4 Inventions That Can Change Our Energy

New scientific discoveries have made it possible to improve biofuels, reuse used energy, get more power from solar panels and even transmit electricity throughout the room without using wires. Here are four inventions that have enormous potential to improve our lives and fundamentally change the way we generate and use energy.

Powered by coniferous trees Scientists from the United States crossed spruce with intestinal bacteria, fed the resulting beef broth and as a result obtained an unusually high-octane rocket fuel.
The combination of genetic engineering and microbiology has opened up new methods of producing biofuels for military aviation and the space industry. Pamela Peralta-Yahia and her colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology said that a little more — and their new technology will provide high-energy gasoline, corresponding to rocket fuel JP-10. It is a high-octane compound that sells for about $7 per litre, as only tiny amounts of this fuel can be produced from one barrel of crude oil.
The scientists said their technique produced six times more pinene than other biofuel production methods. Pinene is an aromatic chemical produced by coniferous trees. It is a precursor to JP-10 and its chemical formula is also C10H16.
The researchers developed an E. coli with enzymes from two North American pines and abies grandis fir, and then placed these microorganisms on beef broth cups. The result was 32 milligrams of pinene per liter.
To compete with the JP-10, scientists need to improve the technique by a factor of 26. According to them, this task is difficult, but feasible.

Hot and cold. Another example of ingenuity in laboratory research and a scientific approach is the work of Professor Mercury Canacidis of Northwestern University, who began experimenting with the crystalline form of tin selenide and found that this compound has striking thermoelectric potential.
Thermoelectric materials conduct heat very poorly, being at the same time excellent conductors of electricity. Most of the energy is spent as heat removed from internal combustion engines or coal power generators. The discovery proves that wasted heat can be stored and turned into electricity.
Evaluating the efficiency of thermoelectric devices involves many highly specialized calculations using a dimensionless ZT coefficient, and at this stage, the researchers said that at 650°C, their selenide crystal exhibits the highest ZT value.
The sample conducts heat extremely poorly, and therefore one of its edges can be heated, and it will save heat, while the other will remain cold. And because heat is not dissipated, it remains concentrated and can be reused to produce additional amounts of electricity.
“A good thermoelectric material has considerable weight in both commercial and scientific fields,” he said. It is enough to turn even small amounts of energy consumed into useful – and the material will show its value.

Solar panels without shine While U.S. researchers are developing more powerful biofuels and finding unexpected thermoelectric properties in relatively common materials, their British colleagues have discovered a way to remove the luster of solar panels.
Large areas of solar panels face a problem - the brilliance of the surface. Scientists from Loughborough University in the UK have invented a multi-layer reflective coating that can reduce the gloss of photovoltaic panels while increasing their efficiency.
The glass surface reflects 4 percent of the light that hits it, and therefore a resistant to mechanical damage and durable coating of zirconium oxide and silica will actually improve energy production by 4 percent.

Wireless electricity
Other researchers are looking for innovative ways to deliver energy to consumers.
Scientists of the Korean leading scientific and technical Institute reported the invention of a two-pole oscillatory circuit capable of transmitting electricity over a distance of five meters and providing energy, for example, a large LED TV and three 40-watt fans.
So far, the technology is expensive and remains in the earliest stages of development. But the authors have high hopes for it.
“Today, there are many Wi-Fi zones, and eventually we will have similar electric zones in places like restaurants and pedestrian streets that will provide electronic devices with a wireless source of electricity,” said Chun Rim, professor of nuclear and quantum engineering. We will be able to use the devices everywhere, without connecting the confusion of wires, and at any time, without worrying about the need to charge the batteries.
Facepla.net based on MNN materials

Source: facepla.net