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1. Europe Will Be Powered By Saharan Sun in Five Years
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2. Astounding Phase-Change Windows
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3. Can Painting Mountains White Save Glaciers?
Europe Will Be Powered By Saharan Sun in Five Years
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The super-sized solar projects being built in the Sahara desert will start generating and providing Europe with clean energy within the next five years, according to the European energy commissioner. This is much sooner, than the initial 10-year time frame given to the project.
The EU and many European companies are helping to fund a large scheme of solar projects in Northern Africa called Desertec in hopes of using that energy to meet a target of having 20 percent of its energy come from renewables by 2020. The first phase of projects will have a capacity in the hundreds of megawatts, while over the next 20 to 40 years, the capacity will reach hundreds of gigawatts.
The electricity will be transmitted to Europe with new inter-connector cables being constructed under the Mediterranean Sea, but will also service African nations.
via Reuters
Astounding Phase-Change Windows
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A remarkable new glazing system has been available in Europe for several years and is now being brought to the North American market. The GlassX window is an insulated glass assembly that incorporates a phase-change material (PCM) between two of the glass panes in the window. At lower temperatures, the PCM is a translucent solid. But, as it heats, the PCM melts and becomes transparent. This lets the window itself absorb heat from solar energy during the day, and then releases the energy again later on, as the material cools again.
The combination of good insulating windows along with heat storage makes these windows very useful for passively designed buildings. PCMs are excellent heat storage materials, and the GlassX windows are able to store as much heat as a 9" thick concrete wall. Even in its solid, translucent state, the GlassX windows allow more than 25% of the exterior light through, so that daylighting is not entirely lost. The windows also incorporate a diffuser that reflects high angle light from the sun in summertime, while allowing low angle light in the winter to pass through more directly.
These are not ready replacements for the current windows in most homes. The GlassX windows are over 3 inches (8 cm) thick and weigh nearly 20 pounds per square foot (100 kg/m2). They are also rather expensive at $60-90 per square foot ($560-$970/m2), but the company expects payback on these to be under ten years. There are several installations of the material in Europe, but as yet there are none in North America.
via: @bglive
Can Painting Mountains White Save Glaciers?
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We've all heard about painting roofs white to keep buildings cooler, but will the same idea work for a mountain? The World Bank is funding an experiment in Peru to see if whitewashing mountains can slow glacial melt.
The 15,600-foot Chalon Sombrero mountain near Licapa, Peru is the testing ground for this project. A team, led by inventor Eduardo Gold, have already covered two hectares with an earth-friendly paint made from lime, industrial egg white and water. The goal is to cover the entire summit in the solution -- about 70 hectares.
Gold won $200,000 in funding for this idea through a "100 Ideas to Save the Planet" competition. The hope is that as sunlight is reflected off the white surface, back into the atmosphere, the peak's surface will become cooler, creating a cold micro-climate that will regrow its glacier.
The Peruvian people have supported the project. Chalon Sombrero supplies fresh water for the Licapa village, and many other villages around Peru -- home to 70 percent of the world's tropical glaciers -- are dealing dwindling water supplies from disappearing glaciers (22 percent have melted in the last 30 years).
The idea has its share of critics, with glaciologists saying that although there may be a positive impact on a very localized level, it's highly unlikely that it would work on a larger scale across the Andes.
via BBC
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