IIT Chennai-Shaastra's InterUniversity Sustainability Challenge

Here's a wonderful competition for all those who wish to see a much more energy efficient and clean campus loaded with sustainable technologies.
It's all about having IDEAS for technology-driven projects for making our campus/surrounding areas SUSTAINABLE....
Check out this website for more details:
http://www.shaastra.org/2011/main/events/InteruniversitySustainabilityChallenge/
The last date for preliminary entries is 18 Sept.


This is what the event organizers have to say about it.......have a look to get a brief idea about the event :
Know more about the IIT Madras - The Inter University Sustainability Challenge..... With the IUSC, we're aiming at one particular aspect of sustainability & technology innovation - re-modeling our respective campuses by converting them into highly self-sustainable & futuristic entities - by implementing innovative technologies - which are designed & developed in-house by the students themselves & are co-implemented with industry and international organization collaboration!
And so, we're inviting teams from colleges across India to pit themselves against each other in a race to see who can make the biggest difference for our planet. Also..............
Apart from a hefty prize for the winning teams - cash prize of INR 50,000, there's also a huge bonus....
Teams that participate will get funding and mentoring for a large-scale green project of their choice in their home campus!.... That too, it may be supported by awesome organizations, such as the United Nations Environment Program, Centre for Environment Education, various Industries & mentored by various International organizations such as Harvard Sustainability Initiative and AASHE, USA to name a few......
And it doesn't stop there! Finalist teams will also receive a Fellowship for an on-site 3 days training program with field trip to Auroville & also conducting an audit of IIT Madras campus. Post this training program, the students will get recognized as 'Certified in Environmental Auditing & Sustainable Technologies.' This certification has got international recognition. Additionally, all participating teams get a 'Pioneer College' entry to the India Campus Sustainability Network - affiliated to the global counterparts - which have various International Universities as members!


Anyone interested in participating in this event and in need of help can contact me(Vignesh-vigneshgreycell@gmail.com-9657295859).
Help your friends who are participating by giving them your valuable ideas!!


ALL THE BEST!!!

The Earthquake, Japan, Nuclear energy and Renewable energy

One (not so) fine day, earthquake hit Japan and therein was born a Tsunami ... and then there was chaos.....well everyone's aware of the recent Tsunami which blew up large parts of Japan and wrecked it badly.
I don't really know what it is that Japan has with Nuclear stuff but this one's more than a coincidence - after the nuclear bombs back then, it's another nuclear explosion (which has less to do with America though!) this time due to the critical location of the Nuclear plant. The Fukushima nuclear plant complex located north of Tokyo and abominably close to the epicenter of 8.9 magnitude quake suffered two colossal explosions-one on the D-Day and the other on Monday- both of which have either turned ears deaf or have fallen on deaf ears, or so I thought till this article caught my attention :

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/14/us-nuclear-japan-industry-idUSTRE72D3T620110314?feedType=RSS&feedName=GCA-GreenBusiness

The repercussions of this explosion (and the shut down of 11 major nuclear reactors) are not yet fully known as far as the effect on life is to be concerned (some emails about rumors of rain clouds contaminated with nuclear waste are doing the rounds!)
but it has certainly had an effect on major nuclear energy producers (and guzzlers)-the EU and Americas. Many European nations have suspended their plans to extend the life of existing nuclear power stations, expand their services and to approve of new nuclear power stations. It is also expected that the disaster might give renewables and greener fuels such as LNG sectors a boost in the quest for safer energy. Most of the nations are now eager to study the impact of this incident and some have already started proposing ways to harness green energy and to make better use of renewables. Organizations supporting green energy are more optimistic and are keen to extend the idea of switching to greener means of energy production.

Clean Electricity for the Future World

Capture of High Altitude Wind Energy Can Supply the World's Energy Needs and Achieve Kyoto Goals Through Economics

An array of 600 Flying Electric Generators rated at 20MW each, a total of twelve thousand megawatts in capacity, operating over a ground space of a ten by twenty mile rectangle, would produce approximately three times as many megawatt hours per year as the 28,572,902 MWh produced by the Palos Verde Arizona nuclear facility in the year 2003, the most electricity produced by a single generating plant in the U.S. that year.
While other power sources will, of course, always supply some power, 43 such FEG arrays, all operating at relatively remote sites with average capacity factors of 85%, but not located so far from metropolitan areas as to require very long transmission lines, could supply the same amount of electrical power as was produced in the United States in the year 2003, which was 3,883,185,000MWh.

Additional arrays in the most remote places in the temperate zones, including off shore, may be used to generate hydrogen.

Because vehicles will probably best be powered electrically using new battery technology, the most important use of this hydrogen probably will be to supply energy for use in tropical regions where the high altitude winds are insufficient to supply this energy to civilization directly below. This use of hydrogen in the tropics shipped from the temperate zones is in the world's interests, as the global warming from green house gases there are as undesirable as anywhere else, and the non-global warming hydrogen should be able to be economically competitve in that use even though shipped from elsewhere, as fossil fuel is now.

It is important to note that future U.S. and world energy needs will undoubtedly increase, and, in addition, that many current energy needs now provided by fossil fuels directly, not through generating electricity, will switch to high altitude wind supplied electrical grid energy as the relative economics change and the need to address global warming problems become more generally recognized.

Thus, the number of FEG arrays required to meet future world needs will increase significantly. However, in the U.S., this whole subject should really be addressed from the viewpoint of combined U.S. and Canadian supply and demand, as the U.S and Canadian electrical grids are connected.

But Canada, a Kyoto protocol subscriber, the U.S., which is not, and the World, may all find the Kyoto objectives achieved through simple economics without painful legislation. Too good to be true? Well, there certainly are opposing interests.

Urja presents Eco-Architect @ QUARK-2011 (The National Annual Technical festival of BITS-Pilani Goa Campus)

Bored of reading up monotonous articles and stats about energy exploitation? Want to come down to the playground and have a game? We are ready for it! ‘Quark 2011’, in association with ‘Urja- Save Today Survive Tomorrow!’, presents to you the opportunity to become the wittiest “Eco Architect” among your petty peer!

The event calls all the creative and conscious minds out there who have the desire and passion to innovate and the ability to ideate and as well as those who realize that it's about time we did something for our too-much-tortured planet!! The participants are required to implement their knowledge and ideas to find a solution to an issue which is not only of great concern in India but across the entire globe as well!

The Problem Statement:

You are required to come up with an amalgamation of conventional and non-conventional innovative ideas to reduce the monthly electricity consumption of the building.

For more details, click here

Multicopter based wind turbines.

Mercury 5 from Joby Energy

Joby Energy is developing airborne wind turbines which will operate in the upper boundary layer and the upper troposphere.

While knowledge of the tremendous energy in high-altitude wind is not new, recent advances in power electronics, sensors, and control systems now make our technology practical.

Multi-wing structure supports an array of turbines. The turbines connect to motor-generators which produce thrust during takeoff and generate power during crosswind flight. Orientation in flight is maintained by an advanced computer system that drives aerodynamic surfaces on the wings and differentially controls rotor speeds. A reinforced composite tether transmits electricity and moors the system to the ground. The high redundancy of the array configuration can handle multiple points of failure and remain airborne.

How It Operates

For launch, the turbines are supplied with power to enable vertical take-off. Upon reaching operating altitude, the system uses the power of the wind to fly cross-wind in a circular path. The high cross-wind speeds result in the turbines spinning the generators at high speeds, eliminating the need for gearboxes and increasing efficiency. The energy is transferred to the ground through the electrical tether. During occasional periods of low wind the turbines are powered to land the system safely.

http://jobyenergy.com/tech/visit