Energy can be generated from tidal or marine currents driven by the tides or by oceanic circulations, using completely submerged turbines comprised of rotor blades and a generator. Water turbines work on the same principle as wind turbines, by using the kinetic energy of moving fluid and transferring it into useful rotational and electrical energy. […]
In the wrong hands, technology exists whereby on a small scale, a neighbour could turn off another neighbour’s power supply. Moving up rogue groups could cause widespread power outages or co-ordinate power outages to attack sensitive facilities. At the largest scale governments could remotely shut down smart meters to meet energy saving targets or to […]
Shale gas is extracted using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’. None of which are particularly new technologies or shale gas specific. Horizontal drilling During the process wells are drilled vertically to just above the known shale deposit at a depth of 1,500 to 3,000 metres. Then the drill bit is deviated and drilled […]
There are two primary ways to determine reserve quantities: the volumetric method and decline curve analysis. The volumetric method This calculation is derived from the formulae – Gas-in-Place = 43,560 * A * H * f * Sg * Bg Reserves = (Recovery Factor) * (Gas-in-Place) This method may appear to be fairly ironclad until […]
Reverse Osmosis (RO) is the most commonly used membrane technology and is the reverse of osmosis. It is mainly used to desalinate low salinity water, especially brackish water and waste water. By definition, RO is the movement of water from an area of low to high water concentration across a semi-permeable permeable membrane by applying […]
Preliminary treatment/screening Preliminary treatment screens out, grind up, or separate debris is the first step in wastewater treatment. Sticks, rags, large food particles, sand, gravel, toys, etc., are removed at this stage to protect the pumping and other equipment in the treatment plant. Treatment equipment such as bar screens, comminutors (a large version of a […]
A new equity fund called the African Infrastructure Investment Fund 2 was launched in 2010 with the aim of raising up to USD 1 billion (EUR 0.736 billion) to promote the development of basic infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa. Wind power is eligible for funding and may boost the sector in a few key countries. Wind […]
Periodically, NRG Expert releases its Talking Energy Newsletter. Taking Energy takes a look at the energy stories making the news. Presented as a digest, information from around the world and around the internet is shown together with the full links to the articles’ original source. Fit into a number of broad categories, Talking Energy always […]
Increases in wind turbine size The average turbine size installed each year in the leading wind power countries increased steadily from 145 kW in 1989 to 2,158 kW as of May 2011.Turbines models with a larger capacity are penetrating the market to a larger extent while the popularity of smaller turbine models is waning. Larger […]
From 1973 to 1986, world hard coal trade increased by about 90% and seaborne trade more than doubled to about 8% of total world production. By 1996, 12.9% of world coal production was traded, and 92% of total coal traded on the international market was transported in ships, either ocean-going or in smaller coastal vessels […]
