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Some scientists estimate that by 2050, two-thirds of the world's population will live in cities, so they seek, with some technology companies, to generate renewable energy from street furniture that we surrounded. Is this realistic?
If we take into account new materials, inventions and devices developed, no one can say that it is an unrealizable goal.
Another very different thing is if they are economically feasible and if they actually constitute an alternative to the already existing energy generators
These are five revolutionary inventions which have already proved their effectiveness,
1. Energy Cement
Cement mixtures made from waste from power plants could be used to construct, for example, battery buildings .
East Potbadium Geopolymetric (KGP) is cheaper than ordinary cement and can store electricity .
According to the researchers, a six meter high lamp post manufactured with KGP and equipped with a small solar panel can hold enough energy to feed all night long.
"We have shown that KGP cement mixtures can be used to store and release electrical energy without the need to add anything that is expensive or dangerous. ", says Professor Lancaster University, Mohamed Saafi, who is leading the investigation.
Buildings built with KGP could be used in cities to meet their electricity needs.
2. Windows made of solar panels
New materials also make solar panels cheaper and more profitable
Solar energy is the most common source of renewable energy in cities because its cost dropped by $ 4 per watt, it cost $ 0.50 ten years ago.
In the United Kingdom, for example, more than one in three companies already produces some of its electricity, mainly by using solar panels roofs.
But the manufacture of silicon solar panels represents an expense of Considerable energy. because it requires temperatures above 1400 ° C or higher and the silicon must be 99.9999% pure.
Materials such as perovskite have now appeared that can make panels much thinner and cheaper. and who work at much lower temperatures, says Nitin Padture, an engineering professor at Brown University in the United States.
Being partially transparent they could also be used for windows.
The disadvantage is that most of them contain lead, a highly toxic metal, but Professor Padture and his team have suggested replacing lead with titanium, .
"Titanium is quite common, but no one had considered using it to replace lead in the solar panels of perovskite ," he says.
] "We are not trying to replace the existing silicon technology, but to improve it."
3. Urban wind turbines
With respect to wind, the other most common source of renewable energy, conventional wind turbines do not function well in areas with many buildings, because the direction of the wind varies a lot. ] But researchers Nicolas Orellana and Yaseen Noorani created a spherical wind turbine to put an end to the problem. Its O-Wind turbine, which won the James Dyson 2018 award in the UK, is a spherical device that rotates when the wind hits it in any direction.
The Turkish company Devici Tech proposes another solution consisting in using vertical wind turbines along the roads can use the energy generated by cars at the wheel [19659003ThecompanyclaimsthatitsEnlilturbinesalreadyintestingphaseinIstanbulcanmeettheenergyneedsofuptotwohomesandthattheycbadsoincorporatesolarpanelsandseismicsensors
However, some inventions that, despite their effectiveness, have proved totally useless.
4. Photovoltaic roads
In France, for example, the engineering company Colas was a pioneer in the construction of photovoltaic roads. He has installed several throughout the country, as well as in parts of Japan and the United States.
The first construction was carried out on a lane of one kilometer in Normandy, in the north-east of the country.
Doubts remain as to whether, in the case of photovoltaic roads, solar panels are really useful because, when they are in a horizontal position instead of being inclined towards the sun, they can not not receive as many solar rays . In addition, heavy traffic, snow or mud can block them .
In 2014, a small 70 meter bike path was built in Amsterdam for $ 3 million. It produced 3,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity during its first year, but 65 million kWh of electricity could have been bought on the open market for that money.
5. Energy to Motion
Another technology that seeks to justify itself commercially is the piezoelectric . It is a type of energy that, when some materials are pressed, such as quartz, crosses them .
Therefore, automobiles and trucks traveling on special roads Equipped with piezoelectric devices could generate energy. Pedestrians can do this on special sidewalks.
In 2009, the Israeli company Innowattech experimented with highways that capture energy and an American company, Pyro-E, wants to test similar technology on a small stretch of road in Fresno. California
But although these projects are technically feasible, they are currently expensive .
According to some estimates, in the United States, one kilometer on a two-way track would require 13,000 piezoelectric devices, which would increase construction costs by US $ 400,000.
Even without taking into account manufacturing or installation costs, it would take about 12 years to recover this amount.
The British company Pavegen developed sidewalks producing electricity. that can produce two to four joules of energy with each step taken.
Their sidewalks, which cost about US $ 2,700 per square meter, were installed in 200 locations around the world.
This figure may be quite high, but solar panels were also expensive when they entered the market.
It's people, not just technology, that will make our cities better, "said Laurence Kemball-Cook, Founder and Executive Director of Pavegen.
The idea, they hope, is that people can also contribute to the creation of sustainable cities. renewable energy.
Now is the time to cut costs.
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