Energy that does not cost the Earth
The Epicam rotary engine
About
One of the greatest existential risks facing humanity is Climate Change. The evidence for it, the rapidly increasing risk and the cause, combustion of fossil fuels, can be seen clearly from geophysical data. Knowing this, the solution, the means by which it can be put right, also becomes clear.
Seven sets of data from different sources have been compared with an exponential growth in time. They are carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, earth temperature, heat wave days, insurance losses, rising sea levels, world-wide epidemics, and melting of glaciers in the Himalyas. The standard deviation (goodness of fit) for CO2 levels is +/- 2 ppm ( parts per million), showing an extremely good fit. However the most significant observation is that all seven start at exactly the same time 1801 +/- 3 years!
That year was when Trevithick ran his first steam carriage. It was the start of the industrial revolution powered by the combustion of fossil fuels.
The rate of rise of an exponential function is proportional to its value, so this is extremely concerning.
What to do?
Use electricity. Provide power without combustion. For storage, use liquid air that is similar to boiling water except that it boils at -200 degrees C rather than +100 deg C. The volumes needed are somewhat similar. Air is universally available and requires no mining. It can readily be condensed using renewable energy.
The Epicam rotary engine, from Cambridge, running on compressed air, provides very high efficiency with no moving parts that touch. High pressure is produced by warming the liquid air to room temperature. When it is used both as a compressor and an expander to store energy as liquid air, there is a round trip efficiency of about 67%, similar to the Dinorwic pumped water storage system. A great bonus is that carbon in the atmosphere can be condensed out, in the process, at little extra cost. Used to store 10% of electricity in grids world-wide, it could restore the atmosphere in about ten years!
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Continuing Professional Development
This event can contribute towards your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours as part of the IET's CPD monitoring scheme.
24 Oct 2024
7:00pm - 8:30pm
Organiser
- North Wales Local Network
Registration information
Please register using the REGISTER button.
On arrival, please report to Reception, where you will be directed to the Conference Room. There is plenty of onsite parking.
Speakers
Colin Abbiss M.Sc., Ph.D.
Epicam Project Scientist - Epicam Project
Worked at the Building Research Establishment for 25 years where geophysical methods were being applied to foundation problems such as the North Sea drilling rigs and to dams and tunnels. Finding that surprising accuracies were possible, they had to be matched by a corresponding precision of measurement, often using optics.
Was a visiting lecturer at the National University of Malaysia and is encouraged to find that these methods are now being applied widely in East Asia.
Also a Senior Visiting Fellow at The City University, London, where very appropriately the research was into London Clay!
With wife Janet is a Life Member of the pioneer Centre for Alternative Technology at Machynlleth in Wales. Both are Friends of the Faraday Institute for Science and Faith, and the Tyndale House Centre, at Cambridge University.
Worked with A Rocha, the international Christian environmental organisation, and their Christian Rural and Environmental Studies programme.
More recently has been involved with the Epicam project to clean up our environment, using power from liquid air and in the process removing carbon compounds from the atmosphere. The aim is to get back to balanced pre-industrial conditions.
Hobbies are model engineering and exploring our world, often on foot!
Reasons to attend
An opportunity to learn about the EPICAM engine which uses the power from liquid air produced using renewable energy.
Programme
18:30 Registration and Light Refreshments
19:00 Start of Lecture
20:00 Questions and Answers (Approximate Time)
20:30 End of Event (Approximate Time)