Strange renewables !

Chicken droppings, a new source of electricity

In September 2008, the Dutch authorities have opened in the south of Oslo a biomass power plant... a bit peculiar in electricity generating, the Moerdijk facility recycles chicken droppings! More than 600 farms provide daily tons of droppings (44 000 tons per year) to meet the needs of some 90 000 households in green electricity. This is the first plant of its kind in Europe (China has opened his own in August 2007).
Of an output of 36.5 MW (megawatts), it is capable to produce annually 270 million kWh (kilowatt hours). The method: the methane emitted by the manure is burned (the residues are further processed into fertilizer). The project, developed by the energy company Delta for 10 years, represented an investment of 150 million euros.

Taming tornadoes: a mad project?

Tornadoes are making an incredible amount of energy. Why not use it to generate electricity? This is the bold project of Louis Michaud, a Canadian engineer! His idea: artificially generating tornadoes through an "atmospheric vortex engine" in order to keep them under control and produce electricity through turbines.
But is this really a sensible idea? Some doubt indeed the feasibility of such a project. Others fear that the artificial tornado may quickly become uncontrollable. However, the plans of Michaud relevantly interest the Department of Energy Center of Excellence of Ontario. Grants have been allocated for conducting initial experimentations!

The osmotic energy: a nascent but promising technology

On November 25, the Norwegian company Statkraft has opened in the south of Oslo, a prototype power plant of a new genre: it uses the osmotic energy to generate power. A quiet, clean and renewable technology that exploits the reaction of the union of freshwater and seawater.
This phenomenon, called osmosis, releases a large amount of energy capable of powering a turbine generating electricity. Specifically, the central Statkraft circulates in two reservoirs separated by a membrane (a thin film that allows water to pass through while retaining the salt) between salted water from the sea and fresh water from rivers. The latter is thus naturally attracted, creating a pressure.
As for now tests on this very particuliar process do provide a few hundred watts. But the potential annual worldwide is 1,700 TWh (terawatt per hour) or half the total production of the European Union! A marketable central should emerge in 2015. To be continued ...

Constables producing current out of cannabis ...!

In November last, the French police force found a large quantity of cannabis resin at the toll motorway of Veigné (Indre-et-Loire): 297 kgs seized after the arrest of a troupe of traders engaged in the technique of go-fast "(the goods transported in powerful speed cars).
Two days later, the police incinerated the drugs found near Nantes. In the process, one detail put forward: rather than simply burning the product to make it disappear from circulation, they decided to use the combustion to supply a mill adjacent to water vapor! Even better: it is even transformed into electricity through a generator for a resale to EDF! Why not?...

Powerleaps: one giant leap for electricity

Elisabeth Redmond, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has developed an ingenious system to produce electricity: powerleaps. These are 50 inches square tiles that generate electricity when subjected to footstep pressure (piezo-electric components).
With this system, one can imagine transforming the very places frequented by pedestrians (malls, railway stations, subway corridors, ...) into a real powerhouse! An invention that will surely continue to be heard!

Tags: electricity, renewable energy, tornadoes, biomass, osmosis, canabis, powerleaps