But when we think about renewable, alternative or green energy generation, what we're really after is more energy at a lower environmental cost, which means we must think about energy savings as well.
Some of the most exciting work being done on the planet right now is in fact in the development of new materials, and in some cases, the modification of things that already exist in nature.
We have the capabilities these days to engineer amazing materials with properties that are extremely useful when used in combination with energy generation in our daily lives, to soften the burden on the planet. And heck, why not make our lives easier or more comfortable too.
In the following video, I discuss 3 different materials and give further comments about them:
The first material can turn light, heat and movement into electricity, all at the same time. It is in fact a type of perovskite crystal that can be found on Earth already but just recently discovered could do all of the above at room temperature. There is a whole family of such crystals, each with slightly different properties and their composition can be manufactured in labs and made more efficient through experimentation. Just to be clear, the perovskite family of crystals can have many different compositions, from simple easy to come by atoms to pretty heavy and complex ones.
This material could work great in many applications converting typically hard to reclaim energy into usable energy (light, heat and movement (kinetic)). So basically any system that generates or is exposed to light, heat or movement (or all three) could use this material on its surface or casing, and we can get some free electricity back into our grid.
Pretty neat huh?
Speaking of neat. A team at the University of Colorado have come up with a material that can be manufactured cheaply into thin 50 micrometer rolls that has the property of reflecting incoming solar radiation while still letting infrared radiation to pass through when it is in contact with a surface.
The idea here is to use the material to wrap surfaces in order to prevent the sun's radiation to heat the surface, while still letting the surface "chill" by releasing its own heat through infrared radiation. Hence, we get an instant cooling system at zero energetic cost.
The team imagines using the material on roofs so that during summer days, when the sun is at it's hottest, the building not only doesn't increase its heat intake, but it is also allowed to radiate out excess heat. Instant air conditioning system. I can see our air conditioning bill go down already!
Here is another one that is often disregarded because it is alive: waste hungry bacteria that naturally generate an electrical charge while it eats. We all know our wastewater is treated before we release it back into nature. Waste management plants do actually use up lots of energy to do exactly that.
Well researchers at the University of California in Santa Barbara managed to modify bacteria that already had the natural property of generating electricity as they went about their business to make them eat our water waste. The amount of electricity generated isn't enormous, but if it is cycled back into the wastewater plant, then it is using up less electricity from the grid isn't it?
On the energy balance sheet, all of these materials and techniques give us more energy to play by reducing the environmental strain.
What is super exciting about these is, because they are materials, they can be used in any number of great applications. Good materials with exciting properties are way more powerful inventions than actual engines because of that very fact.
So if I were a betting man, I'd put my funds into new materials way faster I would money on any sort of new widget. :)
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