European researchers said Tuesday they had developed a cheaper and more efficient superconducting tape which could one day be used to double the potency of wind turbines.
Eurotapes, a European research project on superconductivity—the ability of certain materials to channel electricity with zero resistance and very little power loss—has produced 600 metres (1,968 feet) of the tape, said the coordinator of the project, Xavier Obradors, of the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona.
"This material, a copper oxide, is like a thread that conducts 100 times more electricity than copper. With this thread you can for example make cables to transport much more electricity or generate much more intense magnetic fields than today," he told AFP.
"This new material could be used to make more potent and lighter wind turbines," he added, predicting it will make it possible to manufacture wind turbines one day with double the potency than existing ones.
No graphene was involved in this announcement.
(Score: 5, Informative) by PiMuNu on Friday March 17 2017, @11:34AM (1 child)
The article doesn't say anything.
Skimming the Eurotapes website - they seem to have been fiddling with industrialisation of existing technologies e.g. YBCO. US DoE tried something similar about 10 years ago but did not really get very far. But there is no "breakthrough". It's all about pushing manufacturing techniques to bring costs down a bit. The "news" is that Eurotapes funding round finished. I hope they get it renewed.
http://eurotapes.eu/images/Roda_de_premsa_Eurotapes_Albert_Calleja.pdf [eurotapes.eu]
I love slide 9 ( INGRESSOS ANNUALS i PROJECCIONS) showing income to date (I think) as flat flat flat and then projected income exponentially growing. With a big fat arrow pointing up. Dilbert would be proud.
Nb: I am really looking forward to industrialisation of High Temperature Superconductors - if I was CERN Director General I would be dumping bucketloads of cash into this.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 17 2017, @05:59PM