Can We Innovate Our Way Out Of Our Troubles?
One Of London’s biggest problems at the moment is the bridges across the Thames.
This article on the BBC is entitled London’s Bridges ‘Are The Capital’s Embarrassment’ and is typical of many.
Hammersmith Bridge is causing particular trouble and has been closed to all traffic for some time.
But then I saw this innovative solution to the Hammersmith Bridge problem.
Note.
- Hammersmith Bridge is still closed.
- A floating bridge has been added alongside for pedestrians and cyclists.
- The floating bridge uses parts of the old Blackfriars pier.
- There is an innovative floating pontoon, which is activated by the current, that is used in the middle of the river to transfer passengers across.
- New Civil Engineer thinks, the temporary bridge could become a tourist attraction.
The design made me smile.
SEA Electric And Toyota Team Up For Electric Trucks
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on AuManufacturing.
These are the introductory paragraphs.
Toyota’s Hino truck division has announced a major foray into electric and hydrogen powered trucks, with Melbourne’s SEA Electric set to partner in the development of a new medium sized truck.
SEA Electric manufactures electric vehicle drive trains in Melbourne and has been converting Hino truck models to electric here and in the United States.
Now the company will partner with Hino in its global Project Z which will expand its range of largely diesel trucks.
It appears that electric and hydrogen powered vehicles are being developed.
This paragraph describes the powertrain.
Running the SEA Drive 120 a powertrain, it is mounted on on a cab/chassis platform. The 1470Nm electric motor and 136kWh battery pack delivers range of up to 350km (220 miles), and a typical breakeven period of less than 4 years.
They also claim to have eliminated the need for a battery cooling system.
Conclusion
I am drawn to these conclusions.
It seems that there are scores of small companies all over the world developing battery and hydrogen power systems for trucks, buses and trains.
As with SEA Electric and Hino, big manufacturers are often happy to tie up with smaller technology companies to create new products.
Another Product From Hyperdrive Innovation
My Google Alert for Hyperdrive Innovation has picked up this article on Yahoo, which is entitled RBW EV Roadster Is An Electric Take On The Classic MGB.
This is a paragraph from the article.
Managing Director Peter Swain said: “Our patented system places the electric motor at the rear of the car and Hyperdrive Innovation’s lithium-ion battery technology under the bonnet, which gives perfectly balanced weight distribution. Not only does this give the driver much better handling of the car, retaining that sports car feel, but it also affords maximum battery volume to be housed.
As Hyperdrive Innovation are a partner in Hitachi’s Regional Battery Train, does the MGB go like an electric train?
If I still drove a car, I would buy one.
Having driven a few classic roadsters in my time, what is said about the handling of the car is probably true and I could envisage a small manufacturer building a roaster to that design from scratch.
I used to work with a former Engineering Director of Lotus Cars. After his stories about the great Colin Chapman, I’m sure that fertile brain would now be designing an electric roaster to fit the niche of the classic Lotus Seven and Lotus Elan.
- Simple, but strong, steel or aluminium chassis.
- Fibreglass body
- Battery in the front.
- If the battery was well-forward, it would improve crashworthiness in a head on crash.
- Rear wheel drive.
We are uniquely positioned in the UK, with our motor racing heritage to design and build such a car in the UK.
Green Tugboats? ‘Revolutionary’ Hydrogen Ship Engine Unveiled In Belgium
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Business Green.
This is the first paragraph.
A “revolutionary” hybrid ship engine powered by green hydrogen and diesel has been unveiled today in Belgium, with developers claiming the innovation could cut CO2 emissions from ships, trains and electricity generators by up to 85 per cent.
The engine has been given the name BeHydro.
The first order has been received by the developers; ABC, for two 2MW dual fuel engines that will be installed on a hydrogen-powered tug for the Port of Antwerp.
Motors up to the size of 10 MW are under development.
This is the last sentence of the article.
In theory, any large diesel engine can be replaced by a BeHydro engine. The hydrogen future starts today.
It is a quote from the CEO of one of the companies involved.
Conclusion
This is a development to follow.
The BeHydro engine, with its dual-fuel approach, is claimed to cut carbon emissions by 85 %.
In the Wikipedia entry for ABC or Anglo Belgian Corporation, there is a section called Products. This is a paragraph.
The engines are found in use on large river barges such as those found on the Rhine, coastal freighters, fishing boats, ferries, tugboats (which typically use 2 engines), and other ships. Other applications include electricity generation, and pumping engines, engines for cranes, and locomotives (including the Belgian Railways Class 77 and Voith Maxima), as well as dual fuel (gas/oil) DZD engines.
I feel that that the BeHydro engine will keep the company busy.
Energy Storage Takes On Weird New Forms As Sparkling Green Future Takes Shape
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on CleanTechnica.
The first section is entitled Gravity-Enabled Energy Storage Tested By Scotland’s Gravitricity and explains it well.
It then writes an interesting aside about pairing a Gravitricity system, with an idea from GE, in a section, which is entitled A Wind Power & Energy Storage Twofer, Maybe.
GE were proposing a lattice-style wind-turbine tower, so why not put a Gravitricity system inside?
Hence the maybe in the section title!
I can imagine an office or residential tower with a Gravitricity system built into the lift core in the centre of the building. Top the building with solar panels or wind turbines and you’re going some way towards a building that could be self-sufficient in energy.
Putting two and two together, so they add up to five, is the best way to improve efficiency.
The last section is entitled How To Do Energy Storage Without Any Energy Storage.
As I have never played a computer game, I don’t understand it, but it is based on research at two reputable universities; Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands and Northwestern University in the US.
Conclusion
We will be seeing weirder and weirder ideas for energy generation and storage in the future.
New Energy Storage “Water Battery” Breakthrough: Look Ma, No Underground Powerhouse
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on CleenTechnoca.
Pumped hydro storage as used at Dinorwig power station or Electric Mountain in the UK is a good way to store electricity.
But it is expensive to build and one of the major costs is building a large underground powerhouse. This is Wikipedia’s description of the construction of the powerhouse at Dinorwig.
Twelve million tonnes (12,000,000 long tons; 13,000,000 short tons) of rock had to be moved from inside the mountain, creating tunnels wide enough for two lorries to pass comfortably and an enormous cavern 51 metres (167 ft) tall, 180 metres (590 ft) long, and 23 metres (75 ft) wide[10] known as “the concert hall”. The power station comprises 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) of tunnels, one million tons of concrete, 200,000 tons of cement and 4,500 tons of steel.
That is big, but on the other hand, it reportedly paid for itself in two years.
According to the article, a company called Obermeyer Hydro Inc has come up with a new design of pumped storage turbine., which eliminated the need for an underground powerhouse.
- Cost savings of 45 % are claimed.
- Reading the full article, I get the impression, that a radical redesign of the reversible turbine will be a game-changer.
- I suspect, it could be of benefit in small countries like the UK, where pumped storage is expensive and faces strong opposition in certain areas.
It is also significant, that this appears to be successful innovation in an area, where it was thought we had reached the ultimate design.
Hitachi Rail To Acquire Perpetuum In Digital Expansion
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Hitachi Rail Ltd has agreed to acquire Southampton-based condition monitoring specialist Perpetuum as part of a strategy to strengthen the use of digital technology in rail operations.
Established as a university spin-off less than a decade ago, Perpetuum developed the use of bogie-mounted self-powered vibration sensors to monitor the condition of rolling stock. Wireless equipment fitted to around 3 000 vehicles operating across three continents sends back real-time data about the performance of wheelsets, gearboxes, motors and bogies.
It seems to me, that Hitachi have bought an interesting company.
Let’s hope they develop the technology, but keep that development in Southampton.
Do We Need More New Measurement Trains?
In New Measurement Train – 30th July 2020, I said this.
With all the spare InterCity 125 trains at present, will Network Rail create a second train?
We have now had the tragic Stonehaven Derailment, where three have been sadly killed.
Increasingly, we seem to be getting weather-related problems on the UK’s railways.
I can remember several in the last few years.
So perhaps just as the Hatfield Crash led to the New Measurement Train, we should up our testing and the development of new tests.
Extra trains would increase the amount of testing, but also provide more laboratory space to test the testing systems in real railway conditions.
Perhaps, if a University or high-tech company has a feasible idea, there should be a mechanism, whereby they can rent space in the trains, just as they can on satellite launchers.
Funding To Develop Geothermal Energy Plans For Disused Flooded Coal Mines
The title of this post, is the same as that of this page on the University of Strathclyde web site.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Researchers at the University of Strathclyde have won early stage funding to develop plans to tap into the geothermal energy contained within disused, flooded coal mines in Scotland.
I have talked about this technique before in Can Abandoned Mines Heat Our Future?, which I wrote after I attended a public lecture at The Geological Society.
This page on the Geological Society web site, gives a summary of the lecture and details of the speaker; Charlotte Adams of Durham University.
This paragraph indicates the scale of the Scottish project, which has been called HotScot.
Heat trapped in 600 km3 of disused mine-workings in the Central Belt of Scotland could meet up to 8% of Scotland’s domestic heating demand.
It looks to be a very comprehensive project.
Conclusion
As this appears to be the second project where disused coal mines are used as a source of heat, after one in Spennymoor, that I wrote about in Exciting Renewable Energy Project for Spennymoor. I wouldn’t be surprised to see other projects starting in other mining areas.
And not just in the UK, as techniques developed by engineers and scientists get more efficient and more affordable.
Turning Waste Plastic Into Hydrogen – Is This The Future?
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on H2 View.
This paragraph is a description of the process from Myles Kitcher of Peel L&P Environmental.
At Peel L&P Environmental we’ve been working with PowerHouse Energy who have developed a world first plastic to hydrogen technology. The first plant at Protos, our strategic energy and resource hub in Cheshire, is due to start construction later this year. It will take unrecyclable waste plastic – destined for landfill, or worse export overseas – and use it to create a local source of clean hydrogen to fuel buses, Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) and cars. Not only will this help reduce air pollution and improve air quality on local roads, it’s helping us deal with the pressing problem of plastic waste.
This sounds like an eminently sensible way of dealing with unrecyclable waste plastic.
The Anonymous Widower 