North Carolina State University engineers have created a new material that would allow a fingernail-size computer chip to store the equivalent of 20 high-definition DVDs or 250 million pages of text, far exceeding the storage capacities of today’s computer memory systems.

Led by Dr. Jagdish “Jay” Narayan, John C.C. Fan Family Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and director of the National Science Foundation Center for Advanced Materials and Smart Structures at NC State, the engineers made their breakthrough using the process of selective doping, in which an impurity is added to a material that changes its properties. The process also shows promise for boosting vehicles’ fuel economy and reducing heat produced by semiconductors, a potentially important development for more efficient energy production.

Working at the nanometer level — a pinhead has a diameter of 1 million nanometers — the engineers added metal nickel to magnesium oxide, a ceramic. The resulting material contained clusters of nickel atoms no bigger than 10 square nanometers, a 90 percent size reduction compared to today’s techniques and an advancement that could boost computer storage capacity.

“Instead of making a chip that stores 20 gigabytes, you have one that can handle one terabyte, or 50 times more data,” Narayan says.

Information storage is not the only area where advances could be made. By introducing metallic properties into ceramics, Narayan says engineers could develop a new generation of ceramic engines able to withstand twice the temperatures of normal engines and achieve fuel economy of 80 miles per gallon. And since the thermal conductivity of the material would be improved, the technique could also have applications in harnessing alternative energy sources like solar energy.

The engineers’ discovery also advances knowledge in the emerging field of “spintronics,” which is dedicated to harnessing energy produced by the spinning of electrons. Most energy used today is harnessed through the movement of current and is limited by the amount of heat that it produces, but the energy created by the spinning of electrons produces no heat. The NC State engineers were able to manipulate the nanomaterial so the electrons’ spin within the material could be controlled, which could prove valuable to harnessing the electrons’ energy. The finding could be important for engineers working to produce more efficient semiconductors.

Working with Narayan on the study were Dr. Sudhakar Nori, a research associate at NC State, Shankar Ramachandran, a former NC State graduate student, and J.T. Prater, an adjunct professor of materials science and engineering.  The research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

A 50-year-old New York woman who was diagnosed with a progressive blinding disease at age 13 was implanted with an experimental electronic eye implant that has partially restored her vision. A team led by Dr. Lucian V. Del Priore at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center performed the June 26 surgery — the first case of its kind in New York.

The first treatment aimed at restoring limited sight in people blinded by retinal disease, it is currently available as part of a multicenter clinical trial.

The implant — a component of the Argus™ II Retinal Stimulation System by Second Sight® Medical Products Inc., of Sylmar, Calif. — is designed to stimulate retinal cells directly. In a healthy eye, photoreceptor cells of the retina receive light and translate it into signals that are sent to the brain via the optic nerve. But in patients with a genetic, blinding disease called retinitis pigmentosa (RP), these light-processing cells gradually degenerate, leading to severe vision loss or total blindness.

“With this system, people who are functionally blind might begin to distinguish light from dark, recognize visual patterns, make out figures, see food on a plate and navigate in unfamiliar surroundings,” says Dr. Del Priore, site principal investigator, professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and an ophthalmologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. “In its current form, the device won’t restore full visual function — but if it dramatically reduces a patient’s disability, that is a major advance.”

Retinitis pigmentosa only affects the outer layer of retinal cells, leaving the inner layers healthy and capable of conducting electricity, Dr. Del Priore explains. Therefore, people with glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, optic nerve disease, or a history of retinal detachment have been excluded from the study, as their level of retinal impairment is likely to be more severe and more generalized. At this point, the device is being tested exclusively in people with RP as part of a clinical trial offered at six sites across the country.

From Video Images to Sight

Argus II and its predecessor, Argus I, have already been implanted to reduce some aspects of vision loss in about 20 patients with RP in the United States. Dr. Del Priore and his surgical team are optimistic about the newest patient’s prospects, based on positive results in others who have participated in studies of the system thus far. The device was developed by Second Sight under the lead of Dr. Mark Humayun, who is currently at the University of Southern California. NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia’s study coordinator, Elona Gavazi, was instrumental in screening and recruiting patients for the current study.

Argus II comprises three components: the implanted part, which is placed inside the patient’s eye; a tiny camera and transmitter, mounted on a pair of sunglasses; and a wireless microprocessor and battery pack, to be worn on a belt. The implant itself contains 60 tiny electrodes that are attached to the retina via a micro-wire roughly the width of a human hair. These administer electrical impulses to retinal cells, allowing the brain to perceive light.

Learning to See Again

Argus II is an innovative technology, Dr. Del Priore continues, but it is the rehabilitation process that will ensure a patient’s ability to benefit from the procedure. In fact, without visual training, the patient may not learn to use or accept the images being received.

The intensive phase of rehab takes about six months, he says, but the process can continue for a year or more. Rehabilitation, device training, along with functional assessment of the patient’s vision, will take place at Lighthouse International, a leading international non-profit vision rehabilitation and research organization, which is a collaborating institution with NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia in the clinical trial.

At the Arlene R. Gordon Research Institute of Lighthouse International, senior fellow in vision science Aries Arditi, Ph.D., principal investigator of the Lighthouse site, will conduct psychophysical testing of the patient with and without the device to assess her performance of specific visual tasks, such as pattern recognition, aiming the device’s camera with head movements, and using the system for orientation and navigation. Dr. Arditi will also help determine which training procedures will allow the patient to make the most of her newly restored, if limited, vision — insights that can be carried forward for the benefit of future device recipients.

“We are very pleased to be a part of this groundbreaking and exciting research and to be working with such outstanding partners. Our collective work could have a profound effect on the estimated 400,000 Americans with retinitis pigmentosa and other retinal diseases,” states Dr. Arditi.

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A 50-year-old New York woman who was diagnosed with a progressive blinding disease at age 13 was implanted with an experimental electronic eye implant that has partially restored her vision. A team led by Dr. Lucian V. Del Priore at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center performed the June 26 surgery — the first case of its kind in New York.

The first treatment aimed at restoring limited sight in people blinded by retinal disease, it is currently available as part of a multicenter clinical trial.

The implant — a component of the Argus™ II Retinal Stimulation System by Second Sight® Medical Products Inc., of Sylmar, Calif. — is designed to stimulate retinal cells directly. In a healthy eye, photoreceptor cells of the retina receive light and translate it into signals that are sent to the brain via the optic nerve. But in patients with a genetic, blinding disease called retinitis pigmentosa (RP), these light-processing cells gradually degenerate, leading to severe vision loss or total blindness.

“With this system, people who are functionally blind might begin to distinguish light from dark, recognize visual patterns, make out figures, see food on a plate and navigate in unfamiliar surroundings,” says Dr. Del Priore, site principal investigator, professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and an ophthalmologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. “In its current form, the device won’t restore full visual function — but if it dramatically reduces a patient’s disability, that is a major advance.”

Retinitis pigmentosa only affects the outer layer of retinal cells, leaving the inner layers healthy and capable of conducting electricity, Dr. Del Priore explains. Therefore, people with glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, optic nerve disease, or a history of retinal detachment have been excluded from the study, as their level of retinal impairment is likely to be more severe and more generalized. At this point, the device is being tested exclusively in people with RP as part of a clinical trial offered at six sites across the country.

From Video Images to Sight

Argus II and its predecessor, Argus I, have already been implanted to reduce some aspects of vision loss in about 20 patients with RP in the United States. Dr. Del Priore and his surgical team are optimistic about the newest patient’s prospects, based on positive results in others who have participated in studies of the system thus far. The device was developed by Second Sight under the lead of Dr. Mark Humayun, who is currently at the University of Southern California. NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia’s study coordinator, Elona Gavazi, was instrumental in screening and recruiting patients for the current study.

Argus II comprises three components: the implanted part, which is placed inside the patient’s eye; a tiny camera and transmitter, mounted on a pair of sunglasses; and a wireless microprocessor and battery pack, to be worn on a belt. The implant itself contains 60 tiny electrodes that are attached to the retina via a micro-wire roughly the width of a human hair. These administer electrical impulses to retinal cells, allowing the brain to perceive light.

Learning to See Again

Argus II is an innovative technology, Dr. Del Priore continues, but it is the rehabilitation process that will ensure a patient’s ability to benefit from the procedure. In fact, without visual training, the patient may not learn to use or accept the images being received.

The intensive phase of rehab takes about six months, he says, but the process can continue for a year or more. Rehabilitation, device training, along with functional assessment of the patient’s vision, will take place at Lighthouse International, a leading international non-profit vision rehabilitation and research organization, which is a collaborating institution with NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia in the clinical trial.

At the Arlene R. Gordon Research Institute of Lighthouse International, senior fellow in vision science Aries Arditi, Ph.D., principal investigator of the Lighthouse site, will conduct psychophysical testing of the patient with and without the device to assess her performance of specific visual tasks, such as pattern recognition, aiming the device’s camera with head movements, and using the system for orientation and navigation. Dr. Arditi will also help determine which training procedures will allow the patient to make the most of her newly restored, if limited, vision — insights that can be carried forward for the benefit of future device recipients.

“We are very pleased to be a part of this groundbreaking and exciting research and to be working with such outstanding partners. Our collective work could have a profound effect on the estimated 400,000 Americans with retinitis pigmentosa and other retinal diseases,” states Dr. Arditi.

Start uga_filter:

A new Kansas-based company called EcoFit Lighting believes it can make the transition to LED street lighting not only much easier, but also much cheaper.

EcoFit’s design is a retrofit module that slides right into place in existing streetlights, eliminating the need to have a full replacement. The company claims using their product would bring down costs from $700 to $900 (for a complete replacement) to just $400. Savings also come in the form of energy efficiency and extended lifespan as EcoFit’s LED lights are 60 percent more efficient and last six times longer than sodium streetlights. Additionally, as it’s estimated that replacing street lights with EcoFit LED lights would take just five minutes (as opposed to taking up to 30 minutes to fully replace the head), labor costs are also expected to be reduced.

EcoFit’s business proposal bested 19 other entries at the recently concluded Clean Energy Venture Summit, where company officials declared they would seek debt financing. The initial $1.15 million company funds were spent for the design and manufacture of its LED retrofit module, and to date, EcoFit has already installed in 20 cities in the United States. Now, an additional $2 million investment is sought as EcoFit aims to manufacture three to four times its present production capacity of 10,000 a month.

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A new Kansas-based company called EcoFit Lighting believes it can make the transition to LED street lighting not only much easier, but also much cheaper.

EcoFit’s design is a retrofit module that slides right into place in existing streetlights, eliminating the need to have a full replacement. The company claims using their product would bring down costs from $700 to $900 (for a complete replacement) to just $400. Savings also come in the form of energy efficiency and extended lifespan as EcoFit’s LED lights are 60 percent more efficient and last six times longer than sodium streetlights. Additionally, as it’s estimated that replacing street lights with EcoFit LED lights would take just five minutes (as opposed to taking up to 30 minutes to fully replace the head), labor costs are also expected to be reduced.

EcoFit’s business proposal bested 19 other entries at the recently concluded Clean Energy Venture Summit, where company officials declared they would seek debt financing. The initial $1.15 million company funds were spent for the design and manufacture of its LED retrofit module, and to date, EcoFit has already installed in 20 cities in the United States. Now, an additional $2 million investment is sought as EcoFit aims to manufacture three to four times its present production capacity of 10,000 a month.

Start uga_filter:

A University of Rochester team has been awarded $1.7 million to generate hydrogen fuel with sunlight using artificial photosynthesis and nanotubes. Generating hydrogen without using a fossil fuel is not easy. Using sunlight to split hydrogen off from water has been done before, but the process has not been cheap or efficient.

They propose to change that by dividing the nanoscale process into three separate modules that can be manipulated separately to isolate the process of gathering sunlight from the process of generating hydrogen.

This way they can better control each step.

The team comprises Department of Chemistry Professors Richard Eisenberg and Kara Bren, and Associate Professors of Chemistry Todd Krauss and Patrick Holland.

Kara Bren cautions that it has to be efficient enough to be commercially viable, “But if we succeed, we may be able to not only help create a fuel that burns cleanly, but the creation of the fuel itself may be clean.”

She describes the 3 steps like this:

1. The first module uses visible light to create free electrons. A complex natural molecule called a chromophore that plants use to absorb sunlight will be re-engineered to efficiently generate reducing electron.

2. The second module will be a membrane suffused with carbon nanotubes to act as molecular wires so small that they are only one-millionth the thickness of a human hair. To prevent the chromophores from re-absorbing the electrons, the nanotube membrane channels the electrons away from the chromophores and toward the third module.

3. In the third module, catalysts put the electrons to work forming hydrogen from water. The hydrogen can then be used in fuel cells in cars, homes, or power plants of the future.

By separating the first and third modules with the nanotube membrane, they hope this isolation will allow the team to maximize the system’s light-harvesting abilities without altering its hydrogen-generation abilities, and vice versa.

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A University of Rochester team has been awarded $1.7 million to generate hydrogen fuel with sunlight using artificial photosynthesis and nanotubes. Generating hydrogen without using a fossil fuel is not easy. Using sunlight to split hydrogen off from water has been done before, but the process has not been cheap or efficient.

They propose to change that by dividing the nanoscale process into three separate modules that can be manipulated separately to isolate the process of gathering sunlight from the process of generating hydrogen.

This way they can better control each step.

The team comprises Department of Chemistry Professors Richard Eisenberg and Kara Bren, and Associate Professors of Chemistry Todd Krauss and Patrick Holland.

Kara Bren cautions that it has to be efficient enough to be commercially viable, “But if we succeed, we may be able to not only help create a fuel that burns cleanly, but the creation of the fuel itself may be clean.”

She describes the 3 steps like this:

1. The first module uses visible light to create free electrons. A complex natural molecule called a chromophore that plants use to absorb sunlight will be re-engineered to efficiently generate reducing electron.

2. The second module will be a membrane suffused with carbon nanotubes to act as molecular wires so small that they are only one-millionth the thickness of a human hair. To prevent the chromophores from re-absorbing the electrons, the nanotube membrane channels the electrons away from the chromophores and toward the third module.

3. In the third module, catalysts put the electrons to work forming hydrogen from water. The hydrogen can then be used in fuel cells in cars, homes, or power plants of the future.

By separating the first and third modules with the nanotube membrane, they hope this isolation will allow the team to maximize the system’s light-harvesting abilities without altering its hydrogen-generation abilities, and vice versa.

Start uga_filter:

Today researchers at Missouri University demonstrated tiny nuclear battery, as small as the size of a penny. The battery produces energy from the process of decaying of the radioisotopes. According to a research team at the University of Missouri: “nuclear batteries hold a million times as much charge as standard batteries“.

These batteries are distinguished by their long life; they are capable of providing energy for 10 years up to 100 years or even more.

Nuclear battery

This is whopping as it can provide non-stop electric energy  as long as 10 years which means that you may keep your laptop or PDA switched-on for 10 years non-stop. Contrary to fears associated with conventional batteries, nuclear cells offer reliable energy, without any drop in the yield or potential during its entire operational period.

However, the largest concern about the nuclear batteries is that these batteries include the use of radioactive isotopes. Which mean that throughout these years these batteries would emit radiations as the radioisotopes would decay, so certain standards should be met regarding the disposal of these radiations.

Dr. Jae Wan who is leading the team of researchers at Missouri University said:

People hear the word ‘nuclear’ and think of something very dangerous,However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pacemakers, space satellites and underwater systems.

Certainly, this research will lead us to a new uninterrupted source of energy. The team is further expecting to make the battery size even smaller. The future of laptop batteries (which is a big issue) is bright, and I wrote about it back in January. For more information and to know how it will help laptops, visit Longest Battery Life for Laptops.

Manufactured in 1973

The picture below is of a nuclear battery that was manufactured in 1973 which proves that research work is quite old. However most of the products were for military and space use till now.

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Today researchers at Missouri University demonstrated tiny nuclear battery, as small as the size of a penny. The battery produces energy from the process of decaying of the radioisotopes. According to a research team at the University of Missouri: “nuclear batteries hold a million times as much charge as standard batteries“.

These batteries are distinguished by their long life; they are capable of providing energy for 10 years up to 100 years or even more.

Nuclear battery

This is whopping as it can provide non-stop electric energy  as long as 10 years which means that you may keep your laptop or PDA switched-on for 10 years non-stop. Contrary to fears associated with conventional batteries, nuclear cells offer reliable energy, without any drop in the yield or potential during its entire operational period.

However, the largest concern about the nuclear batteries is that these batteries include the use of radioactive isotopes. Which mean that throughout these years these batteries would emit radiations as the radioisotopes would decay, so certain standards should be met regarding the disposal of these radiations.

Dr. Jae Wan who is leading the team of researchers at Missouri University said:

People hear the word ‘nuclear’ and think of something very dangerous,However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pacemakers, space satellites and underwater systems.

Certainly, this research will lead us to a new uninterrupted source of energy. The team is further expecting to make the battery size even smaller. The future of laptop batteries (which is a big issue) is bright, and I wrote about it back in January. For more information and to know how it will help laptops, visit Longest Battery Life for Laptops.

Manufactured in 1973

The picture below is of a nuclear battery that was manufactured in 1973 which proves that research work is quite old. However most of the products were for military and space use till now.

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Wind power has long been touted as a major energy resource, but for decades no one knew how much energy it could actually yield. Then three years ago Stanford University atmospheric scientists Cristina Archer and Mark Jacobson did a detailed calculation based on known patterns of air motion. Using a conservative approach, they counted only the energy that could be generated from winds blowing over land at an altitude of 80 meters, the approximate height of a typical modern wind turbine. Under perfect conditions, the total would be 72 trillion watts.

Kites with rotors could fly to where the winds are strongest and send electricity down their tethers to users on the ground. Image courtesy of Sky Windpower

It is a handsome quantity. In 2007 the entire electrical generating capacity of the United States was just a bit more than 1 trillion watts. But Archer realized that this number barely hints at the potential. Wind speed rises with altitude, and available power rises at the cube of wind speed. This means that 72 trillion watts is a lowball estimate. A few miles up, a turbine blade could generate up to 250 times the energy of the same blade near the ground. The prospect, Archer says, “is just super-incredibly exciting.”

One scheme for harvesting that breezy bounty comes from Bryan Roberts, an engineering professor at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, and Sky WindPower, the San Diego–based company developing his work. The team is designing kites with rotors that fly helicopter-style to altitudes of a mile or more, where the winds are strongest. Upon arrival, the rotors switch to generating mode, sending current down their tethers, which might be many miles long. When the winds shift, the platoon of kites (called flying electric generators, or FEGs) simply pursue them. Other teams are working on related approaches.

Of course, as different kinds of wind-power kites come online, there may be challenges: Will thunderstorms interfere? Will a fleet of kites tangle up? These questions have apparently stymied the federal government, which thus far has invested nothing.

Some place the blame on image. Fusion, with much grander problems and bigger unknowns, attracts several hundred million bucks a year. It can’t help that the basic unit here—a kite on a string—is so totally unlike anything in the current energy infrastructure. The cosmetics are wrong.

One possible alternative: small, ultracheap, low-altitude energy kites, such as those being built at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts. Such scaled-down models are intended for niche applications off the grid—for instance, in developing nations. Unlike FEGs, which carry the generators into the sky and send current down the tether, the WPI kite would bob up and down just a few hundred feet in the air, creating jerks or pulses in the tether that would power a generator on the ground. The first models look like machines that could have come out of the 19th century, and you can actually see them work; that might make all the difference.

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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: internal_domains (www.humacon.org,humacon.org) Checking hostname www.humacon.org Checking hostname humacon.org Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2008/08/04/lets-go-fly-a-kite-and-power-our-houses/ Start uga_get_option: 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'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: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2008/08/04/lets-go-fly-a-kite-and-power-our-houses/ Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2008/08/04/lets-go-fly-a-kite-and-power-our-houses/ Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2008/08/04/lets-go-fly-a-kite-and-power-our-houses/ Ending uga_preg_callback: rises with altitude Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: www.skywindpower.com/ww/index.htm Start uga_is_url_internal: www.skywindpower.com/ww/index.htm Start uga_get_option: internal_domains 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: internal_domains (www.humacon.org,humacon.org) Checking hostname www.humacon.org Checking hostname humacon.org Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: www.skywindpower.com/ww/index.htm Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links 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: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links 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: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: www.skywindpower.com/ww/index.htm Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/www.skywindpower.com/ww/index.htm Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/www.skywindpower.com/ww/index.htm Ending uga_preg_callback: Sky WindPower Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: www.wpi.edu/ Start uga_is_url_internal: www.wpi.edu/ Start uga_get_option: internal_domains 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: internal_domains (www.humacon.org,humacon.org) Checking hostname www.humacon.org Checking hostname humacon.org Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: www.wpi.edu/ Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links 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: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links 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: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: www.wpi.edu/ Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/www.wpi.edu/ Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/www.wpi.edu/ Ending uga_preg_callback: Worcester Polytechnic Institute Ending uga_filter:

Wind power has long been touted as a major energy resource, but for decades no one knew how much energy it could actually yield. Then three years ago Stanford University atmospheric scientists Cristina Archer and Mark Jacobson did a detailed calculation based on known patterns of air motion. Using a conservative approach, they counted only the energy that could be generated from winds blowing over land at an altitude of 80 meters, the approximate height of a typical modern wind turbine. Under perfect conditions, the total would be 72 trillion watts.

Kites with rotors could fly to where the winds are strongest and send electricity down their tethers to users on the ground. Image courtesy of Sky Windpower

It is a handsome quantity. In 2007 the entire electrical generating capacity of the United States was just a bit more than 1 trillion watts. But Archer realized that this number barely hints at the potential. Wind speed rises with altitude, and available power rises at the cube of wind speed. This means that 72 trillion watts is a lowball estimate. A few miles up, a turbine blade could generate up to 250 times the energy of the same blade near the ground. The prospect, Archer says, “is just super-incredibly exciting.”

One scheme for harvesting that breezy bounty comes from Bryan Roberts, an engineering professor at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, and Sky WindPower, the San Diego–based company developing his work. The team is designing kites with rotors that fly helicopter-style to altitudes of a mile or more, where the winds are strongest. Upon arrival, the rotors switch to generating mode, sending current down their tethers, which might be many miles long. When the winds shift, the platoon of kites (called flying electric generators, or FEGs) simply pursue them. Other teams are working on related approaches.

Of course, as different kinds of wind-power kites come online, there may be challenges: Will thunderstorms interfere? Will a fleet of kites tangle up? These questions have apparently stymied the federal government, which thus far has invested nothing.

Some place the blame on image. Fusion, with much grander problems and bigger unknowns, attracts several hundred million bucks a year. It can’t help that the basic unit here—a kite on a string—is so totally unlike anything in the current energy infrastructure. The cosmetics are wrong.

One possible alternative: small, ultracheap, low-altitude energy kites, such as those being built at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts. Such scaled-down models are intended for niche applications off the grid—for instance, in developing nations. Unlike FEGs, which carry the generators into the sky and send current down the tether, the WPI kite would bob up and down just a few hundred feet in the air, creating jerks or pulses in the tether that would power a generator on the ground. The first models look like machines that could have come out of the 19th century, and you can actually see them work; that might make all the difference.

Start uga_filter:

Big shifts seem to be stirring in the wind turbine market. Foreign companies are backing out of China due to China’s move to use more home-grown technology. At the same time, China is looking to expand its wind turbine sales into Europe.

Spanish wind turbine company Acciona recently left China largely because the Chinese market is focused on increasing the development of Chinese wind turbine technology.

Now, China has developed a new type of wind turbine that is supposedly quieter and has lower maintenance costs than currently popular wind turbines and it is looking to export this technology to Europe. The new technology was announced last week by China Association for Science and Technology. The turbines are based on a vertical axis design rather than a more common horizontal axis design.

It looks as if China is trying to reverse its trends in wind turbine imports and exports. Currently, China has about “100 wind turbine producers, which mostly rely on core technologies from foreign companies such as Suzlon and Vestas.” However, the country has already started buying more and more of its wind farm products from Chinese companies, and now it is looking to do the same with technology that has China-owned intellectual property rights.

Apparently, this is nothing new in the renewable energy industry in China. China has already developed an export-heavy solar market with 95% of its solar products going to Europe and the US.

Is this a good thing? Is it bad that China is looking to go only one way in the renewable energy industry? Or is this just a neutral change in the market that isn’t really bad or good in itself? I’ll leave this open for comments.

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 Ending uga_track_user: 1 Calling preg_replace_callback: ]*?)href\s*=\s*['"](.*?)['"]([^>]*)>(.*?) 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(www.humacon.org,humacon.org) Checking hostname www.humacon.org Checking hostname humacon.org Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/windmills-china.jpg Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links 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: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links 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: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/windmills-china.jpg Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/windmills-china.jpg Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/windmills-china.jpg Ending uga_preg_callback: Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: www.businessgreen.asia/business-green/news/2250901/acciona-retreats-china-wind Start uga_is_url_internal: www.businessgreen.asia/business-green/news/2250901/acciona-retreats-china-wind Start uga_get_option: internal_domains 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: internal_domains (www.humacon.org,humacon.org) Checking hostname www.humacon.org Checking hostname humacon.org Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: www.businessgreen.asia/business-green/news/2250901/acciona-retreats-china-wind Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links 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: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links 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: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: www.businessgreen.asia/business-green/news/2250901/acciona-retreats-china-wind Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/www.businessgreen.asia/business-green/news/2250901/acciona-retreats-china-wind Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/www.businessgreen.asia/business-green/news/2250901/acciona-retreats-china-wind Ending uga_preg_callback: Acciona recently left China Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: english.cast.org.cn/ Start uga_is_url_internal: english.cast.org.cn/ Start uga_get_option: internal_domains 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: internal_domains (www.humacon.org,humacon.org) Checking hostname www.humacon.org Checking hostname humacon.org Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: english.cast.org.cn/ Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links 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: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links 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: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: english.cast.org.cn/ Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/english.cast.org.cn/ Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/english.cast.org.cn/ Ending uga_preg_callback: China Association for Science and Technology Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: 1bog.org Start uga_is_url_internal: 1bog.org Start uga_get_option: internal_domains 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: internal_domains (www.humacon.org,humacon.org) Checking hostname www.humacon.org Checking hostname humacon.org Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: 1bog.org Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links 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: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links 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: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: 1bog.org Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/1bog.org Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/1bog.org Ending uga_preg_callback: Ending uga_filter:

Big shifts seem to be stirring in the wind turbine market. Foreign companies are backing out of China due to China’s move to use more home-grown technology. At the same time, China is looking to expand its wind turbine sales into Europe.

Spanish wind turbine company Acciona recently left China largely because the Chinese market is focused on increasing the development of Chinese wind turbine technology.

Now, China has developed a new type of wind turbine that is supposedly quieter and has lower maintenance costs than currently popular wind turbines and it is looking to export this technology to Europe. The new technology was announced last week by China Association for Science and Technology. The turbines are based on a vertical axis design rather than a more common horizontal axis design.

It looks as if China is trying to reverse its trends in wind turbine imports and exports. Currently, China has about “100 wind turbine producers, which mostly rely on core technologies from foreign companies such as Suzlon and Vestas.” However, the country has already started buying more and more of its wind farm products from Chinese companies, and now it is looking to do the same with technology that has China-owned intellectual property rights.

Apparently, this is nothing new in the renewable energy industry in China. China has already developed an export-heavy solar market with 95% of its solar products going to Europe and the US.

Is this a good thing? Is it bad that China is looking to go only one way in the renewable energy industry? Or is this just a neutral change in the market that isn’t really bad or good in itself? I’ll leave this open for comments.

Start uga_filter:

Here’s a radical perspective change for wind power. Instead of harnessing wind power to turn blades tethered to a pole, the KiteGen simply harnesses that rapid unspooling motion of kites reeling out as they release upwards.

So instead of a heavy static structure this is simply a light and flexible kite.

The KiteGen would hover at 2,600 feet to produce power each time the kite’s tether unspools, spinning an alternator that generates the power. When the cables are completely unwound the production phase ends, the cables are reeled in to start another production phase. The cycle repeats; like in a yo-yo in reverse.

So the KiteGen splits the components of wind power. In the air; nothing but high efficiency air foils. On the ground, all the heavy machinery for power generation. Connecting the two; high resistance lines transmitting the traction of the kite.

As this picture illustrates; the idea is to eliminate everything non essential. Only keep the most efficient part: the wing tips (drawn in red) where the action happens. Only the essentials remain, the high speed wings are separated from the generator which is on the ground. The resulting structure, base foundation included, is much lighter and cheaper.

The company holds more than 20 international patents and plans a demo by the end of 2010. These guys are thinking out of the box. They point out that there is about a GW of wind potential in the unusable no-fly air space around nuclear power plants. They suggest that’s the perfect spot for their 2,600 foot kite.

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 Ending uga_track_user: 1 Calling preg_replace_callback: ]*?)href\s*=\s*['"](.*?)['"]([^>]*)>(.*?) Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: www.kitegen.com/en/ Start uga_is_url_internal: www.kitegen.com/en/ Start uga_get_option: internal_domains 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: internal_domains (www.humacon.org,humacon.org) Checking hostname www.humacon.org Checking hostname humacon.org Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: www.kitegen.com/en/ Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links 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: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links 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: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: www.kitegen.com/en/ Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/www.kitegen.com/en/ Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/www.kitegen.com/en/ Ending uga_preg_callback: KiteGen Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/kitegen.jpg Start uga_is_url_internal: cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/kitegen.jpg Start uga_get_option: internal_domains 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: internal_domains (www.humacon.org,humacon.org) Checking hostname www.humacon.org Checking hostname humacon.org Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/kitegen.jpg Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links 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: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links 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: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/kitegen.jpg Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/kitegen.jpg Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/kitegen.jpg Ending uga_preg_callback: Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/kitegen31.jpg Start uga_is_url_internal: cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/kitegen31.jpg Start uga_get_option: internal_domains 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: internal_domains (www.humacon.org,humacon.org) Checking hostname www.humacon.org Checking hostname humacon.org Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/kitegen31.jpg Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links 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: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links 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: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/kitegen31.jpg Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/kitegen31.jpg Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/cleantechnica.com/files/2009/10/kitegen31.jpg Ending uga_preg_callback: Ending uga_filter:

Here’s a radical perspective change for wind power. Instead of harnessing wind power to turn blades tethered to a pole, the KiteGen simply harnesses that rapid unspooling motion of kites reeling out as they release upwards.

So instead of a heavy static structure this is simply a light and flexible kite.

The KiteGen would hover at 2,600 feet to produce power each time the kite’s tether unspools, spinning an alternator that generates the power. When the cables are completely unwound the production phase ends, the cables are reeled in to start another production phase. The cycle repeats; like in a yo-yo in reverse.

So the KiteGen splits the components of wind power. In the air; nothing but high efficiency air foils. On the ground, all the heavy machinery for power generation. Connecting the two; high resistance lines transmitting the traction of the kite.

As this picture illustrates; the idea is to eliminate everything non essential. Only keep the most efficient part: the wing tips (drawn in red) where the action happens. Only the essentials remain, the high speed wings are separated from the generator which is on the ground. The resulting structure, base foundation included, is much lighter and cheaper.

The company holds more than 20 international patents and plans a demo by the end of 2010. These guys are thinking out of the box. They point out that there is about a GW of wind potential in the unusable no-fly air space around nuclear power plants. They suggest that’s the perfect spot for their 2,600 foot kite.

Start uga_filter:

In the quest for smaller, faster computer chips, researchers are increasingly turning to quantum mechanics — the exotic physics of the small.

The problem: the manufacturing techniques required to make quantum devices have been equally exotic.

That is, until now.

Researchers at Ohio State University have discovered a way to make quantum devices using technology common to the chip-making industry today.

This work might one day enable faster, low-power computer chips. It could also lead to high-resolution cameras for security and public safety, and cameras that provide clear vision through bad weather.

Paul Berger, professor of electrical and computer engineering and professor of physics at Ohio State University, and his colleagues report their findings in an upcoming issue of IEEE Electron Device Letters.

The team fabricated a device called a tunneling diode using the most common chip-making technique, called chemical vapor deposition.

“We wanted to do this using only the tools found in the typical chip-makers toolbox,” Berger said. “Here we have a technique that manufacturers could potentially use to fabricate quantum devices directly on a silicon chip, side-by-side with their regular circuits and switches.”

The quantum device in question is a resonant interband tunneling diode (RITD) — a device that enables large amounts of current to be regulated through a circuit, but at very low voltages. That means that such devices run on very little power.

RITDs have been difficult to manufacture because they contain dopants — chemical elements — that don’t easily fit within a silicon crystal.

Atoms of the RITD dopants antimony or phosphorus, for example, are large compared to atoms of silicon. Because they don’t fit into the natural openings inside a silicon crystal, the dopants tend to collect on the surface of a chip.

“It’s like when you’re playing Tetris and you have a big block raining down, and only a small square to fit it in. The block has to sit on top,” Berger said. “When you’re building up layers of silicon, these dopants don’t readily fit in. Eventually, they clump together on top of the chip.”

In the past, researchers have tried adding the dopants while growing the silicon wafer one crystal layer at a time — using a slow and expensive process called molecular beam epitaxy, a method which is challenging for high-volume manufacturing. That process also creates too many defects within the silicon.

Berger discovered that RITD dopants could be added during chemical vapor deposition, in which a gas carries the chemical elements to the surface of a wafer many layers at a time. The key was determining the right reactor conditions to deliver the dopants to the silicon, he found.

“One key is hydrogen,” he said. “It binds to the silicon surface and keeps the dopants from clumping. So you don’t have to grow chips at 320 degrees Celsius [approximately 600 degrees Fahrenheit] like you do when using molecular beam epitaxy. You can actually grow them at a higher temperature like 600 degrees Celsius [more than 1100 degrees Fahrenheit] at a lower cost, and with fewer crystal defects.”

Tunneling diodes are so named because they exploit a quantum mechanical effect known as tunneling, which lets electrons pass through thin barriers unhindered.

In theory, interband tunneling diodes could form very dense, very efficient micro-circuits in computer chips. A large amount of data could be stored in a small area on a chip with very little energy required.

Researchers judge the usefulness of tunneling diodes by the abrupt change in the current densities they carry, a characteristic known as “peak-to-valley ratio.” Different ratios are appropriate for different kinds of devices. Logic circuits such as those on a computer chip are best suited by a ratio of about 2.

The RITDs that Berger’s team fabricated had a ratio of 1.85.

“We’re close, and I’m sure we can do better,” he said.

He envisions his RITDs being used for ultra-low-power computer chips operating with small voltages and producing less wasted heat.

“Chip makers today are having a great difficulty boosting performance in each generation, so they pack chips with more and more circuitry, and end up generating a lot of heat,” Berger said. “That’s why a laptop computer is often too hot to actually sit atop your lap. Soon, their heat output will rival that of a nuclear reactor per unit volume.”

“That’s why moving to quantum devices will be a game-changer.”

RITDs could form high-resolution detectors for imaging devices called focal plane arrays. These arrays operate at wavelengths beyond the human eye and can permit detection of concealed weapons and improvised explosive devices. They can also provide vision through rain, snow, fog, and even mild dust storms, for improved airplane and automobile safety, Berger said. Medical imaging of cancerous tumors is another potential application.

His coauthors on the paper included Si-Young Park, and R. Anisha, both doctoral students in electrical engineering at Ohio State; and Roger Loo, Ngoc Duy Nguyen, Shotaro Takeuchi, and Matty Caymax, all of IMEC, an industrial research center in Belgium.

This work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation.

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In the quest for smaller, faster computer chips, researchers are increasingly turning to quantum mechanics — the exotic physics of the small.

The problem: the manufacturing techniques required to make quantum devices have been equally exotic.

That is, until now.

Researchers at Ohio State University have discovered a way to make quantum devices using technology common to the chip-making industry today.

This work might one day enable faster, low-power computer chips. It could also lead to high-resolution cameras for security and public safety, and cameras that provide clear vision through bad weather.

Paul Berger, professor of electrical and computer engineering and professor of physics at Ohio State University, and his colleagues report their findings in an upcoming issue of IEEE Electron Device Letters.

The team fabricated a device called a tunneling diode using the most common chip-making technique, called chemical vapor deposition.

“We wanted to do this using only the tools found in the typical chip-makers toolbox,” Berger said. “Here we have a technique that manufacturers could potentially use to fabricate quantum devices directly on a silicon chip, side-by-side with their regular circuits and switches.”

The quantum device in question is a resonant interband tunneling diode (RITD) — a device that enables large amounts of current to be regulated through a circuit, but at very low voltages. That means that such devices run on very little power.

RITDs have been difficult to manufacture because they contain dopants — chemical elements — that don’t easily fit within a silicon crystal.

Atoms of the RITD dopants antimony or phosphorus, for example, are large compared to atoms of silicon. Because they don’t fit into the natural openings inside a silicon crystal, the dopants tend to collect on the surface of a chip.

“It’s like when you’re playing Tetris and you have a big block raining down, and only a small square to fit it in. The block has to sit on top,” Berger said. “When you’re building up layers of silicon, these dopants don’t readily fit in. Eventually, they clump together on top of the chip.”

In the past, researchers have tried adding the dopants while growing the silicon wafer one crystal layer at a time — using a slow and expensive process called molecular beam epitaxy, a method which is challenging for high-volume manufacturing. That process also creates too many defects within the silicon.

Berger discovered that RITD dopants could be added during chemical vapor deposition, in which a gas carries the chemical elements to the surface of a wafer many layers at a time. The key was determining the right reactor conditions to deliver the dopants to the silicon, he found.

“One key is hydrogen,” he said. “It binds to the silicon surface and keeps the dopants from clumping. So you don’t have to grow chips at 320 degrees Celsius [approximately 600 degrees Fahrenheit] like you do when using molecular beam epitaxy. You can actually grow them at a higher temperature like 600 degrees Celsius [more than 1100 degrees Fahrenheit] at a lower cost, and with fewer crystal defects.”

Tunneling diodes are so named because they exploit a quantum mechanical effect known as tunneling, which lets electrons pass through thin barriers unhindered.

In theory, interband tunneling diodes could form very dense, very efficient micro-circuits in computer chips. A large amount of data could be stored in a small area on a chip with very little energy required.

Researchers judge the usefulness of tunneling diodes by the abrupt change in the current densities they carry, a characteristic known as “peak-to-valley ratio.” Different ratios are appropriate for different kinds of devices. Logic circuits such as those on a computer chip are best suited by a ratio of about 2.

The RITDs that Berger’s team fabricated had a ratio of 1.85.

“We’re close, and I’m sure we can do better,” he said.

He envisions his RITDs being used for ultra-low-power computer chips operating with small voltages and producing less wasted heat.

“Chip makers today are having a great difficulty boosting performance in each generation, so they pack chips with more and more circuitry, and end up generating a lot of heat,” Berger said. “That’s why a laptop computer is often too hot to actually sit atop your lap. Soon, their heat output will rival that of a nuclear reactor per unit volume.”

“That’s why moving to quantum devices will be a game-changer.”

RITDs could form high-resolution detectors for imaging devices called focal plane arrays. These arrays operate at wavelengths beyond the human eye and can permit detection of concealed weapons and improvised explosive devices. They can also provide vision through rain, snow, fog, and even mild dust storms, for improved airplane and automobile safety, Berger said. Medical imaging of cancerous tumors is another potential application.

His coauthors on the paper included Si-Young Park, and R. Anisha, both doctoral students in electrical engineering at Ohio State; and Roger Loo, Ngoc Duy Nguyen, Shotaro Takeuchi, and Matty Caymax, all of IMEC, an industrial research center in Belgium.

This work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation.

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