I just read a couple of interesting articles from Science Daily about energy and thought I’d share them.
The first article is about a group of researchers who have managed to find a much more efficient means of generating hydrogen through photosynthesis. Hydrogen as a gas is very intriguing in terms of the war on greenhouse gasses, but there have been technical difficulties in finding a way to generate it efficiently. However:
Bruce and his colleagues found that by starting with a thermophilic blue-green algae, which favors warmer temperatures, they could sustain the reaction at temperatures as high as 55 degrees C, or 131 degrees F. That is roughly the temperature in arid deserts with high solar irradiation, where the process would be most productive. They also found the process was more than 10 times more efficient as the temperature increased.
Obviously this isn’t something that can work in every environment and situation, but it’s fantastic news as far as I am concerned.
The second article is a look at a new approach to the design of heating and cooling systems, primarily for home and vehicular use.:
The researchers expect that their new adsorption technology can create domestic heat pumps that will produce a 30% or more reduction in domestic fuel bills (and CO2 emissions) compared to even the best condensing boiler. In car air conditioning systems their new system can exploit waste heat from the engine, converting it into useful cooling. Because no (or very little) mechanical power is then taken from the engine it will reduce both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by nearly 5%. The research team also anticipate that in new vehicle models the system can be integrated with little or no extra cost.
Interesting news indeed. Global warming is another of the millions of areas I’m not an expert in, but I think that we’re starting to see a lot of creative problem solving being employed. The number of people who’s argument against fixing the problem is the sheer size of it clearly lack the imagination to see that a lot of small solutions can turn into a major impact, and it’s research like these that will hopefully bring dramatic change in this area.
Jim
