As a casual participant in this group I thought I would post this subtopic of possible interest..
There is a promising development in energy storage worth mentioning where unneeded, intermittent electricity from renewables such as solar or wind can be used to cryogenically cool air into a liquid state that is later vaporized to power turbines with efficiencies of up to 70% by utilizing waste heat from existing thermoelectric power plants (nuclear, coal, natural gas, etc). This energy storage process is also promising because it directly removes atmospheric greenhouse gases (H2O and CO2) in addition to waste heat: "The Institution of Mechanical Engineers says liquid air can compete with batteries and hydrogen to store excess energy generated from renewables. IMechE says "wrong-time" electricity generated by wind farms at night can be used to chill air to a cryogenic state at a distant location. When demand increases, the air can be warmed to drive a turbine. Engineers say the process to produce "right-time" electricity can achieve an efficiency of up to 70%.... The process follows a number of stages: [1] "Wrong-time electricity" is used to take in air, remove the CO2 and water vapour (these would freeze otherwise) [2] The remaining air, mostly nitrogen, is chilled to -190C (-310F) and turns to liquid (changing the state of the air from gas to liquid is what stores the energy) [3] The liquid air is held in a giant vacuum flask until it is needed [4] When demand for power rises, the liquid is warmed to ambient temperature. As it vaporizes, it drives a turbine to produce electricity - no combustion is involved IMechE says this process is only 25% efficient but it is massively improved by co-siting the cryo-generator next to an industrial plant or power station producing low-grade heat that is currently vented and being released into the atmosphere." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19785689 On Oct 10, 8:20 am, Andrew Lockley <[email protected]> wrote: > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: "Tim Kruger" <[email protected]> > Date: Oct 10, 2012 1:13 PM > Subject: Special Lecture: Monday 15 October "Sucking CO2 Out of Thin Air: > Global Thermostat – A Carbon Negative Solution" > To: > > This Monday from 11:30 - 13:00 at the Oxford Martin School there is going > to be a seminar presented by Peter Eisenberger and Graciela Chichilnisky on > Global Thermostat - a company that is developing technology to extract CO2 > from ambient air. Details are below. Sorry for the late notice on this - > they are attending a meeting in London the following day and this has been > arranged at the last minute. Please circulate this notice to anyone who you > think may be interested to attend. > All the best > Tim > > Sucking CO2 Out of Thin Air: Global Thermostat – A Carbon Negative Solution > > Monday 15 October 2012 > > Time: 11:30-13:00 > > Location: Oxford Martin School <http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/contact> > > Summary > > Professor Peter > Eisenberger<http://globalthermostat.com/team/peter-eisenberger>and > Professor > Graciela > Chichilnisky<http://globalthermostat.com/team/graciela-chichilnisky>are > the co-founders and managing directors of Global > Thermostat <http://globalthermostat.com/> – a company which is developing > technology to capture carbon dioxide from ambient air. A seminar exploring > the engineering aspects and the impacts such a technology would have on > global climate negotiations will take place in the seminar room at the > Oxford Martin School between 11:30 and 13:00 on Monday 15 October. > > Peter Eisenberger is Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at > Columbia University and will be talking about the engineering aspects of > Global Thermostat’s work. Graciela Chichilnisky is Distinguished Visiting > Professor, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China and will be talking > about the clean technology and global climate negotiation impacts of Global > Thermostat’s work. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en.
