Cheap Solar Power at Night

Solar storage: The beads in these vials are made of two types of glass that can store heat up to 1,200°C.
Halotechnics

ENERGY

Improved materials could make solar-thermal power cheaper, and energy storage easier.

• BY KEVIN BULLIS

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Solar power has two main problems: it's expensive, and it's intermittent, since the output of a solar power plant depends on the time of day and cloud cover. Halotechnics, an early-stage solar-thermal startup, could help solve both problems.

The company has developed new heat-storage materials that promise to not only make solar-thermal power plants more efficient, but also reduce the cost of storing energy from the sun for use when it's most needed.

The materials, which include new mixtures of salts as well as new glass materials, could be key to making solar-thermal power plants cheap enough—and reliable enough—to compete with fossil fuels on a large scale.

Unlike solar panels—which convert sunlight directly into electricity—solar-thermal plants generate electricity by using a large field of mirrors to concentrate sunlight and produce high temperatures that, in turn, generate steam for a turbine and drive a generator. Such plants cost a little more than ones based on solar panels, which have recently fallen in price, but they do have one advantage: it's easier and far cheaper to store heat produced by the mirrors in a concentrated solar plant than to store electricity from solar panels. Some solar-thermal power plants are equipped with heat-storage equipment that allows them to generate steam even after the sun goes down.

Halotechnics, a spin-off from the high-throughput chemicals screening company Symyx (now a part of Accelrys), is funded almost entirely by government grants, for a total of $6 million so far. It is currently raising its first round of venture capital.

The new salt and glass materials, which Halotechnics discovered by using a high-throughput screening process to sort through nearly 18,000 mixtures, could reduce the cost of solar-thermal power in several ways. They allow solar-thermal plants to operate at higher temperatures, thus improving their efficiency and reducing the size of the mirror array needed by up to about 25 percent. The materials store up to three times more energy than heat storage materials used now, reducing the cost of the storage system, and potentially increasing the number of thermal plants that can be equipped with storage (although the trend is to move toward storage even with existing materials). Better energy storage can reduce the cost per kilowatt-hour of the electricity produced by a solar-thermal plant, because the turbines and generators can produce power day and night.

The materials could help lower the cost for solar power to six cents per kilowatt-hour, the goal of the U.S. Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative. "To hit that six-cent goal, or get close to it, you have to go to a higher-temperature system," says Mark Mehos, manager of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's  Concentrated Solar Power program, in Golden, Colorado.

"The systems that are commercial today are limited to about 565 °C—that's the molten salt tower plants," says Mehos. "The tower and optics themselves can hit higher temperatures, but you're limited by the salt temperature right now." The new materials can work at temperatures up to 1,200 °C.

Improving the reliability of solar power will also be key to making solar power competitive with fossil fuels. Without storage, the amount of solar power that can be installed on the grid is limited, since utilities need to provide backup generation, or build extra transmission lines, to deliver power from other areas when solar power output drops. So far this isn't a problem, since solar power accounts for only a small part of the power on the grid. But it could be a serious issue within the decade in places such as California, where renewable energy requirements are leading utilities to install large amounts of solar power.

In the current heat-storage design, salts are heated up above their melting point, up to their highest working temperature (565 ⁰C), and then stored in a large insulated tank. The salt is pumped through a heat exchanger to generate steam, and then kept in another insulated storage tank just above its melting point to keep it from freezing.

The first material Halotechnics plans to bring to market is designed for use in existing solar-thermal plant designs. It operates at the same temperature as the current molten salts, but will cost about 20 percent less. Salts currently cost about $1,000 a ton, and a typical plant uses 30,000 tons of salt, so this could save millions of dollars. Halotechnics plans to test the material in a pilot-scale plant for six months starting this summer and then license the formula for other companies to produce.

Two other materials—one an improved salt mixture, and the other a form of glass—can operate at greatly increased temperatures, reducing the amount of storage material needed and potentially improving efficiency.

"Without an amazing ability to screen samples, it's an intractable problem. That's what we're trying to do with our high-throughput technique," says Justin Raade, CEO of Halotechnics.

Whereas conventional molten salts melt at 300 °C and can operate up to 565 °C, Halotechnics has developed a molten salt that has the same melting point, but can operate up to 700 °C. The material is being tested for long-term compatibility with the steel pipes and containers used in storage systems, and the company plans to start pilot tests in 18 months. While current materials limit solar-thermal plants to turbines that are about 42 percent efficient, this material could be paired with steam turbines that are 48 percent efficient. A storage system that will work with this material is being developed as part of an NREL project that's part of the SunShot Initiative.

The last material is a form of glass that melts at 400 °C (typical window glass melts at about 600 °C) and can operate up to 1,200 °C. It could be used to heat up air to drive a gas turbine, with the leftover heat used to drive a steam turbine, much as is done in a natural-gas combined-cycle plant. Such a system could be about 52 percent efficient using existing turbine designs. (Natural-gas combined-cycle plants can reach 60 percent efficiency, but the natural gas burns at temperatures higher than 1,200 °C.)

Eventually, the materials could perhaps even enable a new form of renewable fuel for vehicles. At 1,200 °C, the glass could drive some of the key chemical reactions needed to make fuels such as hydrogen and gasoline made from water and carbon dioxide.

Operating at such high temperatures, however, will bring engineering challenges, including finding relatively inexpensive materials to contain the molten glass. Commercialization of this technology could be many years away. 

Neuroscientists discover key protein responsible for controlling nerve cell protection

A key protein, which may be activated to protect nerve cells from damage during heart failure or epileptic seizure, has been found to regulate the transfer of information between nerve cells in the brain. The discovery, made by neuroscientists at the University of Bristol and published in Nature Neuroscience and PNAS, could lead to novel new therapies for stroke and epilepsy.

The research team, led by Professor Jeremy Henley and Dr Jack Mellor from Bristol's Medical School, has identified a protein, known as SUMO, responsible for controlling the chemical processes which reduce or enhance protection mechanisms for nerve cells in the brain.

These key SUMO proteins produce subtle responses to the brain's activity levels to regulate the amount of information transmitted by kainate receptors - responsible for communication between nerve cells and whose activation can lead to epileptic seizures and nerve cell death.

Protein function is controlled by altering their structure in processes that can be independent or inter-related including phosphorylation, ubiquitination and SUMOylation. In the present work it is shown that phosphorylation of kainate receptors on its own promotes their activity. However, phosphorylation also facilitates SUMOylation of kainate receptors that reduces their activity. Thus there is a dynamic and delicate interplay between phosphorylation and SUMOylation that regulates kainate receptor function.

This fine balance between phosphorylation and SUMOylation is dependent on brain activity levels where damaging activity that occurs during stroke or epilepsy will enhance SUMOylation and therefore reduce kainate receptor function to protect nerve cells.

Dr Mellor, Senior Lecturer from the University's School of Physiology and Pharmacology, said: "Kainate receptors are a somewhat mysterious but clearly very important group of proteins that are known to be involved in a number of diseases including epilepsy. However, we currently know little about what makes kainate receptors so important. Likewise, we also know that SUMO proteins play an important role in neuroprotection. These findings provide a link between SUMO and kainate receptors that increases our understanding of the processes that nerve cells use to protect themselves from excessive and abnormal activity."

Professor Henley added: "This work is important because it gives a new perspective and a deeper understanding of how the flow of information between cells in the brain is regulated. The team has found that by increasing the amount of SUMO attached to kainate receptors – which would reduce communication between the cells – could be a way to treat epilepsy by preventing over-excitation of the brain's nerve cells."

The research follows on from previous findings published in Nature(447, 321-325) that discovered SUMO proteins target the brain's kainate receptors altering their cellular location.

Provided by University of Bristol

"Neuroscientists discover key protein responsible for controlling nerve cell protection." April 22nd, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-neuroscientists-key-protein-responsible-nerve.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

NASA Wants to Launch Floating Algae Farms

A $10 million project aims to grow algae for biofuels inside plastic bags.

• BY KEVIN BULLIS

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Bio bags: A prototype algae plant for making biofuels.
NASA

Next week, NASA will show off some of its latest technology: a system for growing algae in floating plastic bags. The system is the result of a $10 million, two-year project that investigated whether the algae could be used to make biofuels, including jet fuel.

The system is designed to reduce the cost of making fuel from algae by making it possible to put algae farms near wastewater facilities, which offer a large source of nutrients.

But it may prove difficult to implement. For one thing, it will require a lot of plastic. In one possible setup, five square kilometers of plastic bags would be used to produce 2.4 million gallons of algae oil per year—a drop in the bucket compared to the 800 million gallons of oil the U.S. consumes every day. And the bags will likely need to be replaced every year.

The setup has been tested in four nine-meter-long plastic bags at a wastewater plant near San Francisco. The researchers demonstrated that they can grow enough algae to produce nearly 2,000 gallons of fuel per acre per year—if the weather cooperates. So if a commercial system gets built, it may need to be in someplace warmer and sunnier.

e lead researcher, Jonathan Trent, normally works on life-support systems for space travel. Those systems involve recycling human waste, and so does the algae fuel technology.

Trent plans to pump wastewater left over from treating sewage into bags made from common polyethylene. The wastewater is a good fertilizer, providing nutrients such as ammonia and phosphates. He also plans to pump carbon dioxide from power plants into the system to help algae grow. San Francisco produces enough wastewater to feed a floating algae farm that covers 1,200 acres, he says.

The setup is meant to solve some of the difficulties with making inexpensive fuels from algae. Algae need fertilizer to grow quickly, and wastewater is an excellent source of that. But large sources of wastewater—big cities—don't have the space needed for the artificial ponds that algae are typically grown in. Pumping the water to areas where land is cheap and plentiful is expensive and energy-intensive. Clear containers called photobioreactors might take up less space, but those, too, are expensive.

A few years ago, Trent wondered if floating plastic bags could serve as relatively cheap bioreactors. They don't need as much support as land-based ones—at least if they're floating on protected bays. And they solve another major problem with conventional bioreactors, which get too hot from sitting in the sun, and require expensive cooling systems as a result. In Trent's plastic bag system, the surrounding water helps keep the bags cool.

But while it may solve some problems—and it's far from clear that the bags will prove superior to ponds or other photobioreactors—the system creates others. Trent acknowledges, for example, that there will be an "enormous amount of plastic" to dispose of. The plastic could be recycled, although cleaning out the algae may be difficult. A better option may be reusing it, he suggests. For example, it could be used to replace the black plastic that many farmers in California cover their fields with to reduce weeds and evaporation.

The approach will face several other challenges. Working in corrosive saltwater environments is very difficult. And it's not clear how well the bags would survive storms.

If the bags break, the wastewater—which is normally released directly into the bay from treatment plants—wouldn't present a problem. And the algae they would use would die in the saltwater, so there's little threat to the bay ecosystem, Trent says. But it's hard to predict how expensive it would be to replace bags damaged by storms or infected with competing microbes.

The researchers also don't know how much the system will cost at a large scale. This month, they started a detailed economic analysis based on their results so far. The project also received $800,000 from the California Energy Commission.

Unhappy workers have back pain

THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Share on print The research suggests that a positive attitude in the workplace can have a positive impact on lower back pain. Image: Yuri_Arcurs/iStockphoto An international researcher based in Perth has found that workers who resign themselves to work in unsatisfactory jobs are more likely to suffer from serious, persistent lower back pain than others with a positive attitude.  Research Associate Professor Markus Melloh, an orthopaedic surgeon and rheumatologist with the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR) and The University of Western Australia, found that a third of people studied with niggling non-specific back pain went on to develop everyday back pain that severely affected their career and social lives. Although the workers required extended sick leave and went to their doctors complaining of pain, only a few had suffered a physical change such as a slipped disc.  Anatomical tests showed no reasons for their ongoing daily problems with pain. "Everybody has occasional lower back or neck pain but we are concerned about people with continuous non-specific pain for weeks at a time, which has significant socio-economic and personal costs," Associate Professor Melloh said. Researchers found that patients who continued to show "maladaptive cognitions" such as fear and helplessness about their condition, movement avoidance and magnification of its seriousness were most likely to develop a persistent condition. "Attitude in the workplace and positive thinking have a huge impact on lower back pain," Associate Professor Melloh said.  "If an employee has the option to participate in change in their workplace or have some say in their job design, they can regain a positive attitude and the condition may correct itself. "Having somebody to listen and show emotional support at work is a strong protective factor." A total of 315 patients who went to their GP with their first episode of non-specific back pain were interviewed at that time and followed up at three, six and 12 weeks, and six months.  The assessment included questions about their attitude.  By the end of the study, 169 people were still participating in the research and about a third of them - 64 patients - were classed as having a persistent condition. Some reported worse pain after six months, which was not what doctors would usually expect. "Once people stay at home on sick leave, it gets harder to go back to work and the pain gets worse," Associate Professor Melloh said.  "It's a vicious circle that needs to be broken.  The research shows that if patients feel helpless and are convinced that any movement will land them in a wheelchair, they are making their condition worse." Associate Professor Melloh said the study focused only on lower back pain because its incidence was higher than neck pain.  However, neck pain was now increasing and may also be linked to a resigned attitude at work. "Therapies to address the way patients think about their condition should be considered as early extra treatment for lower back pain for people who appear to be at risk of developing a persistent condition," he said. Associate Professor Melloh will present his research at a Spine Society of Australia meeting in Sydney on Friday April 27. He is also due to speak at a European Orthopaedic Associations' meeting in Berlin, a SpineWeek congress in Amsterdam and a World Forum for Spine Research in Helsinki. Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

Health Benefits of Coriander (Dhania)

The health benefits of coriander include treatment of swellings, high cholesterol levels, diarrhea, Mouth ulcers, anemia, digestion, menstrual disorders, small pox, eye care, conjunctivitis, skin disorders, blood sugar disorders, etc.

Coriander, commonly known as Dhania in the Indian Subcontinent or Cilantro in the Americas and some part of Europe, is an herb which is extensively used around the world as a condiment or as a garnish or as a decoration on the dishes. Its scientific name is Coriandrum Sativum L. Its leaves and fruits have typical aroma and are used raw or dried in culinary.

But that part of introduction was only the tip of the ice-berg. Coriander has so many benefits that a book can be written on them. It has eleven components of essential oils, six types of acids (including ascorbic acid, better known as vitamin-C), minerals and vitamins, each having a number of beneficial properties.

Swellings: Cineole, one of the 11 components of the essential oils, and linoleic acid, present in coriander, possess anti rheumatic and anti arthritic properties, which are very beneficial for swelling caused due to these two reasons. For others, such as swelling due to malfunctioning of kidney or anemia, it is seen to be effective to some extent, as some of the components help excretion of extra water from the body while.

High Cholesterol Levels: Some of the acids present in coriander viz. linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid and ascorbic acid (vitamin-C) are very effective in reducing the cholesterol level in the blood. They also reduce the cholesterol deposition along the inner walls of the arteries and veins.

Diarrhea: Some of the components of essential oils in coriander such as Borneol and Linalool, aid digestion, proper functioning of liver and bonding of bowels, helping cure diarrhea. It is also helpful in diarrhea caused by microbial and fungal action, since components like Cineole, Borneol, Limonene, Alpha-pinene & beta-phelandrene have anti bacterial effects. In addition, the fresh coriander leaves are excellent appetizers.

Mouth Ulcers: Citronelol, a component of essential oils in coriander, is an excellent antiseptic. In addition, other components have anti microbial and healing effects which do not let wounds and ulcers in the mouth go worse. They aid healing up of ulcers and freshen up the breath.

Anemia: Coriander is good in iron content which directly helps curing anemia.
Digestion: Coriander, due to its rich aroma because of its essential oils, apart from being an excellent appetizer, helps in proper secretion of enzymes and digestive juices in the stomach, stimulates digestion and peristaltic motion. It is helpful in treating problems like anorexia.

Small Pox: The essential oils in coriander are rich in anti microbial, anti oxidant, anti infectious and detoxifying components and acids. The presence of vitamin-C and iron strengthen the immune system too. These properties help prevent and cure small pox. They also reduce the pain and have a soothing effect on pox patients.

Menstrual Disorders: Being stimulating in nature and helping proper secretion from the endocrine glands, it also helps proper secretion of the hormones and thereby inducing proper menstrual cycles and reducing pains etc. during periods.

Eye Care: Coriander has lots of anti oxidants, vitamin-A, vitamin-C and minerals like phosphorus in the essential oils in it which prevents aging of eye, macular degeneration and soothes eyes against stress.

Conjunctivitis: As discussed earlier, coriander is a very good disinfectant and has anti microbial properties which protect the eyes from contagious diseases like conjunctivitis.
Skin Disorders: The disinfectant, detoxifying, anti-septic, anti-fungal and anti-oxidant properties of cumin are ideal for curing skin disorders such as eczema, dryness and fungal infections.

Blood Sugar: Due the stimulating effect of cumin on the endocrine glands, the secretion of insulin is increased from pancreas which increases the insulin level in the blood, thereby helping proper assimilation and absorption of sugar and resultant fall in the sugar level in the blood. This property is very beneficial for the diabetes patients and others too.

Other benefits: Still want more from it? You get it! Coriander helps cure ulcer, inflammation, spasm and acts as an expectorant, protects and soothes liver. It is anti-carcinogenic, anti-convulsant, anti-histaminic and hypnotic. Coriander is believed to be a natural aphrodisiac and previously it was extensively used in certain preparations, combined with other herbs, to enhance libido.

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Eisriesenwelt–The World’s Largest Ice Cave

The Eisriesenwelt (German for "World of the Ice Giants") is a natural limestone ice cave located in Werfen, Austria, about 40 km south of Salzburg. It is the largest ice cave in the world extending more than 42km.

Eisriesenwelt Cave was created by the Salzach river as it flowed through the mountain eroding passageways nearly 100 million years ago. Over the course of thousands of years cracks and crevices in the limestone became more developed as water eroded the rocks away. In winter, when the air inside the mountain is warmer than outside, cold air streams into the mountain and reduces the temperature of the lower areas of the caves to below freezing point. In spring the water from melting snow seeps through the cracks in the rock and when it reaches the colder lower areas of the caves it freezes and turns slowly into the wonderful ice formations visible inside the caves.

Although the cave has a length of 42 km, only the first kilometer, the area that tourists are allowed to visit, is covered in ice. The rest of the cave is formed of limestone. Since the entrance to the caves is open year-round, chilly winter winds blow into the cave and freeze the snow inside. In summer, a cold wind from inside the cave blows toward the entrance and prevents the formations from melting.

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Eisriesenwelt was discovered by Anton Posselt, a natural scientist from Salzburg, in 1879. Before his discovery, the cave was known only to locals, who, believing that it was an entrance to Hell, refused to explore it. One year later he published a detailed report of his discovery in a mountaineering magazine, but the caves then slipped back into obscurity.

Alexander von Mörk, a speleologist from Salzburg, was one of the few people who remembered Posselt's discovery. He led several expeditions into the caves beginning in 1912, which were soon followed by other explorers. In 1920, a cabin for the explorers, Forscherhütte, was built and the first routes up the mountain were established. Tourists began to arrive soon after, attracted by the cave's sudden popularity. Later another cabin, the Dr. Oedl House, and paths from Werfen and Tänneck were constructed.

Today the Eisriesenwelt cave is visited by around 200,000 tourists every year.

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