Researchers at Chalmers have discovered that the insulation plastic used in high-voltage cables can withstand a 26 per cent higher voltage if nanometer-sized carbon balls are added. This could result in enormous efficiency gains in the power grids of the future, which are needed to achieve a sustainable energy system.
The renewable energy sources of tomorrow will often be found far away from the end user. Wind turbines, for example, are most effective when placed out at sea. Solar energy will have the greatest impact on the European energy system if focus is on transport of solar power from North Africa and Southern Europe to Northern Europe.
“Reducing energy losses during electric power transmission is one of the most important factors for the energy systems of the future,” says Chalmers researcher Christian Müller. “The other two are development of renewable energy sources and technologies for energy storage.”
Together with colleagues from Chalmers and the company Borealis in Stenungsund, he has found a powerful method for reducing energy losses in alternating current cables. The results were recently published in Advanced Materials, a highly ranked scientific journal.
The researchers have shown that different variants of the C60 carbon ball, a nanomaterial in the fullerene molecular group, provide strong protection against breakdown of the insulation plastic used in high-voltage cables. Today the voltage in the cables has to be limited to prevent the insulation layer from getting damaged. The higher the voltage the more electrons can leak out into the insulation material, a process which leads to breakdown.
It is sufficient to add very small amounts of fullerene to the insulation plastic for it to withstand a voltage that is 26 per cent higher, without the material breaking down, than the voltage that plastic without the additive can withstand.
“Being able to increase the voltage to this extent would result in enormous efficiency gains in power transmission all over the world,” says Christian Müller. “A major issue in the industry is how transmission efficiency can be improved without making the power cables thicker, since they are already very heavy and difficult to handle.”
Read more: Carbon nanoballs can greatly contribute to sustainable energy supply
The Latest on: Carbon nanoballs
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Carbon nanoballs” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Carbon nanoballs
- An Australian farmer has held the first carbon-neutral cattle sale – here’s how it workson March 22, 2024 at 4:00 pm
Seven hundred breeding cows and heifers reared in a ‘carbon neutral farming system’ sold in NSW on Thursday. But can a live cow be carbon neutral? Australia’s first carbon-neutral cattle ...
- How 2 companies are taking different approaches to carbon capture as climate reports show rising temperatureson March 19, 2024 at 5:04 pm
As the Biden administration is committing nearly $4 billion toward jumpstarting a new carbon capture industry in the U.S., CBS News was given an inside look at two companies taking different ...
- Chevron's carbon capture program will be a 'slow build'on March 19, 2024 at 10:35 am
As companies around the world engage in the clean energy transition, carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) has been presented as a leading strategy to offset environmental harm.
- ‘We don’t know where the money is going’: the ‘carbon cowboys’ making millions from credit schemeson March 15, 2024 at 6:10 am
Carbon schemes are touted as a way to transfer billions in climate finance to the developing world – but people at the Kariba project in Zimbabwe say most of the profits never arrive In the ...
- Shell waters down 2030 carbon emissions target in latest fossil fuel industry backslideon March 14, 2024 at 5:44 am
Shell weakened its 2030 carbon reduction target and scrapped a 2035 objective, citing expectations for lower power sales and strong demand for gas in the energy transition, even as it affirmed a ...
- Is the carbon tax suffering from a failure to communicate?on March 14, 2024 at 1:00 am
Attacks on the carbon tax are both easy and counterintuitive. The federal price on carbon, implemented in 2019, is still relatively new. After a period of unusually high inflation, Canadians are ...
- Global carbon dioxide emissions hit a record high in 2023on March 7, 2024 at 11:33 am
Global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels reached an unprecedented level in 2023, according to an international team of experts. The researchers said the continued rise in emissions from ...
- Carbon Markets Test the Limits of Voluntary Actionon March 6, 2024 at 2:00 am
The limits of voluntary climate action are evident everywhere you look. Every day it seems there’s another company scaling back its sustainability ambitions or another investment firm pulling ...
- Forest Investors Debate What to Do With All Their Trees: Timber or Carbon Credits?on March 4, 2024 at 7:22 am
Investment managers who have bought up forestland are going tree by tree to figure out whether they should be felled for timber or kept up for carbon-credit generation. Growing demand for credits ...
via Bing News