From Flying Pods to Floating Cities: How Magnetic Levitation Will Change the World

Magnetic Levitation (maglev) is not just a cool name. It’s also the technology of the future. 

For those of you who don’t know, magnetic levitation is a method of suspending objects without any support aside from magnetic fields. Magnetic fields are used to counteract the effects of gravitational acceleration and any other accelerations involved.

The Maglev train moves along the support path.

There are three processes involved in the working of Maglev.

1) Levitation: The train has to be suspended against gravity without any contact; therefore, opposing magnetic forces between magnets on the train’s bogies and on the guide-way enables it to move without friction slowing it down.

2) Propulsion: In order to propel the train forward, electromagnets are placed on each side of the guide-way. These magnets are energized when the train reaches that particular spot and are de-energized the rest of of time.  Attraction between unlike poles pulls the train, followed by the repulsion, which pushes it forward.

3) Guidance: The propulsion coils are used to guide the train on the guide-way. These coils are placed on either side of the guide-way. The forces from both sides (due to induced EMF) cancel out and thus keep the train on the guide-way.

The way that Maglevs work sounds like a highly physical process, but some of its other applications are very interesting.

Just imagine the possibilities if this happens.

Currently, Maglev trains are widely used in countries like Japan, China, Germany, the USA, South Korea and Israel. The trains are so stable that a coin resting on its side would remain intact throughout the journey.

Apart from high-speed trains, Maglev has many applications in the future, such as:

Floating Cities

Imagine sitting in a donut-shaped flying saucer. Magnify that by about 5000 and add about one or two hundred buildings to it. Plant twenty to thirty thousand trees and even a few mountains. Top that off with a couple of lakes.  Voila!Your  floating city is ready.

Landed straight out of a sci-fi movie.

A Chinese architect has already designed a concept titled “Heaven and Earth”, which is basically a moving magnetically levitated island in the sky. It comes equipped with mountains, green forests and urban centers.

The architect has justified this concept by equipping the underside of the donut shaped platform with strong magnets that will repel Earth’s magnetic field. The circular platform can rotate,  generating energy from their spins, thus creating a completely sustainable society.

Yes, the idea seems pretty far-fetched, and it’s likely that the current generation won’t be alive to witness such an event.

Personal Flying Pods

They might not exactly be like the Flying Ford Anglia in Harry Potter: The Chamber of Secrets, but this is somewhat close.

NASA and SkyTran’s ‘The flying pod’

SkyTran has essentially proposed taking Maglev off the ground.  Suspended on an elevated guide-way, each private pod could carry 3 passengers and could reach a speed of 150 mph. This pod could carry passengers along the route of the guide-way without making any unnecessary stops. If this technology is harnessed, it could lead to a serious dip in road congestion and CO2 emissions.

Space Launch System

NASA has been trying to implement this impressive Maglev technology into their space program for years.

The idea is to use high-speed Maglev transportation to fling spacecraft into the lower Earth orbit. Their proposed idea includes building a cargo-only launch track at a height of 20,000 feet. The magnets would allow spacecraft to reach a speed of 18,000 mph. However, the whole setup would cost an astronomical amount of $20 billion! I don’t know… sounds like it would be worth a shot!

Efficient Wind Power

Magnetically levitated wind turbine

The rate of conversion of wind energy into usable power by standard wind turbines is only 1%. The high losses occur mainly due to friction, which occurs as the turbines spin. Researchers have estimated that magnetically levitated turbines could boost up that wind power generation up to 20% 

Maglev technology is definitely one to watch out for in the future. It will provide a noise-free environment, have a low maintenance cost, and will be relatively inexpensive to operate.

Source: www.scienceabc.com

Unusual Alternate Energy Sources

There will eventually be a time when your grandchildren will mock your generation for using dirty fossil fuels to power the world. It will be an easy thing to mock when they’re filling up their car’s fuel tank with some coffee! 

Yes, you read that right! Soon, you could be cruising around the streets in a coffee-powered vehicle.

Rising energy prices seem to be tearing holes in everyone’s pockets, and the economic effects have pushed ‘green’ technology into the mainstream.

As it turns out, there are much weirder sources of energy than corn and molasses.

Here are some bizarre fuels that can power your daily appliances:

1) Dead Cats

Obviously, you’re not likely to find vendors selling dead cats by the kilo in your average supermarket, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a viable source of fuel.

A German inventor named Dr. Christian Koch has invented a process whereby old tires, weeds, and animal cadavers (in this case, dead cats) are used to create high-quality bio-diesel fuel. The process produces roughly 2.5 liters of diesel per cat. He has already driven 105000 miles in his own vehicle fueled in this unusual way without any problems.

Obviously, animal rights activists were infuriated by the whole scenario. Admittedly, the idea sounds a bit too gruesome to catch on for most of the world, so I genuinely hope that this source isn’t the one we rely on in the future.

2) Body Heat

Finally, we’re reverting back to the traditional way of harnessing energy – Natural Body Heat!

This natural source of energy has been implemented in many countries, but Sweden has the most efficient method of harnessing it.

Using Body heat to harness energy.

The body heat generated by the 250,000 commuters who crowd Stockholm’s railway station (Scandinavia’s busiest travel hub) each day is immense. This heat used to drift off into the air and be wasted, but engineers have figured out a way to harness it and transfer it to a newly renovated office building down the block.

The heat generated by the commuters is captured by the station’s ventilation system and used to warm water in underground tanks. This water is then redirected into the office’s ventilation, thus heating the entire block.

Brilliant!

3) Coffee waste

A piping hot cup of coffee fuels the morning activities for most people in the Western Hemisphere. However, what if the same coffee could be used to fuel their morning commute too?

Every year, the global population consumes 600 billion cups of coffee. An average coffee shop throws out 10 kg of coffee every day. However, the coffee grounds that are thrown away can actually be used to produce bio-diesel fuel.

Bio-bean, which was founded in London by an architecture student, claims to be the first company to industrialize coffee-waste recycling and produce bio-diesel and a biomass pellet product from this previously disposed-of resource.

Coffee-powered cars would definitely be popular among hipsters. You know it’s true…

 4) Chocolate

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In the popular movie, Forrest Gump, the title character tells everyone he meets that “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get.”  Well, in this particular box of chocolate, we’re getting fuel that will soon power cars!

The waste left over from a chocolate factory can actually be fed to E. coli bacteria, which results in the creation of hydrogen. Hydrogen is one of the cleanest known fuels, as its only byproduct is water.

Fat from chocolate can also be converted into bio-fuel and has been used to power a race car, reaching 130 miles per hour on the track. Now that’s a sweet deal!

5) Dance Floors

Let’s say that you decide to go to the club one day and suddenly realize that the lighting on the floor is being powered by your killer dance moves! How amazing would that be?

A number of dance clubs in Japan have already implemented this technology in order to make their establishments self-sustainable.

The kinetic energy of people walking or dancing can be converted into electricity, which is then used to make the floor react and interact visually, as well as power applications, showing the direct electricity output of a person’s movements.

This concept works on the principle of piezoelectricity.Piezoelectricity is produced when stress or strain is applied on an object, which can then be converted to electricity.

A truly intense dance-off would probably power an entire building!

6) Algae

The most promising option on this list, however, is algae, which could realistically replace fossil fuels on our planet. Algae has a higher calorific value (heat content) than corn or sugar, making it more efficient as a fuel source.

This idea has been around since 1942, and since then, scientists have been working hard on various ways to harness this energy.

Algae as a fuel source has applications from biodiesel to aviation fuel. Certain algae species can be dried up and the fatty acids are then extracted. These fatty acids are subjected to esterification and biodiesel is thus obtained. Pretty simple!

Now that you know all of the wild options, which one is the craziest choice for the future of humanity?

How Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Will Give Bullet Trains a Run for their Money

What if I told you that you could travel from San Francisco to LA in 30 minutes or from Mumbai to Bangalore in an hour, without ever stepping foot inside an airplane?

Thanks to science, that will soon be possible. Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla Motors, has proposed an idea for a futuristic means of transport called the Hyperloop. Topping out at a whopping speed of 700mph, it will revolutionize the way we travel over short and medium distances.

It looks like something that popped out of a science fiction movie.

To put it simply, Hyperloop is a combination of a Concorde (a supersonic plane), a rail gun, and an air hockey table. The Concorde was fast and revolutionary for personal transport, a railgun uses electromagnetic forces to transport objects at super-high speeds, and an air hockey table reduces sliding friction to nearly nothing. When you put all these concepts in one magic means of transportation, you essentially have the Hyperloop!Seems pretty cool, right?

The Hyperloop incorporates reduced-pressure tubes in which pressurized capsules ride on an air cushion driven by linear induction motors and air compressors.

An artist’s impression of the capsule that will carry the passengers.

Basically, it’s just a closed, supersonic, enlarged roller-coaster.

Elon Musk claims that the Hyperloop will be safer, faster, cheaper, more convenient and completely weather-resistant as compared to the supersonic trains that are currently operating today. At the very least, it won’t get flooded by the abominable Mumbai rains and will skip the horrendous traffic on Pacific Coast Highway.

SpaceX has announced an open competition where enthusiasts can make their own prototype of functional Hyperloop pods that can travel at least 1 mile without any hiccups. Competitors have until September 2015 to make their submissions. The full-scale model is expected to be tested by June 2016.

It won’t be long until we’ll be able to have breakfast in London, lunch in Paris and dinner in Edinburgh without thinking twice! The future looks pretty amazing for us. It’s a great time to be alive!

Source: www.scienceabc.com

Could a new approach to thermal conductivity revolutionise geothermal?

Could graphene (carbon) cables revolutionise how we derive heat from geothermal wells and distribute heat? This at least believes Manoj Bhargava, an Indian billionaire investing into research into the development of graphene cables.
 Geothermal energy utilisation for power generation and direct use has always faced some heavy up-front costs and risks. One of the most important risk is the exploration risk, namely to find sufficient temperatures but also to find sufficient steam/ water to transport the heat to the surface. There the heat in the form of steam can turn a turbine and generate electricity, or fluids derived can heat a secondary fluid then also used in the form of steam to generate electricity. In direct use application fluids can be used either directly or also be used for heat exchanges for a wide variety of applications.

All have in common that water is the key carrier for the energy to the surface. This requires wells to be drilled both deep and with wide diameters to derive sufficient steam or fluids to the surface. The whole concept of reservoir engineering, determining the water flows etc. is complicated not only to the outsiders, but also for those people involved in the geothermal industry.

There have been several research activities aimed at figuring out ways to use different ways to utilise and derive heat from wells, among others with carbon dioxide as element, but now a new possibility is mentioned. Quite frankly, I am having problems putting my head around this and I am not sure how realistic this all is, but it does sound interesting and at least could open discussions on a more efficient way to tap into the Earth’s heat.

Manoj Bhargava, an Indian billionaire, who made most of his money with an energy drink, is investing heavily in all kinds of different research mostly focused on energy. A recent article in National Geographic describes his activities and background.

In the article, he describes his approach to tapping into geothermal. “Rather than using steam—mixed with chemicals—to bring the heat to the surface, he would instead pull it up with a graphene cord. He notes graphene, stronger than steel, is an incredible conductor of heat.”

So lets look at graphene. “Graphene is an allotrope of carbon in the form of a two-dimensional, atomic-scale, hexagonal lattice in which one atom forms each vertex. It is the basic structural element of other allotropes, including graphite, charcoal, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes.”, so  described by the British English Dictionary & Thesaurus and the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary”.

Essentially this form of carbon provides great thermal conductivity, the “measure of the ability of a material to allow the flow ofheat from its warmer surface through the material to its colder surface, determined as the heat energy transferred per unit of time and per unit of surface area divided by the temperature gradient, which is the temperature difference divided by the distance …”, so thefreedictionary.com.

Without understanding this completely, it essentially seems to allow to “transport” heat to the surface. Question simply is how efficient it is and if it is efficient enough to transport high heat to the surface to be used for power generation. If it does it is indeed a rather interesting research.

“…Once you bring [heat] up, you don’t change any of the infrastructure,” he says, explaining that utilities could simply distribute it instead of coal, oil, or natural gas. These graphene cables could also transport the heat over long distances, which in itself would save a lot of infrastructure cost as well.

According to National Geographics, he is working with a “graphene research center in Singapore to develop a cable and plans to have pictures available in later year.”

SOURCE-www.thinkgeoenergy.com 

THE RAIN MAKER MACHINE

TEAM OF MANOJ BHARGAVA

THE PROBLEM

Water Shortages

Half the world’s population lives without adequate access to fresh, clean water for drinking, farming and sanitation. During long periods of drought, like that in California, the problem becomes more serious. But what if we could make more water?

THE SOLUTION

Solution: Rain Maker

   
ANIMATION VIEW  
                                                
ORIGINAL MACHINE VIEW

We have created a machine called Rain Maker. It mimics nature, turning seawater or polluted water into fresh water suitable for drinking and agriculture. Rain Maker makes more than just a little water. One machine the size of small car can make a thousand gallons per hour. Unlike other desalination systems, Rain Maker recycles its heat energy making it incredibly clean and efficient.

The link below is of a video which show you a machine which mimics the nature's rain making process and makes any type of water drinkable this is also another invention of Mr. Manoj Bhargava

Rain maker machine- THE LINK 

BILLIONS IN CHANGE:- SHAPING THE FUTURE

Billions in Change, founded by billionaire Manoj Bhargava, aims to save the world by creating and implementing solutions to the most basic global problems - water, energy and health. Doing so will raise billions of people out of poverty and improve the lives of everyone.   Bhargava estimates that there are around 700 million people in India who do not get power for more than two or three hours a day. This lack of electricity interferes with people's lives and the running of their businesses.   To address this problem Bhargava has created the Free Electric machine, which gives people the power to generate electricity themselves - pollution free. The machine is small, light and simple. Here's how it works: A person pedals a hybrid bicycle. The bicycle wheel drives a flywheel, which turns a generator, which charges a battery. Pedaling for one hour yields electricity for 24 hours with no utility bill, and no exhaust, no waste. Enough electricity is created to power 24 light bulbs, a fan, a phone and tablet charger at the same time.   Billions in Change intends to have two versions of the bike. For people in poorer countries, the bike will be intended just for electricity generation, so it will be priced quite low. Manufacturing for that version will take place in India beginning in early 2016. For people in richer countries, the bike will have a few more bells and whistles, including a lithium-ion battery and more aesthetic features, and will be priced based on the market. Manufacturing for this version will begin in February or March 2016 in the United States. For every bike sold in a rich country, one bike will be given to someone in a poor country.   


Read more at: http://www.energyharvestingjournal.com/articles/8842/free-electricity-through-pedal-power