Air powered vehicles ??

Soon, pull fuel for your car out of thin air!

Powering your car with the air you
breathe may sound supernatural, but Joel Rosenthal, a chemist at the
University of Delaware, is actually working to transform carbon dioxide
(CO2), a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, into gas for your car and
clean-energy future fuels.

Such a feat could
help reduce the rising CO2 levels implicated in global warming and also
offer a new method of renewable energy production.

Rosenthal and his
team are designing electrocatalysts from metals such as nickel and
palladium that will freely give away electrons when they react with
carbon dioxide, thus chemically reducing this greenhouse gas into
energy-rich carbon monoxide or methanol.

Besides its use in
making plastics, solvents, carpet and other products, methanol fuels
race cars in the United States and currently is being researched as a
hydrogen carrier for fuel cell vehicles.

Carbon monoxide is an important
precursor to liquid hydrocarbons in the energy arena, in addition to its
applications as an industrial chemical for producing plastics to
detergents to the acetic acid used in food preservation, drug
manufacturing and other fields.

“The catalytic
reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide is an important
transformation that would allow for the mitigation of atmospheric CO2
levels, while producing an energy-rich substrate that forms a basis for
fuels production,” Rosenthal says.

“The chemistry we’re
doing is energetically uphill—it’s an energy-storing process rather
than a downhill, energy-liberating process.

“And our goal is to make liquid fuel renewably from wind and solar sources, not from typical fossil fuel bases,” he added.

Areva Plans for 1,000 MW Concentrating Solar Power in India

Areva Plans for 1,000 MW Concentrating Solar Power in India

november 04, 2010

Areva has set its eyes on Concentrating Solar Power production in India.

Areva
plans to put up 250MW capacity at four locations and is currently
negotiating with the governments of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra
and Gujarat.



Areva has announced its plans to start two new subsidiary companies to
mobilize the required investment of $3 billion for installing the solar
thermal plant.



Areva has initiated dialogues with two leading financial investment
companies for starting a partnership venture to build a 1,000 MW solar
thermal power plant within the next five to seven years time.



Areva has unveiled its plans to develop the plants exclusively by
utilizing the power purchase agreements (PPA) with the state governments
in India without availing the facilities available under the National
Solar Mission program.



According to Anil Srivastava, Areva Renewables Chief Executive Officer,
the company intends to commence the construction of the plant on signing
the convincing power purchase agreements with the state governments
without waiting for the signing of agreements for the full production
capability of 1,000 MW.



Currently he did not name the financial institutions ready to fund the
project and clarified that the proposed tie-ups are expected to take
place after six months.



Areva also has plans to set up a wholly owned auxiliary company for
performing engineering and building work to construct solar turbines and
solar islands which are actually synthetic membranes used for keeping
solar panels.



The company has spelt out its intentions to create an EPC (engineering,
procurement, construction) firm to work in cooperation with a partnering
company from India. The Indian company will be engaged in the civil
works related to the plant and erect the solar islands and turbines
produced by Areva. The created EPC company will sustain Areva’s efforts
in building a supply chain and help in exporting manufactured parts to
West Asia and Australia.





www.areva-td.com/home_tdmain/US_57_Homepage.html

25 kW no-dam turbines

It Sounds like a nice idea !
Arun
==============
Hydrovolts to develop turbine for Indian hydro scheme
10 September 2010
http://www.waterpowermagazine.com/story.asp?sectioncode=130&storyCode=2057546

Seattle, US-based small hydro company Hydrovolts Inc has received investment from civil engineering firm DLZ Corp to develop a 25kW hydrokinetic turbine for deployment at a power project on the 14km Chilla Canal in Northern India.

DLZ Corp, which is developing several hydropower projects in India, will put forward an initial investment of $250,000 to Hydrovolts to fund the manufacture of a prototype turbine for use on the canal project. DLZ has obtained permits and a power purchase agreement to develop a 10MW hydrokinetic power project on the Canal, which currently feeds water to a traditional hydropower plant on the Ganges River.

Under a non-binding letter of intent between the two companies, following successful demonstration and delivery of the prototype Hydrovolts turbine, DLZ could potentially order an additional 400 turbines and place them in the canal leading up to the traditional hydropower plant. Hydrovolts estimates that 400 turbines will sell for about $20M.

The Hydrovolts Flipwing floating turbine will operate like a submerged paddlewheel and is designed to be simple to deploy and connect: it drops in the water and is either tethered or anchored. Electricity generated by the turbine is sent to shore by a power cable linked to the tether. No dams or significant site preparation are needed, reducing costs and minimizing environmental impacts. The turbine is considered fish-friendly because its paddlewheel blades turn slower than the water current ­ fish just swim around or through it.

The Flipwing turbine can also be used in spillways and other water channels such as wastewater treatment plants, tailraces of existing dams, and discharges of cooling water from thermal power plants, says Hydrovolts.