Small Energy News

Speaking of small energy, this vibration powered micro-generator is a clever idea for operating sensors and monitoring devices placed around vibrating locations such as roadways, rotating machinery, and objects vibrated by winds and waves.

Here is a look at some of the near-term improvements for automobile batteries.

And we all know that supercapacitors fill an important gap in the attempt to replace the internal combustion engine. The very high power density of the supercapacitors is a fine complement to the high energy density of storage batteries and fuel cells.

Speaking of fuel cells, most efficient fuel cells are sized for industrial uses--in the tens and hundreds of kilowatts range and above. But these little fuel cells are for toys, and progress is being made on better residential and automobile fuel cells. Even short range aircraft will soon be powered by fuel cells.

It is important for developed nations to come up with clean, sustainable energy technologies for all scales of use--from the terawatt to the microwatt. It is not possible for an advanced culture to progress without highly centralised energy technologies such as nuclear, at this time.

But as storage technologies improve, much of the renewable energies that are currently wasted--solar, wind, wave, tidal, geothermal, etc--will be put to better use. This will limit the demand placed upon large scale, centralised projects, and fossil fuels such as coal, oil, bitumens, and gas.