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The US is poised to announce a breakthrough in fusion energy

The US department of energy will announce on Tuesday that scientists at a national lab have made a breakthrough on fusion energy.
By Agency Staff12 December 2022

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The US department of energy will announce on Tuesday that scientists at a national lab have made a breakthrough on fusion energy, the process that powers the sun and stars that one day could provide a cheap source of electricity, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have achieved a net energy gain for the first time, in a fusion experiment using lasers, one of the people said. The FT first reported the experiment.

Fusion works when nuclei of two atoms are subjected to extreme heat of 100 million degrees celsius or higher leading them to fuse into a new larger atom, giving off enormous amounts of energy. But the process consumes vast amounts of energy, and the trick has been to get more energy out than goes in and to do so continuously instead of brief moments.

US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm is slated to hold a media briefing on Tuesday

If fusion is commercialised, which backers say could happen in a decade or more, it would have additional benefits including producing energy without radioactive nuclear waste that todayÔÇÖs fission reactors produce.

Running an electric power plant off fusion presents tough hurdles, however, such as how to contain that heat economically and to keep lasers firing consistently. Other methods of fusion use magnets instead of lasers.

US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm is slated to hold a media briefing on Tuesday at 10am EST (5pm SAST) on a ÔÇ£major scientific breakthroughÔÇØ. The department has no information ahead of the briefing, a spokesman said.

Private industry secured more than US$2.8-billion last year for fusion, according to the Fusion Industry Association for a total of about $5-billion in recent years. ÔÇö Timothy Gardner, (c) 2022 Reuters

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Load shedding 101: Looking for affordable UPS power backup systems

Malibongwe Tyilo – Yesterday 22:00

• xiemp.com

On the expensive end, some homeowners may be able to spend between R100,000 to R200,000 to equip their homes with a solar power system to escape load shedding, but for most of us on the lookout for budget-friendly solutions, a relatively affordable UPS (uninterrupted power supply) backup system is the most accessible (and temporary) way to keep electrical appliances going for a few hours while the power is off.

?® Copyright (c) Daily Maverick , All Rights ReservedLoad shedding 101: Looking for affordable UPS power backup systems

With a wide range of mostly affordable products on sale ÔÇô from a few hundred rand to a hundred thousand rand ÔÇô it is important to make the kind of informed choices that match our energy needs.

ÔÇ£You need to be aware of the power rating of the appliance you need to service. Ordinarily, you wouldn’t necessarily have to know that, but considering the energy situation that we find ourselves in, unfortunately we all have to get a grip on what these numbers mean,ÔÇØ says Kinesh Chetty, an energy consultant with a focus on solar (PV) energy systems, and a former director of the Maxx Solar academy in Johannesburg.

Below, he explains the difference between three measurement units that are often used to indicate the energy potential of UPS backup batteries by retailers ÔÇô namely, watts, volts and amps.

Say Watt?

Chetty explains that while the science might sound complex, one of the simplest ways for the average consumer to work the appropriate UPS backup system is by understanding the power rating of different appliances.

One example: On the back of a typical flat screen television, thereÔÇÖs a little sticker with a nameplate rating providing information such as voltage and watts. On a typical 49-inch smart TV, the sticker might indicate a power rating of 100 watts.

Effectively, this means that the television requires just a little under 100 watts of power per hour. Hence, if a consumer was looking for a UPS backup to run just the television for 4.5 hours of Stage 6 load shedding, they would multiply the 100 watts rating by the 4.5 hours to figure out the approximate amount of energy they would need from the UPS, which in this case would be approximately 450wh (watt hours).

Another user might be shopping for backup power for 2.5 hours during Stage 4 daytime load shedding, so that they stay connected to their Wi-Fi and perhaps be able to charge their laptop and phone.

Here too, Chetty advises they follow the same formula by adding up the power ratings indicated on the different appliances that they plan to plug into the UPS, and multiplying them by the number of hours they think they will need the power for. And then making sure that the UPS will have enough watt hours.

In the absence of watts, there will be maths

However, not all appliances will have the watt power rating indicated. Some, especially those that use minimal energy ÔÇô such as routers and smartphones ÔÇô will have separate unit measurements for volts (V) and amps (A) only. In that case, there will be one extra calculation.

Simply multiply the two ÔÇô that is, the voltage indicated by the amps measurement, to get the watts measurement. As explained above, double-check to see if the watt output of the UPS will be sufficient for what you need.

One example: If you turn a 2017 MacBook Pro upside down, youÔÇÖll see a voltage rating of 20 volts and a maximum of 4.3 amps. Multiply those two and you get 86 watt hours. Hence you can safely assume that is the maximum energy required to run the computer, although on average it will use a little less.

Some UPS units will only show the mAH units, which indicates milli-Amp hours. Although this might seem a bit more technical, a 1,000 mAh is the same as 1 Amp Hour. So while that cheap USB might sound impressive when promising 8,000 mAh, keep in mind that is just eight amp hours, and multiply that by the indicated voltage.

For example: The battery size of the standard iPhone 13 is 3,227 mAh (3.2 amps). The battery voltage is rated at 3.8 volts. Multiply 3.8v by 3.2A, and you get an approximate watt hour measurement of 12.16 wh. If you want to avoid doing the maths, you can also simply google the watt hour rating.

If you needed enough power to charge an iPhone as well as keep a MacBook Pro laptop and an average router requiring 7 wh of energy plugged in, you would add the laptopÔÇÖs 86wh to iPhoneÔÇÖs 12,16wh and the routerÔÇÖs 7wh, for a total of 105,16 wh. Over two-and-a-half hours, those three appliances would require a maximum of 263 wh.

One small UPS that is currently for sale at a local retailer for R1,900 is indicated to have a capacity of 57wh. In this case, this would be far from sufficient for all three, but if you take the laptop out of the equation by charging it prior to load shedding, such a UPS would be sufficient to charge the phone and keep the router going.

Considering that the phone would likely need about an hour to charge fully, you would have even more watt hours to spare to keep the router powered up since the phone wonÔÇÖt be plugged in for all 2.5 hours.

Say no to lead ÔÇô go with lithium batteries

UPS systems with lead batteries are typically cheaper to buy. However, lithium batteries will discharge a consistent amount of power throughout the charging cycle, whereas lead batteries will discharge significantly less power the longer one charges.

So while it might take an hour to fully charge the iPhone from a lithium battery powered UPS, due to the drop in power of the lead battery, the rate at which it charges slows down the longer one charges, which could add more hours to charging time as it releases less and less energy as the battery starts to go flat.

Additionally, in terms of lifespan, lead batteries have approximately half the lifespan of lithium batteries.

Chetty explains: ÔÇ£The thing about lead acid batteries is that even though you might have 12 volts multiplied by 100 amp hours, and it looks like we have 1,200 watt hours available, we don’t actually have 1,200 hours available because when it comes to lead acid, you don’t want to damage the units by depleting more than 50% of the battery. So effectively, what you have is closer to 600 watt hours.ÔÇØ

Spend a bit more ÔÇô itÔÇÖll last longer

ÔÇ£Right now, itÔÇÖs a bit of a gold rush. The market is flooded with gimmicky items,ÔÇØ says Chetty, when we show him some of the cheaper options from a popular online retailer.

ÔÇ£They might keep your modem running for a couple of hours, but in a year, theyÔÇÖll be so depleted that youÔÇÖll have to replace them. ItÔÇÖs like putting a piece of sellotape over a gushing volcano,ÔÇØ he adds.

Among some of the options under R10,000 that Maverick Life showed Chetty, he says the more reliable options will have lithium batteries instead of lead, and will also display a clear indication of the wattage.

He advises that consumers rather go for the ones clearly identified as lithium, and with clearly identified watt hours, rather than try to work out various unit measurements that might be confusing.

In brief:

• Work out your power needs by adding up the wattage indicated on the appliances.
• Multiply the total watts by the number of hours you think you will need the backup for, and buy a UPS that is indicated for those watt hours.
• If appliances donÔÇÖt have the wattage indicated, multiply the voltage indicated by the amps indicated to get the watts.
• If possible, avoid buying lead batteries and rather go with lithium.

DM/ML

In case you missed it, also read Load shedding 101 ÔÇô what to consider when buying LED emergency bulbs for your home

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-06-30-load-shedding-101-what-to-consider-when-buying-led-emergency-bulbs-for-your-home/

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Renewable Energy & Battery
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13 July, 2022 13:17

The Conversation – 1h ago

• Xiemp
• Energyxie

South AfricaÔÇÖs power utility, Eskom, has not been able to provide a steady electricity supply for several years now. At the start of the 2022 winter the utility warned the public to expect up to 100 days with rolling power outages. At the end of June there was at times a 6 000 MW shortfall in electricity supply, which corresponds to about 20% of the evening peak demand.

HereÔÇÖs what South Africa needs to produce a lot more renewable energy

While there is consensus that new electricity generating plants are urgently needed to minimise power outages, there are radically differing views on how this is best achieved. The official electricity plan approved three years ago is already out of date. Its implementation is furthermore two years behind schedule.

One widely promoted view is that increasing electricity generating capacity requires grand scale new renewable energy developments. In 2020 the electricity generated from renewables amounted to a mere 10.5% of the South African national total. This will have grown to about 11.5% as more plants have been completed.

The countryÔÇÖs power generation is still dominated by coal. And itÔÇÖs lagging far behind the global trend towards clean energy.

Most people associate renewable energy exclusively with wind and solar energy, but it includes all technologies that donÔÇÖt process non-replaceable fossil fuels. Fossils include coal, oil, gas and minerals (for example the uranium used in nuclear energy).

Hydropower stations, which extract electricity from the downhill flow of water, are a renewable energy source. This is the major source of electricity in water rich countries like Norway, but only a limited option in drier climates. When water needs to be retained in dams during times of drought then no electricity production is possible.

As South Africa is drought-prone, a major increase in local hydropower generation (currently at 3% of the total) is not feasible.

Other renewable energy technologies like geothermal and tidal power generation work in select localities that are not common in South Africa.

This leaves wind and solar. These sources currently make up about 8% of South AfricaÔÇÖs energy mix.

Wind and solar power

Wind and solar power are very attractive because:

• South Africa has some of the best solar and wind resources in the world. Solar and wind plants already produce electricity very effectively in many cloudier and less windy environments than South Africa.
• Solar and wind plants can be built in less than two years. But the pre-construction processes ÔÇô bidding, approvals and such ÔÇô stretch completion times by at least another year.
• Running costs are very low as there are effectively no fuel purchases. Prices of solar and wind technology have dropped very sharply in the past 10 years. The cost ÔÇô including building and other expenses ÔÇô of solar and wind electricity is now well below the corresponding expenses for electricity from gas, nuclear and even coal.
• Their extremely low carbon emissions mitigate global warming and makes solar and wind energy attractive for investors.

Solar and wind power however have obvious drawbacks. The main one is that their operational capacity entirely depends on the weather. Furthermore, solar energy production is linked to the day-night cycle, with maximum efficiency around noon. This doesnÔÇÖt coincide with the electricity demand peaks in the early morning and early evening.

Could renewable energy dominate?

The ideal of a national electricity generation network without greenhouse gas emitting coal, gas plants and radioactive waste generating nuclear plants has practically already been achieved in a number of medium-sized countries such as Costa Rica, Iceland and Paraguay. But these mainly rely on hydropower.

Several larger countries, such as Germany, now generate over half of their electricity from renewables. More countries are setting road-maps to achieve 100% renewable electricity.

In theory, with South AfricaÔÇÖs wind and solar resources superior to other countries with 100% renewable electricity ambitions, this should be a relatively easy target to reach. But other countries are often grid connected to neighbours with significant power production. This means they can draw on these when weather conditions are unfavourable.

That is why a renewable electricity system canÔÇÖt become the dominant power source in South Africa until electricity storage technologies become practical and economical.

A target of 50% electricity from renewables is however perfectly feasible. ItÔÇÖs the minimum that the country should aspire to. Even the 2019 electricity plan projected this would happen by 2050.

Renewable energy in South Africa

Considering the climatic advantage, the fraction of electricity generated from renewable energy technologies is surprisingly low. Despite this small fraction, there is significant hostility to renewable developments in some quarters. Some sectors have interests in maintaining the coal-dominated status quo.

In assessing the contribution of renewable energy sources to the electricity supply itÔÇÖs important to distinguish between power (the rate at which it is produced at any particular moment) and energy (the total produced over an extended time period).

In view of the variability of the wind strength and the intermittence of sunlight, these technologies only occasionally produce power at top capacity. In typical South African conditions a 100 MW solar or wind plant only generates about a third of the energy of a functioning 100 MW coal plant.

Thus the recently announced construction of an additional 2 600 MW of wind and solar farms will effectively only produce electricity equivalent to about 900 MW averaged over a day ÔÇô this equates to only about 15% of the worst power shortfalls experienced to date.

Overcoming the present 6 000 MW power shortages therefore requires approximately 15 000 MW of new solar and wind plants. The continuing deterioration in the efficiency of the large coal power plants means that the actual need for new renewable generating capacity in the next five years is closer to 20 000 MW. In the current electricity plan, this scale of renewable energy developments was projected over a time span of 10 years.

There is now an increasing recognition that the energy crisis must be treated as such. A speedy renewable energy boom is the only way to escape the downward spiral in power cuts in the medium term.

President Cyril RamaphosaÔÇÖs announcement that drastic steps are imminent to combat the electricity crisis are likely to amount to a major drive towards more renewables. This will not unduly place the South African electricity supply at the mercy of the weather or developments in storage technology, as the contribution of electricity from coal would still amount to around 60%.

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Entrepreneur providing cheaper power sources for when Eskom pulls the plug

Mervyn Naidoo – 6h ago

LOAD shedding gets many South Africans going ÔÇ£eishÔÇØ and cussing at power utility Eskom, which would have happened with greater frequency this week after parts of the country experienced stage six power cuts.

?® Provided by Sunday TribuneEntrepreneur providing cheaper power sources for when Eskom pulls the plug

But a former Durban woman, together with her team of ÔÇ£litÔÇØ experts, have produced affordable alternate energy solutions to provide some relief in the dark hours.

Nafisa Fareed is the chief executive and driving force behind Power4Less, a Johannesburg-based company that specialises in providing electric utilities.

?® Provided by Sunday TribuneBusinesswoman Nafisa Fareed is using her entrepreneurial nous and her team of experts to create alternative energy solutions. Picture: Supplied

Power4Less specialises in custom-made lighting solutions and has also made strides with their other energy-efficient products, including an ÔÇ£always hotÔÇØ geyser that significantly reduces electricity bills, and is due for release later this year.

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Fareed said her company, which was started in 2008, entered the alternate energy market because ÔÇ£it needed competitionÔÇØ, and — together with her team — they intend to ÔÇ£disrupt a space that was previously for the elite onlyÔÇØ.

ÔÇ£There are always categories in a market that caters for a specific LSM, but power is a necessity for everyone, including RDP homes and shacks.

ÔÇ£Therefore, it cannot be a market specific to affordability only,ÔÇØ she said.

Like all switched-on entrepreneurs, Fareed said she and her team realised in advance that load shedding was going to become a reality in South Africa.

ÔÇ£Our power stations were old and there was no downtime for repairs.ÔÇØ

Another tell-tale sign for her was that the need for electricity had grown astronomically.

ÔÇ£The LSM barriers in many areas had shifted. Before, only certain groups could afford luxury items like air conditioners. Not any more. The lack of planning resulted in no steps being taken to service the growing need for electricity.ÔÇØ

Fareed said previously stage 4, 5, and 6 of load shedding were foreign; nowadays, blackouts have become a reality.

Bearing in mind the countryÔÇÖs energy needs, Fareed and her crew, comprising electrical engineers, technicians and other specialists, worked towards providing reliable alternative energy solutions.

Their products are currently being sold at some of the countryÔÇÖs leading hardware and supermarket chain stores.

Included in Power4LessÔÇÖs range of creations was their version of the twirly compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), which burns brighter and uses 15 watts of power as opposed to the norm of up to 100 watts.

Power4Less has patented a LSP lightbulb that contains a charger and stores power while connected to the grid, but once load shedding kicks in, they are able to function for up to four hours using stored energy.

?® Provided by Sunday TribuneNasifa Fareed says the Mobi Vault was a power source that can be leaned on during power outages Picture: Supplied

ÔÇ£Power in a suitcaseÔÇØ is what their ÔÇ£Mobi VaultÔÇØ product has been dubbed. This compact energy source, which can be carried or rolled in a case, is powered up using either solar energy, AC power points or a car battery charger.

Depending on an individual’s preference, Mobi Vaults can provide between 0.5 to 5 kilowatts of energy.

Fareed said the soon-to-be-launched geysers would consume R1 worth of electricity daily, whereas standard geysers consume about R45 of power a day.

ÔÇ£Elements usually blow out on geysers, but ours functions without one. Insurance companies are going to love them,ÔÇØ Fareed enthused.

Power4LessÔÇÖ products and solutions have also been endorsed by some government departments and leading corporates.

She said the company ÔÇ£changed peopleÔÇÖs lives from being in a state of frustration to relief, and we make a profit from doing thatÔÇØ.

ÔÇ£When I started in the world of self-employment, I didnÔÇÖt have criteria on what people expected an entrepreneur to be,ÔÇØ she said.

Fareed said everything she learnt was done on the ground, making mistakes.

ÔÇ£I built a business making many mistakes, and I flourished having made mistakes.ÔÇØ

Only after six years of self-employment did she feel financially stable enough to study for her MBA qualification, before achieving a masterÔÇÖs degree in finance from the University of Leicester in 2021.

Initially, she completed a diploma in food technology at the Durban University of Technology in 2004, before entering the working world.

About getting drawn to the field of electronics, Fareed said as an entrepreneur she was able to see a niche in the market.

ÔÇ£I have always been drawn to profit in value. As an entrepreneur, I find it inspiring to deliver value and be profitable, while making an impact by changing lives in a quality way.ÔÇØ

Fareed said she noticed a need in the alternative energy market, surrounded herself with leaders in the industry, and had increased her core team over the years.

While she doesnÔÇÖt have an electrical engineering qualification, Fareed has acquired various accreditations in aspects like solar, wiring and alternative energy solutions.

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖve made the effort to take courses that give me a better understanding into how everything works,ÔÇØ she said.

SUNDAY TRIBUNE

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