas no blog "Solar-FCUL":

France launches rescue plan for solar power industry  
1) "France has doubled its capacity target for photovoltaic power generation and offered more financial support to small solar power farms that use European-made panels in a bid to rescue the country's ailing solar industry. Energy Minister Delphine Batho announced the measures, which are expected to spur investments worth more than 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion), during a visit to a solar panel factory in Western France. (...)" (Reuters)

PV, CSP supply 4.3% of Spanish electricity generation in 2012
2) "The Electricity Network of Spain (REE) reports that solar photovoltaic (PV) technology supplied 3.0% of electricity generated in the nation over the course of 2012, with an additional 1.3% supplied by concentrating solar power (CSP). (...) " (Solar Server)

 
Germany Added Record Solar Panels in 2012 Even as Subsidies Cut
3) "Renewable-energy developers in Germany, the world’s biggest solar market, added a record number of panels last year even after subsidies were cut back. Solar installations climbed to 7,634 megawatts, up 2 percent from 7,485 megawatts in 2011, according to figures from the Bundesnetzagentur grid regulator and the Environment Ministry. That was more than double the government’s maximum target of 3,500 megawatts. (...)" (Bloomberg

Geothermal takes a technological step forward

Excerto retirado do site SFGate:

"In this Oct. 15, 2010 photo, Brandon Forseth, left, and Blaine Williams work on drilling a small test well at Newberry Crater near LaPine, Ore. After pumping more than 20 million gallons of water into the side of an ancient volcano last year, AltaRock Energy, Inc., says it has succeeded in a key technological step toward turning geothermal energy into a major source of homegrown energy. The company says it is confident that it created three seperate geothermal reservoirs on a single well in a place where none existed before. (...)"

Photo: The Bulletin, Ryan Brennecke