Earth’s atmosphere is filled with electricity, which represents a potential renewable energy resource that can help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels
Helping a mother-son team tackle potential hurdles as the European Union strives to become climate neutral by mid-century. The EU is moving away from fossil fuels due to the limited number of renewable energy sources.
Andriy Lyubchyk is a partner in the CATCHER project. The CATCHER project aims to expand the clean energy mix by fully converting atmospheric humidity into electricity.
old dream
The technique involves collecting the small electrostatic charges contained in gaseous water molecules that are ubiquitous in the atmosphere. This process is known as hygroelectricity or hygroelectricity.
Lyubchyk, CEO of Portuguese startup Cascatachuva Lda, said: He is also a chemical engineer at his Lusophone University of Humanities in Lisbon, Portugal.
In the early 1900s, Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla dreamed of harnessing energy from the air. He conducted a series of experiments that sought to capture electrical charges in the atmosphere and convert them into electrical current.
Since Tesla’s time, scientists have learned more about how electricity is formed and released in the atmosphere and discovered that water vapor can carry electrical charges.
This know-how could be a boost for the EU, which derives about 22% of its energy from renewable sources. He is on track to raise his year-end target for such energy sources, including hydropower, to 45%.
Dramatically increase the efficiency and potential of the transition to green energy.
But if Europe is to become climate neutral by 2050, renewable energy will have to play an even bigger role, and hydropower will provide more power to the EU as it abandons oil, gas and coal. will give you a choice.
New technology
Funded by the European Innovation Council’s Pathfinder programme, CATCHER is exploring the possibilities with eight partners from six European countries.
While the general idea may be the same, the specific technology used in CATCHER is very different from Tesla’s. The project uses panel-like cells made of zirconium oxide (a hard crystalline material) to harvest energy from atmospheric humidity.
Zirconium oxide is a ceramic material widely used in dental implants, advanced glass-like materials, electronic devices, nuclear fuel rod cladding, etc.
According to Svitlana Lyubchik, CATCHER coordinator and Andriy Lyubchyk’s mother, researchers began seeing evidence of moisture electricity seven years ago when investigating the properties of nanomaterials made from zirconium oxide.
Like him, she is a chemical engineer at Lusophone University. They have taken various initiatives to exploit this potential.
Researchers have now reached a point where an 8-by-5-centimeter plate of material can generate about 0.9 volts in a lab with about 50% humidity. This is equivalent to half the output of a AA battery.
When perfected, the team, which is working to make the humidity-electric material more efficient, hopes the cell will be able to harvest the same amount of electricity as a similarly sized solar cell.
The researchers also believe the cells will be deployed in a similar fashion to solar panels, either as large power plants or to power individual buildings.
steady state
The cells are created by producing very small, uniform nanoparticles of zirconium oxide and compressing them into sheets of similarly structured material containing a series of channels or capillaries.
According to Andriy Lyubchyk, the nanostructure creates an electric field inside the capillary, separating charges from water molecules absorbed from the atmosphere.
As a result, a cascade of physicochemical, physical, and electrophysical processes is generated that captures electrical energy.
In some respects, this new technology is superior to solar and wind energy. Humidity electric cells do not require any specific placement, as humidity levels rarely fluctuate, although panels and turbines must be positioned to capture sunlight and wind.
We can contribute to EU policy in terms of energy independence.
That said, humidity electric cells require a minimum level of humidity to function, so they aren’t necessarily an option everywhere.
“For example, if the outside temperature is minus 15 degrees, everything freezes and there is no water in the air,” says Andriy Ryubczyk.
ceiling solution
He is also coordinator with the mother of the EU-funded SSHARE project. This project addresses real-world applications by incorporating wet-electric cells into heating and cooling systems.
Andriy Lyubchyk says:
The heating and cooling system is based on advanced radiant panels that can be attached to the ceiling of the room.
Perforated water pipes pass over the panels to supply hot or cold water depending on whether the purpose is to heat or cool the room. The panel then radiates heat into or absorbs heat from the room through the humidity in the air, much like the skin gives off heat by sweating.
The system must be able to use moisture electricity generated by the passage of water vapor in and out of the panels to power a pump that circulates the water.
A self-sufficient heating system highlights how hydropower can help drive the transition to net zero energy, researchers say.
Original: Realizing a 100-year-old dream of producing electricity from air
