Posts Tagged ‘power’

An Energy Everyone Can Help Provide

August 11th, 2009

urine-hydrogen-fuelPretty soon we will all be able to power our homes and cars just by taking a trip to the bathroom.

According to the scientists at the University of Ohio, it is possible, using a nickel based electrode, to create large amounts of cheap hydrogen from urine that in turn, can be utilized in hydrogen fuel cells.

This utilization of hydrogen as a source of power is one that is being extensively researched with everything from hydrogen fuel cell cars to hand held personal devices being powered by the most common element in the universe.

It is however, a complex process. As well as being highly flammable, storing pure hydrogen requires high pressure and low temperatures. Currently, new nano-materials with high surface areas capable of absorbing hydrogen are in production, but not on a large scale.

The science behind utilizing urine is to do with chemically binding hydrogen to other elements, such as water, to make it easier and safer to store and transport.

By inserting a special nickel electrode into a pool of urine and then applying an electrical current, you can release hydrogen gas. The current prototype measures 3x3x1 inch and can produce up to 500 milliwatts of power.

Read more from NextGenPE.com

From Trash to Treasure

July 20th, 2009

dsc_0752_610x407Next time your boss sees you throwing away his memo, tell him you’re doing it to help the environment. Unload the break room fridge into the garbage, and you’ll power the office for an hour or two. Surely, your hungry co-workers can’t stay mad at you knowing you are just trying to do your part.

IST Energy Corp. has launched its new product, the GEM3T120, a waste-to-energy system in the consumer market that cleanly converts trash into electricity and heat.

Perfect for office buildings, hospitals, and much more, the GEM3T120 can process up to three tons of paper, plastic, food, wood and agricultural materials daily into pellets. At full capacity, the resulting energy from these pellets is enough to power and heat a 200,000 square foot building housing more than 500 people. With no disposal costs for the waste it processes and the energy produced, IST estimates the GEM creates an annual energy cost savings of about $250,000.

The GEM can save consumers big bucks, but the benefits of using the system are not only financial. The GEM is eco-friendly and carbon negative, diminishing greenhouse gases by 540 tons annually. In fact, the system powers itself with the clean energy it produces.

Stu Haber, president and CEO of IST Energy says: “The GEM has created a value for every bag of trash we generate – first by eliminating the need for disposal and then by converting it into energy.”

Read more from livescience.com

Burning Calories to Create Energy

June 29th, 2009

green-microgym-bikeIn this current recession, everyone is looking for ways to save money. Adam Boesel, the owner of The Green Microgym in Portland, Or., has found a way to shave operating costs while also giving his clients a workout.

The clever proprietor has doctored up the fitness club’s spin bikes with weed whacker motors and truck alternators so that patrons can create energy to help power the 2,800-foot space.

The opening of The Green Microgym coincides with the announcement of M2E’s kinetic charger, which can generate energy from motion. The kinetic energy system uses the Faraday Principle, which states that the movement of a conductor through a magnetic field produces voltage in the conductor proportional to the speed of the movement. In this case, the conductor is a wire coil.

The system uses a magnet that moves against the coil every time the charger moves, generating a charge that is captured in a capacitor. A logic circuit takes the charge to the built-in Li-Ion cell, where it is stored until use.

Boesel expects patrons to power only a quarter of the gym’s power at first, but after he equips the elliptical trainers with similar motors, he hopes that the energy supply will become entirely self-sufficient.  

Read more at CleanTechnica.com here and here.