On generation-integrated energy storage

Generation-integrated energy storage (GIES) systems store energy at some point along the transformation between the primary energy form and electricity. Instances exist already in natural hydro power, biomass generation, wave power, and concentrated solar power. GIES systems have been proposed for wind, nuclear power and they arise naturally in photocatalysis systems that are in development. GIES systems can compare very favourably in both performance and total cost against equivalent non-integrated systems comprising both generation and storage. Despite this, they have not hitherto been recognised as a discrete class of systems. Consequently policy decisions affecting development or demonstration projects and policy approaches concerning low-carbon generation are not fully informed. This paper highlights that policy structures exist militating against the development and introduction of GIES systems-probably to the detriment of overall system good

Cyclosorus cyatheoides

Pteridophyte

Cyclosorus cyatheoides

Pteridophyte

Cyclosorus cyatheoides

Pteridophyte

Cyclosorus dentatus

Pteridophyte

Cyclosorus cyatheoides

Pteridophyte

Evidence of enhanced ion transport in Li-rich silicate intercalation materials

The silicate compounds Li2MSiO4 (where M = Mn, Fe, Co) have received significant attention recently as Li intercalation electrodes. Overwhelmingly they exhibit relatively poor kinetics of ion intercalation. By synthesizing Li‐rich solid solutions of the form Li2+2xFe1−xSiO4 (with 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.3), the structural requirements for fast ion transport and hence relatively fast intercalation have been identified. Specifically the presence of additional Li+ in interstitial sites, not normally occupied in the stoichiometric Li2FeSiO4 compound, enhances ion transport by more than two orders of magnitude. The results, obtained by combining electrochemical measurements, with powder X‐ray and neutron diffraction and atomistic modeling of the ion dynamics, provide valuable guidance in designing future intercalation electrodes with high Li‐ion transport and, hence, fast electrode kinetics.Juliette Billaud, Christopher Eames, Nuria Tapia‐Ruiz, Matthew R. Roberts, Andrew J. Naylor, A. Robert Armstrong ... et al

Performance of hospital spaces in summer: A case study of a ‘Nucleus’-type hospital in the UK Midlands

Nucleus-type Hospital in Glenfield comprises connected cruciform blocks with numerous small courtyards between. The hospital has mechanical ventilation and perimeter heating. The wards have a hybrid ventilation strategy with a low rate of mechanical ventilation. Ventilation through windows is the main source of summer time cooling. This paper investigates the summer time performance of spaces that are mechanically ventilated but passively cooled. The paper presents the measured indoor temperatures in selected hospital spaces and compares them with thermal comfort criteria. Finally, future summer conditions for the ward space are predicted using a calibrated multi zone dynamic thermal model. During June to September 2010, the maximum indoor temperatures in the case study spaces varied between 27.3 °C and 29.3 °C. The nurse station was found to be the hottest area. During this period the performance of most of the monitored spaces was reasonably within the thermal comfort threshold as defined by HTM03-01. The simulation results demonstrate that light-touch low carbon interventions could produce comfortable conditions in bedrooms into the 2050s in UK Midlands