On Wednesday, April 22, 2015, more than 22,000 partner organizations and more than one billion people in 192 different countries will honor the 45th annual Earth Day. According to organizers, this will be the world’s largest non-secular celebration. The theme of this year’s festivities is “It’s Our Turn to Lead,” sounding a call to action among anyone with an interest in environmental issues. With this in mind, we thought we would take a look at some intriguing, recently patented green innovation relating to carbon capture and energy production.
Our society is tied to our quick access to electricity throughout the home and across our communities. It’s hard to picture a consumer economy without the easy ability to obtain electrical energy from a wall outlet to power a variety of electronics. All of that electricity generation occurs at power plants which release a lot of carbon dioxide directly into the atmosphere. As a result, many have discussed the use of carbon capture and storage technologies as a way of counteracting some of the negative aspects of energy production.
The capture and removal of vast quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as well as gas streams, is discussed by U.S. Patent No. 8986533, issued under the title Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Organic Products. Issued to Princeton University in March, it claims a method of converting carbon dioxide into at least one product by reducing the carbon dioxide through a photoelectrochemical process in a divided electrochemical cell with two compartments, one of which includes an anode and the other a cathode cell compartment with one or more substituted or unsubstituted aromatic heterocyclic amines; both compartments contain an aqueous solution of an electrolyte. This innovation is designed to reduce the amount of energy needed in order to successfully capture carbon.
The use of carbon capture to help fuel geothermal energy applications, producing energy while reducing atmospheric carbon, is featured in U.S. Patent No. 8991510, entitled Carbon Dioxide-Based Geothermal Energy Generation Systems and Methods Related Thereto. The patent was issued by the USPTO at the end of March to joint assignees, the University of Minnesota and Heat Mining Company LLC of Rapid City, SD. It claims a system including injection wells for accessing an underground reservoir containing a native fluid with hydrocarbons, injection well reservoir openings for each well which are in fluid communication with the reservoir, production wells each having a production well reservoir opening also in fluid communication with the reservoir, a non-water based working supply apparatus that feeds a non-water based fluid to the reservoir through the injection wells so that it mixes with the native fluid at a certain temperature, and an energy recovery apparatus that converts thermal energy contained in the production fluid into electricity or heat. The underground reservoir is accessible without hydrofracturing and provides a cost-effective renewable energy system that improves the environment.
Along with atmospheric carbon removal, the development of energy generation systems that don’t spew carbon dioxide into our skies is desirable. One innovation that may be part of the new wave of alternative energy generation is detailed in U.S. Patent No. 8994203, issued under the title Hydrokinetic Energy Conversion System. Issued to Nostrum Energy Pte. Ltd. of Tradehub, Singapore, it protects a linear hydrokinetic energy conversion that includes an essentially non-circular closed-loop track comprising a substantially linear segment situated normal to the direction of water flow in a waterway, a blade assembly connected to the track and moving along the entire length of the track and having at least one airfoil blade having a cross-sectional contour and pitch angle which is partially submerged in the water flow and a power production means operatively associated with the force of motion of the airfoil blade along the track. This innovation addresses issues experienced by conventional hydrokinetic turbines for energy generation, such as the excessive corrosion experienced by mechanical equipment that is submerged under water.
Tags: carbon capture, carbon emissions, Earth Day, green patents, green technology, patent, patents
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