The flywheel is an old technology that dates back to Neolithic-era spindles and potter’s wheels.  Flywheels made a huge splash during the Industrial Revolution (anyone remember steam engines?) and now they’re ready to take center stage in the new wave of sustainable energy.

In sustainable energy, flywheels come into play as a means of storing intermittent power. Wind power and solar power are notoriously fickle in many parts of the world, and some means of smoothing out the bumps is required. Vycon is one of several companies exploring the potential of flywheels, and it has come up with some interesting twists.

What a Flywheel Does

If you’ve ever played tether-ball, the idea behind a flywheel is simple.  You provide sharp bursts of intermittent energy to send the ball around the pole.  The weight of the rope and its course around the pole combine to even out those bursts, creating a relatively constant, steady motion.  The rope also stores energy; after it is fully wrapped around the pole, the ball reverses course at a relatively steady pace, without any more help from you.  A similar principle applies to potter’s wheels, which can be kept in steady motion with intermittent kicks.

What a Flywheel Is

Companies like Vycon have ramped up this simple principle into sophisticated flywheel energy storage systems.  Vycon’s proprietary system consists of a steel hub with magnetic bearings, a dual motor/generator (the motor charges the system, the generator dispenses the energy), high tech system controls, and a converter that transforms the flywheel’s AC power into DC.

Flywheel Applications

Flywheels can be used to store energy from solar and wind installations, and Vycon has come up with a couple of other applications that it calls “energy recycling.”  The company has developed a flywheel system for harvesting the energy that normally is dissipated when large shipping cranes are lowered.  In a similar vein, Vycon has also developed a flywheel system that can harvest and store the braking energy from commuter and freight trains.  Both the crane and rail applications could become an important contribution to the management of carbon emissions from global shipping, especially in sensitive coastal areas.

Flywheels in Action

Flywheel technology could also be used to harvest energy from mining operations, or from elevators in buildings.  Compared to sustainable energy storage solutions such as molten salt, flywheels may also be more portable and site-adaptable.  They are also highly durable and they are already starting to pop up in some high stress environments.  A couple of years ago, Formula 1 cars started to phase in a flywheel/hybrid electric system called Kinetic Energy Recovery, which stores waste energy in a flywheel instead of a battery.  The newly online Ross Island Wind Farm in Antarctica is expected to make a huge dent in the base’s carbon footprint with the help of a flywheel storage system.

Environmentalists have begun a concerted campaign to ensure that new forms of “artificial life” are never released into the wider environment because of fears that the life-forms will hasten the extinction of wild species.

A Canadian environmental group has already claimed partial victory in trying to impose a global moratorium on scientists such as Craig Venter, the controversial genome entrepreneur who last week claimed that he had made a synthetic cell in at test-tube controlled by a chromosome created from scratch.

The Etc Group, based in Ottawa, said it had helped to formulate a “de facto moratorium” on synthetic biology at a side meeting of the UN Conventional on Biological Diversity, which ended at the weekend in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. A scientific body attached to the convention, called the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, drew up a proposal on synthetic biology that is likely to result in any release experiments into the wild being banned if adopted by a meeting of environment ministers in Japan this year, the Etc Group said.

“The draft adopted by the meeting amounts to a de facto moratorium on the release of synthetic life forms. But the text will remain in ‘square brackets’, meaning that it has not achieved unanimous agreement among the Biological Convention’s 193 member countries at this time,” a spokesman said.

The moratorium on any release of synthetic life-forms is likened to the earlier moratoria on “terminator technology”, a suicide gene that prevents GM seeds from being fertile after they are harvested, and ocean fertilisation, an attempt to spread iron into the sea to stimulate the absorption of carbon dioxide from the air.

The Etc Group, composed of a handful of activists, has been a thorn in the side of Dr Venter. They have opposed his attempts to patent genes and have been highly critical of his claims that synthetic life-forms could help to solve major environmental problems, such as global warming.

“Synthetic biology is a high-risk, profit-driven field, building organisms out of parts that are still poorly understood,” said Jim Thomas, a member of the Etc Group.

“We know that lab-created life-forms can escape and become biological weapons, and that their use threatens existing natural biodiversity,” Mr Thomas said.

“Most worrying of all, Craig Venter is handing this powerful technology to the likes of BP and Exxon to hasten the commercialisation of synthetic life-forms.”

Dr Venter, whose company Synthetic Genomics has received $600m (£430m) in research and development investment from Exxon Mobil, said last week that his synthetic cell, which he has nicknamed Synthia, although free-living, will survive only in a contained laboratory and there are no plans to use it that could result in it being released to the outside environment.

Mundita Lim, a delegate to the Convention on Biological Diversity from the Philippines, said: “We believe that there should be no field release of synthetic life, cell or genome into the environment until thorough scientific assessments have been conducted in a transparent, open and participatory process, involving all parties.”

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Environmentalists have begun a concerted campaign to ensure that new forms of “artificial life” are never released into the wider environment because of fears that the life-forms will hasten the extinction of wild species.

A Canadian environmental group has already claimed partial victory in trying to impose a global moratorium on scientists such as Craig Venter, the controversial genome entrepreneur who last week claimed that he had made a synthetic cell in at test-tube controlled by a chromosome created from scratch.

The Etc Group, based in Ottawa, said it had helped to formulate a “de facto moratorium” on synthetic biology at a side meeting of the UN Conventional on Biological Diversity, which ended at the weekend in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. A scientific body attached to the convention, called the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, drew up a proposal on synthetic biology that is likely to result in any release experiments into the wild being banned if adopted by a meeting of environment ministers in Japan this year, the Etc Group said.

“The draft adopted by the meeting amounts to a de facto moratorium on the release of synthetic life forms. But the text will remain in ‘square brackets’, meaning that it has not achieved unanimous agreement among the Biological Convention’s 193 member countries at this time,” a spokesman said.

The moratorium on any release of synthetic life-forms is likened to the earlier moratoria on “terminator technology”, a suicide gene that prevents GM seeds from being fertile after they are harvested, and ocean fertilisation, an attempt to spread iron into the sea to stimulate the absorption of carbon dioxide from the air.

The Etc Group, composed of a handful of activists, has been a thorn in the side of Dr Venter. They have opposed his attempts to patent genes and have been highly critical of his claims that synthetic life-forms could help to solve major environmental problems, such as global warming.

“Synthetic biology is a high-risk, profit-driven field, building organisms out of parts that are still poorly understood,” said Jim Thomas, a member of the Etc Group.

“We know that lab-created life-forms can escape and become biological weapons, and that their use threatens existing natural biodiversity,” Mr Thomas said.

“Most worrying of all, Craig Venter is handing this powerful technology to the likes of BP and Exxon to hasten the commercialisation of synthetic life-forms.”

Dr Venter, whose company Synthetic Genomics has received $600m (£430m) in research and development investment from Exxon Mobil, said last week that his synthetic cell, which he has nicknamed Synthia, although free-living, will survive only in a contained laboratory and there are no plans to use it that could result in it being released to the outside environment.

Mundita Lim, a delegate to the Convention on Biological Diversity from the Philippines, said: “We believe that there should be no field release of synthetic life, cell or genome into the environment until thorough scientific assessments have been conducted in a transparent, open and participatory process, involving all parties.”

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Detroit was once the 4th largest city in America and it held the title of Motor City because most of America’s cars came from there. Flash forward 40 years, and Detroit’s population has dwindled from a high of 2 million people to just over 800,000. The average price for a home in Detroit is $15,000, the lowest in the country. With so many empty spaces, criminals have no shortage of hideouts and drug factories. And with America’s auto industry still reeling from the recession, as well as having outsourced many jobs to other states (or countries), the future looks bleak for Detroit’s long-deferred recovery.

Unless one millionaire gets his way, and turns the city into farms. Yes, farms.

John Hantz is one of the few remaining millionaires in Detroit, where the median family income is under $30,000. And the urban sprawl that Detroit encompasses is larger than Boston, Manhatten, and San Francisco combined. There is a lot of unused land in Detroit. This John Hantz thinking about how to use all of that vacant land. He is pitching a proposal to turn Detroit into a modern farming community. I think he might be on to something.

Cities have a lot of “green cred” going for them when it comes to public transportation, walkability, and making the most out of very limited space. But despite all of this, they still need to import all of their food, usually from hundreds or even thousands of miles away. It isn’t green, but it is necessary. Detroit is the perfect candidate for attempting urban farming on a massive scale because all that vacant land means plenty of planting opportunities.

Not only would it make use of otherwise blighted land, it would also offer employment opportunities for a city that desperately needs them. The jobless rate in Detroit stands at a whopping 27%. I’ve been to Detroit, many years ago, and what I saw then was sad; I can’t imagine what it looks like today (although pushing a dump truck out of  the top floor of a factory seems pretty cool).

Hantz’s idea calls for creating farm “pods”, each with its own residential frontage, placed strategically around the city. The pods will utilize the latest in green farming technology like compost-heated greenhouses and hydroponic systems. Hantz is willing to put up the $30 million himself to get the project started, once he gets a few concessions from the Detroit city government which includes new agricultural tax regulations, and access to non-delinquent land.

Will it work? I hope so, because if this happens (and I can convince my girlfriend to put up with Michigan’s bitter winters) I am heading out to Detroit to be an urban farmer. No joke. Sounds like the kind of city this country boy could enjoy. Plus, I could finally attend the Woodward Dream Cruise.

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Detroit was once the 4th largest city in America and it held the title of Motor City because most of America’s cars came from there. Flash forward 40 years, and Detroit’s population has dwindled from a high of 2 million people to just over 800,000. The average price for a home in Detroit is $15,000, the lowest in the country. With so many empty spaces, criminals have no shortage of hideouts and drug factories. And with America’s auto industry still reeling from the recession, as well as having outsourced many jobs to other states (or countries), the future looks bleak for Detroit’s long-deferred recovery.

Unless one millionaire gets his way, and turns the city into farms. Yes, farms.

John Hantz is one of the few remaining millionaires in Detroit, where the median family income is under $30,000. And the urban sprawl that Detroit encompasses is larger than Boston, Manhatten, and San Francisco combined. There is a lot of unused land in Detroit. This John Hantz thinking about how to use all of that vacant land. He is pitching a proposal to turn Detroit into a modern farming community. I think he might be on to something.

Cities have a lot of “green cred” going for them when it comes to public transportation, walkability, and making the most out of very limited space. But despite all of this, they still need to import all of their food, usually from hundreds or even thousands of miles away. It isn’t green, but it is necessary. Detroit is the perfect candidate for attempting urban farming on a massive scale because all that vacant land means plenty of planting opportunities.

Not only would it make use of otherwise blighted land, it would also offer employment opportunities for a city that desperately needs them. The jobless rate in Detroit stands at a whopping 27%. I’ve been to Detroit, many years ago, and what I saw then was sad; I can’t imagine what it looks like today (although pushing a dump truck out of  the top floor of a factory seems pretty cool).

Hantz’s idea calls for creating farm “pods”, each with its own residential frontage, placed strategically around the city. The pods will utilize the latest in green farming technology like compost-heated greenhouses and hydroponic systems. Hantz is willing to put up the $30 million himself to get the project started, once he gets a few concessions from the Detroit city government which includes new agricultural tax regulations, and access to non-delinquent land.

Will it work? I hope so, because if this happens (and I can convince my girlfriend to put up with Michigan’s bitter winters) I am heading out to Detroit to be an urban farmer. No joke. Sounds like the kind of city this country boy could enjoy. Plus, I could finally attend the Woodward Dream Cruise.

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'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level 0 Ending uga_track_user: 1 Start uga_get_option: account_id uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: account_id (UA-10399907-2) Ending uga_get_tracker: Start uga_insert_html_once: footer, Footer hooked: HTML inserted: Location is FOOTER Inserting HTML End uga_insert_html Ending uga_wp_footer_track: Start uga_shutdown Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level 0 Ending uga_track_user: 1 Footer hook was executed Start uga_get_option: footer_hooked uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: footer_hooked (1) Start uga_get_option: debug uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: debug (1) -->