20 most recent innovations in energy

Safer Solid Glass Battery

Wed, 08 Mar 2017 00:00:00 Z

A new and more powerful type of battery has sodium as its basic element.

For all of us frustrated with our devices' battery life there might be some good news from ninety-four-year-old John Goodenough, professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin and co-inventor of the lithium-ion battery, came up with an idea for a new battery that might shatter the limits of what we currently use.

Professor Goodenough claims, his new battery holds three times more energy, can be charged quickly, does not explode and function without problems at low temperatures. His new development could not have come at a better time, for the lithium-ion battery he co-invented back in 1980 is showing signs of its limitations when used in power hungry devices we have today.

The current lithium-ion batteries use liquid electrolytes, professor Goodenough's idea is to replace this liquid with glass, which should eliminate the possibility of it combusting. The best part of this development is that the battery will cost cheaper, as it replaces the lithium with sodium as a key material, according to Fortune.

Though it may be true that lithium is not that rare, it is still much harder to come by than sodium that can be extracted from seawater. His latest breakthrough, according to UT News, is completed with Cockrell School senior research fellow Maria Helena Braga. Their new technology is discussed in a recent paper published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science.

Thin Film Cools Without Electricity or Water

Wed, 15 Feb 2017 00:00:00 Z

Engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a thin, artificially structured “metamaterial” that can cool objects without the use of water or energy. The film works to lower the temperature of the surface beneath it through a process known as “passive cooling,” meaning that it vents the object’s heat through thermal radiation while bouncing off any incoming solar energy that may negate those losses. As described in the journal Science last week, the glass-polymer hybrid material could provide an “eco-friendly means of supplementary cooling” for thermoelectric power plants, which require colossal amounts of water and electricity to keep their machinery chugging along at optimum temperatures.

The film measures a lithe 50 micrometers thick, or just slightly more substantial than the aluminum foil you’d find in your kitchen. And, much like foil, researchers say it can be easily and economically manufactured by the roll for large-scale residential and commercial applications.

Invisible Solar Panels Can Be Disguised As Tiles Or Shingles

Tue, 08 Nov 2016 00:00:00 Z

Solar panels can drastically bring down the energy footprint of any building on which they are installed. But existing solar panels can't be used just anywhere. These flat, fragile, and transparent panels are best placed on roofs, where they can collect the most sun without being damaged—and where they also draw plenty of attention to themselves, aesthetically altering the appearance of the buildings on which they are installed. For historic buildings, solar energy is often simply not an option.

Now, a family-run Italian solar business called Dyaqua thinks it has an answer to what some might call the architectural blight of solar panels. The company has invented what it calls "Invisible Solar" panels, though that's a bit of a misnomer. These solar panels aren't so much invisible as they are indistinguishable from more common construction materials, such as concrete, slate, stone, terracotta, and even wood.

Solar panels are traditionally made up of a couple parts. First, they usually contain a photovoltaic module, which generates electricity from direct sunlight. But since these modules are fragile, they need to be encased in a housing to protect them—and because those housings must let in light, they are usually made of transparent materials, like glass. Dyaqua's Invisible Solar system works by using a special polymeric compound for this housing. This compound is opaque to the eye, and can be designed to resemble traditional materials, but it lets just enough sunlight through to power the photovoltaic module within.

Supercapacitor Tram

Mon, 24 Oct 2016 00:00:00 Z

The tram uses supercapacitor energy storage to operate without external wires and can be fully charged during a 30-second stop and run for 3 to 5 kilometers. The tram can carry up to 380 passengers and travel at 70 kilometers per hour. It also uses a low-floor design, making boarding easy for children, pregnant women and the elderly.

Green Energy Storage Solution

Wed, 10 Aug 2016 00:00:00 Z

The Ice battery is an innovative energy storage solution designed to lower the energy cost for airconditioning systems.

When electricity demand starts to peak the energy-intensive AC compressor turns off and uses the ice stored during off-peak hours to provide cooling instead. This way of working boosts grid resiliency and increases energy efficiency.

World's Smallest Flow Battery

Fri, 10 Jun 2016 00:00:00 Z

Aussie company Redflow announced its innovative zinc-bromine ZCell battery earlier this year, and tomorrow it’s getting its first public debut at the Australian Energy Storage Conference & Exhibition in Sydney. The enclosure for the 10kWh home energy storage system has just been revealed, designed to be easy to install with failsafes against battery fluid leakage.

The enclosure measures 1000mm x 500mm x 1150mm, and is designed to be installed singly or as part of a system of batteries beside an outside wall. The ZCell is designed to be safer and more efficient than its lithium-ion competitors, boasting fully recyclable components and a battery that does not risk damage when fully discharged — even leaving the battery indefinitely without charge won’t risk its ability to function properly. Even the newly revealed enclosure, while not quite as sleek as its rival from Tesla, is designed to aid the functionality of the battery inside.

“This is the first time we have shown our ZCell enclosure publicly,” said Redflow Executive Chairman Simon Hackett. “We’re very pleased with the design, which is both attractive and practical, that allows straightforward outdoor installation, and features a built-in secondary containment system to protect against the unlikely event of an electrolyte fluid leak.”

Redflow has already begun to install trial ZCell systems in a number of locations across Australia, and is in the process of developing documentation and processes to accredit future installation partners. Not just Australian-designed, the ZCell is specifically designed for a number of challenges faced in our unique climate — it’s able to function even in hot and demanding remote locations up to 45 degrees without a need for external cooling of any sort. The battery electrolyte is also fire-retardant, not running the risk of explosion or fire as other large-scale batteries do.

“We expect to receive the first production batch of ZCell enclosures for quality assurance testing before the end of June,” said Hackett, “with ZCell bundles now expected to be delivered to installers for customer deployment from August.”

Hackett will speak at the opening session of the Australian Energy Storage Conference tomorrow, an event which runs from June 1-2 at the Australian Technology Park in Sydney, and the new ZCell enclosure will be on display for the duration of the event.

Solar Panels Generate Energy From Raindrops

Fri, 15 Apr 2016 00:00:00 Z

A new solar cell prototype developed by a team of scientists in Qingdao, China may change the way we use solar panels in the not so distant future.

Solar panel technology has changed the way many people bring energy into their homes, but this type of technology has always posed one concern: panels cannot output optimal power without ideal weather conditions. When you have rainy days or a lot of cloud cover, there is only so much energy that panels can store for later use. While engineers and material scientists have been able to make their efficiency far better over the years, with solar panels that store decent amounts of energy to be used when sun is not readily available, there has never quite been a development like the one discovered this year.

Chinese scientists are now able to create electricity with the assistance of raindrops. This is thanks to a thin layer of graphene they use to coat their solar cells during testing. Graphene is known for its conductivity, among many other benefits. All it takes is a mere one-atom thick graphene layer for an excessive amount of electrons to move as they wish across the surface. In situations where water is present, graphene binds its electrons with positively charged ions. Some of you may know this process to be called as the Lewis acid-base interaction.

These new solar cells can be stimulated by incident light on sunny days and raindrops when it’s raining, yielding an optimal energy conversion efficiency of 6.53 % under 1.5 atmosphere thickness irradiation and current over µA, along with a voltage of hundreds of mV by simulated raindrops.

The salt contained in rain separates into ions (ammonium, calcium and sodium), making graphene and natural water a great combination for creating energy. The water actually clings to the graphene, forming a dual layer (AKA pseudocapacitor) with the graphene electrons. The energy difference between these layers is so strong that it generates electricity.

These new all-weather solar cells are discussed in depth in the Angewandte Chemie journal.

Mobile Turbine Harnesses Traffic Airflow

Thu, 14 Jan 2016 00:00:00 Z

The Capture Mobility wind turbines can harness airflow from any direction to capture the wind generated by passing cars and generate electricity.

The turbines each measure just under four feet tall and are topped with an integrated solar panel. Instead of relying on specific environmental conditions, the turbines can be installed along existing roads, where each unit can generate as much as seven kilowatts a day—enough to power an averaged sized home. The Capture Mobility turbines are also equipped with filtering sheets that capture hazardous particles (such as car emissions) in the air.

The Capture Mobility system has already captured the attention of Shell, who have awarded the developer both the Live Wire award and their Let’s Go Trade award.

Paper Capable Of Storing Energy

Mon, 14 Dec 2015 00:00:00 Z

A new kind of paper has the remarkable ability to store energy like a supercapacitor. It comes from researchers at Sweden’s Linköping University’s Laboratory of Organic Electronics and it has the potential to turn a new chapter for renewable energy.

The so-called "power paper" was made from cellulose fibers that were subjected to high-pressure water until they broke down into fibers as thin as 20 nanometers in diameter. Next, the fibers were coated in an electrically charged polymer and fashioned into a round sheet.

Each sheet, which is 15 centimeters in diameter and a few tenths of a millimeter thick can store as much as supercapacitors currently available on the market. The material can be recharged hundreds of times and each charge only takes a few seconds.

The paper is waterproof and was created with no dangerous chemicals or materials. It’s also quite strong: Just for kicks, the researchers made an origami swan using one piece of power paper.

The researchers also teamed up with KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Innventia, the Technical University of Denmark and the University of Kentucky to develop the paper.

The power paper currently holds four world records: highest charge and capacitance in organic electronics, highest measured current in an organic conductor, highest capacity to simultaneously conduct ions and electrons and highest transconductance in a transistor.

What’s next? Creating a method to mass-produce the power paper. In fact, the researchers just received funding to develop a paper machine that will output the material.

Transparent Batteries That Charge In The Sun

Mon, 07 Sep 2015 00:00:00 Z

A group of Japanese researchers have managed to improve the design of a transparent lithium-ion battery so that it’s now able to recharge itself when exposed to sunlight without the need for a separate solar cell.

The transparent battery was first developed by the researchers, led by Kogakuin University president and professor Mitsunobu Sato, back in 2013. The electrolyte used for the battery’s positive electrode is made mostly from lithium iron phosphate, while the electrolytes used for the negative electrode include lithium titanate, and lithium hexafluorophosphate.

Those are all common ingredients used in Li-ion rechargeable batteries, but the thickness of these electrodes are just 80 to 90 nanometers, which allows a lot of light to pass through and makes these batteries almost completely transparent.

But by changing the chemical makeup of the negative electrode, the Japanese researchers have found a way to make these transparent batteries now recharge themselves in the presence of sunlight, or other bright sources of illumination.

The group hopes the improved transparent batteries could one day be used to make smarter windows for buildings and vehicles that can auto-dim when it’s bright out, but also store power as they’re recharged by the sun. And as an extension of that idea, one day your smartphone’s display might even serve as an additional battery, harvesting sunlight to charge the device whenever you’re outside.

More Efficient Airplane

Fri, 07 Aug 2015 00:00:00 Z

The AHEAD aircraft concept boasts a “blended wing body” that could save enough fuel to allow the plane to fly non-stop from Europe to Australia.

Created by teams from the Dutch airline KLM and Delft University of Technology, the AHEAD aircraft (Advanced Hybrid Engine Aircraft Development) would be fitted with two pairs of wings—one in front and a larger set at the back of the plane. The wings are designed to blend into the body to form a smooth, curving shape that improves airflow and reduces drag—thereby also reducing fuel consumption. The AHEAD aircraft would also replace turbofan engines with a hybrid engine, and the engines would be mounted on the back of the aircraft instead of beneath the wings.

Direct Wind To Turbines

Thu, 18 Jun 2015 00:00:00 Z

The shield-shaped EcoROTR dome directs the wind around turbines to help them generate more power.

Still in the development stages, the EcoROTR dome is designed to be attached at the center of the turbine’s blades, where it will direct wind to the outer edges of the blades—which are more effective at harnessing the wind. This wind-directing effect would also increase the efficiency of short-bladed turbines, which are less expensive to manufacture and transport.

Power-Producing Rubber

Tue, 26 May 2015 00:00:00 Z

No, this is not an image of a delicious Fruit Roll-Up, it's actually a unique new flexible material from Ricoh that can create electricity from pressure and vibration. Dubbed "Energy-Generating Rubber," this piezoelectric mat combines the best features of existing ceramic and polymeric materials; high energy output and flexibility, respectively. In fact, this new rubber produces just as much power as ceramic does while surpassing the flexibility of polymeric materials, according to Ricoh. What's more, it is more easily produced than either existing form of piezoelectric.

Unfortunately, that's just about everything Ricoh has revealed about the new material so far. The company hopes to further develop the technology into a commercially viable product some point in the future. As such, it is teaming with the Tokyo University of Science to further improve the material's productive capabilities.

Wind Turbines Without Blades

Tue, 19 May 2015 00:00:00 Z

It’s no longer surprising to encounter 100-foot pinwheels spinning in the breeze as you drive down the highway. But don’t get too comfortable with that view. A Spanish company called Vortex Bladeless is proposing a radical new way to generate wind energy that will once again upend what you see outside your car window.

Their idea is the Vortex, a bladeless wind turbine that looks like a giant rolled joint shooting into the sky. The Vortex has the same goals as conventional wind turbines: To turn breezes into kinetic energy that can be used as electricity. But it goes about it in an entirely different way.

Instead of capturing energy via the circular motion of a propeller, the Vortex takes advantage of what’s known as vorticity, an aerodynamic effect that produces a pattern of spinning vortices. Vorticity has long been considered the enemy of architects and engineers, who actively try to design their way around these whirlpools of wind. And for good reason: With enough wind, vorticity can lead to an oscillating motion in structures, which, in some cases, like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, can cause their eventual collapse.

Where designers see danger, Vortex Bladeless’s founders—David Suriol, David Yáñez, and Raul Ingeniero—sees opportunity. “We said, ‘Why don’t we try to use this energy, not avoid it,’” Suriol says. The team started Vortex Bladeless in 2010 as a way to turn this vibrating energy into something productive.

The Vortex’s shape was developed computationally to ensure the spinning wind (vortices) occurs synchronously along the entirety of the mast. “The swirls have to work together to achieve good performance,” Villarreal explains. In its current prototype, the elongated cone is made from a composite of fiberglass and carbon fiber, which allows the mast to vibrate as much as possible (an increase in mass reduces natural frequency). At the base of the cone are two rings of repelling magnets, which act as a sort of nonelectrical motor. When the cone oscillates one way, the repelling magnets pull it in the other direction, like a slight nudge to boost the mast’s movement regardless of wind speed. This kinetic energy is then converted into electricity via an alternator that multiplies the frequency of the mast’s oscillation to improve the energy-gathering efficiency.

Its makers boast the fact that there are no gears, bolts, or mechanically moving parts, which they say makes the Vortex cheaper to manufacture and maintain. The founders claim their Vortex Mini, which stands at around 41 feet tall, can capture up to 40 percent of the wind’s power during ideal conditions (this is when the wind is blowing at around 26 miles per hour). Based on field testing, the Mini ultimately captures 30 percent less than conventional wind turbines, but that shortcoming is compensated by the fact that you can put double the Vortex turbines into the same space as a propeller turbine.

The Vortex team says there are some clear advantages to their model: It’s less expensive to manufacture, totally silent, and safer for birds since there are no blades to fly into. Vortex Bladeless says its turbine would cost around 51 percent less than a traditional turbine whose major costs come from the blades and support system. Plus, Suriol says, it’s pretty cool-looking. “It looks like asparagus,” he says. “It’s much more natural.”

The company has already raised $1 million from private capital and government funding in Spain, and they have plans to close a round in the United States soon. There’s enough interest, Suriol says, that he fields upward of 200 emails a day from people inquiring about the turbine. Of course, the technology still has a ways to go. They’re hoping to have their first product, a 9-foot, 100-watt turbine that will be used in developing countries, ready before the end of the year. The Mini, it’s 41-foot counterpart, will be ready in a year.

For the time being, you’ll continue seeing pinwheels dotting the landscape, which Suriol is actually happy about. “We can’t say anything bad about conventional wind turbines; they’re great machines,” he says. “We’re just proposing a new way, a different way.”

Self-Powered Video Camera

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 00:00:00 Z

By using the light reflected from the object being recorded, researchers claim to have created a prototype video camera that could potentially record indefinitely under its own power. By incorporating energy-harvesting photodiodes within the pixels of its image-capture array, the new camera produces self-sustaining electrical power while simultaneously capturing video footage.

Currently able to capture one image per second, the new device has been created by a team at Columbia Engineering using commonly available electronic components to produce an image capture array with an area of 30 x 40 pixels.

"We are in the middle of a digital imaging revolution," said T.C. Chang Professor of Computer Science Shree K. Nayar, who directs the Computer Vision Laboratory at Columbia Engineering. "I think we have just seen the tip of the iceberg. Digital imaging is expected to enable many emerging fields including wearable devices, sensor networks, smart environments, personalized medicine, and the Internet of Things. A camera that can function as an untethered device forever – without any external power supply – would be incredibly useful."

Leveraging his experience in computational imaging, professor Nayar hit on the idea that despite the fact that solar cells and the digital image sensor in a camera perform different functions, they are both primarily designed to convert light into electrical current. Given this fact, professor Nayar took the next logical step in thinking that, if both devices convert light to electricity, then why not purpose one device to do both things? As a result, and to emulate a reasonable image, professor Nayar and his colleagues then employed an array of such multipurpose detectors to create a low-clarity image of an acceptable resolution.

Utilizing just two semiconductors for each pixel, during each image capture the simple circuit first records and transfers the image to be recorded, then converts the incident light into energy to charge the array's power supply. As part of the design, the image capture array constantly and automatically switches between image capture and power generation states.

The team claims that this process could also be employed to produce power for other connected devices, such as tablets or phones, when the camera is not specifically employed to capture images. Though, in its present form, the prototype device does not function in this manner.

Professor Nayar explained that he and his team "... took an extreme approach to demonstrate that the sensor is indeed truly self-powered and used just a capacitor to store the harvested energy."

Housed in a 3D-printed body, the prototype device is obviously of low resolution at present, but further work by the team is anticipated to increase the number of pixels contained in the array, while simultaneously reducing the image sensor down to microchip levels.

"A few different designs for image sensors that can harvest energy have been proposed in the past," said professor Nayar. "However, our prototype is the first demonstration of a fully self-powered video camera. And, even though we’ve used off-the-shelf components to demonstrate our design, our sensor architecture easily lends itself to a compact solid-state imaging chip. We believe our results are a significant step forward in developing an entirely new generation of cameras that can function for a very long duration – ideally, forever – without being externally powered."

New Flexible Battery

Mon, 13 Apr 2015 00:00:00 Z

Researchers at Stanford University have created a fast-charging and long-lasting rechargeable battery that is inexpensive to produce, and which they claim could replace many of the lithium-ion and alkaline batteries powering our gadgets today. The prototype aluminum-ion battery is also safer, not bursting into flames as some of its lithium-ion brethren are wont to do.

The prototype battery features an anode made of aluminum, a cathode of graphite and an ionic liquid electrolyte, all packed within a flexible, polymer-coated pouch. And unlike lithium-ion batteries, which can short circuit and explode or catch fire when punctured, the aluminum-ion battery will actually continue working for a short while before not bursting into flames.

"The electrolyte is basically a salt that's liquid at room temperature, so it's very safe," said Stanford graduate student Ming Gong, co-lead author of the study.

Improved safety is great, but what many people want is a reduction in recharge times. The aluminum-ion battery hits the target here, too, with the Stanford team claiming "unprecedented charging times" of just one minute for recharging the prototype battery.

What about durability? The aluminum-ion battery has you covered there, too. Unlike typical lithium-ion batteries that last around 1,000 charge-discharge cycles, or other aluminum-ion battery lab attempts that usually died after just 100 cycles, the Stanford researchers claim their battery stood up to 7,500 cycles without a loss of capacity. This would make it attractive for storing renewable energy on the electrical grid.

"The grid needs a battery with a long cycle life that can rapidly store and release energy," team member Hongjie Dai explains. "Our latest unpublished data suggest that an aluminum battery can be recharged tens of thousands of times. It's hard to imagine building a huge lithium-ion battery for grid storage."

The experimental battery also has the added advantage of flexibility, which gives the technology the potential to find applications in the burgeoning field of flexible electronics.

Furthermore, the researchers point out that aluminum is a cheaper metal than lithium, and the aluminum-ion technology offers an environmentally friendly alternative to disposable AA and AAA alkaline batteries used to power millions of portable devices.

Currently, one of the prototype battery's biggest shortcomings is its voltage. Although Dai points out it is more than anyone else has achieved with aluminum, the battery only generates around two volts of electricity, which is around half that of a typical lithium-ion battery. However, the researchers are confident they can improve on this.

"Improving the cathode material could eventually increase the voltage and energy density," says Dai. "Otherwise, our battery has everything else you'd dream that a battery should have: inexpensive electrodes, good safety, high-speed charging, flexibility and long cycle life. I see this as a new battery in its early days. It's quite exciting."

Handheld Hydropower Plant

Thu, 19 Mar 2015 00:00:00 Z

Blue Freedom may sound like a comic book name, but it’s actually one of the most interesting eco-tech projects on Kickstarter, a mini hydropower generator designed to be used just about anywhere there’s running water.

The principles of hydroelectricity are pretty simple: Use the force of moving water to turn a turbine. Make sure that turbine movement generates electricity that can be stored, and then use it or store it in batteries and capacitors for later use. The team behind Blue Freedom just scaled the whole idea down – very down.

The result is a hydropower plant that you can hold in one hand, a friendly-looking, disc-like device with a large fan-based turbine installed in the center. Put it in running water, such as a river or stream, and it will store a charge – apparently, just one hour in a current can create a 10-hour battery charge for common mobile devices like smartphones. It uses an USB port for charging, and is designed to work for common, useful items like MP3 players, GPS units, LED maps, electric razors, and even small camping fridges.

Blue Freedom is marketed primarily as an eco-friendly addition to your camping pack. Of course, you have to go camping and hiking on routes that actually include easily accessible running water, which may be a problem in some locations. But if there’s a river near, you don’t need to worry about carrying along extra batteries or bulkier fuel-based generators.

Wave Energy Generator

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 00:00:00 Z

Inspired by the pumping of the human heart, the Wave Energy Generator from CorPower Ocean can deliver up to five times more energy than current systems.

The system is made up of buoys that absorb the wave energy and send it to a geared drivetrain—instead of the more usual hydraulic pump. The drivetrain, developed by the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, is equipped with an array of smaller wheels that convert the linear motion of the moving buoy into rotating motion that spins a flywheel. According to the team, the drivetrain system allows the buoys to use all of the wave's motion, no matter how high or long the waves may be.

The system was inspired by Swedish cardiologist Stig Lundbäck's research into heart pumping.

Eye-Inspired Solar Cells

Mon, 02 Mar 2015 00:00:00 Z

Solar cells don't at first glance have any relation to a tiny structure in the eye that makes our central vision sharp, but that tiny structure – called the fovea centralis – may be the key to a huge boost in solar cell efficiency. A team of scientists at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light took the underlying mechanisms that guide the fovea and adapted them to silicon as a surface for collecting light in solar cells.

The fovea centralis – so called because it is a pit in the center of the macula of the retina – contains a number of closely-packed funnel-like inverted cones that connect directly to nerve cells and provide the visual detail that allows us to read or watch TV.

The researchers noted how the cones trap large amounts of light in well-lit environments and thought to try the same approach in collecting and conducting light for photovoltaics. The experiment worked: their silicon version of the fovea increased light absorption by around 65 percent in a thin-film solar cell, compared with a conventional silicon film. Power conversion efficiencies saw a similar improvement, at 60 percent higher than in optimized nanowire arrays of the same thickness.

The extent of this boost came as a surprise to the team, who determined that the new method is also superior to the emerging technique of deploying a carpet of nanowires because the nanowires lose efficiency as they get closer together whereas the funnels' absorption improves when packed tightly.

Better yet, the funnels require no special engineering to produce. The researchers developed their micron-sized funnels by conventional semiconductor processes, packing them shoulder-to-shoulder in a silicon substrate – each around 800 nanometers wide at the top and 100 nanometers wide at the bottom.

Lead researcher Silke Christiansen says her team is working to further improve thin-film solar cells and in particular to find a way to scale their design economically to work with large-area solar cells. Fellow team member Sebastian Schmitt is also looking to adapt the funnel design for use in LEDs and sensor components, the early pilot studies of which Christiansen says are yielding promising results.

Electricity Generating Water Pipes

Thu, 19 Feb 2015 00:00:00 Z

There's a lot of water constantly moving through the municipal pipelines of most major cities. While the water itself is already destined for various uses, why not harness its flow to produce hydroelectric power? Well, that's exactly what Lucid Energy's LucidPipe Power System does, and Portland, Oregon has just become the latest city to adopt it.

LucidPipe simply replaces a stretch of existing gravity-fed conventional pipeline, that's used for transporting potable water. As the water flows through, it spins four 42-inch (107-cm) turbines, each one of which is hooked up to a generator on the outside of the pipe. The presence of the turbines reportedly doesn't slow the water's flow rate significantly, so there's virtually no impact on pipeline efficiency.

The 200-kW Portland system was privately financed by Harbourton Alternative Energy, and its installation was completed late last December. It's now undergoing reliability and efficiency testing, which includes checking that its sensors and smart control system are working properly. It's scheduled to begin full capacity power generation by March.

Once up and running, it's expected to generate an average of 1,100 megawatt hours of energy per year, which is enough to power approximately 150 homes. Over the next 20 years, it should also generate about US$2 million in energy sales to Portland General Electric, which Harbourton plans on sharing with the City of Portland and the Portland Water Bureau in order to offset operational costs. At the end of that period, the Portland Water Bureau will have the right to purchase the system outright, along with all the energy it produces.

For now, the new LucidPipe Power System is the only one in Portland. If it proves successful, however, others may follow. A previously-installed system has been providing power in Riverside, California since 2012.