Self-Powering Smart Cities - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet: 

The cost of renewable energies such as tidal and wave power in the open sea, wind and solar power have come down greatly in recent years but they are rarely considered viable for base power, largely because of the energy storage needed. As this gets solved by going beyond lithium-ion batteries, there are great growth opportunities for supercapacitors and reflow batteries in the $30 billion off-grid and the huge on-grid energy market. 

Radically improved supercapacitors will provide short term storage such as at turn-of-tide (8 of the top 10 cities are on the sea) and new batteries will provide longer term storage such as overnight for solar. The IDTechEx Research reports, Redox Flow Batteries 2018-2028: Markets, Trends, Applications and Supercapacitor Technologies and Markets 2018-2028 explain fully. Electricity will be made where it is needed as we bypass increasing attacks on long grid powerlines by cyberterrorists and increasingly violent weather. Self-Powering Smart Cities 2018-2028, a recent IDTechEx Research report envisages more

Reflow batteries are usually non-flammable, environmentally friendly, can be repaired, are relatively non-toxic and have lifespans of at least 10,000 cycles, maintaining 90% of their capacity over 20 years. Supercapacitors store energy more briefly but delight with longer life than either of them and effectively infinite cycle life: their power density is magnitudes ahead. The new IDTechEx Research report, Supercapacitor Materials and Technology Roadmap 2019-2029 scopes pseudocapacitor variants approaching lithium-ion battery energy density. 

Most supercapacitor options are non-toxic and non-flammable. Astoundingly, Imperial College London supercapacitors now form load-bearing structures of lighter weight than the dumb structure they replace. This “negative mass energy”, puts batteries on the back foot as the bulky, heavier option now. Currently all batteries, even new solid state ones, swell and shrink in use so they cannot become load-bearing smart materials.

Raghu Das CEO of IDTechEx says, “The Levelised Cost of Electricity for the best wind and solar plants has plummeted to below most coal, nuclear and gas plants. However, wind and solar are severely intermittent, this being usefully reduced but not eliminated by combining the two. The situation will improve as wind turbines grow higher to where winds are stronger at night and more consistent in the day. As they cease to be viable beyond 300 meters, new Airborne Wind Energy grabs wind at up to 2000 meters. 

There, the wind is even faster, and even more consistent and power produced increases as the cube of the wind speed. Supercapacitors can provide the brief energy storage needed as AWE is cycled like a kite. First commercial AWE arrived this year at 60kW: 1MW units approach.” See the IDTechEx Research report, Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) 2018-2028.

Another option is combination with the new wave and tidal power that has no infrastructure. See the IDTechEx Research report, Wave, Tidal and Hydro Power 1W-10MW 2018-2038. Self-powering smart cities like Belmont California and Facebook’s Toronto suburb are on the way as Oregon and other cities even make electricity from their water supply pipes and 110 solar road projects are proceeding globally. 

The IDTechEx Research report Smart Glass and Windows 2018-2028: Electronic Shading and Semi-Transparent PV convinces that 1MW solar windows in a high rise are in prospect. A Saudi car park provides 10MW – the whole demand for a nearby high-rise office block. Indeed, Ulleung Island Korea will provide its 7MW for 10,000 residents entirely from wind, solar, geothermal and small hydro power, ditching diesel completely.

*Contributed by Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman, IDTechEx

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Africa needs multi-sectoral approaches to address climate change impact - Eriyo

 The Deputy Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC), Jesca Eriyo has suggested a multi-sectoral approaches to address climate change impact, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Eriyo, according to NaijaAgroNet reports made this known at a regional workshop on African Agriculture in a changing climate: enhancing the up-take of climate smart agriculture.

The forum, organized by the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), and East African Community (EAC) brought together climate change and agriculture experts from about 20 African countries.

“As EAC, we’re pleased to collaborate with other African regional economic organizations, research programmes and centers and development partners in finding lasting practical and policy solutions to address agricultural production and food security within the confines of a changing climate,” Eriyo said.

Agriculture, she noted in recent years has overwhelmed the impacts of climate change, which pose a serious concern on food security in the region with more than 130 million people.

Eriyo also said that the trading bloc has the potential and capacity to produce enough food to meet the region’s food demand and produce surplus for export to the world market.

The regional body, as said by her, is one of the implementing partners in the Programme on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Eastern and Southern Africa, just as its focus is on up- scaling climate smart agriculture in the region and promoting Africa’s solution within the ongoing climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

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