Renewables

A compact yet powerful energy harvesting generator and a snap-action microswitch and rocker switch will be available from CHERRY in mid-2015.

ZephIR Lidar has announced that it has installed a turbine-mounted ZephIR DM wind lidar on the 270 MW Lincs Offshore Wind Farm, located 5 miles from the Skegness coast and operated by Centrica, Siemens Project Ventures and DONG Energy. The installation of the unit will help to identify opportunities where an improvement to production from the installed 75 Siemens 3.6 MW wind turbine generators can be achieved.

Thermal fluid specialist Global Heat Transfer has launched its first non toxic heat transfer fluid for solar applications, Globaltherm Omnipure. The high performance thermal fluid also boasts low flammability, making solar safer, while also reducing insurance and maintenance costs. Global Heat Transfer will showcase the product at the Menasol exhibition, hosted in Dubai from 13th to 14th May 2015.

GPT Waste Management, the UK’s largest independent provider of sustainable waste management solutions, has announced its latest leisure sector contract win with health club leaders, Total Fitness. The three year partnership will provide a total range of waste management solutions to the fitness chain.

Researchers at Purdue University, Indiana, have shown how to convert waste packing peanuts into high-performance carbon electrodes for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that outperform conventional graphite electrodes, representing an environmentally friendly approach to waste disposal.

Slibverwerking Noord-Brabant (SNB), Moerdijk, Holland, has officially commenced operations using two boilers, provided by NEM Energy, and a Siemens steam turbine, immediately making the largest sewage sludge incineration plant in Europe virtually energy-neutral - a status unique in the industry. The amount of electricity generated will be enough to power 7,000 to 8,000 households.

A toilet, conveniently situated near the Student Union Bar at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, is proving that pee can generate electricity. The prototype urinal is the result of a partnership between researchers at UWE Bristol and Oxfam. It is hoped the pee-power technology will light cubicles in refugee camps, which are often dark and dangerous places, particularly for women.

Earlier this month, we brought you the story of Solar Impulse 2, the world's first fuel-free, solar-powered aeroplane. From its initial take-off in Abu Dhabi, Solar Impulse has successfully completed flight legs to Muscat, Ahmedabad, Varanasi and Mandalay, prior to its most recent landing in Chongqing, where poor weather conditions have temporarily halted its progress.

In a broad assessment of the status and prospects of solar photovoltaic technology, MIT researchers say that it is ‘one of the few renewable resources with both the scalability and the technological maturity to meet growing global demand for energy.’ Use of solar photovoltaics has been growing at a phenomenal rate: worldwide installed capacity has seen sustained growth averaging 43% per year since 2000.

A pair of continuous wave ZephIR 300 wind lidars have been acquired by Ivy League institution Cornell University. The Lab took possession of two ZephIR 300 lidars, specialist equipment for ground-based remote sensing of wind flow in the atmosphere. The University selected ZephIR 300 in order to accurately, precisely measure the wind and turbulence interactions between the atmosphere and wind turbines.