Sunday, October 24, 2010

the "Electricitree"

The Electricitree: A manufactured tree that uses biomimic technology to generate electricity from the wind and sun.

Another interesting technology has entered the fray, Sway Power. Windstalks that sway in the wind and generate electricity. We have our sights set on combining biomimic technologies to produce an "Electricitree". We have reported on flutter technology with the "Nano Leaf", the photovoltaic Photo-leaf and now we have Sway Power with these new windstalks. Our electricitree concept is green energy power plants that look and behave like a tree, a tree that produces electricity.
The Electritree could generate electricity by mimicking the motions of a tree with leaves fluttering and soaking up sunlight in low wind conditions, connected to limbs that can sway to absorb and generate more power in higher winds...like a tree.

The article below reprinted from Discovery News, best describes this Sway Power concept.

WIND POWER WITHOUT THE BLADES: BIG PICS

By Alyssa Danigelis

Noise from wind turbine blades, inadvertent bat and bird kills and even the way wind turbines look have made installing them anything but a breeze. New York design firm Atelier DNA has an alternative concept that ditches blades in favor of stalks. Resembling thin cattails, the Windstalks generate electricity when the wind sets them waving. The designers came up with the idea for the planned city Masdar, a 2.3-square-mile, automobile-free area being built outside of Abu Dhabi. Atelier DNA’s “Windstalk” project came in second in the Land Art Generator competition a contest sponsored by Madsar to identify the best work of art that generates renewable energy from a pool of international submissions.


The proposed design calls for 1,203 “stalks,” each 180-feet high with concrete bases that are between about 33- and 66-feet wide. The carbon-fiber stalks, reinforced with resin, are about a foot wide at the base tapering to about 2 inches at the top. Each stalk will contain alternating layers of electrodes and ceramic discs made from piezoelectric material, which generates a current when put under pressure. In the case of the stalks, the discs will compress as they sway in the wind, creating a charge.

“The idea came from trying to find kinetic models in nature that could be tapped to produce energy,” explained Atelier DNA founding partner Darío Núñez-Ameni.

In the proposal for Masdar, the Windstalk wind farm spans 280,000 square feet. Based on rough estimates, said Núñez-Ameni the output would be comparable to that of a conventional wind farm covering the same area.

“Our system is very efficient in that there is no friction loss associated with more mechanical systems such as conventional wind turbines,” he said.


Each base is slightly different, and is sloped so that rain will funnel into the areas between the concrete to help plants grow wild. These bases form a sort of public park space and serve a technological purpose. Each one contains a torque generator that converts the kinetic energy from the stalk into energy using shock absorber cylinders similar to the kind being developed by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Levant Power .

Wind isn’t constant, though, so Núñez-Ameni says two large chambers below the whole site will work like a battery to store energy. The idea is based on existing hydroelectric pumped storage systems. Water in the upper chamber will flow through turbines to the lower chamber, releasing stored energy until the wind starts up again.


The top of each tall stalk has an LED lamp that glows when the wind is blowing -- more intensely during strong winds and not all when the air is still. The firm anticipates that the stalks will behave naturally, vibrating and fluttering in the air.

“Windstalk is completely silent, and the image associated with them is something we're already used to seeing in a field of wheat or reeds in a marsh. Our hope is that people living close to them will like to walk through the field -- especially at night -- under their own, private sky of swarming stars,” said Núñez-Ameni.

After completion, a Windstalk should be able to produce as much electricity as a single wind turbine, with the advantage that output could be increased with a denser array of stalks. Density is not possible with conventional turbines, which need to be spaced about three times the rotor's diameter in order to avoid air turbulence. But Windstalks work on chaos and turbulence so they can be installed much closer together, said Núñez-Ameni.

Núñez-Ameni also reports that the firm is currently working on taking the Windstalk idea underwater. Called Wavestalk, the whole system would be inverted to harness energy from the flow of ocean currents and waves. The firm’s long-term goal is to build a large system in the United States, either on land or in the water.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Green Energy Innovations

Recently we attended the West Coast Green Innovation Convention in San Francisco. We had the pleasure of meeting many of you, the sincere providers of Green Energy Products and Services. We plead for and received your support in Green Energy Education, our Mobile Demonstration Exhibit for Rural Schools and Communities, our Mass Media Awareness Campaign and GRNNRG.ORG.
Things get done with public support.
Thank You
D.H.

Innovations Abound
The technology is advancing very fast.
Today, the Noble Prize was given for the innovation called "Graphene" a transparent film that is 100 time stronger than steel.
The following article is from NPR and we think that this innovation will make a remarkable impact in a relatively short period of time.

Last Week, the University of North Carolina announce their plan to develop the "photo leaf", a gel filled leaf that collects solar energy much like photosynthesis.

This Last February, British researchers announced their research in "Biomimicry" (nature inspired technology design), with the "nano leaf", a leaf that uses "flutter" energy. When the leaf flutters in the breeze, it produces pico watts.
When thousands of Nanoleaves flap back and forth due to wind, millions and millions of Pico watts are generated, the stronger the wind, the more energy is generated.

The Inevitable!!?
Combine the Nanoleaf flutter system with the Photo-leaves and we have the "Electricitree"

The following article is reprinted from NPR and we think that this innovation will make a remarkable impact in a relatively short period of time. Kudos to NPR.


Nobel Awarded For Thin, Versatile Carbon Material
by NPR STAFF AND WIRES
October 5, 2010
Two Russian-born scientists shared the Nobel Prize in physics on
Tuesday for "groundbreaking experiments'' with the thinnest, strongest
material known to mankind, a carbon vital for the creation of faster
computers and transparent touch screens.
Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, professors at the University of
Manchester in Britain, in 2004 isolated graphene, a form of carbon only
one atom thick but more than 100 times stronger than steel, and showed
it has exceptional properties, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.
Experiments with graphene could lead to the development of new superstrong materials to make
satellites, airplanes and cars, as well as innovative electronics, the academy said in announcing the
10 million kronor ($1.5 million) award.
Graphene transistors are predicted to be substantially faster than today's silicon transistors and
result in more efficient computers,'' the academy said in the citation. "Since it is practically
transparent and a good conductor, graphene is suitable for producing transparent touch screens,
light panels and maybe even solar cells.''
And researchers at the University of Southern California are using
graphene in organic photovoltaic solar cells as a highly transparent
material that's also good at conducting electricity. OPV cells are cheaper
and more flexible than silicon cells, and researchers say they could be
Jannik Meyer/Science via The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Graphene is a one atom-thick layer of ordinary carbon atoms, organized in a flat sheet. It conducts both electricity and heat
extremely well.

and more flexible than silicon cells, and researchers say they could be
hung as curtains or even made into fabric and worn as power-generating
clothing, but they convert sunlight to electricity far less efficiently.
Geim, 51, is a Dutch national while Novoselov, 36, holds British and
Russian citizenship. Both are natives of Russia and started their careers
in physics there. They first worked together in the Netherlands before
moving to Britain.
Novoselov is among the youngest winners of a prize that normally goes to
scientists with decades of experience. The youngest Nobel laureate to
date is Lawrence Bragg, who was 25 when he shared the physics award
with his father William Bragg in 1915.
Geim told The Associated Press he didn't expect to win the prize this year
and had forgotten that it was Nobel time when the prize committee called
him from Stockholm.
The two scientists used simple Scotch tape as a crucial tool in their
experiments, peeling off thin flakes of graphene from a lager piece of
graphite, Geim said.
"It's a humble technique. But the hard work came later,'' he said,
comparing the material to plastics in its ability to revolutionize the world.
"It has all the potential to change your life in the same way that plastics
did,'' he said."It is really exciting.''
Geim last year won the prestigious Korber European Science Award for
the discovery, the University of Manchester said.
"This was a well-deserved award,'' said Phillip F. Schewe, spokesman for the American Institute of
Physics in College Park, Maryland.
"Graphene is the thinnest material in the world, it's one of the strongest, maybe the strongest
material in the world. It's an excellent conductor. Electrons move through it very quickly, which is
something you want to make circuits out of,'' Schewe said.
He said graphene may be a good material for making integrated circuits,
small chips with millions of transistors that are the backbone of all modern
telecommunications. Its properties could also lead to potential uses in
construction material, Schewe said, but added it would take a while
"before this sort of technology moves into mainstream application.''

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Letter to Renewable Energy Businesses and Providers in California

We are GRNNRG.ORG, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to spread Information, education and awareness to all walks of life.

Our "Taking it to the Streets" Campaign is an assertive person to person, school by school, community by community, promotion and awareness campaign that combines a comprehensive Website and Multi Media platform as well as a Mobile Demonstration Exhibit, Road Trip Campaign that brings the everyday and economic benefits of a renewable energy conversion and lifestyle to Rural Schools and Communities.

We are currently preparing a Mobile GRNNRG (Green Energy) Science Demonstration Exhibit. We are converting 18 Wheel Tractor- Trailer rig to run on renewable energy. The tractor and auxiliary generator will operate on bio and other alternate fuels.
Powered by roof top solar panels and a telescoping wind turbines, the Walk Through Exhibit will include practical scale models of the four natural elements, Solar, Wind, Geothermal and Hydrogen. Each Model will take turns powering utility exhibits such as Heating, Air-Conditioning, and Lighting Effects with an impressive and entertaining Multi Media Presentation.
The Exhibit will travel to rural communities and be offered free to Schools as Assembly Events during the day.

In the evening, the exhibit is offered to community gathering points and social centers and also equipted with alternative fuel and electric cars to display, demonstrate and take sales orders. Hosted by humorous and highly entertaining professional speakers, our presentation will get the attention of our intended audience and make a lasting positive impression to the benefits of a green energy lifestyle.

Beginning in Spring 2011, 36 seasonal, 4 day Road trips are planned for Rural Schools and Communities in California. 12 each in Southern California, (Winter), Central California, (Summer) and Northern California (Spring).

We would like your support in helping us bring this important message to all of California's diverse walks of life. Free of charge, we are supported by grants and donations. Donations come in many forms. We greatly appreciate donations of products, exhibits, and services.
In return we will actively promote your business and spread the awareness and benefits of your business to the citizens in rural California communities, by prominently displaying your Logo or trade mark and contact information in or on our Mobile Demonstration Exhibit and Media presentation.

I would like to speak to you about how we can help one another in this noble cause.

Sincerely,
David E. Harshbarger

For more information you can visit our website and Blog at www.GRNNRG.ORG
If your Business would like to advertise on our website, contact us via email, phone or mail at the address below.

David E. Harshbarger
d.hrshbrgr@gmail.com
(661) 944-0816 HM/OFF.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0366094/
GRNNRG.ORG
Co-founder and Director
30329.N. 104th St. E.
Juniper Hills, CA 93543

Monday, July 26, 2010

Green Energy... Renewable Energy... Where do I begin? GRNNRG.ORG!

Green Energy...Renewable Energy...Where do I begin? GRNNRG.ORG!

This is the first question for most people that want to convert to green renewable energy.
The answer is simple...GRNNRG.ORG.

5 Simple steps to begin and end your dependency on fossil fuels (gas, oil and coal)

In your home:
1) Define your conditions.
Is your location in a windy and or sunny location?
Usually a system combining both solar and wind can be the most efficient.
Is geothermal heating and energy practical for you location?

2) Determine your amount of energy needed.
Your current local energy provider can provide your power usage history to determine the amount you need to generate to be energy self sufficient.

3) Contact competent Solar, Wind and Geothermal contractors and suppliers in your area.
A listing of contractors and suppliers in your area are available on the internet or local Yellow pages and our Links page at GRNNRG.ORG

4) Secure financial assistance, credits, tax incentives and rebates.
The State of California and the Federal Government offer substantial tax incentives and credits for green energy conversion. The time to convert to green energy has never been better than now.
Home owner's can finance their conversion for less than their current bill and in many cases eliminate their power bills all together bill in 5-10 years.
New innovated lease agreements are now available for renters and non home owners.

Outside your home:
Cars have always been a pollution culprit. This coming year several major automobile manufacturers have announced that they are offering electric and hydrogen cell cars and trucks. Choose your favorite manufacturer for their alternative fueled models.

For the classic auto enthusiast, gas engine to electric motor conversion is relatively inexpensive, efficient, clean and powerful. They currently have batteries that can accommodate about 100 mile range. As batteries improve and get better the range will increase dramatically.

Our dependence on fossil fuels has started wars, killed innocent workers and citizens, polluted our air, melted our poles and is out to destroyed our environment .

Our "Taking it to the Streets" Campaign is an assertive person to person, school by school, community by community promotion and awareness campaign that combines a comprehensive Website and Multi Media platform as well as a Mobile Demonstration Exhibit, Road Trip Campaign that brings the everyday and economic benefits of a renewable energy conversion and lifestyle to Rural Schools and Communities.

We are currently preparing a Mobile GRNNRG (Green Energy) Science Demonstration Exhibit. We are converting 18 Wheel Tractor- trailer rig to run on renewable energy, as a Mobile Science Demonstration Exhibit. The tractor and auxiliary generator will operate on bio and other alternate fuels.
Powered by roof top solar panels and a telescoping wind turbines, the Walk Through Exhibit will include practical scale models of the four natural elements, Solar, Wind, Geothermal and Hydrogen. Each model will take turns powering utility exhibits such as interesting Heating, Air-Conditioning, TV and Lighting Effects and an impressive and entertaining Multi Media Presentation.
The Exhibit will travel to rural communities and be offered free to Schools as Assembly Events during the day in the evening offered to community gather points and social centers with alternative energy cars to exhibit and demonstrate Hosted by humorous and highly Entertaining professional speakers , our presentation will get the attention and make a positive impression of the benefits of a green energy lifestyle.

Beginning in Spring 2011, 36 seasonal, 4 day Road trips are planned for Rural Schools and Communities in California. 12 each in Southern California, (Winter), Central California, (Summer) and Northern California (Spring).

We would like your support in helping us bring this important message to all of California's diverse walks of life. Free of charge, we are supported by grants and donations. Donations come in many forms. We greatly appreciate donations of products, exhibits, and services.
In return we will spread the awareness of your business or organization to the citizens in rural communities that need our help the most, by prominently displaying your Logo or trade mark and contact information in or on our Mobile Demonstration Exhibit and Media presentation.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Geothermal Energy Production

Geothermal, Geothermal, Geothermal...I can't say it enough.

Green Energy is like a 4 legged table. Solar, Wind, Geothermal and Hydrogen fuel energies support the table top.
The 3rd leg of the green energy table is Geothermal Energy and is greatly ignored by the general public. Windmills and Solar farms are very visible, easy to understand and extremely popular. Geothermal on the other hand is literally underground and out of sight.
"Out of Sight, Out of Mind" has been the rule.

Geothermal is the only practical commercial energy system that is as efficient and can rival the fossil fuel energy production systems. Geothermal uses the similar drilling technology as the oil industry, only in our case, if a spill occurs it is hot water, not oil.

Bill Gates just announced on ABC News' This Week, that he was getting in to the renewable energy industry. He would like to enter the revolution (evolution) with a lot of funding, billions. He wants to promote the industry to be the world innovation leader, as he did with computers and software. Steve Jobs (Apple) has been on this page for some time. They believe, as many do, that this is the only real solution to our financial crisis and energy needs.

On that same program Robert Reich (Economy Professor UC Berkley and former Secretary of Labor) emphasized that California is the leader in Green Innovation. "Everything Good and Bad starts in California", "California is the future". (Robert Reich).

A positive Public Relations and "Technology Sharing" campaigns are the areas that are severely lacking.
The lack of public awareness of Geothermal potential is disgraceful. Geothermal is the only practical commercial energy system that is as efficient and can rival the fossil fuel energy production systems. Geothermal uses the similar drilling technology as the oil industry, only in our case if a spill occurs it is hot water, not oil.

Monday, March 29, 2010

American Farm Windmill to Wind Turbine Conversion

How to Convert a Windmill Into a Wind Generator
Contributor
By Richard Laurens, eHow Contributing Writer
Reprinted from eHow.com

Preface by GRNNRG.ORG

One of the problems with residential Wind Turbine is their appearance. A big 2 or 3 blade wind turbine is asthetically unpleasing for the user and his or her neighbors. An American Farm Windmill (12-18 blade) seems to be much more acceptical and can be built relatively cheep, fast and good, meeting the needs of electric power and pleasingly asthetic design. GRNNRG.ORG was created and founded to address such concerns and other concerns like it. One by one we will attempt to eliminate objections to green energy conversion. One more down and more to come.
D.H.
 

Typical farm windmill

A typical windmill can be converted to generate enough electricity to power a modest sized home. Using the windmill to recharge a battery bank suited to the needs of the home is the simplest and most effective method of wind power storage. The average backyard engineer can convert a windmill to generate electricity in about four hours.

Step 1
Convert the drive shaft of the windmill to turn a generator. Most old windmills were constructed to pump water from the ground, either for livestock or people. As utility companies began to supply water to any homestead inexpensively, such windmills fell out of use. Their main drive shaft turns a pump at the base, which is connected to the water supply in the ground. As the wind turns the vanes, the water is pumped into a reservoir. This shaft must be disconnected where it meets the pump, and windmills can vary in this respect. Some will have the force put to the pump at a 90-degree angle, and some will drive the pump directly without power differential. When the shaft is disconnected, it will be at an angle or straight. The main conversion of this shaft is to weld a large sprocket close to the end of the shaft so that it can turn a bike chain. The shaft measures about 2 inches wide, and can be fitted with the sprocket by sliding it over the end once it is disconnected from the pump. Weld the sprocket so that it can handle the amount of force required to turn the generator.

Step 2
Mount the generator with the main pulley fitted with a smaller sprocket than the windmill's drive shaft. Typically, alternators and generators will have a pulley at the end, to be driven by a belt. Weld the bicycle sprocket to the end of the pulley to allow the unit to be driven by the chain. Place the generator/alternator at the base of the windmill, and align it so that the pulley sprocket can be linked to the chain attached to the windmill shaft. Usually the frame of the windmill will work for this mount, but in some cases it is necessary to raise the generator up on cement blocks or another heavy-duty structure.

Step 3
Assemble the battery bank and wire it to the generator. Analyze the power requirements of the home to determine how many 12-volt deep cycle batteries are required to power the home at its peak usage. (20 batteries wired in two series of 10 will provide 24 volts of power with several amp-hours of draw.)

Step 4
Install the inverter and wire it to the home. Wire the inverter to the leads on the battery bank. The bank--which will have one negative and one positive terminal--will run through the inverter, which "steps" the power up to 110 volt, suitable for use in the home. Inverters come in different wattages and different levels of quality; the wattage should match the power requirements of the house. Run the standard 110-volt power lines from the inverter to the home's fuse panel with the outdoor cable.

Step 5
Test all connections with a voltmeter to ensure a circuit path, then release the brake mechanism on the windmill to activate the power generation.

Tips & Warnings
Get a high quality, "true sine wave" inverter for use with delicate electronics such as computers.
Do not work on "live" electrical equipment. Always disconnect the power first.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Star Energy-Laser Hydrogen Fusion Energy Production

Energy of the Stars
Amazing research testing is being done at Lawrence Livermore Labs. They amplify 192 laser beams and focus them on to a couple of Hydrogen isotopes... viola', they have energy. Fusion Energy, the stuff stars are made of.

This following is a reprint from Lawrence Livermore Labs Public Relations Department.

News Release

Contact: Lynda Seaver
Phone: (925) 423-3103
E-mail: seaver1@llnl.gov FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 28, 2010
NR-10-01-06
Initial NIF experiments meet requirements
for fusion ignition

New physics effect achieves symmetrical target compression

LIVERMORE, Calif. — The first experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) have demonstrated a unique physics effect that bodes well for NIF’s success in generating a self-sustaining nuclear fusion reaction.

In inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments on NIF, the energy of 192 powerful laser beams is fired into a pencil-eraser-sized cylinder called a hohlraum, which contains a tiny spherical target filled with deuterium and tritium, two isotopes of hydrogen. Rocket-like compression of the fuel capsule forces the hydrogen nuclei to combine, or fuse, releasing many times more energy than the laser energy that was required to spark the reaction. Fusion energy is what powers the sun and stars.

The interplay between NIF’s high-energy laser beams and the hot plasma in NIF fusion targets, known as laser-plasma interactions, or LPI, has long been regarded as a major challenge in ICF research because of the tendency to scatter the laser beams and dissipate their energy. But during a series of test shots using helium- and hydrogen-filled targets last fall, NIF researchers were able to use LPI effects to their advantage to adjust the energy distribution of NIF’s laser beams.

The experiments, described in an article in today’s edition of Science Express, the online version of the journal Science, resulted in highly symmetrical compression of simulated fuel capsules – a requirement for NIF to achieve its goal of fusion ignition and energy gain when ignition experiments begin later this year.

“Laser-plasma interactions are an instability, and in many cases they can surprise you,” said ICF Program Director Brian MacGowan. “However, we showed in the experiments that we could use laser-plasma interactions to transfer energy and actually control symmetry in the hohlraum. Overall, we didn’t find any pathological problem with laser-plasma interactions that would prevent us generating a hohlraum suitable for ignition.”

Using LPI effects to tune ICF laser energy is “a very elegant way to do it,” said Siegfried Glenzer, NIF plasma physics group leader. “You can change the laser wavelengths and get the power where it’s needed without increasing the power of individual beams. This way you can make maximum use of all the available laser beam energy.”

In the Science Express article, Glenzer, MacGowan and their NIF colleagues reported that “self-generated plasma-optics gratings on either end of the hohlraum tune the laser power distribution in the hohlraum, producing symmetric X-ray drive.” Glenzer said the gratings act like tiny prisms, redirecting the energy of some of the laser beams just as a prism splits and redirects sunlight according to its wavelength.

Glenzer attributed the new LPI phenomenon to the size of the test hohlraums, which, while somewhat smaller than actual NIF ignition targets, are two to three times larger than hohlraums used in previous ICF experiments at other laser facilities. He said the increased amount of the high-temperature, low-density plasma in the areas where the laser beams enter the hohlraum was responsible for the spontaneous generation of the plasma gratings.

The technique of slightly shifting the wavelength of some laser beams to control the transfer of energy between the beams and equalize the laser power distribution in the hohlraum had been predicted and modeled by NIF scientists using high-fidelity three-dimensional simulations. In last fall’s experiments, an initially asymmetric target implosion with a “pancake” shape was changed to a spherical shape by the wavelength-shifting technique, validating the modeling results.

The NIF laser system began firing all 192 laser beams onto targets in June 2009. In order to characterize the X-ray drive achieved inside the target cylinders as the laser energy is ramped up, these first experiments were conducted at lower laser energies and on smaller targets than will be used for ignition experiments. These targets used cryogenically cooled gas-filled capsules that act as substitutes for the fusion fuel capsules that will be used in the ignition campaign that begins this summer.

Before the wavelength-shifting effects were tested, the only way to adjust the laser energy reaching the walls of the hohlraum, where it is converted into X-rays that heat and ablate the outer surface of the fuel capsule and cause the compression of the fuel inside the capsule, was to adjust the relative energy of the laser beams in the early stages of a shot, during preamplification.

By taking advantage of the LPI effects in the target, as the beams crossed at the entrance of the hohlraums, the scientists could make use of minute wavelength adjustments, ranging from a fraction of an angstrom to a few angstroms (an angstrom is one ten-billionth of a meter, about the size of an atom). With the LPI scheme, “you can run every beam at maximum power and have another distribution mechanism to achieve symmetry,” Glenzer said.

The test shots proved NIF’s ability to deliver sufficient energy to the hohlraum to reach the radiation temperatures – more than 3 million degrees Centigrade – needed to create the intense bath of X-rays that compress the fuel capsule. When NIF scientists extrapolate the results of the initial experiments to higher-energy shots on full-sized hohlraums, “we feel we will be able to create the necessary hohlraum conditions to drive an implosion to ignition,” said Jeff Atherton, director of NIF experiments.

At the end of the experimental campaign, the NIF lasers set a world record by firing more than one megajoule of ultraviolet energy into a hohlraum – more than 30 times the energy previously delivered to a target by any laser system.

“This accomplishment is a major milestone that demonstrates both the power and the reliability of NIF’s integrated laser system, the precision targets and the integration of the scientific diagnostics needed to begin ignition experiments,” said NIF Director Ed Moses. “NIF has shown that it can consistently deliver the energy required to conduct ignition experiments later this year.”

NIF’s next step is to move to ignition-like fuel capsules that require the fuel to be in a frozen hydrogen layer (at 425 degrees Fahrenheit below zero) inside the fuel capsule. NIF is currently being made ready to begin experiments with ignition-like fuel capsules in the summer of 2010.

NIF (lasers.llnl.gov), the world’s largest laser facility, is the first facility expected to achieve fusion ignition and energy gain in a laboratory setting. NIF is an essential part of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Stockpile Stewardship Program, which ensures the reliability and safety of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile without live testing. NIF experiments will also be used to conduct astrophysics and basic science research and to develop carbon-free, limitless fusion energy.

The NIF fusion ignition experiments are part of the National Ignition Campaign (NIC). NIC is a partnership among the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, General Atomics, and Sandia National Laboratories as well as many other national laboratories and universities.

Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a national security laboratory that develops science and engineering technology and provides innovative solutions to our nation's most important challenges. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.

More Information:
LLNL’s Public Affairs Office (https://publicaffairs.llnl.gov/)

National Ignition Facility (https://lasers.llnl.gov/)

National Ignition Campaign (https://lasers.llnl.gov/programs/nic/)

Symmetric Inertial Confinement Fusion Implosions at Ultra-High Laser Energies
Science, January 28, 2010
(http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/science.1185634)

National Ignition Facility achieves unprecedented 1 megajoule laser shot
news release, Jan. 2010
(https://publicaffairs-dev.llnl.gov/news/news_releases/2010/nnsa/NR-NNSA-10-01-02.html)

NNSA announces important milestone in the National Ignition Campaign
news release, Nov. 2009
(https://publicaffairs-dev.llnl.gov/news/news_releases/2009/NR-NNSA-09-11-01.html)

The journey into a new era of scientific discoveries
Science & Technology Review, April-May 2009
(https://str.llnl.gov/AprMay09/nif.html)

Building fusion targets with precision robotics
Science & Technology Review, Nov. 2009
(https://str.llnl.gov/OctNov09/montesanti.html)

Dedication of world’s largest laser marks the dawn of a new era
LLNL news release, May 29, 2009
(https://publicaffairs.llnl.gov/news/news_releases/2009/NR-09-05-05.html)

Simulations explain high-energy-density experiments
Science & Technology Review, Jan-Feb 2009
(https://str.llnl.gov/JanFeb09/wilks.html)

Schwarzenegger touts energy innovations at LLNL’s National Ignition Facility
LLNL news release, Nov. 2008
(https://publicaffairs.llnl.gov/news/news_releases/2008/NR-08-11-01.html)

Preparing for the X Games of Science
Science & Technology Review, August 2007
(https://www.llnl.gov/str/JulAug07/Remington.html)

Meeting the Target Challenge
Science & Technology Review, August 2007
(https://www.llnl.gov/str/JulAug07/Atherton.html)

First NIF experiments validate computer simulations on road to ignition
LLNL news release, Dec. 1, 2005
(https://publicaffairs.llnl.gov/news/news_releases/2005/NR-05-12-02.html)

On target: designing for ignition
Science & Technology Review, July-Aug. 1999
(https://www.llnl.gov/str/Haan.html)

National Nuclear Security Administration (http://nnsa.energy.gov/)

UCRL-WEB-206911

January 28, 2010

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
7000 East Avenue • Livermore, CA 94550 Operated by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration