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Morphing UAV rescue plane
A shape shifting robot plane (ASARP), small and cheap-to-build unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is intended to cut the cost of maritime search-and-rescue missions and reduce risks to material and human lives has been successfully developed in a combined Cyprus-Israel developed project.
Solar cells: improving InGaN and glass
Hot on the heels of better gallium and nanowire solar cells in Germany, Texas Tech University scientists have developed an indium gallium nitride (InGaN) solar cell with characteristics ‘significantly higher’ than previously reported values for devices with similar indium content in the QWs. But in Spain,research has focused on photoactive compounds to improve the solar cell glass.
The ocean: generating < power
Hammerfest, the Norwegian energy company, is to build the first of its HS1000 marine turbines at BiFab’s yard at Arnish in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis. The turbine whose development model was tested in the waters of Orkney, will first be deployed in Argyll Sound of Islay with an array of ten to be installed there by 2013, generating enough energy to power 1,000 homes.
Relaxing magnetic fields
Researchers at the University of Dundee have made a breakthrough in the study of magnetic fields when a team from the magnetohydrodynamics research group in the School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics used computer simulations of evolving plasmas in the Sun’s atmosphere.
Giant turbine unveiled: data centre next?
Atlantis Resources have had the AK -1000 tidal energy turbine, believed to be the largest built in the world, assembled at a facility at Evanton in Ross-shire. It will be towed by barge from Invergordon to the European Marine Energy Centre test site of Eday, Orkney. The AK-1000's blades are 18m in diameter and can generate 1MW.
Biodiesel from micro-algae
Within 10 to 15 years, it will be technically possible to produce sustainable and economically viable biodiesel from micro-algae on a large scale. Technological innovations during this period should extend the scale of production by a factor of three, while at the same time reducing production costs by 90%.
Global nuclear renaissance 2030
It's tilting at entrenched anti-nuclear sentiments - and one look at Google graphics illustrating the word nuclear says it all. But, UK scientists have researched and outlined a 20-year master plan for the global renaissance of nuclear energy that should not be dismissed out of hand. This anticipates nuclear reactors with replaceable parts, portable mini-reactors, even ship-borne off-shore reactors supplying countries with CO2 free energy without the infrastructure costs.
Silence of the logic boxes: exam revolution
transtec has installed a learning centre, laboratory and examination rooms at the University of Applied Sciences (UAS) at Darmstadt with Pano Logic Zero Clients technology being used for exams.
Argyll renewable energy plans
Argyll is to see major developments in offshore windfarms in projects of considerable size and carrying serious infrastructural and cultural implications for the communities involved. Four planned developments include three off shore windfarm sites (the first three noted below) by the news website For Argyll.
Satellite funding: location, location
The 3rd call for proposals for Satellite Navigation research and development (R&D) under the EU's 7th Framework Programme (FP7) makes available €38m in funding and is open to companies and research organisations in various areas such as ICT, Transport, Mobility, SME, Security, Electronics and Aerospace. Closer to home and high technology, ADS Scotland is organising a Workshop at Strathclyde University in September.
UK is solar hotspot: wind is for bigger players
The sun is reputedly rising on the UK solar market in 2010, as attractive government incentives make it the world’s fastest-growing country for photovoltaic (PV) installations this year, according to California based iSuppli Corp. Author Mary Jones however points out that PV is cheaper for very small loads but as system sizes gets larger, this "rule-of-thumb" reverses itself to favour wind.
Towards 1 inverse femtobarn luminosity
The world’s largest international conference on particle physics ICHEP attracted more than 1000 participants to its Paris venue to hear the four major LHC experiments – ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb – spokespeople present the measurements from the first three months of successful LHC operation at 3.5 TeV per beam, an energy three and a half times higher than previously achieved at a particle accelerator.
Dundee and deep sea pipeline safety
Doors, horses & bolted initially spring to mind in the news that a team from the University of Dundee have been awarded two grants totalling almost £300,000 to improve the safety and reliability of ultra-deep water oil and gas extraction, but the work has been long anticipated and the development will both optimise reliability under deep sea high pressure of tubular connections and develop future pipeline coatings.
Diagnostics and ballasting for Oyster
Engineers at BAE Systems, whose normal forte is working in design, repair and maintenance of complex naval system will work with Aquamarine Power to develop an intelligent diagnostic system and remote ballasting mechanism for the Oyster thanks to a Technology Strategy Board grant of £450,000, which the partners match-funded, to support the 30 month R&D and demonstration project to drive down maintenance costs and maximise energy production enabling the roll-out of large-scale commercial production of Aquamarine Power’s Oyster wave energy converter.
IBM commuter pain survey goes global
Edinburgh's current tram pain for drivers has not been subject to any serious survey and as the trams may never appear, motorists are expected to quietly forget the whole issue. So its reassuring to know that IBM takes commuter pain very seriously and has extended its third Commuter Pain survey to include a Global Commuter Pain, as the last two surveys covered only the US. The survey shows the recession is taking its toll on urban motorists, who have become significantly sensitive to gas prices and look for ways to spend more time with family and friends.
Renewable Heat Incentive applicable technologies.
Following on from the July seminar on Funding for micro-renewables: Grants, Feed in Tariffs and the Renewable Heat Incentive and August's expose of retrofitting renewable energy technology, comes the final lecture of the series an overview of the Renewable Heat Incentive applicable technologies.
Retrofitting renewable energy technologies
Following on from the July evening seminar on Funding for micro-renewables: Grants, Feed in Tariffs and the Renewable Heat Incentive come two more in the series of three being run by the Sustainable Energy And Micro-renewables (SEAM) Centre at its Inverness College base. In a joint project with forest management partnership Highland Birchwoods, businesses can learn about the incentives available for producing their own heating and electricity.
ITER winding packs contracted
Fusion for Energy has signed a contract that will amount €156m for the supply of ten winding packs for the ITER Toroidal Field (TF) Coils with a European consortium of companies bringing together Iberdrola Ingeniería y Construcción SAU, ASG Superconductors SpA and Elytt Energy SL. Europe will manufacture 10 of the 19 TF Coils for ITER, including a spare one. Japan is responsible to produce the remaining nine.
Stream and river: energy supply diversity
Green-Tide Turbines (G-TT) whose in river test facility came online in June, has appointed Cambridge Consultants to help with the development of its tidal stream turbines to achieve capital cost savings relative to competing technologies.
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