Energy Newsbriefs
Articles for May 9, 2011
ENERGY NEWSBRIEFS is a weekly current awareness service provided by the WSU Extension Energy Program Library and written by Angela Santamaria, WSU Energy Library Manager, to assist users in tracking developments in the energy field. To view past issues or to subscribe to receive an email notification of the publication of a new issue, go to the Energy Newsbriefs home.
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AGRICULTURE – ENERGY CROPS
"Direct Climate Effects of Perennial Bioenergy Crops in the United States" was co-authored by Matei Georgescu, Arizona State University, David B. Lobell, Stanford University, and Christopher B. Field, Carnegie Institution for Science. This paper was published online in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) on February 28, 2011 and in the PNAS print journal on March 15, 2011. This scholarly study shows that if the Midwest were to replace annuals with perennial biomass crops, the result would be cooler local and regional air temperatures because of increased transpiration and solar reflectance. This would result in serious impacts on soil water.
HVAC/R (HEATING, VENTILATION, AIR CONDITIONING, AND REFRIGERATION)
"A Balanced Approach" was authored by Jeff Moe, Director, Global Policy and Advocacy, at the Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability at Ingersoll Rand; it was published in the March 2011 issue of HPAC Heating, Plumbing, Air Conditioning Magazine. This includes a history of the effort to discover effective and safe refrigerants that charts the phasing out of various refrigerants deemed environmentally unsafe beginning in 1990. The author notes that a refrigerant can negatively impact the environment in two ways. It can simply leak into the atmosphere, of course. It can, also, negatively affect the environment if it refrigerates inefficiently, meaning that it needs more energy to accomplish the required cooling levels. Both impacts are covered well.
POLICY – EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES MATERIALS
The following address the expected shortage of the rare earth metals and other materials that are needed in emerging energy technologies with applications in solar, wind, electric vehicles, and fluorescents:
1. Critical Elements for Energy is a 166-PDF-page, December 2010, policy report from the US DOE (U.S. Department of Energy). It discusses the shortages and their effects whether long-, middle-, or long-term. It also explains DOE's plans aimed at avoiding disruptions in the supply of materials, a situation that would negatively affect the development and use of cleaner energy. Finally, it includes several appendices with information about relevant legislation and about several workshops and roundtable discussions on the topic.
2. Securing Materials for Emerging Technologies is a 28-PDF-page, policy report, released February 18, 2011, from the American Physical Society (Panel on Public Affairs) and the Materials Research Society. The energy-critical elements (ECEs) are considered in depth, and a number of policy recommendations are made.
PUMPS
"Sump Pump Savvy," by Joe Evans, Trainer, PumpTech, Inc., was published in the March 2011 issue of HPAC Heating, Plumbing, Air Conditioning Magazine. The author describes the two major categories of pumps, those that pump grey water and those that handle solids, and discusses appropriate applications for each.
RENEWABLES – on FARMS and RANCHES
On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Survey (2009) is Volume 3, Special Studies, Part 6, and was issued February 2011 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA); it is described as a follow-up survey to the 2007 Census of Agriculture. The USDA also issued a February 23, 2011, press release describing the Survey: "On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Shows Tremendous Growth." The release explains that the Survey showed there were over 8,500 wind, solar, and/or methane digesters on farms and ranches across the country. The lion's share of renewable generation is solar based with both photovoltaic and thermal panels in use.
RESIDENTIAL EFFICIENCY STRATEGIES
EnergySavers.gov: Stay Cool, Save Money is a website, revised (and re-named) seasonally, from the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office of the U.S. Department of Energy. The site is now offering many tips for energy savings for the fall and winter.
THERMAL TECHNOLOGIES
"The Sky's the Limit" was co-authored by Louis Michaud, President, AVEtec Energy Corp, and Nilton Renno, Professor, Department of Atmospheric, Oceanographic, and Space Science, University of Michigan; it was published in the April 2011 issue of Mechanical Engineering. The small success of a fuel-less power plant in Spain was not enough to attract large-scale commercialization; the simple column of rising air within its cooling tower resulted in no more that a 50kW output. However, the author suggests a design improvement that could make a difference. In a thermal power plant, a vortex of rising air, induced by an "atmospheric vortex engine," in the same-sized tower could dramatically extend the updraft to miles above the tower. More waste heat would be converted to energy so the effectiveness of the tower would be greatly magnified. This would make the tower more cost-effective as is, without physically (and expensively) extending it. The technology has not been proved in a full-scale plant.
The following four articles appeared in the March 2011 issue of Industrial Heating:
1. "Applying High-Temperature Heat-Pipe Technology to Precision Heat Treating and Materials Processing" was written by Peter Dussinger, Vice President for Custom Products, Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. The author describes what heat pipes are, how they are designed for different functions, and the all important range of temperatures within which heat pipes can operate.
2. "Carbon Controlling with O2-Probe and L-Probe," by D. Mikulovic´, MESA Electronic GmbH (Leitenstr., Geretsried, Germany), discusses the gas carburizing process in the context of the carbon-potential (C-potential) of a furnace atmosphere. The author carefully explains how to determine the C-potential and how to control it. The O2-probe and the L-probe are described and the uncertain measurements yielded by the O2-probe in certain circumstances are delineated. The L-probe has several important advantages over the O2-probe, which are explained.
3. "Maintenance for Cooling Towers: Protecting Process-Cooling Systems from Costly 'Fatigue',” was authored by Tom Ryder, Support Specialist, Delta Cooling Towers, Inc. The author explains that poorly maintained cooling towers are, in the end, very costly ones, whether in the pulp and paper, chemical processing, or injection-molding industries. He makes suggestions about both ordinary and preventative repairs and adresses the difficult decision of whether to try to repair an ailing cooling tower or to replace it.
4. "New Capabilities in HPGQ Vacuum Furnaces," was jointly authored by M. Korecki, SECO/WARWICK (Swiebodzin, Poland); J. Kula, Technical University of Lodz (Lodz, Poland); and J. Olejnik, SECO/WARWICK (Swiebodzin, Poland). This is a discussion of high-pressure gas-quenching (HPGQ) vacuum furnaces including their common applications, their reduced assembly times, and how they can employ power control systems with excellent energy savings.
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