Tagged: electricity

Green sky thinking - Ariadne

Robert Hickson • Apr 09, 2018 •

• agriculture,
• Biofuels,
• capability building,
• carbon capture,
• coal,
• consumerism,
• Electricity,
• home heating,
• horticulture,
• Hydrogen,
• hydrogen power,
• mountains,
• New Zealand,
• oceans,
• oil,
• political power,
• radical change,
• shell,
• stability,
• technological,
• technology,
• vehicles

We are starting to see more scenarios about getting to a “decarbonised” future. One where greenhouse gas emissions are no longer a problem. Many scenarios are forgettable. The good ones have the power to create the change. Shell has added a new futures scenario, called Sky, to its New Lens scenario set. I think … Read More

Nikola Tesla: The extraordinary life of a modern Prometheus - Guest Work

Guest Author • Jan 08, 2018 •

• alternating current,
• Electric light,
• Electricity,
• entrepreneur,
• inventor,
• Nicola Tesla,
• Patent,
• Thomas Edison,
• war of the currents

Richard Gunderman, Indiana University.  This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Match the following figures – Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Guglielmo Marconi, Alfred Nobel and Nikola Tesla – with these biographical facts: Spoke eight languages Produced the first motor that ran on AC current Developed the underlying technology for wireless communication … Read More

Solar is now the most popular form of new electricity generation worldwide - Guest Work

Guest Author • Aug 03, 2017 •

• coal,
• Electricity,
• energy,
• hydro,
• photovoltaic,
• polar power,
• power,
• renewable energy,
• Solar,
• Wind

By Andrew Blakers, Australian National University Solar has become the world’s favourite new type of electricity generation, according to global data showing that more solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity is being installed than any other generation technology. Worldwide, some 73 gigawatts of net new solar PV capacity was installed in 2016. Wind energy came in second place (55GW), … Read More

Solar Panels Lower the Loss - Guest Work

Guest Author • Jul 04, 2017 •

• affordability,
• affordable power,
• electric vehicles,
• Electricity,
• energy,
• New Zealand,
• Solar,
• solar panels

By George Jones Whenever electricity is taken from one place to another, some of it is lost, ultimately as heat.  In New Zealand, this waste electricity constitutes about 6 or 7 percent of the electricity generated; enough to power the entire Greater Wellington area.  In other countries it is usually larger, up to three or four times NZ’s percentage. The industry … Read More

Party balloons and sagging powerlines - Field Work

Guest Author • Dec 28, 2016 •

• Electricity,
• NIWA,
• power grid,
• power infrastructure,
• power lines,
• weather ballons

When Tony Bromley heads to the hills in January he’s taking along a bag of party balloons and some cardboard coffee cups to help him with some complex measurements involving power lines along the National Grid. The NIWA atmospheric technician is aiming “to define the sag”. “Power lines expand with heat and the more power that goes down the line … Read More

Fusion energy: A time of transition and potential - Guest Work

Guest Author • Dec 01, 2016 •

• Electricity,
• energy,
• Fusion,
• Nuclear,
• physics,
• plasma,
• power

By Stewart Prager, Princeton University and Michael C. Zarnstorff, Princeton University For centuries, humans have dreamed of harnessing the power of the sun to energize our lives here on Earth. But we want to go beyond collecting solar energy, and one day generate our own from a mini-sun. If we’re able to solve an extremely … Read More

Magma power: how superheated molten rock could provide renewable energy - Guest Work

Guest Author • Oct 30, 2016 •

• Electricity,
• energy,
• geothermal,
• magma,
• power

By Pete Rowley, University of Portsmouth Iceland is about to tap into water as hot as lava. Several kilometres below ground, a drilling rig named Thor will soon penetrate the area around a magma chamber, where molten rock from the inner Earth heats up water that has seeped through the seafloor. This water – up to 1,000°C and … Read More

30 ways to sabotage the introduction of solar power [SPOILER – we’ve tried them all!] - Guest Work

Peter Griffin • Aug 15, 2016 •

• Electricity,
• energy,
• photovoltaics,
• renewable energy,
• solar power

by George Jones If for some reason someone wished to delay the introduction of solar panels into New Zealand, here are some ideas on how to do it. 1. Insist that the electrical industry eliminate any incentives that might inadvertently have been imposed in the past.  Make sure that the Electricity Authority stamps out these incentives where it can, … Read More

Getting more energy from the sun: how to make better solar cells - Guest Work

Guest Author • May 05, 2016 •

• Electricity,
• flexible glass,
• materials,
• solar cells,
• sunlight

By Tara P. Dhakal, Binghamton University, State University of New York Global demand for energy is increasing by the hour as developing countries move toward industrialization. Experts estimate that by the year 2050, worldwide demand for electricity may reach 30 terawatts (TW). For perspective, one terawatt is roughly equal to the power of 1.3 billion horses. Energy … Read More

Negative Electricity Prices: Bleg - The Dismal Science

Seamus Hogan • Oct 22, 2013 •

• Electricity

A couple of years ago, a visitor to our department here at Canterbury told me how sometimes in Texas, windfarms are able to generate so much electricity that the price of electricity goes negative. This recent article in the Economist (HT: Tyler at Marginal Revolution), gives a similar example from Europe. In both cases, I find this … Read More