Japanese breakthrough will make wind power cheaper than nuclear

A surprising aerodynamic innovation in wind turbine design called the 'wind lens' could triple the output of a typical wind turbine, making it less costly than nuclear power.

By Karl Burkhart

MNN.com - Aug 29 2011

Snapshot from video

The International Clean Energy Analysis (ICEA) gateway estimates that the U.S. possess 2.2 million km2 of high wind potential (Class 3-7 winds) — about 850,000 square miles of land that could yield high levels of wind energy. This makes the U.S. something of a Saudi Arabia for wind energy, ranked third in the world for total wind energy potential.

Let's say we developed just 20 percent of those wind resources — 170,000 square miles (440,000 km2) or an area roughly 1/4 the size of Alaska — we could produce a whopping 8.7 billion megawatt hour's of electricity each year (based on a theoretical conversion of six 1.5 MW turbines per km2 and an average output of 25 percent. (1.5 MW x 365 days x 24 hrs x 25% = 3,285 MWh's).

Video explaining the new process

The United States uses about 26.6 billion MWh's, so at the above rate we could satisfy a full one-third of our total annual energy needs. (Of course this assumes the concurrent deployment of a nationwide Smart Grid that could store and disburse the variable sources of wind power as needed using a variety of technologies — gas or coal peaking, utility scale storage via batteries or fly-wheels, etc).

Now what if a breakthrough came along that potentially tripled the energy output of those turbines? You see where I'm going. We could in theory supply the TOTAL annual energy needs of the U.S. simply by exploiting 20 percent of our available wind resources. Well such a breakthrough has been made, and it's called the "wind lens."

Imagine: no more dirty coal power, no more mining deaths, no more nuclear disasters, no more polluted aquifers as a result of fracking. Our entire society powered by the quiet "woosh" of a wind turbine. Kyushu University's wind lens turbine is one example of the many innovations happening right now that could in the near future make this utopian vision a reality.

Yes, it's a heck of a lot of wind turbines (about 2,640,000) but the U.S. with its endless miles of prairie and agricultural land is one of the few nations that could actually deploy such a network of wind turbines without disrupting the current productivity of the land (Russia and China also come to mind). it would also be a win-win for states in the highest wind area — the Midwest — which has been hard hit by the recession. And think of the millions upon millions of jobs that would be created building a 21st century energy distribution system free of the shackles of ever-diminishing fossil fuel supplies.

It's also important to point out that growth in wind power capacity is perfectly symbiotic with projected growth in electric vehicles. EV battery packs can soak up wind power produced during the night, helping to equalize the curve of daytime energy demand. So the controversial investment currently being entertained by President Obama to pipe oil down from the Canadian Tar Sands would — in my utopian vision — be a moot point.

It is indeed a lofty vision, but the technology we need is now in our reach. And think of the benefits of having our power production fed by a resource that is both free and unlimited. One downside often cited by advocates of coal and gas power is that wind turbines require a lot more maintenence than a typical coal or gas power plant. But in a lagging economy this might just be wind power's biggest upside — it will create lots and lots of permanent jobs, sparking a new cycle of economic growth in America.

New Type of Rechargeable

Battery – Just Add Water

The mixing entropy battery could be used to build power plants at estuaries where fresh water rivers join the ocean (Image: NASA)

By Alan Brandon

SolidarityEconomy.net via Gizmag,com

May 5, 2011 - Scientists at Stanford have developed a battery that uses nanotechnology to create electricity from the difference in salt content between fresh water and sea water. The researchers hope to use the technology to create power plants where fresh-water rivers flow into the ocean. The new "mixing entropy" battery alternately immerses its electrodes in river water and sea water to produce the electrical power.

Making electricity from the difference in salinity (the amount of salt) in fresh water and sea water is not a new concept. We've previously covered salinity power technology, and Norway's Statkraft has built a working prototype power plant. But the Stanford team, led by associate professor of materials science and engineering Yi Cui, believes their method is more efficient, and can be built more cheaply.

Other fresh/salt water power plants work by releasing energy through osmosis (the passing of solvent molecules through a membrane). The Stanford team's approach harnesses entropic energy from the interaction of the fresh water and salt water with the battery's electrodes.

The mixing entropy battery works by exchanging the electrolyte (a liquid that contains ions or electrically charged particles – in this case water) between when the battery is charged and when it is discharged. The ions in water are sodium and chlorine, which are the elements of ordinary table salt. The saltier the water is, the more sodium and chlorine ions there are, and the more voltage that can be produced.

Google Strikes Geothermal Gold in West Virginia

By Jeff St. John

Oct. 5, 2010 - Has Google struck geothermal gold in West Virginia? A new report shows that heat underground the state could provide 18,890 megawatts of power using today’s geothermal technology — more than the state’s entire power generation capacity of 16,350 megawatts, most of which comes from coal. Google, which has been investing in next-generation clean power technologies, funded the research.

The study from Southern Methodist University used data from thousands of oil, gas and water wells to update the sparse geothermal maps that previously existed for West Virginia. The new information has bumped up the state’s previous geothermal resource estimates by 75 percent, researchers say, making it potentially the largest single site for geothermal power east of the Mississippi. Researchers intend to present the results at the 2010 Geothermal Resources Council annual meeting in Sacramento, Calif. later this month.

Mondragon Diaries: Day One

Why Humanity Comes First at Work:

Learning About Bridges to 21st Century Socialism

By Carl Davidson

Keep On Keepin' On

“This is not paradise and we are not angels.”

--Mikal Lezamiz, Director of Cooperative Dissemination, MCC

After a short bus ride through the stone cobbled streets of Arrasate-Mondragon and up the winding roads of this humanly-scaled industrial town of Spain's Basque country in a sunny fall morning, taking in the birch and pine covered mountains, and the higher ones with magnificent stony peaks, I raised an eyebrow at the first part of Mikel's statement.

The area was breath-takingly beautiful, and if it wasn't paradise, it came close enough.

I'm with a group of 25 social activists on a study tour organized by the Praxis Peace Institute. Our focus is the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation, a 50-year-old network of nearly 120 factories and agencies, involving nearly 100,000 workers in one way or another, and centered in the the Basque Country but now spanning the globe. We're here to study the history of these unique worker-owned factories, how they work, why they have been successful, and how they might be expanded in various ways as instruments of social change. Georgia Kelly, the Praxis Peace Institute's Executive Director, is our cheerful and helpful group leader, but Mikel is our MCC host in charge of teaching us what he knows.

The MCC reception center is part way up on a slope of a much larger mountain, but it offers a magnificent view of the town and the dozens of industrial and commercial cooperatives in and around it in the valley below. After watching a short film on the current scope of MCC, we move to a lecture room for Mikel's talk. The signs on the wall say 'Mondragon: Humanity at Work: Finance-Industry-Retail-Knowledge', in Basque, Spanish and English.

China Developing 600 mph

Airless Maglev High-Speed Train

By Andrew Nusca

Aug. 9, 2010

High-speed rail just got a whole lot faster.

China is reportedly developing a high-speed train that will travel at 1,000 kilometers per hour, or approx. 621 miles per hour, through Maglev lines in airless tubes underground.

Researchers at the National Power Traction Laboratory of Southwest Jiaotong University reportedly toldBeijing-based Legal Evening News that they were working on a prototype “vactrain” with an average speed of 500 to 600 kilometers per hour (approx. 311 to 373 miles per hour.)

The researchers say the technology could be in use within a decade. In the meantime, a smaller model train may be introduced in two or three years, they said.

The technology at the heart of the train is Maglev, short for magnetic levitation, technology. A concept that’s been around for more than 100 years, Maglev tech entails the suspension of a train via powerful magnets to remove the friction present at the rails of conventional trains.

The catch with maglev technology is that there’s still friction from the air rushing past the train as it hurtles down the tracks. To date, the fastest Maglev train managed about 361 miles per hour — not much faster than a conventional high-speed train.

Cleveland Public School Students

Wow Crowd at Foundation Meeting

Margaret Bernstein, The Plain Dealer

View full sizeMarvin Fong / The Plain Dealer

All the seniors from the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine will attend college.

CLEVELAND, Ohio, June 10 -- Cleveland Foundation leaders enlivened their annual meeting Tuesday at Severance Hall by spotlighting several examples of hope hewn from poverty.

President and Chief Executive Officer Ronald B. Richard said signs of success are sprouting for the 10 "innovation schools" his foundation has helped fund in the Cleveland school district in recent years.

He then wowed the crowd by telling them that 100 percent of seniors at the School of Science and Medicine on the John Hay campus have been accepted to four-year colleges.

The audience of about 600 cheered and some wiped away tears when nine John Hay youths in lab coats trooped on stage to announce, in confident voices, the colleges that accepted them and the scholarship dollars they won.

"Fixing America's failing public school systems is, at present, the single most important mission of our nation, and of our city," Richard said, to enthusiastic applause. "And for the Cleveland Foundation, it's priority No. 1."

He updated attendees on several other foundation projects, including the worker-owned Evergreen Cooperative in University Circle, which has created 38 jobs so far for Cleveland residents, with potential for 500 more.

Venezuela Slum Takes Socialism Beyond Chavez

* Caracas slum a lab for Chavez's socialist project

* Radical groups are key part of president's support

* Opposition sees militants as Chavez's personal army

By Esteban Israel

Reuters, July 6, 2010

CARACAS, July 6 (Reuters) - While President Hugo Chavez struggles to revive the battered bolivar, in a hillside slum overlooking his palace, die-hard supporters are talking about getting rid of the Venezuelan currency altogether.

Welcome to the 23 de Enero barrio, home to about 100,000 people and something of a laboratory for Chavez's nationwide socialist experiment. Here you find dogs named "Comrade Mao", and even a "revolutionary car wash."

"We are creating a popular bank and are going to issue a communal currency: little pieces of cardboard," says Salvador Rooselt, a soft-spoken 24-year-old law student and community leader who often quotes Lenin and Marx.

Some 20 militant groups sometimes described as Chavez's "storm troopers" run this urban jungle in western Caracas, where hulking concrete buildings daubed with colorful murals -- one depicting Jesus Christ brandishing an AK-47 rifle -- show off the neighborhood's radical tradition.