Anupam Mishra
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Harvesting Lost Wave Energy From The Air — This Issue : New Device Achieves 37% Efficiency SmartLight Set To Change Way We Use Energy An energy-harvesting device capable of utilizing the sig- P2 nals from a wide variety of energy sources — such as mi- crowaves, Wi-Fi signals, satellite signals, and sound sig- Kerosene lamp which cooks nals — has been created by researchers at Duke Universi- food without polluting ty’s Pratt School of Engineering. P2 The CII Centre : The Epitome While the concept itself isn’t anything new, the execution Of Green Buildings in this case is — the new device has achieved an energy conversion efficiency of up to 37%, putting it on par in P3 that regard with solar cell technology. Anupam Mishra P3 The new device works on a similar principle to that used in solar panels, but in this case the en- The Future Of Solar P4 ergy involved isn’t light energy, it’s other forms of wave energy. The key to the device’s impres- Comic Sense P4 sive abilities apparently lies in its application of metamaterials — which are, essentially, simply Conference Alert P4 engineered structures that are able to capture various forms of wave energy and tune them for useful applications. With regard to potential uses- a metamaterial coating could be applied to the ceiling of a room to redirect and recover a Wi-Fi signal that would otherwise be lost. Another application could be to improve the energy efficiency of appliances by wirelessly recovering power that is now Energy Facts : lost during use. With additional modifications, the power-harvesting metamaterial could poten- tially be built into a cell phone, allowing the phone to recharge wirelessly while not in use. This A Focus On India feature could, in principle, allow people living in locations without ready access to a convention- al power outlet to harvest energy from a nearby cell phone tower instead. A series of power- Generating power through coal harvesting blocks could be assembled to capture the signal from a known set of satellites pass- produces nearly 70% of green ing overhead. The small amount of energy generated from these signals might power a sensor house gases produced in India. network in a remote location such as a mountaintop or desert, allowing data collection for a Hydro power is the biggest source long-term study that takes infrequent measurements. of generating renewable energy. It’s possible to use this design for a lot of different frequencies and types of energy, including India is among the top 5 largest vibration and sound energy harvesting.Until now, a lot of work with metamaterials has been producers of wind power in the theoretical,but with a little work, these materials can be useful for consumer applications.The world. properties of metamaterials allow for design flexibility not possible with ordinary devices like antennas.When traditional antennas are close to each other in space they talk to each other India is the second largest produc- and interfere with each other’s operation. The design process used to create our metamaterial er of biogas in the world. array takes these effects into account, allowing the cells to work together. Renewable sources in India con- tribute up to 9% of the total power “Our work demonstrates a simple and inexpensive approach to electromagnetic power har- vesting,” stated lead investigator Steven Cummer, a professor of electrical and computer engi- installed within the country. neering at Duke. “The beauty of the design is that the basic building blocks are self-contained Source : Hindustan Times and additive. One can simply assemble more blocks to increase the scavenged power.” Source: www.ozhouse.org SmartLight Set To Change Way We Use Energy A new technology called SmartLight has been enters or exits a room. presented at Italy’s CasaClima international SmartLight would be controlled wirelessly. energy forum, a technology that uses sun- There would be no wires to run.There would- light, electrofluidic cells, and a series of open n’t be light switches in the room. One would -air “ducts” to use sunlight to naturally illu- walk into a room and lights would switch on minate spaces deep inside office buildings, as because your smartphone knows where you well as allow excess energy to be harnessed, are and is communicating with the stored, and directed to other applications. SmartLight system. The new solar technology was developed by As with any solar project there is the need to a pair of University of Cincinnati researchers, address the inevitable stormy day, or night Anton Harfmann and Jason Keikenfeld. time, where there is a significant lack of sun- Harfmann, an associate professor in UC’s shine. For SmartLight, that’s where energy other possible options). SmartLight, on the School of Architecture and Interior Design storage comes into play. SmartLight would other hand, simply directs sunlight along a says “This would change the equation for en- funnel surplus light into a centralised energy predetermined route to let it do what sun- ergy. It would change the way buildings are storage hub within the building, which could light does — illuminate. designed and renovated. It would change the then be used to supply electricity to tradi- way we would use energy and deal with the SmartLight would be controlled wirelessly by tional-lighting in times of need, or be used by reality of the sun. ” means of a mobile software application. Un- other utilities such as heating and cooling. surprisingly, features would include the abil- The technology works differently than cur- ity to manage the room’s illumination levels rent solar technologies, like photovoltaic so- via the phone, and could even one day inte- Source : www.cleantechnica.com lar, which transforms sunlight into electricity grate geolocation data to automatically and then back into lighting (or a number of switch the lighting on and off as someone Source: www.cleantechnica.com Kerosene lamp which cooks food without polluting A lamp which produces high quality light and the LPG cookstove. doubles up as a device to cook food without Millions of people in rural India cook and causing pollution has been invented by a heat their homes using open fires and leaky team of engineers in Maharashtra. stoves burning biomass (wood, animal dung Suitable particularly for rural households and crop waste) and coal. which lack clean cooking fuel and electricity, Nearly 2 million people die prematurely from the device, aptly named Lanstove (lantern illness like those caused by chronic obstruc- combined with cook stove), has been devel- tive respiratory disease attributable to indoor oped by researchers from Nimbkar Agricul- air pollution from household solid fuel use, energy efficiency and saving of fuel," he says tural Research Institute (NARI) in Maharash- World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates. tra's Phaltan. in a research report published by the insti- tute. Research by NARI shows that carbon monox- IIT graduate Anil Rajvanshi, who led the ide levels from these new lanstoves are less The Lanstove consists of a nine litre pressur- team, says the clean-combustion kerosene than 3 parts per million (ppm), whereas ised kerosene cylinder, a high light output lanstove provides excellent light equivalent those from regular 'chulhas' are between mantle lantern and a very efficient steam to that from a 200-300 W electric bulb and 250-400 ppm or 80 to 130 times more than cooker which is based on heat pipe principle. cooks a complete meal for a family of five from the lanstove. just like an LPG stove. The device has been designed so that kero- Source: The Times Of India "To our knowledge this is the first such de- sene is pressurised and stored in a small sep- vice where both lighting and cooking are arate cylinder from where it flows into the combined together resulting in tremendous combustor and burns very cleanly just like in The CII Centre : The Epitome Of Green Buildings The CII (Confederation of Indian gardens, over insulation and Industry) Godrej Green Business extended stone cladding on Centre epitomizes the concept of walls, further reduce heat green buildings. intake, and hence the energy The building has received plati- consumption. num rating under the LEED rating All lighting fixtures provide indi- system of USGBC. Paved areas are rect light. 90 % of the interiors kept minimum and terraces are is daylit. A 23-kWp grid- covered with gardens, so as to interactive PV system has been reduce the “heat island” effect. installed on the roof of the The terraces provide a recreation- Permanent Technology Centre. al space for occupants and a No CFC-based refrigerant has soothing view from inside the office. All taps and flushes in the toilets have been been used in the HVAC system. selected for their low water conservation. A ‘no access’ zone was demarcated around The ceramic tiles used for flooring had used the building footprint, so that the construc- The building uses ‘waterless urinals’ greatly recycled glass cullets, broken tiles, paper, tion process did not harm the rest of the reducing the water consumption in an office etc. The false ceiling panels are made of site. Wind tower, an innovative design building. paper and mineral fibre extracted from in- feature, is used for precooling of air. The compact circular form of the building dustrial waste.Sound soaking wall paneling All waste water produced in the building is has reduced the total wall surface exposed and soundproof partitions are used for recycled and used for irrigation of the to the sun.Each and every space looks out sound insulation. campus. Native species of trees and shrubs into small and green courtyards often Source:Sustainable Building Design Manual volume2 shaded by jaali walls.