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PAYERNE, Switzerland – A solar plane with wings as wide as a 747 and the power of a small motorboat took to the skies for the first time Wednesday, cruising a mile high at low speeds for nearly 1½ hours in a step toward becoming the first sun-powered aircraft to circle the world.
In its maiden test flight, “Solar Impulse” — designed by Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard’s team — completed a series of turns, slip maneuvers and bank angles reaching 5 degrees. Most importantly, it proved able to take off and land.
The team plans to fly it around the world in 2012, the goal being to show that renewable energy can replace fossil fuel.
“There has never been an airplane of that kind that could fly — never an airplane so big, so light, using so little energy,” said Piccard, who in 1999 copiloted the first nonstop round-the-globe balloon flight. “So there were huge question marks for us.”
At a military airport in the Swiss countryside, the plane lifted off at a speed no faster than 28 mph after only a short acceleration on the runway. It slowly gained altitude above the green and beige fields, and disappeared eventually into the horizon as villagers watched from the nearest hills.
The descent was even slower, as the sun-powered craft hovered ahead of the runway for a couple of minutes before touching down to cheers from spectators.
The weather for the maiden flight was sunny, and there was little wind.
Unresolved supply issues may block the UK government’s plan to have 15 percent of renewable energy come from biomass, it was claimed today (November 12th).
Plans are in place for seven large-scale biomass power generators to create 2,100 MW by 2014.
There are also incentives for local authorities to invest in smaller biomass boilers under the government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment.
However, new analysis from independent research firm Verdantix showed that unless investments to increase UK biomass supplies are made, only five to ten percent of the target will be met.
James Pinney, who lead the research, said: “UK biomass supplies will only meet small-scale demand.
“The low volume of UK supply means that every year power generators will import millions of tonnes of wood chips, elephant grass, palm kernels and olive pellets to feed their huge biomass facilities.”
Mr Pinney also said there were uncertainties surrounding the cost and reliability in importing biomass from places like Canada and Sweden, from where the UK is likely to source it.
The US Department of Energy has granted $9.5 million to a company in California that plans to build America’s first recycling facility for lithium-ion vehicle batteries.
Anaheim-based Toxco says it will use the funds to expand an existing facility in Lancaster, OH, that already recycles the lead-acid and nickel-metal hydride batteries used in today’s hybrid-electric vehicles.
There is currently little economic need to recycle lithium-ion batteries. Most batteries contain only small amounts of lithium carbonate as a percentage of weight and the material is relatively inexpensive compared to most other metals.
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Researchers at Imperial College London embark on ‘artificial leaf’ project to produce power by mimicking photosynthesis.
It is one of evolution’s crowning achievements – a mini green power station and organic factory combined and the source of almost all of the energy that fuels every living thing on the planet.
Now scientists developing the next generation of clean power sources are working out how to copy, and ultimately improve upon, the humble leaf.
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