Chester Carlson was a Seattle physicist and attorney who invented the process of xerography (photocopier) and made it commercial through the company Haloid, later to be renamed Xerox. Chester Carlson was also of Swedish decent and that is why the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) has established a prize in his memory.
This year the Chester Carlson Prize winner is Albert Mihranyan, a scientist at Uppsala University. Mihranyan has developed a green battery consisting mainly of nanostructured paper and a conductive polymer. The applications for the battery include environmental energy storage, compostable electronics and smart textiles. Mihranyan is now looking for partners to commercialize his paper battery.
The winner is selected by IVA and Xerox.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Story by Professor J.B Schneider, Univeristy of Washington, Seattle: Vectus Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) test-track built in Uppsala
PRT is an emerging urban transit concept that is fully automated, non-stop, and comfortable system to get around in today’s urban environments. The PRT system is operated on an ultra-light guideway providing service between numerous stations in a network of connected routes. The PRT system is built in such a way that it serves as an intermediate capacity transport system and can provide a variety of applications. It could offer service up to 24 hours, 7 days a week and PRT uses a negligible amount of energy. It can also be expected to generate profits fast due to its reduced capital and operating costs. Architects involved in designing eco-cities have recognized the PRT Vectus potential for helping to achieve near zero carbon objectives.
Vectus PRT has recently built a test-track in Uppsala, Sweden with three test vehicles to test its potential. These initiatives are in line with the Swedish Governments ambition to build a pioneer PRT system in a Swedish City in the near future. Large scale simulations of an area wide PRT network has further been conducted in Gothenburg, Sweden where a network of 12.800 vehicles, 716 km of track, 654 stations and 27.191 passengers used the system during a 30-minute simulation period. Resulting in an average wait time of 1.3 minutes per passenger. Read full story here p. 11-13.
Vectus PRT has recently built a test-track in Uppsala, Sweden with three test vehicles to test its potential. These initiatives are in line with the Swedish Governments ambition to build a pioneer PRT system in a Swedish City in the near future. Large scale simulations of an area wide PRT network has further been conducted in Gothenburg, Sweden where a network of 12.800 vehicles, 716 km of track, 654 stations and 27.191 passengers used the system during a 30-minute simulation period. Resulting in an average wait time of 1.3 minutes per passenger. Read full story here p. 11-13.
Aluminum Maker Eyes Solar Industry
Alcoa, the aluminum giant, is testing a new type of solar technology that it believes will lower the cost of renewable energy.
The company has replaced the glass in parabolic troughs with reflective aluminum and integrated the mirror into a single structure.
Parabolic troughs focus sunlight on liquid-filled receivers suspended over the mirrors to create steam that drives an electricity-generating turbine. Parabolic trough technology has been in modern use in solar power plants since the early 1980s, but Alcoa executives said they saw an opportunity to refine the technology and get a foothold in the rapidly expanding renewable energy market.
“If you go out and look behind large parabolic troughs, you’ll find an elaborate truss structure,” said Rick Winter, a technology executive with Alcoa. “From our understanding of aerospace structures, we said if we can modify the wing box design used in aircraft and integrate a parabolic reflector, it would give us a light and stiff structure that would fundamentally affect the cost equation.” Read full story here.
The company has replaced the glass in parabolic troughs with reflective aluminum and integrated the mirror into a single structure.
Parabolic troughs focus sunlight on liquid-filled receivers suspended over the mirrors to create steam that drives an electricity-generating turbine. Parabolic trough technology has been in modern use in solar power plants since the early 1980s, but Alcoa executives said they saw an opportunity to refine the technology and get a foothold in the rapidly expanding renewable energy market.
“If you go out and look behind large parabolic troughs, you’ll find an elaborate truss structure,” said Rick Winter, a technology executive with Alcoa. “From our understanding of aerospace structures, we said if we can modify the wing box design used in aircraft and integrate a parabolic reflector, it would give us a light and stiff structure that would fundamentally affect the cost equation.” Read full story here.
Nilar Batteries to Power Norwegian Electric Cars
On March 18, the Managing Director of Nilar International AB, Mr. Lars Fredriksson of the Swedish American battery company Nilar signed a contract with Elbil Norway which manufactures electrical cars. The order for nickel metal hydride batteries is worth SEK 15-20 million. Nilar will now start production in Sweden.
“Coal as a Raw Material in a Sustainable Energy System – How Do We Make It Possible?”
The NOG (Nätverket Olja och Gas) is holding a seminar on April 14 on the role of coal in a sustainbale energy system.
“The Electricity in Europe today is to a large extent produced from Coal and Natural gas. In order to meet the current climate goals, new solutions are required to reduce emissions from these sources.
Extensive research is being carried out to develop methods to use coal and other fossil fuels in a sustainable way in order to minimize the release of emissions into the atmosphere.
Clean Coal Technologies, such as Carbon Capture and Storage are one of the interesting solutions that could be used to meet the environmental targets.
The NOG seminar will address the problem of how coal can be used as fuel in a sustainable energy system in the future.” Read more about the seminar here.
“The Electricity in Europe today is to a large extent produced from Coal and Natural gas. In order to meet the current climate goals, new solutions are required to reduce emissions from these sources.
Extensive research is being carried out to develop methods to use coal and other fossil fuels in a sustainable way in order to minimize the release of emissions into the atmosphere.
Clean Coal Technologies, such as Carbon Capture and Storage are one of the interesting solutions that could be used to meet the environmental targets.
The NOG seminar will address the problem of how coal can be used as fuel in a sustainable energy system in the future.” Read more about the seminar here.
Thomas Friedman Muses About Dreaming the Possible Dream
The thing I love most about America is that there’s always somebody who doesn’t get the word — somebody who doesn’t understand that in a Great Recession you’re supposed to hunker down, downsize and just hold on for dear life. I have a couple of friends who fit that bill, who think a recession is a dandy time to try to discover better and cheaper ways to do things. They both happen to be Indian-Americans — one a son of the Himalayas, who came to America on a scholarship and went to work for NASA to try to find a way to Mars; the other a son of New Delhi, who came here and found the Sun, Sun Microsystems. Both are serial innovators. Both are now shepherding clean-tech start-ups that have the potential to be disruptive game changers. They don’t know from hunkering down. They just didn’t get the word. As a result, one has produced a fuel cell that can turn natural gas or natural grass into electricity; the other has a technology that might make coal the cleanest, cheapest energy source by turning its carbon-dioxide emissions into bricks to build your next house. Though our country may be flagging, it’s because of innovators like these that you should never — ever — write us off.
Interim USG Report on the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force
On March 16, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), along with the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released an interim progress report of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force. The report outlines the Task Force’s progress to date and recommends key components to include in a national strategy on climate change adaptation. These include:
1. Integration of Science into Adaptation Decisions and Policy
2. Communications and Capacity-building
3. Coordination and Collaboration
4. Prioritization
5. A Flexible Framework for Agencies
6. Evaluation
In October of 2010, the Task Force will report to the President on the development of domestic and international dimensions of a U.S. approach to climate change adaptation and what Federal Agencies are doing to support this effort. The full CEQ release can be found here, and the full report—now open for public comment—is available here.
1. Integration of Science into Adaptation Decisions and Policy
2. Communications and Capacity-building
3. Coordination and Collaboration
4. Prioritization
5. A Flexible Framework for Agencies
6. Evaluation
In October of 2010, the Task Force will report to the President on the development of domestic and international dimensions of a U.S. approach to climate change adaptation and what Federal Agencies are doing to support this effort. The full CEQ release can be found here, and the full report—now open for public comment—is available here.
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