Beijing Olympic’s Aquatic Centre and the power of rain.

Today I share a couple of interesting articles I came across that have a water theme.

Firstly, the power of the humble raindrop as an energy source may not have occurred to many but it seems that Jean-Jacques Chaillout of the Atomic Energy Commission of Grenoble, France has developed a technique using piezoelectric structures that take the kinetic energy of a falling raindrop and converts it to electrical energy that can be used to power a number of devices and sensors.

Redorbit reports that researchers say the “first application could be inside the cooling towers of nuclear power stations, where a build-up of limescale reduces efficiency.
The team now plans to create a wireless limescale sensor that will be powered by the falling droplets that form when steam vented up the chimney condenses.”

If only something could be invented using this technology to sense the first drops of rain and bring the washing in on some mechanised washing line!

The second article comes from Treehugger.com from a report by Alex Pasternak in Beijing reporting on the amazing Olympic “water cube” that is the Beijing National Aquatic Centre. It also has some great pictures and video of the structure.

Pasternak reports that “water is, naturally, also a focus of the building’s sustainability efforts. A rainwater collection system gathers 10,000 cubic meters of the wet stuff each year, while a recycling system reuses 80% of the building’s water. That’s crucial in drought-plagued Beijing, which has less water per person than Israel.”

The energy efficiency of the Olympic sites feature energy-efficient measures such as water saving projects, solar panels and light piping helping it to achieve its “Green Olympics” status.

From alternative energy sources to futuristic constructions it is certainly and interesting world out there!

~ by abstraktbiblos on Saturday, 2 February, 2008.