TV Programme on Wood Pellet Heating

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TV Researcher wants to talk to
WoodPellet Owners

Had a bad experience with wood pellet heating, maybe got poor or no satisfaction from installers or sellers?? This might be a chance to achieve some satisfaction.

Last call, at least on this blog, for anyone who has had a bad experience with Wood Pellet Heating. A production company who is producing a series for RTE TV is currently talking to people with wood pellet problems.

If you are willing to be interviewed - please make contact with me at: thenewoil at gmail dot com. and I will pass on your details.



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Zenn and the Art of Electric Car Making

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Zenn
and the
Art of Electric Car Making

Ian Clifford is the founder and chief executive of Toronto-based ZENN Motor Company Inc. formerly Feel Good Cars.

ZENN Motors is said to hold a minority stake in EEstor. Zenn Motors future is now set to sink or swim on one single factor – the delivery, within 2 months, of a viable ultracapacitor storage unit by EEstor. The word on the wires is that ZENN is expected to lose some $9 million or six times its $1.5 million or so annual turnover.

Ian Clifford at the Zenn Plant

ZENN recently decided to move away from making cars and instead it would put its energies into developing an EEStor ultracapacitor based electric drive train called ZENNergy. The idea is to sell it to other car makers worldwide.

Now that would be just darn tootin dandy if the EEstor battery / ultracapacitor thing-a-me-bob actually works.

Here we have an electric car manufacturer in deep financial manure basing its entire survival on a very very long shot from a company which has played its cards so close to its chest that you couldn’t get a rat’s squeak in.

Question is, would you invest your life’s savings in either of these two companies??


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The Neverending EEstor Story

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The Neverending
EEstor Story

Well then my last post on the EEstor Ultracapacitor battery thingy started quite a flurry of hits on the site and a few comments too.

Stage Trick?

Most stage magic tricks depend on mis-direction, or not showing the audience what you don't want them to see. The old sawing the lady in half trick simply depends on not showing what is actually happening, and at the same time suggesting something completely different.

When Steorn announced their 'free energy' device, the one thing we were not shown was a working device - I wonder ever why??

I want to believe but - -

I want to be a believer and live in the land of the hopeful but - a few things point me towards a fishy odor.

Firstly, EEstor has been very assiduous indeed in not showing their ultracapacitor. While at the same time making a lot of noise about the great benefits and the research etc. etc. Does that remind you of any particular strategy??

Secondly, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has just announced their awards and grants for the best contributions to energy efficiency. What do you know - they completely neglected to mention EEstor - now why would they do that??

Santa Clause

I cried bitterly when I discovered that Santa Clause was a scam - I really wanted to believe but the evidence was compelling, and I fell into the cold hard world of the unbeliever.

I hope and pray for some major breakthrough in our energy crisis - darn tootin we do need some and soon - and I struggle to remain hopeful.

Others feel much the same as I do. Here is one of the comments on EEstor:


I have this magic wand that can make cars fly. Just think of the money that will be saved on road construction alone. I'd happily sell you 10.7% of my company for $165 mm. Sorry you can't see it work beforehand.

Capacitors were invented almost 50 years before the battery or the light bulb for that matter. Billions of dollars have been invested into battery and capacitor technology worldwide over hundreds of years.

Barium Titanate is also a well known and highly researched dielectric compound. A quick Google search will turn up several PhD dissertations on these materials in the past couple of years alone. The problem is material science – not product commercialisation.

Zenn and Eestor, by the moves they are making, are starting to look like the game they are playing is just plain old stock promotions, and not terribly sophisticated at that.

In the past, the US has had its share of snake oil salesmen who used to sell instant cures in a bottle. The pitch has changed over the years, but human gullibility hasn’t.

Hope

Hey - I still hope that EEstor is for real - but I won't hold my breath while I am waiting to find out.






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EEstor and the Holy Grail Ultracapacitor

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EEstor
and the Holy Grail
of Ultracapacitors

EEStor Inc. is a private (very private indeed - it is said secretive even) company based in Texas. It was founded in 2001 by Richard Weir and Carl Nelson. EEstor has just announced that it is about to launch a new ultracapacitor (battery) an EESU (Electrical Energy Storage Unit), which if it works like they say, it would be nothing short of the Holy Grail for electric cars and many other applications, and it would make many of the older types of batteries completely obsolete.

The Claim

EEStor says its ultracapacitor has several times the energy density of lithium-ion batteries. This is a fairly amazing claim and will no doubt spark much suspicion and disbelief. I will keep an open mind and live among the hopeful.

Ultracapacitors already exist and are used in some applications, hybrid cars use them. However, up until now, ultracapacitors can only take about 5 - 10% of the power/charge of a lithium-ion battery of the same size. Many scientists recon that it is next to impossible to make an ultracapacitor that can match or beat a lithium-ion battery.

Click on the image for better quality Blogger has poor image handling

For instance the EEstor EESU is reported to be some 20+% smaller in size and to have 60% less weight than that of a similar capacity lithium-ion battery. It can be charged fully in 5 minutes, unlike a lithium-ion battery that takes at least 4 hours to charge. Because of its smaller size and greatly reduced weight, a larger capacity unit can be fitted in a given space thus giving a greater range to the vehicle.

Imagine!



Just imagine an electric car, truck or bus, that can make a journey from Cork to Belfast on a single charge. Then imagine charging it up fully in the time it takes to have a quick cup of coffee. And what about a ‘battery’ that can outlast the life of the vehicle it powers. A battery that is safe and non-toxic, no fumes, heat, or flames!!

And it doesn’t even begin to stop there. Ultracapacitors could be the answer to the mass storage needed for wind turbines in order to balance out the power. They could soak up energy very quickly, and release it equally quickly. They could last decades, making them a very good choice on economic grounds, gaining over pumped storage and other types of battery. Ultra capacitors could power mobile phones, cameras etc. Your mobile would charge in a few seconds.

Ahhhh but is my imagination running away with itself a bit too soon?????




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Holy Grail Ultracapacitor nearer the real World

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EEstor about to announce
a viable
Ultracapacitor?

The whispers are out on the WWW that EEstor are about to test a viable ultracapacitor. This is close enough to the "holy grail" for electric car manufacturers.

Current Electric Cars are little more than a Joke!

The only thing that is holding back the all electric car is the development of a viable battery or some other high capacity energy storage unit. All of the batteries developed to date have been various combinations of the following; expensive, bulky, heavy, slow to recharge, short-lived, dangerous, or just plain useless.

An ultracapacitor on the other hand can be charged in minutes rather than hours. it can give out its power in greats blasts for fast acceleration. It can be charged and re-charged many many thousands of times - unlike chemical batteries. However, up till now, an ultracapacitor could not hold a sufficient amount of power.

An Electric Car Battery that can outlast the Car!!

The new breed of ultracapacitor, using nanotechnology, will have a capacity tens of times greater than the current types. They can be charged while having a coffee at a filling station, instead of 6 or 8 hours with current technology!

They will also be relatively cheap and light, they will not have a tendency to heat up, go on fire, or to explode, and they can outlast the life of the car!!!!

Is this just another scam? Or is the ultracapacitor really on its way to the stores??



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Comments and Commercial Links

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Always Happy to Post Comments
Except - -

I really like to receive comments to this blog, and I am happy to post most that I receive.

What will guarantee that a comment goes into the bin is when it comes with commercial links embedded. I have never had any commercial strings attached to this blog, and I never will.

I will also guarantee to lose comments which have little or no relevance to the post, and of course, those which could be considered abusive or indeed libelous.

But maybe I am fooling myself to think that the block-heads who keep sending me hollow comments riddled with commercial links to their sales sites will ever read or heed this rant!!!!



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TV Programme being Researched

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A Call
to my
WoodPellet Contributors

I have been contacted by a researcher for an Irish TV production company who is researching a programme on "Wood Pellet Boilers" in Ireland. He would really like to talk to anyone who has had problems with their installations.

If you are willing to be contacted, please email me at: thenewoil at gmail dot com and I will pass on your contact details.



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Pretty Solar Tiles

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PV Solar Panels
Getting Pretty

Just a quick post with a couple of photos. A friend of mine sent me a couple of photos of new style Photo Electric Panels. They now can come in the shape of very nice roof tiles and can look really well in addition to generating electricity. I wonder about the bright blue - is that optional?




In Ireland these lovely tiles would be good for keeping the rains out but would not be not much good at generating power.


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A Word of Warning on Chinese Wind Turbines

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Caveat Emptor



I received an e-mail a few days ago from a very disappointed user of a Chinese VAWT (Vertical axis wind turbine). I am reproducing the correspondence here. In doing so, I am omitting, by request, the name of the writer, and I am also making no evaluation or personal comment on these turbines.



I sure hope you haven’t bought a mill (wind-turbine) from Shanghai! I did, it was the biggest mistake of my life! I was even there to visit them; they just don’t produce anything besides a lot of costs and headaches! Sorry I can’t give any tips on what works, but just wanted you to know these mills from Shanghai should be avoided at all cost.
Regards,
K …



Thanks K … - Can you be a bit more specific about the model and the problems? I would like to report it but I need some specifics. I will not publish anything pointing to you or your email address.
Regards,
Tony McGinley



Hi Tony,
Thanks for the mail, My mill is a 1kw from SAWT, the first problem was that the spring to hold the brakes apart was placed too close to the axle, which in turn made a terrible scraping noise when it turned. I ended up having to take the mill down and fix the brake system with my own ideas. The next time was a magnet that got loose in the generator - that stopped the mill from turning; again I had to take down the mill.

SAWT sent a new generator and controller, but to get it through customs I had to pay 700 USD, which is not reimbursed. The mill then worked, but after 2 weeks of good wind it had only produced 0,8kW totally, then the controller collapsed and now its not working again.

At the same time I believe it must be possible to get this system working because it’s relatively simple. I have been warned about another make of VAWT, which comes from China, it has no plates on the top or bottom of the wings, it sounds even worse!

I would be grateful if you didn’t publish my name, as it may affect my guarantee... its more for your own information.

Hope it helps,
K ...




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