In Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, (the film version of which has just been released), the plot revolves around a stolen canister of anti-matter with an explosive potential many times that of TNT! Even with its generous veneer of fiction, the story has attracted popular attention and brought anti-particle physics into discussion circles. Some cause for cheer indeed!
But what is this anti-matter? Can it solve the world’s energy crisis?
In antimatter-matter collisions resulting in photon emission, the entire rest mass of the particles is converted to kinetic energy. The energy per unit mass (9×1016 J/kg) is about 10 orders of magnitude greater than chemical energy, about 4 orders of magnitude greater than nuclear energy that can be liberated today using nuclear fission and about 2 orders of magnitude greater than the best possible from fusion. The reaction of 1 kg of antimatter with 1 kg of matter would produce 1.8×1017 J (180 petajoules) of energy or the rough equivalent of 47 megatons of TNT. Energy needs of the world could be forever solved, if only we could store the antimatter and use it in a controlled manner!
Anti-matter is composed of antiparticles in the same way that normal matter is composed of particles. For example, an antielectron (a positron, an electron with a positive charge) and an antiproton (a proton with a negative charge) could form an antihydrogen atom in the same way that an electron and a proton form a normal matter hydrogen atom.
Mixing matter and antimatter would lead to the annihilation of both in the same way that mixing antiparticles and particles does, thus giving rise to high-energy photons.
However, the biggest limiting factor in the production of antimatter is the availability of antiprotons. Recent data released by CERN states that when fully operational their facilities are capable of producing 107 antiprotons per second. Assuming an optimal conversion of antiprotons to antihydrogen, it would take two billion years to produce 1 gram or 1 mole of antihydrogen (approximately 6.02×1023 atoms of antihydrogen).
Another limiting factor to antimatter production is storage. Antimatter can be contained by a combination of an electric field and a magnetic field in a device known as a Penning trap.
Positrons were reported in November 2008 to have been generated by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in larger numbers than by any previous synthetic process. Also, antimatter is the most costly substance in existence, with an estimated cost of $62.5 trillion per gram.
According to CERN, it has cost a few hundred million Swiss Francs to produce about 1 billionth of a gram.
But that is not going to deter scientists in their attempts to cook new particles and wrench energy from the E=mc2 process. Particle physics could well be the ultimate frontier of energy studies. What do you say?
Monday, June 8, 2009
Efficient fertiliser
A simple innovation that converts waste to use, and does it in a sanitized way caught our attention. The Peepoo bag addresses lack of hygienic access to toilet faced by 40 percent of world population and offers a solution that is simple and effective.
The Peepoo bag can serve as a personal, portable and low-cost latrine for all those who don't have one. Designed for use sitting, squatting or standing, the single-use, biodegradable plastic bag measures 14 by 38 cm and is lined with a urea-coated gauze layer that disinfects all waste. Used bags are odour-free for at least 24 hours and are safe for burial underground.
Within two to four weeks after use, however, their contents get converted to high-quality fertilizer. No chemicals, no energy intake, no water intake! The energy use in fertilsers accounts for 30-40 percent of energy used in agriculture. And 25 percent of emissions.
Following field tests last year in Kenya and India, the Peepoo bag is scheduled to begin production this summer.
How do you rate the innovation?
The Peepoo bag can serve as a personal, portable and low-cost latrine for all those who don't have one. Designed for use sitting, squatting or standing, the single-use, biodegradable plastic bag measures 14 by 38 cm and is lined with a urea-coated gauze layer that disinfects all waste. Used bags are odour-free for at least 24 hours and are safe for burial underground.
Within two to four weeks after use, however, their contents get converted to high-quality fertilizer. No chemicals, no energy intake, no water intake! The energy use in fertilsers accounts for 30-40 percent of energy used in agriculture. And 25 percent of emissions.
Following field tests last year in Kenya and India, the Peepoo bag is scheduled to begin production this summer.
How do you rate the innovation?
Friday, June 5, 2009
Do we care?
High-rise buildings displace lakes. Malls spread like a virus across the landscape. Forests give way to resorts, farm land and residential layouts. Smog obscures blue skies and we lose touch with our essence… an essence tied to nature. To environment.
What better a way to honour environment day than to pay homage to Thomas Berry, a cultural historian by training and an ecological visionary, who recently passed away. He believed his generation had been "autistic" when it comes to the natural world. ‘Our progress as a civilization has been in direct proportion to our diminishment of the planet's lifesystems.’
We reproduce a few of Berry's thoughts here.
The ideal is to take the greatest possible amount of natural resources, process these resources, put them through the consumer economy as quickly as possible, then on to the waste heap. This we consider as progress—even though the immense accumulation of junk is overwhelming the landscape, saturating the skies, and filling the oceans.
In the process, Berry felt our inner world was affected too. Without the soaring birds, the great forests, the sounds and coloration of the insects, the free-flowing streams, the flowering fields, the sight of the clouds by day and the stars at night, we become impoverished in all that makes us human.
For the first time in history, the human is in the driver's seat, not only of cultural, but also of geological evolution. From biogenetic engineering through massive species extinction, ozone depletion, and climate change, humans are proving their reckless prowess over the unfolding of the planet.
Our ethics have not kept pace with our power. While we have codes and penalties concerning suicide, homicide, and genocide, we have no proscriptions against geocide.
For Berry, authentic progress rests in what he terms "the Great Work," through which we as a species move from being the planet's plunderers to its benefactors. The great work is ultimately the reinvention of the human.
This task will require a major reorientation of the four basic pillars of society—government, religion, the university, and corporations—which must embrace the earth and the universe as their primary educators. Or else we will become more soul-less than we are today.
Can we? Do we care?
What better a way to honour environment day than to pay homage to Thomas Berry, a cultural historian by training and an ecological visionary, who recently passed away. He believed his generation had been "autistic" when it comes to the natural world. ‘Our progress as a civilization has been in direct proportion to our diminishment of the planet's lifesystems.’
We reproduce a few of Berry's thoughts here.
The ideal is to take the greatest possible amount of natural resources, process these resources, put them through the consumer economy as quickly as possible, then on to the waste heap. This we consider as progress—even though the immense accumulation of junk is overwhelming the landscape, saturating the skies, and filling the oceans.
In the process, Berry felt our inner world was affected too. Without the soaring birds, the great forests, the sounds and coloration of the insects, the free-flowing streams, the flowering fields, the sight of the clouds by day and the stars at night, we become impoverished in all that makes us human.
For the first time in history, the human is in the driver's seat, not only of cultural, but also of geological evolution. From biogenetic engineering through massive species extinction, ozone depletion, and climate change, humans are proving their reckless prowess over the unfolding of the planet.
Our ethics have not kept pace with our power. While we have codes and penalties concerning suicide, homicide, and genocide, we have no proscriptions against geocide.
For Berry, authentic progress rests in what he terms "the Great Work," through which we as a species move from being the planet's plunderers to its benefactors. The great work is ultimately the reinvention of the human.
This task will require a major reorientation of the four basic pillars of society—government, religion, the university, and corporations—which must embrace the earth and the universe as their primary educators. Or else we will become more soul-less than we are today.
Can we? Do we care?
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Transition gear
Fuel cells could also be part of the clean solution as far as transport requirements go. Chevy Equinox from GM is one of eight hydrogen powered cars from Daimler, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen traveling north from Chula Vista, CA to Vancouver, BC as part of the second annual Hydrogen Road tour.Hydrogen fuel cells work like batteries, with the hydrogen ionizing into electrons and protons. The electrons are forced through a circuit, creating an electric current. The waste products coming out the end of the tailpipe are just water and a little bit of heat—much cleaner than internal combustion exhaust. One cell produces very little voltage, but stacked together they do quite well.
The Equinox can produce 94 kW, reach highway speeds of as much as 100 miles an hour (electronically regulated to prevent overtaxing the fuel cells), and go 150 miles on just 4.2 kilograms of compressed hydrogen.
Infrastructure will decide the fate of alternate technology. If there were enough places for people to fuel hydrogen powered cars, people would be more willing to buy them. But to create demand for the fueling stations, the cars have to be already sold!
Meanwhile, innovations continue. Based on the architecture of the Zero Emission Machine, an all-aluminum four-person pedal bike with room for the family dog and a few bags of groceries, the students at a US school attached a 1 horsepower 24 volt electric motor, solar cells, and an amp controller with electric regeneration properties, this street-legal road warrior actually seems like a viable alternative to cars for short hops to the supermarket.
How many will use this remains to be seen, but for those willing to clean-pedal, there is always a choice.
Gain some, lose lots?
Following in the footsteps of Al Gore is another ex-president of the US. Bill Clinton has found the environmental stage alluring. This week at Sao Paulo, Brazil is hosting one of the world’s largest gatherings of the international biofuels industry. The Ethanol Summit 2009 saw President Bill Clinton talk of the adverse impacts of biofuels.
While acknowledging Brazil for producing the most energy efficient and cost competitive ethanol in the world using sugarcane, he said that the country’s increase in ethanol production is a precursor to the continued destruction of the rainforests.
Biofuels are bad when they make use of food crops, excessive land and too much water. Recently many US companies are announcing new technologies to convert biomass to sugar without enzymes. Eliminating this step speeds up the conversion process, lowers costs and improves net energy.
In India too, there has been a scurry to grow these cash crops for big money that failed to materialize. It is now being advocated as a part of multi-cropping instead of mono-culture.
But given that the transport sector is one of the high-end guzzlers of oil, it makes perfect sense to look for an alternative to petrol. Biofuels obtained from waste materials could be a good option. As proved by Air New Zealand.
The company announced findings on a test flight from last December. Powered by a combination of biofuel and jet fuel, the test resulted in a fuel savings of 1.2%. It also cut CO2 emissions by over 60%. While a 1.2% fuel savings doesn’t seem like much, it is over 1 ton of fuel!
The test was conducted using a commercial 747-400 fitted with Rolls Royce engines. Rolls Royce had certified the fuel — a 50:50 blend of standard Jet A1 fuel and synthetic paraffinic kerosene derived from jatropha oil.
If civil aviation alone were to rely on biofuel, it would still mean supply has to pick up. And for that to happen, will it mean more forests cleared or food crops dropping? Is there any other way out?
While acknowledging Brazil for producing the most energy efficient and cost competitive ethanol in the world using sugarcane, he said that the country’s increase in ethanol production is a precursor to the continued destruction of the rainforests.
Biofuels are bad when they make use of food crops, excessive land and too much water. Recently many US companies are announcing new technologies to convert biomass to sugar without enzymes. Eliminating this step speeds up the conversion process, lowers costs and improves net energy.
In India too, there has been a scurry to grow these cash crops for big money that failed to materialize. It is now being advocated as a part of multi-cropping instead of mono-culture.
But given that the transport sector is one of the high-end guzzlers of oil, it makes perfect sense to look for an alternative to petrol. Biofuels obtained from waste materials could be a good option. As proved by Air New Zealand.
The company announced findings on a test flight from last December. Powered by a combination of biofuel and jet fuel, the test resulted in a fuel savings of 1.2%. It also cut CO2 emissions by over 60%. While a 1.2% fuel savings doesn’t seem like much, it is over 1 ton of fuel!
The test was conducted using a commercial 747-400 fitted with Rolls Royce engines. Rolls Royce had certified the fuel — a 50:50 blend of standard Jet A1 fuel and synthetic paraffinic kerosene derived from jatropha oil.
If civil aviation alone were to rely on biofuel, it would still mean supply has to pick up. And for that to happen, will it mean more forests cleared or food crops dropping? Is there any other way out?
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The last straw
After using straw as insulation in fridges, now it’s homes they are building. North Kesteven District Council in Lincolnshire is to become the first local authority in the UK to use straw bales to construct social housing.
The bales will provide the main structure of the three-bedroom homes, which are described by the council as “typical, affordable, council houses”. What they’ll save: swapping bricks for straw will increase insulation by up to three times more than building regulations require, so these houses won’t need heating systems. They’re anticipated to cost less too: the council has budgeted £110,000 per house – £20,000 less than the equivalent brick-build. They can last for 200 years!
A hungry cow would end up looking at the homes like Hansel and Gretel did when they saw the chocolate version! Related question, if the straw were all to be used for houses, would cattle end up starved?
While on energy saving, IBM and Syracuse University are pairing up to build a new data center that will use 50% less energy than current data centers. They hope to build over the next six months a brand new $12.4 million, 6,000-square-foot data center that will shake up the idea of efficiency in the industry.
IBM is building out its completely virtualized, dynamic data center infrastructure so that workloads and applications will move from server to server to maximize the energy efficiency of the facility. The sensors built into the facilty will make it possible to direct the workloads to the optimal servers, as well as enabling the cooling system to target only the servers that need it, minimizing wasted cooling power.
IBM has been a leading innovator in energy efficient data centers, even going so far as to heat surrounding communities with waste heat from facilities. Google, Microsoft and many others have announced such ambitious programmes.
The power deficit in many parts of the world could easily be addressed if wastage is checked. Even at home. Why not give the youngsters at home a chance to earn pocket-money by simply switching off lights, PCs, geysers, etc? Give them the amount they save. We won't have to wait for the last straw!
The bales will provide the main structure of the three-bedroom homes, which are described by the council as “typical, affordable, council houses”. What they’ll save: swapping bricks for straw will increase insulation by up to three times more than building regulations require, so these houses won’t need heating systems. They’re anticipated to cost less too: the council has budgeted £110,000 per house – £20,000 less than the equivalent brick-build. They can last for 200 years!
A hungry cow would end up looking at the homes like Hansel and Gretel did when they saw the chocolate version! Related question, if the straw were all to be used for houses, would cattle end up starved?
While on energy saving, IBM and Syracuse University are pairing up to build a new data center that will use 50% less energy than current data centers. They hope to build over the next six months a brand new $12.4 million, 6,000-square-foot data center that will shake up the idea of efficiency in the industry.
IBM is building out its completely virtualized, dynamic data center infrastructure so that workloads and applications will move from server to server to maximize the energy efficiency of the facility. The sensors built into the facilty will make it possible to direct the workloads to the optimal servers, as well as enabling the cooling system to target only the servers that need it, minimizing wasted cooling power.
IBM has been a leading innovator in energy efficient data centers, even going so far as to heat surrounding communities with waste heat from facilities. Google, Microsoft and many others have announced such ambitious programmes.
The power deficit in many parts of the world could easily be addressed if wastage is checked. Even at home. Why not give the youngsters at home a chance to earn pocket-money by simply switching off lights, PCs, geysers, etc? Give them the amount they save. We won't have to wait for the last straw!
Price for water
Much water is required for a nuclear or coal (fossil fuel) power plant. The World Resources Institute estimates that nearly two out of every three gallons of fresh water drawn from the U.S. Southwest is used to cool power plants.
Nuclear plants, of course, are the biggest water hogs. Given the water scarcity scenarios looming globally, does it makes sense to build hundreds of new costly nuclear plants, each with a life of more than 50 years? If water shortages will mean shutting them down?
Power from the coal-fired plant is cheap because the water it uses is not accounted as also its emissions. Should the water factor be accounted for? Should the plants be charged for the water they use? More important, instead of building more and more plants, why not go for decentralised generation that uses the resources available locally? Even if it's poo power!
The Guardian reports that the German town of Lünen, will become the first town in the world to have its own dedicated biogas network. The 6.8 MW power plant at the heart of the network with take cow and horse manure, as well as other agricultural waste and spoiled crops from surrounding farms, and process it all into biogas, which will be used to generate both heat and electricity.
When completed it will generate enough power to supply about 26,000 homes. About 30-40% of the town's heat and electricity will be provided through the biogas network.
Nuclear plants, of course, are the biggest water hogs. Given the water scarcity scenarios looming globally, does it makes sense to build hundreds of new costly nuclear plants, each with a life of more than 50 years? If water shortages will mean shutting them down?
Power from the coal-fired plant is cheap because the water it uses is not accounted as also its emissions. Should the water factor be accounted for? Should the plants be charged for the water they use? More important, instead of building more and more plants, why not go for decentralised generation that uses the resources available locally? Even if it's poo power!
The Guardian reports that the German town of Lünen, will become the first town in the world to have its own dedicated biogas network. The 6.8 MW power plant at the heart of the network with take cow and horse manure, as well as other agricultural waste and spoiled crops from surrounding farms, and process it all into biogas, which will be used to generate both heat and electricity.
When completed it will generate enough power to supply about 26,000 homes. About 30-40% of the town's heat and electricity will be provided through the biogas network.
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