Category: Energy

Australia’s Wave Energy System

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Australia’s wave energy system proposal, the Perth Wave Energy Project, utilizes the motion and pressure of the ocean’s waves to convert into an energy source on land. The method functions by placing generators that acts as buoys in the water that essentially move back and forth, up and down with the currents to then translate the wave’s energy into electricity. As of March 15, 2015 the first wave farm of its caliber is up and running in Western Australia, and is projected to continue growth immensely in the coming years. The project is a groundbreaking new tool for energy and water desalination that utilizes Australia’s wave-energy technology, CETO, named after the Greek ocean goddess, to produce zero-emission power and works towards reducing the overall need for fossil fuels. CETO has been made possible through various grants and funding by the Western Australian government, with hopes of successfully developing a full transition of the removal of reliance on fossil fuels for energy. Almost 60% of the world’s population is located near the shoreline, so CETO has the potential to reach more than half of our population and provide a sustainable energy source through capturing the natural motion of waves and transforming them into energy. Although the buoy units are large, they would be placed in deep water, minimalizing any obstruction to views near the ocean or the impact of potential destruction from breaking waves on the surface of the water. This technology could revolutionize the way our future world is powered, and shines light on the potential to eliminate the use of fossil fuels and other toxic products that provide the necessary energy sources needed for human sustainability.

The CETO technology model functions solely from the cooperation between our knowledge of predicted wave schedules and the translation of such energy back onto land. By utilizing resources in the water to create resources on land, CETO is directly contributing to the UN Sustainable Developmental Goals focused on life on water and life on land. If the research, development and experimentation with the technology and infrastructure of CETO continue to progress, it is highly likely that this energy resource could replace other forms of energy, such as fossil fuels, that negatively impact our environment; thus, slowly returning our planet back to a healthier state.

Rose Kazanowski

Carnegie Wave Energy. (2015). Retrieved April, 2016, from http://carnegiewave.com/ Casey, T. (2015, March 15).

First-Of- Its-Kind Wave Energy Farm For Largest Naval Base In Australia. Clean Technica. Retrieved April, 2016, from http://cleantechnica.com/2015/03/15/first-kind- wave-energy- farm-largest- naval-base- australia/

Gallos, C. (2015). Carnegie’s CETO 5 Operational. Retrieved April, 2016, from http://www.wavehub.co.uk/latest-news/carnegies- ceto-5- operational

Ottaviano, M. (2016). Perth Wave Energy Project. Retrieved April, 2016, from http://arena.gov.au/project/perth-wave- energy-project/

Vorrath, S. (2016, January 27). Carnegie completes final milestone for CETO 5 Perth wave energy project. REneweconomy. Retrieved April, 2016, from http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/carnegie-wave- 69826

“You were and Accident!” How the Nanowire battery was Born

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Batteries have long been the bane of the sustainable communities’ existence, but that may be about to change. Recently, a student at the University of California, Irvine accidentally invented a nanowire battery that charges faster and lasts longer. A group of researchers in the chemistry department were experimenting with replacing lithium with gold nanowires. Mya Le Thai, a PhD candidate at UCI, was the researcher who decided to coat the incredibly thin gold nanowires in manganese oxide and suspend them in a  protectiveelectrolyte gel. Now what are either of those things? I honestly have no idea, but I understand the basic need. See in the past, the nanowires tended to crack after a certain amount of charges, but with this new gel coating the nanowires are more pliable and able to withstand hundreds of thousands of charges. Aside from the gel coating, these gold nanowires are very conductive and have a larger surface area for storing energy.

These new nanowire batteries take 200,000 charges, nearly 400 times more than lithium batteries! They aren’t exactly sure why or how it all works, but they do know that the mechanism is replicable. Over the last three months, they have recharged this gel- coated nanowire battery and haven’t seen any loss in power, capacity, or cracking in the nanowires. These batteries will change the way that clean energy is stored, electric cars are produced and run, as well as many more benefits to energy needs. By replacing lithium batteries with these nanowire batteries, it will save consumers money by not having to replace these batteries as frequently. Without the lithium, these batteries will also be less vulnerable to overheating or combustion. Another plus, without having to replace batteries as often, there will be less waste caused by batteries in land fills.

With the discovery being so new, there are no current public plans or predicted costs for replication at a larger scale. There is no doubt that this will change very soon, since these batteries will completely change commercial battery use and benefit the  internationalcommunity.

Morgan McGoughran

[Mya Le Thai with her nanowire battery]. (2016). Retrieved from http://bigthink.com/robby-berman/scientists- accidentally-create- a-battery- that- can-outlast- your-device

Brooklyn Dives Deep into Aquaculture

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Moore Street Farm is a unique collaborative between Oko Farms and the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation (BEDC). It is a 2,500 square foot education and production farm in Bushwick, Brooklyn and the largest outdoor  aquaponics farm in New York City. This system allows both fish and vegetables to be raised in the limited spaces of such a compact city, making it very usable in densely populated urban settings. The farm cultivates a variety of freshwater fish including catfish, tilapia and crawfish along with a variety of vegetables and herbs. This farm uses aquaponics, a system in which the waste produced by farmed fish or other aquatic animals supplies nutrients for plants grown hydroponically, which ultimately purifies the water in order to grow nutrient dense foods with clean water.

The constant cycling of nutrients in the waste is a very efficient recycling system that eliminates toxic run-off that is typically present in most current methods of fish farming. This method helps reduce pollution and the carbon footprint, specifically in NYC, although this system is easily replicable in basically any other geographic location around the world, as it does not require much space or many natural resources to operate. Aquaponics systems reduce the amount of toxins consumed by humans who commonly eat farmed fish, ultimately helping to reduce health concerns for consumers. Additionally, it allows growers to produce and sell organic, local products within their immediate urban setting, reducing transportation time and costs, and making selling prices much cheaper for local customers.

This cyclical system is incredibly efficient with essentially no waste, thus it works in conjunction with many of the Sustainable Development Goals, in an effort to combat hunger and poverty, by making it possible to offer cheaper prices for locally produced foods, providing more accessibility to good health and well-being, with organic and nutrient dense foods being produced. The system operates with clean water and sanitation through its filtering plants, with innovative sustainable infrastructure, contributing to the creation of sustainable communities with a high regard for responsible consumption and production. Thus, this simple yet effective system creates a ripple effect that can help so many people lead much more sustainable lives.

The aquaponics system has very few limitations that would prevent it from working in any location; nonetheless, the scalability is dependent upon the support from the community. Aquaponics , on a small scale would work for individuals or a small group of people rather easily; however, for a larger system to be installed in a community, for business profits rather than personal use, it would most likely require a community that is eager to support and eat such specifically raised foods. Furthermore, large-scale production would require enough funding from either government or local contributors to obtain the proper equipment. In general, the system allows for great flexibility of products that can be grown depending on the particular demands of the local consumer market and geographic resources available to farmers in the area.

Alexa Bender

Kadish, J. (2014, November 21). Forget Chicken Coops-Fish Ponds Could Be the Future of Urban Farming. Retrieved May 22, 2016, from http://www.aquaponicsnyc.com/

Oko Farms. (n.d.). Retrieved May 22, 2016, from http://www.okofarms.com/