Hygroelectric power-an alternate source of electricity


Hygroelectricity
Lightning in Humid Regions Could Be Harvested for Energy


Move over solar, wind and wave power — there’s a new renewable on the block. Researchers are experimenting with devices that can pull electricity from the air.

For centuries, scientists have been fascinated by the idea of harnessing the power of thunderstorms. Nikola Tesla experimented extensively with the topic, but significant understanding of the field of atmospheric electrodynamics has until recently proved elusive.

Fernando Galembeck, of the University of Campinas in Brazil, presented a report at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society that detailed a future where every house has a device on its roof that pulls cheap, clean electricity out of the air. ”Just as solar energy could free some households from paying electric bills, this promising new energy source could have a similar effect,” he said.

Originally, scientists believed that water droplets in the atmosphere were electrically neutral, and remained that way even after brushing up against charges on dust particles and other liquids. However, Galembeck discovered in a series of lab experiments that water droplets do in fact pick up a charge.


He used particles of silica and aluminum phosphate, both of which are common dust particles in the air, and found that they become increasingly charged as the amount of water vapor in the air increases. “This was clear evidence that water in the atmosphere can accumulate electrical charges and transfer them to other materials it comes into contact with,” said Galembeck.

It could be possible to harvest this “hygroelectricity” from the air in regions that experience high humidity, such as the tropics. To jump-start this industry, Galembeck’s team is already testing metals to see which might be of most use in capturing atmospheric electricity on hygroelectric panels.

A similar approach could help to avert lightning damage, too, by placing hygroelectric panels on buildings to take charge out of the air in the vicinity of places that suffer regular thunderstorms. “These are fascinating ideas that new studies by ourselves and by other scientific teams suggest are now possible,” said Galembeck.

“We certainly have a long way to go. But the benefits in the long range of harnessing hygroelectricity could be substantial.”

Energy Conservation



What is energy conservation? Many people do the mistake of equating the reduction of
wastage of energy as simply reducing the unnecessary consumption of electricity. While this is true to a great extent, it is also much more than that.

Let us pause for a moment and ponder upon what comes to our mind when we say
energy. Wikipedia defines energy as follows: “In physics, energy (from the Greek ἐνέργεια - energeia, "activity, operation", from ἐνεργός - energos, "active, working") is a quantity that is often understood as the ability to perform work. This quantity as the contained energy can be assigned to any particle, object, or system of objects as a consequence of its physical state.” Energy is all around us. In every action that we do (or don’t do), we are spending energy. Let us for the moment think about energy in terms of money. Let a single unit of energy be equal to 100 rupees. Now we all spend money on buying a variety of merchandise, be it food, cloths etc. Some of the items bought, like groceries are very much required. But items such as gaming consoles may be, in a manner of speaking be considered
a waste of our resources as we don’t need it to survive or to perform our daily functions. In the same way, a lot of energy is used for constructive purposes but a lot of it just goes to waste. Our aim, in URJA, is to basically spread awareness about the different ways in which energy gets wasted and to minimize this wastage.

Wikipedia defines energy conservation as being achieved through efficient energy use, in which case energy use is decreased while achieving a similar outcome, or by reduced consumption of energy services. Take a bucket bath instead of your daily shower, and thus reduce water consumption. In the process also save on the energy which would have been required to pump that extra water to your shower outlet. Walk or cycle if you are only traveling short distances. This way you’ll end up saving the energy that would have been spent in running the engine of your vehicle. In addition, walking is great exercise. Don’t waste the food you eat. Only pile on as much on your plate as you will eat. A waste of food also wastes the energy that has been spent in bringing the food to your plate-from the moment it was grown, and harvested and transported and cooked-all the energy spent in the above processes would be wasted, and in addition more energy will be spent in deposing the wasted food. We must build up a mindset that will enable us to relate to everything we do in terms of the energy that is spent in the task we are involved in, the energy that was spent leading up to the particular task, and the energy that will be spent in its outcome. If we can do this we will achieve our goal of ‘minimum utilization, maximum efficiency’.

Everyone’s support is highly vital to achieve this objective. Join us in our campaign. Do your bit by following the guidelines of energy saving, listed in our initiate page. The administration has promised us that any reduction in the daily expenditure of the campus, as a result of this campaign will be directed to the development of infrastructure in the campus.