European
researchers on Tuesday announced the development of Superconducting tapes. The
statement said that the breakthrough could one day revolutionize the power
transmission and power generation industries. The statement went as far as to
claim that the technology is already being used in many appliances.
Eurotapes, a
European research project on superconductivity has produced 600 meters
superconducting tape, said the coordinator of the project, Xavier Obradors, of
the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona.
Superconductivity
is a phenomenon discovered in 1911 by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes. Superconductivity
is the ability of any material to conduct electricity with zero loss of
electric charge. Conventional conductors like copper losses up to 10% of the
charge in form of heat.
All
superconducting materials discovered till now show their superconductive
property at low temperature. The highest temperature known
superconducting material is highly
pressurized hydrogen
sulfide, whose critical temperature reaches
203 K (−70 °C), the highest accepted superconducting critical
temperature as of 2015. The aim is to one day find a material that can work as
superconductor at room temperature.
The use of
superconductor, if any discovered to work at room temperature, can
revolutionize the power distribution, power generation and electric appliances.
The use of the material in appliances and other electronics would help
manufacture of supercomputers, much lighter and cheaper than today. The power
generation can be revolutionized by manufacture of much lighter and much more
efficient wind turbines. It can convert small wind turbines into an electricity
generation power house.
Wind
turbines are a series of wire coils attached to the rotor blade spin in the
presence of strong magnetic fields, provided by stationary magnets. Making the coils from resistance free material
can boost power generation.
The power distribution
can be changed altogether. Right now, if you want to send electricity from the
East coast of the US to the West coast, you could lose at least 60 percent of
the energy because of the resistance within the wires. Imagine the superconducting
transmission lines carrying charge from Gobi desert in China to London, without
any line losses. The solar panels near the equator can be linked to
transmission lines helping better and much more efficient energy mix in favor
of renewable energy as at all time there will be sun shining somewhere.
The
discovery can one day lead to environment friendly power generation and power
consumption. The race to develop first superconducting material at room
temperature is yet to yield any viable results. The team in United States has announced
the production of metallic hydrogen, a possible superconductor at room
temperature, through application of pressure much more than at the center of
Earth.
Australian researchers
earlier mentioned that wind turbines two to three times more efficient than
present ones can be manufactured using superconductors and would be ready to be
installed on Australian shores till 2019.
Japanese
team has hinted that they have discovered that critical temperature of
materials can be enhanced by soaking materials in red wine.
Superconductivity
research can one day free us from dependence on fossil fuel and make Earth a
better place to live in for our children.
