Aenert. Research Laboratory newsGeothermal energy is a type of renewable power which is found deep underneath the Earth. Other than wind and solar power, geothermal power does not require large surface facilities or produce harmful CO2 emissions. Traditional geothermal plants use water from reservoirs located deep underground to power turbines which then generate electricity. However, this...

Aenert. Research Laboratory newsModern energy systems are becoming ever more complex and interdependent. In order to prepare them for the full transition to green energy production and enable operation at full capacity, you have to have a precise understanding of how the interdependencies work, model and analyse them carefully so that your can monitor and control them properly. Nowadays if, for...

Tidal energy is a very abundant source of energy which has the potential to power many homes around the globe. It is produced by the natural rise and fall of tides caused by the gravitational interaction between the earth, the sun, and the moon. Tidal currents with sufficient energy for harvesting occur whenever water passes through a constriction which causes the water to move faster. With the help of special generators placed in the...

Gas to Liquid (GTL) technologies have several stages of long and relatively successful development, as well as a fairly developed infrastructure for their application. On the one hand, the now long history of operation of large GTL plants in Qatar, South Africa, Malaysia and Nigeria demonstrate the attractiveness of this technology, but on the other hand, high capital costs and troublesome dependence on the changing conditions of the...

Lithium is a mineral which occurs naturally and constitutes about 0.0007 percent of the Earth's crust. Lithium is contained in minerals and salts of natural brines which can be found underground or in seawater. Lithium can also form a byproduct of hydraulic fracturing. There it is mostly contained in fracturing fluids. Such brines and produced water also show high concentrations of rare earth elements and metals. Since the 1990s,...

Wind energy is without doubt one of the most important resources for achieving a cleaner and more sustainable energy industry. It is small wonder, therefore, that many countries around the world are continuously increasing their wind capacities to reduce the negative impacts of a fossil fuel-dependent energy industry. The US, for example, witnessed a significant growth in wind energy in 2020, according to the Office of Energy...

Introduction Increasing the use of hydrogen in modern energy is a prerequisite for its transition towards low-carbon forms of energy production and consumption. Hydrogen is unique primarily because it can be used both as an environmentally friendly fuel and as a medium for energy storage. However, the global hydrogen production has so far been dominated by steam methane reforming (SMR), which is the most cost-competitive method, but...

Geothermal energy is among the most sustainable sources of energy found on this planet. The hot water which can be found in the earth crust at a depth of about 5000 metres already has a temperature of about 200 degrees Celsius and can be pumped to the surface where it may be used to generate electricity via a steam turbine or to heat buildings with the help of heat pumps. The spent water is then returned to the earth crust through a...

Methanol is a very versatile alcohol and used to make a great variety of products, such as paints and plastics or fuel. It is small wonder, therefore, that around the globe many research projects are devoted to the development of methods of sustainable methanol production. If, for example, a method could be found to economically convert methane into methanol, people would get a liquid fuel which can be much more easily stored and...

With the number of wind power installations increasing around the globe every year, utilising spent material, such as blade debris, is turning into one of the most challenging issues of modern wind industry. A study conducted by the University of Cambridge found that 43 million tonnes of wind turbine blade waste are likely to be generated by 2050, most of which will be disposed of in landfills. 40 per cent of this kind of waste is...