Clean Energy Transition

Eon UK is developing a giant battery designed to store electricity generated by wind farms and solar panels. Scientists at the energy group's technology centre in Nottingham aim to build a large-scale prototype that would be able to store one megawatt of electricity for four hours - the equivalent to 10m AA batteries and the same size as four articulated lorry containers.

...one step closer to building a magnetic-cooling system that promises energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, and completely silent fridges

THE Highlands and Islands are penalised by a "tax on geography" according to a report which reveals energy producers face crippling costs to connect consumers. Research found renewable energy producers in the region could pay 30 times more to connect to a national grid than counterparts in other parts of Europe.

Renewable investment is not a bubble ...

And of course it will not be subject to business cycles either. Onwards and upwards from now, forever. Let's see in a few years.

American Electric Power annouced that it is expanding its use of large-scale battery technology on its electricity grid by installing six megawatts of sodium sulfur (NAS®) batteries for storage of electricity to enhance reliability, allow for continued load growth, provide support for weak sub-transmission systems, avoid equipment overload and to offset intermittent wind power. AEP will be adding stationary sodium sulfur (NAS®) battery technology in its West Virginia and Ohio service territories next year. The company will also work with wind developers to identify a third location for NAS battery deployment ...to help offset the intermittent nature of wind generation.

What is a flow battery? It's a battery with tanks of electrolytes that effectively lets the battery store more energy than normal batteries. The electrolyte flows or circulates through the system. The larger the tanks, the more electricity it can store. "They are cheaply made out of plastic. They are low maintenance," said Rick Winter, an executive at Deeya Energy, which makes flow batteries. The company has been busy this summer setting up manufacturing facilities in India

Alpha Energy recently introduced its enhanced integrated solar power uninterruptible power supply. "As a UPS, the Solaris is the ideal solution for people or organizations wanting to minimize their carbon footprint, but have a critical power need. The Solaris lets you take advantage of free and clean solar power, and at the same time you can rest assured that in the event of a power outage, a supply of that solar energy is available for future use." The Solaris is a single-box solution providing up to 3.5kW of continuous power.

Lenovo reinvigorated the desktop PC space today with the ThinkCentre A61e, an ultra small form factor desktop that combines a small footprint the size of a telephone book, choices of energy efficient, 45-watt AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 dual core and AMD Sempron™ single core processors and an affordable price tag starting at $399(1).