New small-scale generator is developed
GEORGIA - U.S. scientists say they've developed a small-scale generator that produces alternating current by the cyclical stretching and releasing of zinc oxide wires.
Georgia Institute of Technology researchers said their so-called "flexible charge pump" generator is the fourth generation of devices designed to produce electrical current by using the piezoelectric properties of zinc oxide structures to harvest mechanical energy from the environment.
"The flexible charge pump offers yet another option for converting mechanical energy into electrical energy," said Professor Zhong Lin Wang. "This adds to our family of very small-scale generators able to power devices used in medical sensing, environmental monitoring, defense technology and personal electronics."
The research that included Rusen Yang and Yong Qin from Georgia Tech and Liming Dai of the University of Dayton is reported in the advance online issue of the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
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Federal Government announces funding for Manitoba-Saskatchewan power line
WINNIPEG - The federal government announced funding for the Birtle Transmission Line Monday morning.
The project will help Manitoba Hydro build a transmission line from Birtle South Station in the Municipality of Prairie View to the Manitoba–Saskatchewan border 46 kilometres northwest. Once completed, the new line will allow up to 215 megawatts of hydroelectricity to flow from the Manitoba Hydro power grid to the SaskPower power grid.
The government said the transmission line would create a more stable energy supply, keep energy rates affordable and help Saskatchewan's efforts to reduce cumulative greenhouse-gas emissions in that province.
"The Government of Canada is proud to…
