New Products & Services part.4
Home energy storage is the driving force of the future, claims Tesla trailblazer
15 MAY 2016 • 9:07PM Alan Tovey, industry editor
15 MAY 2016 • 9:07PM Alan Tovey, industry editor
When it comes to grabbing headlines with visions of the future, few can beat entrepreneur and inventor Elon Musk. He’s behind SpaceX, the rocket company that he sees as a vehicle to his dream of colonising Mars. Better known, perhaps, are his Tesla electric cars, an increasingly common sight in the US and here in the UK. While powerful rockets and fast cars might be the most exciting of Musk’s products, his hopes of changing the way we live are much more likely to be delivered by something much more prosaic – Tesla’s Powerwall. Much less glamorous than Musk’s other concepts, this plain white battery, intended to harness energy from renewable sources such as the wind and sun and make it available for household use or feed back into the power network, could have a far bigger impact than anything else the billionaire has dreamt up.
The concept behind these batteries in homes – which working together are known as a “distributed grid” – is that they will store up cheap electricity generated when demand is lower, then discharge it at peak times when energy from the traditional network supplied mainly by large power stations is expensive.
Not only do these batteries – known as “behind the meter” storage – raise the prospect of reducing households’ electricity costs by optimising the time they receive power, they could cut further bills by selling excess power back to the network at times of high demand. They could also provide an emergency back-up if the main grid fails. There are other wider advantages to the system. Having batteries in every home solves the problem of solar and wind farms producing electricity when there is no demand for it and nowhere to store it, and they could also ease the current strain on the transmission grid as power is sent from large power stations. Perhaps most importantly, they could reduce the world’s reliance on fossil fuels by allowing green energy sources to be fully utilised without the worry of the wind dropping or the sun being hidden by clouds.
The whole idea might sound like a pipe dream, but it is becoming more a more real possibility. While Tesla is raising the profile of home energy storage, other less visible players are operating in the sector and already installing batteries in British houses.
However, last week just how seriously the concept is being taken was shown with a series of big moves in the sector. First came France, with oil giant Total on Monday announcing a £750m scheme to buy battery group Saft as it looked beyond the low oil price and to a future away from fossil fuels. A day later, Engie, previously known as GDF Suez, revealed it had taken an 80pc stake in California start-up Green Charge Networks, a leading player in behind-the-meter batteries. But the most significant event came later the same day from automotive giant Nissan. As well as revealing it would begin using its Sunderland battery factory to start recycling the power packs from its Leaf electric cars for use as home power storage devices, the Japanese company said it had picked the UK for a much more important trial. Under the title of Nissan Futures, it revealed a new vision for how electric cars will be used in the years ahead. A pilot project will see 100 Leaf cars plugging into the energy network and using their batteries as extra storage, in what it hopes could combine transport and energy in the future.
“As a company, we recognise there will be massive change in the future,” said Paul Willcox, Nissan’s European chairman. “There’s a revolution in the market and we need to think about how we evolve and what the car’s role is in society.”
Nissan’s plan is rather eloquent and effectively kills two birds with a single stone. The average Leaf uses only a quarter of its battery power before recharging, meaning there is a large capacity going spare for most of the time. The Leaf’s 30 kilowatt hour (kWh) battery can store enough energy to supply the average home’s needs for two days according to Willcox, but under Nissan’s scheme, this capacity is put to much more practical use. By plugging in at home overnight, the cars charge up on cheap late-night electricity, but their batteries are available to feed into the network at times of peak demand. Willcox says the trial envisages electric vehicles as “mobile power plants, energy hubs” with them plugging in to offer up their resources not just at homes overnight, but also at workplaces during the day.
A giant such as Nissan weighing into the sector shows just how seriously energy storage is being taken, and the fact that the former chief executive of National Grid, Steve Holliday, is on board only emphasises it. Cynics might argue that the idea is fanciful at best, but Willcox is confident of its potential. “Oil may be cheap now, but that is not going to last forever and people are increasingly going to want electric vehicles – it makes sense to use them in this way,” he says, adding that while Tesla is a “credible company”, Nissan began making electric vehicles in the 1940s. “Some may see this as blue sky thinking but it is real and tangible now,” Willcox adds. “Six or seven years ago, when we invested heavily in battery vehicles people laughed at us, but we have 230,000 Leafs on the road now.” Holliday argues that moving to a distributed grid could that takes advantage of cheap energy makes sense. “In the future we could see a time when electrons are free,” he says. “On this island, we have times now when people effectively pay to use electricity because of the cost of having to shut down [existing power plants] when there is low demand.” Nissan makes a convincing argument and is certainly planting its flag firmly in what is a land grab for a huge industry of the future, though Willcox concedes the whole car industry will need to work together for the potential of “vehicle to grid” to be realised.
However, for a distributed grid to work, there needs to be a major reform of legislation around the UK power market, according to industry body Energy Storage Network (ESN). “The current system of buying and selling electricity is not fit for purpose,” said ESN director Anthony Price. “The paradox is that almost everything except storing electricity is subsided.”
Almost 1m UK homes have solar panels and Price estimates that several tens of thousands of UK homes have battery systems. To get these figures closer to parity the process of storing electricity and selling it back to the grid needs to be overhauled. However, Price says that even without the benefits of these batteries being charged from renewable sources, the UK needs to invest in battery storage. “We have a variable demand for energy because we are human,” he says. “We run generation to match demand and there is a lot of effort to meet the peaks – such as everyone switching on the kettle when Coronation Street finishes – and that costs a lot, and the power is often from the dirtiest power plants which take time to be fired up.
“Battery storage – whether behind-the-meter or in community batteries at the end of the street – has the effect of taking out those peaks in demand and allows you to operate a much more efficient system.” Cyrille Brisson, vice-president at global power management group Eaton, which is working with Nissan, agrees, saying that the present system requires large numbers of power stations ready to meet peak demands. “At the moment we have to have massive over-capacity – which is expensive – to meet fluctuating demands, but with renewables you have unpredictable generation,” he says. “However, with storage in the middle you do not have to oversize everything. You get a 'good load’ on the electricity grid where the spikes in generation and consumption are flattened out by the storage.” Arguments that the wind might not blow or the sun won’t shine are false, argues Brisson, claiming that the “Sahara produces 100 times the wind and sun” to power the planet, and the technology for this “absolutely exists”. He also warns against trying to subsidise the market to encourage the take-up of energy storage. “The worst thing you can do is subsidise it. The public think that renewables mean an extra tax on them, and regulation has got to make it clear it is not that. What is needed is a transparent market, so as the costs fall people will see it is cheaper.”
The cost of power from solar is falling rapidly – down 40pc 2012, according to KPMG – and Brisson argues that technological advances will soon make it as cheap as fossil fuels. The Government also sees the potential in energy storage systems, having declared it one of eight “great technologies” it sees the UK as having the potential to become a world leader in. Nissan’s Willcox acknowledges this, noting the UK’s “encouraging” environment was a factor in picking Britain as the site for the global V2G pilot programme. The public might find the idea of a battery in the home helping to solve complex problems about the UK’s energy needs hard to imagine. However, Joe Warren, chief executive of start-up Powervault, sees it a different way. His company’s 4kWh batteries start at £2,500 and are capable of providing about a third of the needs of a typical British home, having charged themselves from roof mounted solar panels and Warren hopes to have 500 of them installed in Britain by the end of the year.
“There’s a massive transition away from centralised power generation,” he says, as news breaks that the cost of the long-delayed Hinkley Point nuclear power plant may rise by £3bn to £21bn. “It makes sense to decentralise when instead you can make small investments of £1m or £100m on wind farms or solar power stations. “We hope to make a home battery as common as a dishwasher in every kitchen.”
www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/05/15/home-energy-storage-is-the-driving-force-of-the-future-claims
Making Energy Efficient Prefab Homes
May 9, 2016
May 9, 2016
Energy efficient prefab homes – Do not want to be dependent on a project and determine how environmentally friendly your home is? Consider the precast energy-efficient homes. Energy efficient prefab homes you can tune in to your wishes. Are you satisfied once the design, the construction starts from a factory? The walls are completely prepared with insulation and electrical outlets.
A passive house is a house built as energy efficient as possible. In such a dwelling spaces are primarily heated by the free passive energy from sunlight and the heat from residents, household electrical appliances and lighting. The need for space, even in the middle of winter so small that the heat of a hairdryer for example, enough to heat a space of 100 m2. The total energy consumption for spatial heating is 15 kWh / m2 per year. This equates to approximately 1.5 m3 of natural gas per year per m2 of floor area. This means that a passive house 10 times less energy than the average existing home. In addition, CO2 emissions are less than half that of the current standard new homes. So we have to think about energy efficient prefab homes usages.
http://prefab.burkfabrics.com/making-energy-efficient-prefab-homes
A passive house is a house built as energy efficient as possible. In such a dwelling spaces are primarily heated by the free passive energy from sunlight and the heat from residents, household electrical appliances and lighting. The need for space, even in the middle of winter so small that the heat of a hairdryer for example, enough to heat a space of 100 m2. The total energy consumption for spatial heating is 15 kWh / m2 per year. This equates to approximately 1.5 m3 of natural gas per year per m2 of floor area. This means that a passive house 10 times less energy than the average existing home. In addition, CO2 emissions are less than half that of the current standard new homes. So we have to think about energy efficient prefab homes usages.
http://prefab.burkfabrics.com/making-energy-efficient-prefab-homes
Kinetic energy-harvesting shoes a step towards charging mobile devices on the go
FEBRUARY 11, 2016 NICK LAVARS
FEBRUARY 11, 2016 NICK LAVARS
Through energy harvesting tiles, backpacks and insoles, there has been much talk about harnessing our kinetic energy to power mobile devices and other electronics. A team of researchers is claiming to have made a big breakthrough in the collective effort to turn human motion into usable energy, developing a new method of producing useful amounts of electricity from our footsteps. "Human walking carries a lot of energy," says professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Tom Krupenkin. "Theoretical estimates show that it can produce up to 10 watts per shoe, and that energy is just wasted as heat. A total of 20 watts from walking is not a small thing, especially compared to the power requirements of the majority of modern mobile devices." But drawing usable energy from these theoretical calculations would pose a number of challenges for Krupenkin and his team. Devising a harvesting technique that was practical for the "relatively small displacements and large forces of footfalls," in turn making power-producing footwear a viable possibility, has been an elusive goal so far, despite the promise of devices like the PediPower shoe attachment. "So we've been developing new methods of directly converting mechanical motion into electrical energy that are appropriate for this type of application," Krupenkin says.
Reverse electrowetting is a technique developed by Krupenkin as a new approach to high-power mechanical energy harvesting. It involves a conductive liquid that interacts with a nanofilm-coated surface to produce electrical energy.
He published a paper in 2011 reporting its ability to produce high power densities from a range of mechanical forces, but there is one caveat: it requires an energy source with a reasonably high frequency, higher than that produced by human motion. So the researchers combined reverse electrowetting with a novel device called a bubbler in an effort to bridge the gap. The bubbler contains no moving mechanical parts, but is made up of two flat plates with a conductive liquid in between. In the bottom plate, tiny holes allow pressurized gas to enter, which in turn forms bubbles. These grow in size until they make contact with the top plate and burst. The rapid, ongoing production and bursting of bubbles washes the conductive fluid back and forth to generate an electrical charge.
The researchers say that this method can produce a lot of watts relative to the surface area of the generator, with the proof-of-concept device generating around 10 watts per square meter in early experiments. They claim that theoretical estimates indicate up to 10 kW might be possible. The shoes could be used to power mobile devices through a charging cable, be adapted for the military, or act as a power source for people in remote areas and developing countries. "The bubbler really shines at producing high power densities," says Krupenkin. "For this type of mechanical energy harvesting, the bubbler has a promise to achieve by far the highest power density ever demonstrated." Krupenkin and J. Ashley Taylor, a senior scientist in UW–Madison's Mechanical Engineering Department, have created a startup company called InStep NanoPower, and are seeking industry partners to commercialize the technology. They have already teamed with Vibram to develop a demonstrator shoe with the energy-harvesting technology embedded in the sole. You can hear from Krupenkin in the first video below.
The team's research was published in the journal.
www.gizmag.com/energy-harvesting-shoes
Reverse electrowetting is a technique developed by Krupenkin as a new approach to high-power mechanical energy harvesting. It involves a conductive liquid that interacts with a nanofilm-coated surface to produce electrical energy.
He published a paper in 2011 reporting its ability to produce high power densities from a range of mechanical forces, but there is one caveat: it requires an energy source with a reasonably high frequency, higher than that produced by human motion. So the researchers combined reverse electrowetting with a novel device called a bubbler in an effort to bridge the gap. The bubbler contains no moving mechanical parts, but is made up of two flat plates with a conductive liquid in between. In the bottom plate, tiny holes allow pressurized gas to enter, which in turn forms bubbles. These grow in size until they make contact with the top plate and burst. The rapid, ongoing production and bursting of bubbles washes the conductive fluid back and forth to generate an electrical charge.
The researchers say that this method can produce a lot of watts relative to the surface area of the generator, with the proof-of-concept device generating around 10 watts per square meter in early experiments. They claim that theoretical estimates indicate up to 10 kW might be possible. The shoes could be used to power mobile devices through a charging cable, be adapted for the military, or act as a power source for people in remote areas and developing countries. "The bubbler really shines at producing high power densities," says Krupenkin. "For this type of mechanical energy harvesting, the bubbler has a promise to achieve by far the highest power density ever demonstrated." Krupenkin and J. Ashley Taylor, a senior scientist in UW–Madison's Mechanical Engineering Department, have created a startup company called InStep NanoPower, and are seeking industry partners to commercialize the technology. They have already teamed with Vibram to develop a demonstrator shoe with the energy-harvesting technology embedded in the sole. You can hear from Krupenkin in the first video below.
The team's research was published in the journal.
www.gizmag.com/energy-harvesting-shoes
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P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water program - fulfilling a vital need for healthy living
As a global company with over 175 years of history, P&G has built a rich heritage of touching consumers’ lives with brands that make life a little better every day. For almost 2 decades, P&G has strived to bring to Kenya, brands that meet their everyday needs and improve quality of life. Today, many P&G brands, including Ariel, Safeguard, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Pampers and Always, have become famous household names. The P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water program - P&G’s signature corporate program helps address the critical need for clean drinking water through P&G’s water purifying brand PUR. Almost a billion people around the world do not have access to safe drinking water.
Moreover, about 2 million people, mostly children under 5 die every year due to diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe water. Through this program P&G is striving to reduce illness and death caused by drinking contaminated water, particularly amongst children in the developing world. Since its launch in 2004, the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water program has distributed more than 600 million packets of PUR to provide over six billion liters of clean drinking water to communities in need. P&G has been working with partners to provide clean drinking water in developing countries for nearly a decade with its award-winning water purification technology. To date, clean drinking water provided by P&G has saved an estimated 32,000 lives and prevented 250 million days of diarrheal illnesses across 71 countries. The powdered water purification product is a simple and effective way to make clean drinking water for the entire family, as the packets turns dirty, potentially deadly water into clean and drinkable water very quickly.
What is PUR?
Developed in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for disease control and prevention, PUR is a low cost technology which helps purify even heavily contaminated drinking water so that it meets World Health Organization standards for safe drinking water. PUR is a powdered water purification technology and is available in a four gram sachet, enough to purify ten liters of contaminated water. It functions like a dirt magnet, pulling dirt and contaminants out of unclean water. The fact that PUR is packaged in light-weight sachets makes it a convenient and viable distribution option in situations of emergencies, natural disasters and hard to reach rural areas. 5 clinical studies show that the use of PUR can reduce diarrhea illness amongst children under 5 years of age by an average of 50%. P&G is committed to long-term, not for profit, provision of PUR in the developing world.
Awards & Recognition
Since its beginning in 2004, the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program has received international recognition for its global efforts to bring clean drinking water to children in developing countries.
www.pg.com/en_KE/sustainability/social-responsibility/children_safe_drinking_water.shtml
Moreover, about 2 million people, mostly children under 5 die every year due to diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe water. Through this program P&G is striving to reduce illness and death caused by drinking contaminated water, particularly amongst children in the developing world. Since its launch in 2004, the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water program has distributed more than 600 million packets of PUR to provide over six billion liters of clean drinking water to communities in need. P&G has been working with partners to provide clean drinking water in developing countries for nearly a decade with its award-winning water purification technology. To date, clean drinking water provided by P&G has saved an estimated 32,000 lives and prevented 250 million days of diarrheal illnesses across 71 countries. The powdered water purification product is a simple and effective way to make clean drinking water for the entire family, as the packets turns dirty, potentially deadly water into clean and drinkable water very quickly.
What is PUR?
Developed in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for disease control and prevention, PUR is a low cost technology which helps purify even heavily contaminated drinking water so that it meets World Health Organization standards for safe drinking water. PUR is a powdered water purification technology and is available in a four gram sachet, enough to purify ten liters of contaminated water. It functions like a dirt magnet, pulling dirt and contaminants out of unclean water. The fact that PUR is packaged in light-weight sachets makes it a convenient and viable distribution option in situations of emergencies, natural disasters and hard to reach rural areas. 5 clinical studies show that the use of PUR can reduce diarrhea illness amongst children under 5 years of age by an average of 50%. P&G is committed to long-term, not for profit, provision of PUR in the developing world.
Awards & Recognition
Since its beginning in 2004, the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program has received international recognition for its global efforts to bring clean drinking water to children in developing countries.
www.pg.com/en_KE/sustainability/social-responsibility/children_safe_drinking_water.shtml
Researchers advance propulsion toward low-carbon aircraft
January 5, 2016 By Nancy Smith Kilkenny, NASA's Glenn Research Center
When Orville Wright traveled to Cleveland for the dedication of the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory in the 1940s, he had already witnessed the advancement of aircraft from his Kitty Hawk model to the winged machines that fought in World War II.Today, the lab, now known as NASA Glenn Research Center, has engineers and scientists engaged in an agency-wide effort to develop alternative designs for large passenger aircraft using low-carbon propulsion technology that Wright may have never dreamed of. Since the beginning, commercial planes have been powered by carbon-based fuels such as gasoline or kerosene. While these provide the energy to lift large commercial jets into the world’s airspace, electric power is now seen as a new frontier for providing thrust and power for flight. Just as hybrid or turboelectric power has improved fuel efficiency in cars, boats and trains, aeronautical engineers are exploring how planes can be redesigned and configured with electrical power.
One of NASA’s goals is to help the aircraft industry shift from relying solely on gas turbines to using hybrid electric and turboelectric propulsion in order to reduce energy consumption, emissions and noise. “Aircraft are highly complex machines,” says Jim Heidmann, manager for NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology project. “Moving toward alternative systems requires creating new aircraft designs as well as propulsion systems that integrate battery technologies and electromagnetic machines like motors and generators with more efficient engines.” Glenn researchers are looking at power systems that generate electricity in place of, or in addition to, thrust at the turbine engine and then convert that electricity to be converted into thrust using fans at other places on the aircraft. “These systems use electric motors and generators that work together with turbine engines to distribute power throughout the aircraft in order to reduce drag for a given amount of fuel burned,” says Amy Jankovsky, subproject lead engineer. “Part of our research is developing the lightweight machinery and electrical systems that will be required to make these systems possible.”
In addition to designing better motors, generators and integrated electrical system architectures, Glenn engineers are also researching the basic materials that go into those components. Research is being performed on the conductors inside, and the insulation around the wires. Along with studying the design of motors and the architecture of power electronics, engineers are improving magnetic materials and semi-conductors to make these motors and electronics lighter and more efficient. “Our work is laying a foundation for planes that will require less fossil fuel in the future,” says Glenn Engineer Cheryl Bowman, a technical lead on the project. “Considering that the U.S. aviation industry carries over 700 million passengers every year, making each trip more fuel efficient (by up to 30 percent) can have a considerable impact on the nation’s total use of fossil fuels.”
http://climate.nasa.gov/news/2383
One of NASA’s goals is to help the aircraft industry shift from relying solely on gas turbines to using hybrid electric and turboelectric propulsion in order to reduce energy consumption, emissions and noise. “Aircraft are highly complex machines,” says Jim Heidmann, manager for NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology project. “Moving toward alternative systems requires creating new aircraft designs as well as propulsion systems that integrate battery technologies and electromagnetic machines like motors and generators with more efficient engines.” Glenn researchers are looking at power systems that generate electricity in place of, or in addition to, thrust at the turbine engine and then convert that electricity to be converted into thrust using fans at other places on the aircraft. “These systems use electric motors and generators that work together with turbine engines to distribute power throughout the aircraft in order to reduce drag for a given amount of fuel burned,” says Amy Jankovsky, subproject lead engineer. “Part of our research is developing the lightweight machinery and electrical systems that will be required to make these systems possible.”
In addition to designing better motors, generators and integrated electrical system architectures, Glenn engineers are also researching the basic materials that go into those components. Research is being performed on the conductors inside, and the insulation around the wires. Along with studying the design of motors and the architecture of power electronics, engineers are improving magnetic materials and semi-conductors to make these motors and electronics lighter and more efficient. “Our work is laying a foundation for planes that will require less fossil fuel in the future,” says Glenn Engineer Cheryl Bowman, a technical lead on the project. “Considering that the U.S. aviation industry carries over 700 million passengers every year, making each trip more fuel efficient (by up to 30 percent) can have a considerable impact on the nation’s total use of fossil fuels.”
http://climate.nasa.gov/news/2383
Aircraft Design
Modern aircraft design focuses on the integration of new technologies and systems, with current and advanced configurations to lead us towards environmentally friendly and cost effective aviation in the civil arena and high performance and effective aviation in the military arena. This includes new structures, materials and manufacturing processes. New aircraft design is essential to address issues such as carbon footprint reduction, lower noise pollution and improved passenger comfort as well as contributing to national security. Our work in this field covers all flying vehicles including civil and military aircraft, helicopters, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems (UAVS), ultra-high capacity airlines and space vehicles. Current research being undertaken includes:
Advanced Configurations – such as blended wing and morphing wing aircraft design. This includes both fixed wing and rotorcraft vehicles.
Advanced Systems Integration – such as Distributed Propulsion using hydrogen or alternative fuels for power and high temperature superconducting materials technology.
Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Processes – exploring the benefits achieved through the application of advanced composite materials.
Advanced Design Methodologies – developing techniques to ensure that optimum designs are achieved.
Airworthiness Compliance – ensuring new designs demonstrate the same safety requirements as traditional aircraft.
Operational Aspects – cost, performance, reliability and maintainability are important features of aircraft design as well as advanced techniques such as Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM). Vulnerability and susceptibility also have a major impact.
Biomimetics – taking lessons from nature for example insects and birds, and their application in aviation such as launch, recovery and flight.
www.cranfield.ac.uk/About/Cranfield/Themes/Aerospace/Aircraft-Design
Advanced Configurations – such as blended wing and morphing wing aircraft design. This includes both fixed wing and rotorcraft vehicles.
Advanced Systems Integration – such as Distributed Propulsion using hydrogen or alternative fuels for power and high temperature superconducting materials technology.
Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Processes – exploring the benefits achieved through the application of advanced composite materials.
Advanced Design Methodologies – developing techniques to ensure that optimum designs are achieved.
Airworthiness Compliance – ensuring new designs demonstrate the same safety requirements as traditional aircraft.
Operational Aspects – cost, performance, reliability and maintainability are important features of aircraft design as well as advanced techniques such as Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM). Vulnerability and susceptibility also have a major impact.
Biomimetics – taking lessons from nature for example insects and birds, and their application in aviation such as launch, recovery and flight.
www.cranfield.ac.uk/About/Cranfield/Themes/Aerospace/Aircraft-Design
12V Solar Power Panel Auto Car Battery Charger
Product details: £14.61
Descripition:
Keep your car battery charged at top performance
Ensures quick starts for your vehicle
Operates under cloudy conditions
Power: 4.5W
No-load voltage: 18V
Voltage of cigarette adapter: DC 12V, 260mA
Cable length of cigarette adapter: 290cm
For car batteries, laptop or the other 12 v emergency charging rechargeable battery
Package included:
1 x Solar panel
1 x Cigarette adapter (295cm)
1 x Power cable
2 x Suction cups
www.banggood.com/Wholesale-12V-Solar-Power-Panel-Auto-Car-Battery-Charger
Descripition:
Keep your car battery charged at top performance
Ensures quick starts for your vehicle
Operates under cloudy conditions
Power: 4.5W
No-load voltage: 18V
Voltage of cigarette adapter: DC 12V, 260mA
Cable length of cigarette adapter: 290cm
For car batteries, laptop or the other 12 v emergency charging rechargeable battery
Package included:
1 x Solar panel
1 x Cigarette adapter (295cm)
1 x Power cable
2 x Suction cups
www.banggood.com/Wholesale-12V-Solar-Power-Panel-Auto-Car-Battery-Charger
DIY 10W Solar Panel For 12V Battery Charging Polycrystalline Silicon
Product details: £18.27
Feature:
Product Model: ICO-SPC-10W
Specifications: 10 watts / 18 volts (for 12-volt system) (9-10W)
Test under standard conditions (temperature is 25 degrees, AM1.5, 1000w/m2)
Size: 350 x 245 x 17 mm (aluminum alloy frame, four mounting holes)
Peak voltage: 17.9 volts
Peak current: 0.56 Ann
Open circuit voltage: 22.41 volts
Short circuit current: 0.62 Ann
Power deviation: ± 5%
Net Weight: about 0.8 kg
Junction Box Type: without diode without wires
Range of applications:
Solar garden lighting
Solar street lighting
Small home lighting system
Own DIY
Suitable for a variety of DC power appliances, emergency lights, advertising lights, traffic lights, home lights, electric fans, solar water pumps, etc.. Available Worldwide
www.banggood.com/10W-Solar-Panel-For-12V-Battery-Charging-Polycrystalline-Silicon
Feature:
Product Model: ICO-SPC-10W
Specifications: 10 watts / 18 volts (for 12-volt system) (9-10W)
Test under standard conditions (temperature is 25 degrees, AM1.5, 1000w/m2)
Size: 350 x 245 x 17 mm (aluminum alloy frame, four mounting holes)
Peak voltage: 17.9 volts
Peak current: 0.56 Ann
Open circuit voltage: 22.41 volts
Short circuit current: 0.62 Ann
Power deviation: ± 5%
Net Weight: about 0.8 kg
Junction Box Type: without diode without wires
Range of applications:
Solar garden lighting
Solar street lighting
Small home lighting system
Own DIY
Suitable for a variety of DC power appliances, emergency lights, advertising lights, traffic lights, home lights, electric fans, solar water pumps, etc.. Available Worldwide
www.banggood.com/10W-Solar-Panel-For-12V-Battery-Charging-Polycrystalline-Silicon
Q5 158WH Lithium Battery 6.5 Inch Solid Tyre Electric Twisting Scooter Self Balancing Scooter
Product details: £170.80
Specification:
Max tilt around 15°-30°(depends on rider's weight)
Battery 36V*4.4AH(158WH) lithium battery
Highest power 500W(contain)-1000W(no contain)
Using temperature-10℃-40℃ (recommending at 10℃-30℃)
Max load 120kg
Engine 350W*2
Charging Voltage AC 110-240V 50-60HZ
Charging TimeAround 60-120 Mins (30 Mins to 80%)
Speed Protection10km/h(contain)-15km/h(no contain)
Low Battery Protection when battery is lower than 10%, it will slow down and finally stopped working.
Size 584*186*228mm
Tyre size 6.5 inch Solid tyre
Weight Approx 13kg
Power Switch LED works when turned on and keeps twinkling under protection circumstances.
Voice Alert Beeps when turned on and has a low battery capacity
Standard Charger, Giftbox, User Manual
Packaging Size 670*290*270mm
Available Worldwide
www.banggood.com/Q5-158WH-Lithium-Battery-Electric-Twisting-Scooter-Self-Balancing-Scooter
More Bang Good Self-Balancing-Scooters aka The Segway
Specification:
Max tilt around 15°-30°(depends on rider's weight)
Battery 36V*4.4AH(158WH) lithium battery
Highest power 500W(contain)-1000W(no contain)
Using temperature-10℃-40℃ (recommending at 10℃-30℃)
Max load 120kg
Engine 350W*2
Charging Voltage AC 110-240V 50-60HZ
Charging TimeAround 60-120 Mins (30 Mins to 80%)
Speed Protection10km/h(contain)-15km/h(no contain)
Low Battery Protection when battery is lower than 10%, it will slow down and finally stopped working.
Size 584*186*228mm
Tyre size 6.5 inch Solid tyre
Weight Approx 13kg
Power Switch LED works when turned on and keeps twinkling under protection circumstances.
Voice Alert Beeps when turned on and has a low battery capacity
Standard Charger, Giftbox, User Manual
Packaging Size 670*290*270mm
Available Worldwide
www.banggood.com/Q5-158WH-Lithium-Battery-Electric-Twisting-Scooter-Self-Balancing-Scooter
More Bang Good Self-Balancing-Scooters aka The Segway
Why water is life
WATERisLIFE is about impact, showing donors and supporters how lives are being changed. WiL provides clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene education programs to schools and villages in desperate need. We provide opportunities for others to be involved through fundraising and field project implementation. The global water crisis can be daunting. At WATERisLIFE, we focus on making an impact community by community.
Through community-driven and community-engaged programs, WATERisLIFE works closely with nonprofit partners, local governments and community organizations to focus on an integrated approach that ensures households, schools, orphanages and medical facilities have access to safe water, proper sanitation and hygiene programs. The results of our work change everything. Hours are restored each day. Women can use their time to learn a trade, start a business and receive an income. Children can receive an education. Clean water will reduce sickness by almost a third.
We not only provide temporary, life-saving water filtration straws for the immediate need, but WiL is also committed to developing community-driven initiatives that will continue to save thousands of lives for generations to come.
http://waterislife.com/about/why-wil
Through community-driven and community-engaged programs, WATERisLIFE works closely with nonprofit partners, local governments and community organizations to focus on an integrated approach that ensures households, schools, orphanages and medical facilities have access to safe water, proper sanitation and hygiene programs. The results of our work change everything. Hours are restored each day. Women can use their time to learn a trade, start a business and receive an income. Children can receive an education. Clean water will reduce sickness by almost a third.
We not only provide temporary, life-saving water filtration straws for the immediate need, but WiL is also committed to developing community-driven initiatives that will continue to save thousands of lives for generations to come.
http://waterislife.com/about/why-wil
Tobacco-fueled planes set for SA take-off
2.9.2015 01.36 pm
A project involving the use of “mutagenised tobacco” for aviation fuel, supported by South African Airways, Boeing and SkyNRG this week got the thumbs up from the leading global sustainability authority. Project Solaris has been recognised by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB), which has been identified by the World Wildlife Fund and other leading international NGOs as the “strongest sustainability guarantee on the market”. Member organisations of RSB, an independent, global multistakeholder coalition working to promote the sustainability of biomaterials, include Boeing, Airbus and the international Air Transport Association.
Maarten van Dijk, SkyNRG’s CEO, said RSB’s certification of the Solaris project is an important milestone for the company and for the aviation industry in general. Italian research and development enterprise Sunchem Holding owns the patent for “energy tobacco”, under which Solaris is the first seed to have been developed. The patent has been granted in 110 countries. Sunchem Holding chief executive officer Sergio Tommasini told ANA the company was also exploring options for production in Malawi and Zimbabwe. The project has the potential to leverage the knowledge and experience of established traditional tobacco farmers, although it is not necessary to have the same climate conditions because Solaris can be cultivated under various conditions, said Tommasini.
Nonetheless, a project like this depends on a lot more than the weather, including trustworthy partners with imagination, which the company has found in South Africa. Tommasini told ANA that, in South Africa, Sunchem had “found very solid partners, and in general it is the country that more than others (Brazil, Bulgaria, North Carolina) has embraced our vision and grasped its potential, considering especially the social impact that growing energetic tobacco could generate if applied on a large scale”. The Solaris tobacco plant is free of nicotine and GMOs and maximises the production of flowers and seeds at the expense of leaves. The seed is about 40% oil and subjected to mechanical pressure about 34% of the seed oil can be extracted. This is more than double the yield from rapeseed, soy or sunflower. What is left, being free from nicotine, can be used in fodder for animals.
The project, which uses a mix of commercial farmers and smallholders, has brought economic and rural development to the Limpopo province, but questions will be asked about using arable land to produce fuel for aeroplanes. “Developing a biofuel crop in South Africa’s ‘breadbasket’ province has of course drawn us into the centre of the food versus fuel debate,” said Sunchem South Africa’s managing director Joost van Lier. “Having to undergo a systematic process of evaluating the social and environmental ramifications of this development, as prescribed by the RSB, has allowed us to feel confident in promoting Solaris, not only as a financially viable crop for farmers in the region, but also one that will not affect food security or lead to environmental degradation.”
RSB executive director Rolf Hogan said: “Project Solaris has demonstrated that it can deliver sustainability on the ground in line with the RSBs global standard.” “This is the result of a serious commitment to working with local stakeholders,
rural development and reducing greenhouse gases while safeguarding the Limpopo’s unique natural environment.”
Boeing is a premium sponsor and promoter of the Solaris technology worldwide. The company’s managing director for Africa, J. Miguel Santos, said: “We applaud South African Airways and the South African government for ensuring the sustainability of their emerging aviation biofuel supply chain as it is being developed. This milestone marks a very significant step forward in ensuring positive economic, social and environmental outcomes for aviation and the planet.”
“SAA is a proud member of the RSB and subscribes to the environmental and social sustainability principles enshrined in the RSB standard. This certification ensures that future fuels contribute to reductions in CO₂ and are environmentally sustainable and contribute social and economic benefits to our rural economy where it is needed most,” the group’s environmental specialist Ian Cruickshank said.
http://citizen.co.za/665787/tobacco-fueled-planes-set-for-sa-take-off/
Maarten van Dijk, SkyNRG’s CEO, said RSB’s certification of the Solaris project is an important milestone for the company and for the aviation industry in general. Italian research and development enterprise Sunchem Holding owns the patent for “energy tobacco”, under which Solaris is the first seed to have been developed. The patent has been granted in 110 countries. Sunchem Holding chief executive officer Sergio Tommasini told ANA the company was also exploring options for production in Malawi and Zimbabwe. The project has the potential to leverage the knowledge and experience of established traditional tobacco farmers, although it is not necessary to have the same climate conditions because Solaris can be cultivated under various conditions, said Tommasini.
Nonetheless, a project like this depends on a lot more than the weather, including trustworthy partners with imagination, which the company has found in South Africa. Tommasini told ANA that, in South Africa, Sunchem had “found very solid partners, and in general it is the country that more than others (Brazil, Bulgaria, North Carolina) has embraced our vision and grasped its potential, considering especially the social impact that growing energetic tobacco could generate if applied on a large scale”. The Solaris tobacco plant is free of nicotine and GMOs and maximises the production of flowers and seeds at the expense of leaves. The seed is about 40% oil and subjected to mechanical pressure about 34% of the seed oil can be extracted. This is more than double the yield from rapeseed, soy or sunflower. What is left, being free from nicotine, can be used in fodder for animals.
The project, which uses a mix of commercial farmers and smallholders, has brought economic and rural development to the Limpopo province, but questions will be asked about using arable land to produce fuel for aeroplanes. “Developing a biofuel crop in South Africa’s ‘breadbasket’ province has of course drawn us into the centre of the food versus fuel debate,” said Sunchem South Africa’s managing director Joost van Lier. “Having to undergo a systematic process of evaluating the social and environmental ramifications of this development, as prescribed by the RSB, has allowed us to feel confident in promoting Solaris, not only as a financially viable crop for farmers in the region, but also one that will not affect food security or lead to environmental degradation.”
RSB executive director Rolf Hogan said: “Project Solaris has demonstrated that it can deliver sustainability on the ground in line with the RSBs global standard.” “This is the result of a serious commitment to working with local stakeholders,
rural development and reducing greenhouse gases while safeguarding the Limpopo’s unique natural environment.”
Boeing is a premium sponsor and promoter of the Solaris technology worldwide. The company’s managing director for Africa, J. Miguel Santos, said: “We applaud South African Airways and the South African government for ensuring the sustainability of their emerging aviation biofuel supply chain as it is being developed. This milestone marks a very significant step forward in ensuring positive economic, social and environmental outcomes for aviation and the planet.”
“SAA is a proud member of the RSB and subscribes to the environmental and social sustainability principles enshrined in the RSB standard. This certification ensures that future fuels contribute to reductions in CO₂ and are environmentally sustainable and contribute social and economic benefits to our rural economy where it is needed most,” the group’s environmental specialist Ian Cruickshank said.
http://citizen.co.za/665787/tobacco-fueled-planes-set-for-sa-take-off/
Food Waste And Beef Fat Will Be Making Airplanes Soar
by ABBIE FENTRESS SWANSON, AUGUST 20, 2015 6:31 PM ET
by ABBIE FENTRESS SWANSON, AUGUST 20, 2015 6:31 PM ET
What do beef tallow and manure have in common with t-shirts and pine needles? Turns out you can make high-quality,
low-carbon transportation fuel with all of them. A growing number of biofuel producers are teaming up with farms, meatpackers and waste management companies to tap gassy waste to meet new demand for renewable jet fuel and diesel for vehicles. Lots of different agricultural feedstocks from sugarcane to sweet potatoes can be used in renewable fuel.
But there's a bonus if you use organic waste. Methane, a super potent greenhouse gas, is released into the atmosphere as manure and food decompose. And that gas and that waste are increasingly a liability for farmers.
According to Steve Kaffka, director of the California Biomass Collaborative at the University of California, Davis, anaerobic digesters, which convert the waste into biogas and power, can be a good way for large farms to minimize their waste and create a value-added product from it at the same time.Meanwhile, the transportation industry is starting to feel the heat to fill up on renewable fuels. Airlines aren't yet required to shrink their carbon footprints, but the Environmental Protection Agency is currently seeking public input on emissions standards that could one day apply to airlines operating in the U.S.
The EPA says domestic aircraft account for 11 percent of the US transportation industry's greenhouse gas emissions, and that these emissions contribute to air pollution in the atmosphere and endanger public health. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the fuel that powers our transportation is a critical part of addressing climate change. When fuel can be made out of waste into a value-added product, there can be big benefits," says an agency spokesperson.
Many airlines aren't waiting for regulations to be enacted.
United has purchased 15 million gallons of renewable jet fuel made from beef tallow, or fat, by Alt Air Fuels and plans to use the fuel this year for Los Angeles-to-San Francisco flights. The airline has also invested $30 million in Fulcrum BioEnergy, Inc.,which uses household garbage, including food waste, for its fuel feedstock. FedEx and Southwest Airlines recently each bought 3 million gallons of jet fuel that will be made from forest waste by Red Rock Biofuels. FedEx has a goal to get 30 percent of its jet fuel from alternative sources by 2030. In July, UPS announced it would purchase 46 million gallons of renewable diesel made from used cooking oils, animal fats and algae in the next three years for its delivery trucks. In Indiana, Fair Oaks Farms does the waste-to-fuel production itself with the help of a digester. This huge, sealed container converts half a million gallons of manure from 15,000 cows and 3,000 hogs into biogas. The biogas is captured, cleaned, compressed and odorized before being used to fuel a fleet of 42 tanker trucks that deliver Fair Oaks' milk from Michigan to Tennessee. "We are extremely interested in converting all of our waste to a full asset instead of a liability," says Fair Oaks President
Mike McCloskey. "Our goal is to sooner or later have a completely closed cycle where we're taking full advantage of sustainability."
Fulcrum claims one gallon of its renewable fuel produces 80 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than one gallon of conventionally produced petroleum-based fuels. "There's a huge carbon savings from our process," says Rick Barraza,
vice president of Fulcrum. "Airlines are looking at that and being able to show that they are reducing their carbon footprint with the fuel that they're buying from us." But Kaffka of the California Biomass Collaborative says the industry is still struggling to measure the true carbon footprint of biofuels, and how much emissions they actually offset. "It's difficult methodologically and in part because a lot of biomass is produced under varying circumstances," Kaffka says.
Alt Air's green jet fuel promises to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by between 65 and 85 percent. The company produces its fuel in a retrofitted asphalt factory and petroleum refinery southeast of Los Angeles with beef fat from Midwest meatpacking companies like National Beef. Its advanced hydroprocessing technology involves adding hydrogen to the tallow to remove oxygen before refining the fuel to meet stringent aircraft fuel specifications. It can then be blended at a 50-50 ratio with standard petroleum-based fuel. Secretary Tom Vilsack of the U.S. Department of Agriculture says his agency also sees food waste and other animal products as a tremendous energy opportunity. "I have no hesitation in telling you that we will have plenty of feedstock," he said in April in a speech at Michigan State University. "The challenge is figuring out how to do it, where to do it, and the most efficient way region to region to do it, and using the feedstock that makes the best sense for that particular region."
Abbie Fentress Swanson is a journalist based in Los Angeles. She covers agriculture, food production, science, health and the environment.
www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/08/20/433193445/food-waste-and-beef-fat-will-be-making-airplanes-soar
low-carbon transportation fuel with all of them. A growing number of biofuel producers are teaming up with farms, meatpackers and waste management companies to tap gassy waste to meet new demand for renewable jet fuel and diesel for vehicles. Lots of different agricultural feedstocks from sugarcane to sweet potatoes can be used in renewable fuel.
But there's a bonus if you use organic waste. Methane, a super potent greenhouse gas, is released into the atmosphere as manure and food decompose. And that gas and that waste are increasingly a liability for farmers.
According to Steve Kaffka, director of the California Biomass Collaborative at the University of California, Davis, anaerobic digesters, which convert the waste into biogas and power, can be a good way for large farms to minimize their waste and create a value-added product from it at the same time.Meanwhile, the transportation industry is starting to feel the heat to fill up on renewable fuels. Airlines aren't yet required to shrink their carbon footprints, but the Environmental Protection Agency is currently seeking public input on emissions standards that could one day apply to airlines operating in the U.S.
The EPA says domestic aircraft account for 11 percent of the US transportation industry's greenhouse gas emissions, and that these emissions contribute to air pollution in the atmosphere and endanger public health. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the fuel that powers our transportation is a critical part of addressing climate change. When fuel can be made out of waste into a value-added product, there can be big benefits," says an agency spokesperson.
Many airlines aren't waiting for regulations to be enacted.
United has purchased 15 million gallons of renewable jet fuel made from beef tallow, or fat, by Alt Air Fuels and plans to use the fuel this year for Los Angeles-to-San Francisco flights. The airline has also invested $30 million in Fulcrum BioEnergy, Inc.,which uses household garbage, including food waste, for its fuel feedstock. FedEx and Southwest Airlines recently each bought 3 million gallons of jet fuel that will be made from forest waste by Red Rock Biofuels. FedEx has a goal to get 30 percent of its jet fuel from alternative sources by 2030. In July, UPS announced it would purchase 46 million gallons of renewable diesel made from used cooking oils, animal fats and algae in the next three years for its delivery trucks. In Indiana, Fair Oaks Farms does the waste-to-fuel production itself with the help of a digester. This huge, sealed container converts half a million gallons of manure from 15,000 cows and 3,000 hogs into biogas. The biogas is captured, cleaned, compressed and odorized before being used to fuel a fleet of 42 tanker trucks that deliver Fair Oaks' milk from Michigan to Tennessee. "We are extremely interested in converting all of our waste to a full asset instead of a liability," says Fair Oaks President
Mike McCloskey. "Our goal is to sooner or later have a completely closed cycle where we're taking full advantage of sustainability."
Fulcrum claims one gallon of its renewable fuel produces 80 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than one gallon of conventionally produced petroleum-based fuels. "There's a huge carbon savings from our process," says Rick Barraza,
vice president of Fulcrum. "Airlines are looking at that and being able to show that they are reducing their carbon footprint with the fuel that they're buying from us." But Kaffka of the California Biomass Collaborative says the industry is still struggling to measure the true carbon footprint of biofuels, and how much emissions they actually offset. "It's difficult methodologically and in part because a lot of biomass is produced under varying circumstances," Kaffka says.
Alt Air's green jet fuel promises to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by between 65 and 85 percent. The company produces its fuel in a retrofitted asphalt factory and petroleum refinery southeast of Los Angeles with beef fat from Midwest meatpacking companies like National Beef. Its advanced hydroprocessing technology involves adding hydrogen to the tallow to remove oxygen before refining the fuel to meet stringent aircraft fuel specifications. It can then be blended at a 50-50 ratio with standard petroleum-based fuel. Secretary Tom Vilsack of the U.S. Department of Agriculture says his agency also sees food waste and other animal products as a tremendous energy opportunity. "I have no hesitation in telling you that we will have plenty of feedstock," he said in April in a speech at Michigan State University. "The challenge is figuring out how to do it, where to do it, and the most efficient way region to region to do it, and using the feedstock that makes the best sense for that particular region."
Abbie Fentress Swanson is a journalist based in Los Angeles. She covers agriculture, food production, science, health and the environment.
www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/08/20/433193445/food-waste-and-beef-fat-will-be-making-airplanes-soar