Power plant in space to power homes on earth
A research group representing 16 companies, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., will spend four years developing technology to send electricity without cables in the form of microwaves, according to a statement on the trade ministryÂ’s Web site.
“It sounds like a science-fiction cartoon, but solar power generation in space may be a significant alternative energy source in the century ahead as fossil fuel disappears,” said Kensuke Kanekiyo, managing director of the Institute of Energy Economics, a government research body.
Japan is developing the technology for the 1-gigawatt solar station, fitted with four square kilometers of solar panels, and hopes to have it running in three decades, according to a 15-page background document prepared by the trade ministry in August. Being in space it will generate power from the sun regardless of weather conditions, unlike earth-based solar generators.
One gigawatt is enough to supply about 294,000 average Tokyo homes.
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Maritime Link almost a reality, as first power cable reaches Nova Scotia
HALIFAX - The longest sub-sea electricity cable in North America now connects Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, according to the company behind the $1.7-billion Maritime Link project.
The first of the project's two high-voltage power transmission cables was anchored at Point Aconi, N.S., on Sunday.
The 170-kilometre long cable across the Cabot Strait will connect the power grids in the two provinces. The link will allow power to flow between the two provinces, and bring to Nova Scotia electricity generated by the massive Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project in Labrador.
Ultimately, the Maritime Link will help Nova Scotia reach the renewable energy…
