If You Can Make Solar Power Better, Google Will Give You $1 Million

“Smaller is baller,” “Min it to win it,” “Think shrink.”

Those are the puns Google is using to promote its new competition: $1 million to whomever can invent a working power inverter for solar and other forms of renewable energy that’s roughly as small as a laptop. The company has teamed up with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to launch the competition.

For background, a power inverter is a box that takes alternating current (AC) out of a direct current (DC) — such as a solar array — and applies that AC to run things in our homes, offices, and businesses. In order to use the DC power generated from wind turbines and solar panels, it must be converted into alternating current, via a power inverter.

“Much of our domestic world relies on AC,” the tech blog Venture beat explains. “And AC needs robust power distribution grids, huge power plants and either fossil fuel, nuclear power, or falling water.”

As they are currently, inverters for solar and wind are, according to Google, too big — “roughly the size of a picnic cooler,” the company said on its new website for the “Littlebox Challenge.” But if they can be shrunk down to the size of a tablet or laptop, the company says, it would “enable more solar-powered homes, more efficient distributed electrical grids, and could help bring electricity to the most remote parts of the planet.”

“There will be obstacles to overcome; like the conventional wisdom of engineering”, Google Green’s Eric Raymond said in a statement announcing the competition. “But whoever gets it done will help change the future of electricity.”

The challenge for engineers is to design and build a 1-kilowatt-minimum power inverter with a power density of at least 50 watts per cubic inch — not an insane amount of power, but enough to fuel some lights and a box fan. Applicants must register by September and submit their ideas by July 15 of next year. Eighteen finalists will be chosen, and a grand prize winner will be announced sometime in January 2016, the company said.

Google has long-promoted increased use of renewable energy, but its relationship with it has been a bit of a puzzle. The company’s Google Green subsidiary has invested millions in clean energy projects throughout the last decade, with an eventual goal to power its data centers with 100 percent renewable energy. The company claims that, with purchased offsets, its carbon footprint is zero, meaning it does not contribute to climate change. So far, Google has sunk more than $1 billion into wind and solar projects that in total generate more than 2 gigawatts of power.

At the same time, however, Google has hosted fundraisers to benefit one of the U.S. Senate’s most vehement climate deniers, and is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) — a corporate lobbyist group that actively works to thwart statewide renewable energy programs.

The two-way relationship has raised questions about the company’s intentions among some environmentalists, who are asking Google to cut ties with the anti-climate group. But one possible explanation for the company’s partnership with interests purportedly contrary to their own is that it’s necessary to help sway them to their side, as Tim Worstall in Forbes notes.

“Sadly, the way that the modern economy works is that government, at all levels, has a great deal of influence over how business works,” he writes. “So, it is necessary for a large business to flash the cash around to both sides, to join lobby groups from all sides of the political compass.”

 

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The Eco-GreenergyTM Wind-Solar Outdoor Lighting System.

As an outcome from the continuous hybrid renewable energy research, an innovative outdoor lighting system powered by a shroud-augmented wind turbine and a solar panel was installed in the Kuala Lumpur campus of University of Malaya (UM).

As an outcome from the continuous hybrid renewable energy research, an innovative outdoor lighting system powered by a shroud-augmented wind turbine and a solar panel was installed in the KL campus of University of Malaya (UM). This hybrid green energy system is a compact design that harmoniously integrates a vertical-axis-wind-turbine (VAWT) with the novel omni-direction-guide-vane (ODGV), solar panel and LED lighting system. Consisting of several guide vanes, the ODGV is carefully designed and placed to surround the VAWT for wind power augmentation where the oncoming wind is guided through the ODGV. This will create a venturi effect that increases the wind speed before the wind-stream interacts with the turbine blades. Furthermore, the unique design of the ODGV that shrouds the wind turbine rotor provides a safer and more secure environment for maintenance workers and the public.

Ultimately, the ODGV overcomes the low wind speed challenge in the tropics by guiding and increasing the speed of the wind from all directions radially through the guide-vanes before entering the VAWT at center portion. To harness power from the sun, a photovoltaic panel is mounted on the top surface of the ODGV for solar energy generation. The green energy generated from this wind-solar hybrid system is utilized to power the outdoor lighting system.

The team led by Dr. Chong Wen Tong was awarded a Pre-commercialized Prototype Fund to develop and install the product at suitable locations in the campus. The fund was provided by UM via UM Center of Innovation and Commercialization (UMCIC). The first unit was installed next to the outdoor gymnasium, opposite 1st Residential College. This unit will serve as the first full-scale trial and as a showcase unit of the product. Improvements on the design and features will be included in the next units. For the commercialization of this product, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between UM and a private company, Master Shanghai Turnparts Sdn. Bhd. (MSTSB). MSTSB has provided great assistance in enhancing the product. The second unit of the product is currently in the final stages of fabrication and testing.

The product is protected by three intellectual properties and a trademark, all of which is owned by UM. It also has won several awards in local and international exhibitions. With a motto 'Lighting-up UM', the team aims to provide a sustainable solution for energy efficient and quality lighting powered by wind-solar hybrid renewable energy sources.

Summary of the product

The product is a part of an UMRG project led by Dr. Chong Wen Tong. The product is called "Eco-GreenergyTM Wind-Solar Outdoor Lighting System" and it is self-sustained, i.e. powered by the shrouded vertical-axis-wind-turbine generator and solar PV panel. The novelty of the product is achieved through the wind power augmentation of the guide-vanes assembly known as the omni-direction-guide-vane (ODGV). The guide-vanes can be made from clear and translucent material to act as light-plates. Moreover, logos or symbols can be engraved on these plates for showcasing purposes. The solar PV is positioned at the top portion of the ODGV to avoid interference resulting from shadow. The batteries and the controller are stored at the top of the pole and below the ODGV to avoid vandalism or flash floods. The overall "clean" impression of the product compared to other conventional wind-solar lamp posts serves as an added advantage for this product.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of Malaya. 

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Designing Climate Policy in Line with Social Equity

 

Climate change is making us aware of the limits of our planet – and at the same time confronting us with the fact that the consequences of our actions know no borders. It is incumbent on us to redesign, together, the forms of human coexistence.

At the World Summit on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 154 states signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), thereby setting themselves the goal of stabilising »greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system« (UNFCCC, Art. 2). Twenty years later the now 194 treaty states have managed to agree on a maximum of 2°C as the ceiling for average global warming, as well as wishing to negotiate an agreement by 2015 containing binding emissions targets for all treaty states. But the hesitant progress made so far within the framework of the UN’s annual climate negotiations stands in direct contrast to what is needed to address climate change properly: rapid, decisive and ambitious action.

The difficulties encountered in the course of the international climate protection negotiations are due not least to the fact that they cannot be detached from the problem of the current world order being perceived as profoundly unfair. The fact that those countries above all that have contributed least to triggering climate change are now suffering the most from its effects is no accident, but rather expresses a historical structural injustice which climate policy must take into account. The historical experience of colonialism and the reluctance of the industrialised countries to acknowledge their environmental and climate policy responsibilities not only in words but also in deeds have created a climate of mistrust which overshadows the negotiations and repeatedly results in deadlock. All the more so because climate change confronts us ruthlessly with our mutual dependency with regard to the environment.

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung is working on a socially compatible and development-oriented climate and energy policy based on a viable international regime. To that end we are supporting a differentiated approach to the key issue of climate justice in order to achieve progress with regard to a political practice based on common, but differentiated responsibilities through intensive exchange at regional and global level. Justice, here, not only must be the benchmark for the assignment of rights and obligations in the areas of mitigation and adaptation, but must also, from the outset, be the principle against which the necessary building of sustainable economic and societal structures has to be measured.

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How Does Electronic Recycling Work?

How E-waste Works 

If you don't want to damage the environment, are you supposed to transform your storage closet into an electronics graveyard? Never fear, the slow but steady mechanisms of social consciousness have been grinding at this one for a while now, and movement is starting to happen. Input about e-waste regulations are coming from a number of fronts, including grassroots organizations, governing bodies and industrial leaders.

Many organizations have recognized the potential for e-waste dangers for years. However, the issue recently came to the forefront of media in 2002, when Basel Action Network's (BAN) documentary "Exporting Harm" was released. BAN works to reduce the harmful effects of exporting e-waste and promotes sustainable solutions to worldwide waste issues. So-called recyclers and scrap brokers were buying e-waste from developed regions throughout the world and dumping it in developing nations. In some parts of these countries, people were dismantling electronics on street corners, instead of in recycling facilities.

Picture something like this: Mountains of discarded TVs and computer monitors tower above the rutted streets of a low-income urban community. In order to make a living, hundreds of people work in the shadow of this heap of e-waste. Some people tend fires which burn and remove the plastic from copper wires, putting out billows of noxious smoke. Other workers swirl circuit boards in tubs of nitric and hydrochloric acid to release the solder and precious metals -- at the same time releasing gas that stings their eyes. Plastic chips, obtained from smashing devices like keyboards and computer casings, are broken into tiny pieces and carefully sorted before they too are burned and melted together into a sellable chunk. And at the end of the day, all the byproducts that have no further useful purposes, like charred circuit boards and used acid compounds, usually are dumped in open fields and rivers or are burned.

These are a few examples of the recycling processes that still occur on a daily basis in some developing regions. But, as mentioned earlier, many countries are passing new laws to try to halt the process and fix the problem.

For example, the European Union has a series of directives and regulations aimed to increase the recovery, reuse and recycling of e-waste and put the burden of recycling on the manufacturer. The hope is that this will decrease e-waste and e-waste exports, and encourage manufacturers to create new, greener products. Ideally, these products would be safer and easier to upgrade, fix and recycle. The EU has also increased the regulations on different substances common in e-waste, limited the use of these substances in member countries and banned the exportation of hazardous waste.

Think back ­for a minute at the procession of computers, TVs, cell phones, radios, game consoles and music players that have passed through your hands over the years. What about the endless stream of products such as vacuum cleaners, microwaves, hair dryers, electric toothbrushes, alarm clocks, lamps, lawn mowers and smoke detectors that have come in and out of your life?

These are just a few examples of devices that are part of the growing phenomenon known as e-waste.  E-waste is the term used to describe discarded electronics and electrical products. In the past few decades, the world's demand for gadgetry has gone through the roof and, inevitably, more waste has started to accumulate. As the bustling economies of China and India modernize and follow more Western trends, the worldwide generation of e-waste has hit astronomical proportions.

So what happens to all that e-waste? E-waste contains a bonanza of toxic and hazardous components that, for the most part, are currently being shunted into landfills. Much of the remaining portion is exported to developing nations, where many laborers, working under unsafe, unregulated conditions, recycle this e-waste. The work these laborers do, while it does provide some raw materials that can be reused, comes with some serious consequences.

At present, we're just beginning to realize how serious those consequences are. Long-term exposure to small doses of toxins is less understood than the effects of those toxins in larger doses. In all likelihood, it's dangerous to spend your days touching fragments of toxic metals like lead and mercury. Common sense implies that inhaling the fumes from flame-retardant chemicals and highly corrosive acids isn't a good idea. And dumping byproducts of this recycling process into drinking-water sources can't be good for anyone.

The upshot is people have begun taking notice of these conditions, and several initiatives to protect the environment and human health have gained traction recently. Governments from around the world are passing regulations to curtail e-waste, and an increasing number of industrial improvements pop up every day.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle E-waste

Motivated to start sending your old electronic devices and electrical household products to a good home?

First, check to see if your device's manufacturer will take the product back. Take-back programs are slowly expanding, and many companies allow customers to return at least some computer models and equipment when they no longer want them. Apple, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Sony and Toshiba are some of the companies that take back some of your old electronic devices. You may be charged a small fee to return your computer and, as the saying goes, other rules and restrictions may apply. Some companies will take back any brand of electronics; others will accept their products only. From there, your e-waste may be completely recycled by the manufacturer or refurbished for future use.

Another option is to recycle e-waste by taking your old electronics and electrical junk to a legitimate e-waste recycler who practices on-site recycling. The process typically uses an expensive recycling machine, which is fairly common in Europe but less so in the U.S. The machine smashes the electronics and takes them down a conveyor belt. The process uses vibrating screens and magnetic fields to extract different elements. Another common way involves workers (wearing proper protective gear) in a disassembly line, who take apart the electronics piece by piece and sort the contents. Then, different machines break the various pieces down to the point where they can be reused. Again, you might be asked to pay a small fee depending on what you bring in.

Don't let your storage closets and garages become electronic burial grounds. Visit the links on the next page for more information about e-waste and legitimate recycling.

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