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80
APRIL 2012
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
THE PROBLEM
MACHINES
DON´T JUST USE
ENERGY. THEY
LOSE IT, TOO.
THE SOLUTION:
DON’T LET
THAT GOOD STUFF GET AWAY—
PUT IT TOWORK.
Richard James, a University of Min-
nesota aerospace engineering and
mechanics professor, is among a number
of scientists now working on electricity-
generating processes that could help
capture the heat given off by machines
and turn it into electricity. The concept
is surprisingly simple: James’ process,
for instance, uses alloys of nickel,
cobalt, manganese and tin that become
magnetized with a slight fluctuation in
temperature. The magnetic change, in
turn, generates a current in a surround-
ing coil. Voilà! Electric power. “There are
no moving parts,” says James. “In this
sense, the material
is
the machine.”
The process could collect energy in
installations as big as power plants or as
small as handheld electronic devices, and
boost fuel mileage in vehicles by convert-
ing their heat to energy. James’ next
step is to find the best alloys for efficient
energy conversion and power output,
and develop a thin-film application of
the alloys for use in computers and other
electronics
.
—GREG BREINING
THE PROBLEM: NO ONE
KNOWS WHAT TO DO
WITH NUCLEAR WASTE.
THE SOLUTION:
USE IT
TOMAKE MORE
NUCLEAR POWER.
Nuclear power is widely considered
one of the cleanest energy sources
available, but the specter of a
meltdown and questions about how
to deal with the unstable waste
continue to unnerve the public,
especially after Japan’s Fukushima
disaster last year. As a result, the
debate about nuclear power has
long seemed intractable. That’s why
General Electric’s PRISM reactor is
so compelling. It’s a small, highly
efficient, carbon-free “fast reactor”
that can run on spent nuclear fuel,
yields less radioactive waste than
ordinary nuclear plants and has a
cooling system that works even if
there’s no one around to operate it.
According to Eric Loewen, PRISM’s
chief engineer, it harnesses clean
power safely while also helping to
address climate change, making it
something that nuke advocates and