The first robot that mimics the water striders’ jumping abilities

Engineerblogger

Aug 3, 2012

Credit: American Chemical Society

The first bio-inspired microrobot capable of not just walking on water like the water strider – but continuously jumping up and down like a real water strider – now is a reality. Scientists reported development of the agile microrobot, which could use its jumping ability to avoid obstacles on reconnaissance or other missions, in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Qinmin Pan and colleagues explain that scientists have reported a number of advances toward tiny robots that can walk on water. Such robots could skim across lakes and other bodies of water to monitor water quality or act as tiny spies. However, even the most advanced designs – including one from Pan’s team last year – can only walk on water. Pan notes that real water striders actually leap. Making a jumping robot is difficult because the downward force needed to propel it into the air usually pushes the legs through the water’s surface. Pan’s group looked for novel mechanisms and materials to build a true water-striding robot.

Using porous, super water-repellant nickel foam to fabricate the three supporting and two jumping legs, the group made a robot that could leap more than 5.5 inches, despite weighing as much as 1,100 water striders. In experiments, the robot could jump nearly 14 inches forward – more than twice its own length – leaving the water at about 3.6 miles per hour. The authors report that the ability to leap will make the bio-inspired microrobot more agile and better able to avoid obstacles it encounters on the water’s surface.

The authors acknowledge funding from the State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System of Harbin Institute of Technology and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Source:  American Chemical Society

Additional Information:

• Why Superhydrophobicity Is Crucial for a Water−Jumping Microrobot? Experimental and Theoretical Investigations”

Magnetoresistance effect on perpendicular graphene stacks

Engineerblogger
May 18, 2012

(left) Schematic of graphene device structure; (right) magneto resistance effects of multi-layered graphene showing the anisotropic resistance response with magnetic field direction.

Graphene, a perfect two-dimensional crystal of carbon atoms, has attracted intense interest in research due to its unique physical properties. Previous studies have focused on the quantum transport properties of massless Dirac fermions of graphene supported on planar substrates, and demonstrated its half-integer quantum hall effect, klein tunnelling and so on.

Recently, collaborating with Dr. Wu Hanchun in trinity college Dublin of Ireland, Peking University (PKU) young scientist Liao Zhimin in Professor Yu Dapeng’s group reported the study on fabrication of hybrid metal/multi-layered graphene/metal structure that is perpendicular to the substrate.

The transport studies showed that both temperature and magnetic field are capable of modulating the current perpendicular to graphene plane. The resistance of graphene device is about several tens of ohms. At a magnetic field of 14T, magneto resistance effects reach 100%. Moreover, the magnitude of magneto resistance is strongly dependent on magnetic field direction. This study is published on Advanced Materials, and is expected to have potential applications of graphene in magnetic electronics.

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) and State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics.

Source: Peking University

Additional Information:

•  "Large Magnetoresistance in Few Layer Graphene Stacks with Current Perpendicular to Plane Geometry" by Zhi-Min Liao, Han-Chun Wu, Shishir Kumar, Georg S. Duesberg, Yang-Bo Zhou, Graham L. W. Cross, Igor V. Shvets, and Da-Peng Yu, Advanced Materials, 24, 1862 (2012).

Butterfly wings’ “art of blackness” could boost production of green fuels

Engineerblogger
March 27, 2012


Butterfly wings may rank among the most delicate structures in nature, but they have given researchers powerful inspiration for new technology that doubles production of hydrogen gas — a green fuel of the future — from water and sunlight. The researchers presented their findings at the American Chemical Society’s (ACS’) 243rd National Meeting & Exposition.

Tongxiang Fan, Ph.D., who reported on the use of two swallowtail butterflies — Troides aeacus (Heng-chun birdwing butterfly) and Papilio helenus Linnaeus (Red Helen) — as models, explained that finding renewable sources of energy is one of the great global challenges of the 21st century. One promising technology involves producing clean-burning hydrogen fuel from sunlight and water. It can be done in devices that use sunlight to kick up the activity of catalysts that split water into its components, hydrogen and oxygen. Better solar collectors are the key to making the technology practical, and Fan’s team turned to butterfly wings in their search for making solar collectors that gather more useful light.

“We realized that the solution to this problem may have been in existence for millions of years, fluttering right in front of our eyes,” Fan said. “And that was correct. Black butterfly wings turned out to be a natural solar collector worth studying and mimicking,” Fan said.

Scientists long have known that butterfly wings contain tiny scales that serve as natural solar collectors to enable butterflies, which cannot generate enough heat from their own metabolism, to remain active in the cold. When butterflies spread their wings and bask in the sun, those solar collectors are soaking up sunlight and warming the butterfly’s body.

Fan’s team at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China used an electron microscope to reveal the most-minute details of the scale architecture on the wings of black butterflies — black being the color that absorbs the maximum amount of sunlight.

“We were searching the ‘art of blackness’ for the secret of how those black wings absorb so much sunlight and reflect so little,” Fan explained.

Scientists initially thought it was simply a matter of the deep inky black color, due to the pigment called melanin, which also occurs in human skin. More recently, however, evidence began to emerge indicating that the structure of the scales on the wings should not be ignored.

Fan’s team observed elongated rectangular scales arranged like overlapping shingles on the roof of a house. The butterflies they examined had slightly different scales, but both had ridges running the length of the scale with very small holes on either side that opened up onto an underlying layer.

The steep walls of the ridges help funnel light into the holes, Fan explained. The walls absorb longer wavelengths of light while allowing shorter wavelengths to reach a membrane below the scales. Using the images of the scales, the researchers created computer models to confirm this filtering effect. The nano-hole arrays change from wave guides for short wavelengths to barriers and absorbers for longer wavelengths, which act just like a high-pass filtering layer.

The group used actual butterfly-wing structures to collect sunlight, employing them as templates to synthesize solar-collecting materials. They chose the black wings of the Asian butterfly Papilio helenus Linnaeus, or Red Helen, and transformed them to titanium dioxide by a process known as dip-calcining. Titanium dioxide is used as a catalyst to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. Fan’s group paired this butterfly-wing patterned titanium dioxide with platinum nanoparticles to increase its water-splitting power. The butterfly-wing compound catalyst produced hydrogen gas from water at more than twice the rate of the unstructured compound catalyst on its own.

“These results demonstrate a new strategy for mimicking Mother Nature’s elaborate creations in making materials for renewable energy. The concept of learning from nature could be extended broadly, and thus give a broad scope of building technologically unrealized hierarchical architecture and design blueprints to exploit solar energy for sustainable energy resources,” he concluded.

The scientists acknowledged funding from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.51172141 and 50972090), Shanghai Rising-star Program (No.10QH1401300).


Source: American Chemical Society (ACS)

China's drive for 'green' cars hits roadblocks

Engineerblogger
Jan 18, 2012

A man looks at a Volvo V60 electric car displayed at the Shanghai Auto Show in Shanghai last April. Car makers are struggling to sell environmentally friendly vehicles in China, even as Beijing pumps billions into clean energy.

Foreign and domestic car makers are struggling to sell environmentally friendly vehicles in China, the world's largest auto market, even as Beijing pumps billions into clean energy.


China wants five million "new energy" vehicles on the streets by 2020 to ease chronic pollution and reduce reliance on oil imports, but high prices, lack of infrastructure and consumer reluctance are creating major roadblocks.

The number of electric and hybrid vehicles currently in the country is tiny at about 100,000, mostly in government fleets, according to an industry estimate.

A salesman at the main Shanghai showroom of Chinese car maker BYD said the dealer sold only one electric car and two hybrid cars -- which combine a conventional internal combustion engine and an electric motor -- last year.

BYD, which is backed by US investment titan Warren Buffett, launched a fully electric vehicle for private buyers in October priced at 370,000 yuan ($60,000), though subsidies cut the cost by at least 16 percent.

"People hesitate to choose cars with a high price," said BYD sales manager Zhang Jiankun. "Although the government can provide subsidies for alternative-energy cars, the lack of charging stations is a main concern."

China had an estimated 243 charging stations at the end of 2011, but Beijing plans to invest 100 billion yuan over the next 10 years to build up the new-energy vehicle sector as a whole, focusing on electric models.

Foreign auto makers are also promoting the new technology in China.

US giant General Motors imported its first Chevrolet Volts into China in December and will begin selling the hybrids in early 2012 at 13 dealerships in eight cities.

But the Volt could suffer a potential image problem even as sales get under way in China as the vehicle faces a US government probe after damaged lithium batteries caught fire following crash tests.

GM says it has addressed the safety issue by reinforcing the battery.

The company is also developing a separate electric vehicle with its Chinese partner, domestic auto giant SAIC Motor, which itself launched five new energy vehicles in November.

"It seems every major company has its own electric-vehicle programme," Ray Bierzynski, executive director for electrification strategy of GM China, told reporters last year.

China overtook the US to become the world's top auto market in 2009 and is increasingly important for global players as economic turmoil hits demand in developed markets.

But the push for clean-energy cars comes as China's overall sales slow. Auto sales rose just 2.5 percent to 18.51 million units last year, compared with an increase of more than 32 percent in 2010.

China had hoped to vault its car companies into the top ranks of electric-vehicle producers but in recent months has reconsidered that strategy given the technological lead of foreign firms, and is now focusing more on hybrids.

The government is keen to build up its domestic auto industry so it has slapped import tariffs on some US passenger cars and sports utility vehicles, and said it would "withdraw support" for foreign investment in the sector.

"At the beginning the objective was, literally, to leapfrog. They have realised this is far too over ambitious," said Klaus Paur, director for automotive analysis at market research agency Ipsos in China.

"Currently, the government is re-visiting the strategy on (fully) electric vehicles. This is why they push more into the hybrids," he said.
However, one industry executive said the move did not indicate a "dramatic shift" in China's commitment to electrification.

"As we move down that path, there's a more realistic view of how quickly people can move and how some of the challenges can be addressed," Kevin Wale, president and managing director of GM China Group, told reporters.

The challenge includes building the infrastructure for charging batteries and convincing consumers to trust the technology. China has set up 15 pilot zones for electric vehicles across the country to this aim.

But in a country where car culture is only two decades old and fuel prices are controlled by the government, flashy luxury brands carry more appeal.

"To me, the performance of a car is the top priority, including how powerful it is," said marketing manager Gu Jiahuan, who is shopping for a car.

"Alternative-energy cars are not mature enough. And pure electric cars cannot go very far."

Source: The Associated Press

Manufacturing at the Crossroads

Engineerblogger
Jan 12, 2012

U.S. manufacturers have taken a beating this past decade. As the economy pulls itself out of the recession, they are approaching a crossroads. What happens as the United States climbs out of the recession? Does production move overseas or return home? Does American manufacturing muscle bulk up or atrophy? Job losses in manufacturing have been staggering. From 17-18 million manufacturing workers for 20 years prior to the 2001 recession, employment has plummeted, down to 12 million workers in 2009.

In contrast, a combination of low wages, good technology, and undervalued currency gives Chinese manufacturers a huge cost advantage on U.S. shores. China has vaulted past Germany, Japan, and the United States to become the world’s largest manufactured goods exporter.

Unlike most other developing nations, China has an enormous internal market. In exchange for market access, China demands that foreign businesses build factories in China using the latest technology—and take on Chinese partners. The combination of economies of scale, a growing class of engineers and managers weaned on Western technology, low-cost labor, and government incentives has turned China into a manufacturing juggernaut.

China also undervalues its currency. This makes Chinese exports significantly cheaper and it erodes manufacturing margins in the United States. Companies need high margins to invest in equipment to stay ahead of the competition. Yet American manufacturing remains strong in many ways. Employment has fallen sharply but output has not. Some gains were achieved by applying R&D, lean manufacturing, and factory automation. Other gains came by sending labor-intensive manufacturing offshore.

Since 1986, U.S. manufacturers’ labor costs have declined 40 percent when compared to 14 developed countries in Europe and Asia that are major competitors in international markets.

 U.S. manufacturers have survived a fearsome onslaught from Chinese manufacturers, fueled by low wages, undervalued currency, and good-enough technology. The survivors emerged leaner and in many ways more competitive. American manufacturers need to build on that competitiveness.

"We import 66 percent more than we export. That says something about relative cost competitiveness," says Harry Moser, chairman emeritus of machinery manufacturer GF AgieCharmilles. "We have pretty good anecdotal evidence that purchasing agents and supply chain managers just compare prices, and if they’re 20 to 30 percent lower, they buy from China." Moser recommends looking at total cost of ownership instead. This includes such factors as packaging, shipping, duties, inventory carrying costs, additional quality management, additional prototypes, and end-of-life obsolete inventory. He estimates that this gives U.S. factories a 24 percent home field advantage.

"We can’t reshore products that are low quality, rely on cheap labor, or have no regulatory or safety issues," Moser said. "But if you need high quality, a short pipeline that can handle volatile demand that fluctuates month to month, or a reduced carbon footprint, we’re competitive."

Some manufacturing has already come home. "Companies want their plants where their customers are, and make sourcing decisions based on that," Steve Lyman, a Grant Thornton partner, explained. "They’re rethinking whether it makes sense to produce something in China and then incur the logistics costs to bring it to the United States."

Undoubtedly, work will continue to flow to China. For certain types of labor-intensive, mass-produced products, China’s cost advantages will remain attractive. And Chinese manufacturers are by no means standing still. Many have invested in the best technology the West and Japan have to offer.

U.S. manufacturers, however, will emerge from this recession leaner. Most of the jobs lost are unlikely to return. They will be replaced by outsourced production that will make U.S. factories more productive and competitive than ever. The United States retains a reputation for quality, and exports are likely to grow if the dollar remains weak.

What comes after the recession? U.S. manufacturers will continue to do what they have always done: keep changing. Some will send manufacturing and engineering offshore, where less buys more. Others will bring work closer to home to reduce risk. Manufacturers will vote with their money, just as they did when they embraced assembly lines, factory automation, lean production, and the migration of factories from the North to the South and West. The individual decisions of thousands of manufacturers will create a new paradigm that will serve until the next great challenge.

Source:  ASME

A Solar Trade War Could Put Us All in the Dark

Technology Review
Dec 19, 2011

Credit: Brian Bailey

The brewing solar trade war between the United States and China sullies what should be a triumphant moment in the global photovoltaic (PV) industry: the arrival of affordable solar electricity.

After decades of global competition and collaboration, many solar markets around the world have reached grid parity—the point at which generating solar electricity, without subsidies, costs less than the electricity purchased from the grid. In other words, solar technology is ready to be a major contributor to solving our planet's energy and environmental crisis.

However, trade protectionism threatens to inhibit the solar industry at the very time when it is breaking through to a new level of global interdependence, collaboration, and maturity.

On October 18, the U.S. government was asked to impose tariffs on imports of Chinese solar cells and modules, based on the argument that China-based producers have been heavily subsidized and are selling solar products at unfairly low prices. Perhaps not surprisingly, some Chinese companies have now asked the Chinese government to impose tariffs on imports of American solar products, arguing that U.S.-based producers have been heavily subsidized, too. And just like that, the production of affordable and competitive solar products has become a political liability in the world's two largest producers and consumers of energy.

The success of the entire solar industry hinges on the success of not one country or one company, but global competition and collaboration, which drives efficiency improvements and cost reductions worldwide. If trade barriers are imposed in the U.S., China, or Germany, it could cause a significant increase in the price of solar products and therefore solar electricity, globally. That could cause a further erosion of political support for the solar industry at a critical juncture.

Altogether, a solar trade war could undermine decades of international innovation and stall the global adoption of advanced solar technology.
To read more click here...

Gates discussing new nuclear reactor with China

Engineerblogger
Dec 8, 2011

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates speaks to the media after delivering a speech at the Ministry of Science and Technology in Beijing Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011. Gates confirmed Wednesday he is in discussions with China to jointly develop a new kind of nuclear reactor. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates confirmed Wednesday he is in discussions with China to jointly develop a new and safer kind of nuclear reactor.

"The idea is to be very low cost, very safe and generate very little waste," said the billionaire during a talk at China's Ministry of Science and Technology.

Gates said he had largely funded a Washington state-based company, TerraPower, that is developing a Generation IV nuclear reactor that can run on depleted uranium. TerraPower says it has discussed its plans with India, Russia and other countries with nuclear energy programs.

The general manager of state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation, Sun Qin, was quoted in Chinese media last week saying Gates was working with it to research and develop a reactor.

"TerraPower is having very good discussions with CNNC and various people in the Chinese government," said Gates, cautioning the talks were at an early stage.

Gates says perhaps as much as a billion dollars will be put into research and development over the next five years.

TerraPower says its traveling wave reactor would run for decades on depleted uranium and produce significantly smaller amounts of nuclear waste than conventional reactors.

"All these new designs are going to be incredibly safe," Gates told the audience. "They require no human action to remain safe at all times."

He said they also benefit from an ability to simulate earthquake and tidal wave conditions. "It takes safety to a new level," he said.

Since leaving Microsoft Corp., Gates has concentrated on philanthropy and advocating on public health, education and clean energy issues. He is an investor and strategic adviser to TerraPower.

Gates was at the Ministry of Science and Technology to talk about a joint project between China and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support innovative research and development to help alleviate poverty.

Gates said the ministry will help identify entrepreneurs and companies to manufacture new products in global health and agriculture to "change the lives of poor people," including new vaccines and diagnostics and genetically modified seeds.

"China has a lot to contribute because it's solved many of the problems of poverty, not all of them but a lot of them, itself, and many Asian, south Asian and African countries are well behind, whether it's agriculture or health," said Gates.

No specific poverty alleviation projects were mentioned.

Source: The Associated Press

Automotive Manufacturing in China: Low-Cost Production Image Fades

Engineerblogger
Oct 07, 2011


Wage inflation is hitting the Chinese automotive manufacturing market, doubling in a recent seven-year period (and are expected to double again by 2015 based on 2010 levels) according to a recent WSJ analysis that considers the evolution of Hyundai's consideration of the Chinese market. Moreover, the wage and labor climate for foreign producers in China appears to underpin a double standard between domestic and state-owned enterprises and those owned or operated by outside interests.

In this regard, a Hyundai executive cited in the article "pointed to a series of high-profile labor strikes that hit Japanese-run auto factories and others in China last year. Normally quick to break up organized worker walkouts, the government tolerated those strikes to a large extent last year, and minimum wages in some parts of China have been rising steadily since." Of course don't think for a minute that rising wages will deter the export ambitions of Chinese automotive manufacturing organizations (both OEM and lower tier suppliers).

As anyone who has studied how China manipulates export prices via currency controls and other methods (e.g., VAT rebate changes and incentives), it is no surprise that, "China's auto exports will continue to increase in part because of excess auto-production capacity in the country," according to the story. After all, if there is not a large enough middle class to consume the voracious state-sponsored output within domestic automotive production in China, then of course we all know what that will mean for the rest of the world.

Given this broader climate, when it comes to building total cost models for manufacturing in the region or working with Chinese automotive suppliers, companies should plan for large degrees of uncertainty in their forecast models for 2012 and beyond. After all, it's hard to know what the landed price (domestic or export) will be when it's really only up to one organization that sets it -- the politburo. Remember, the standard laws of supply and demand don't apply in a mercantilist state that exists to preserve the status quo for its leaders.

Source: Spendmatters.com

GE, GM in push on EV infrastructure for China

Engineerblogger
Sept 23, 2011

General Electric and General Motors Co. agreed Thursday on a pilot installation of electric vehicle charging stations in Shanghai, the latest step in the automaker's plan to develop infrastructure in China to support sales of its Chevrolet Volt electric car.

As part of the agreement, GE also agreed to buy the extended range electric cars for use at its corporate campus in Shanghai. GM plans to launch the Volt in December in China, where it has made electric vehicles a core part of its strategy for expansion despite doubts Chinese consumers will snap up such cars.

The companies gave no details about investment in the charging stations, which will include both GE's WattStations and Durastations, two different specifications for charging electric vehicles.

China is a linchpin market for GM. Earlier this week it announced plans for developing a new electric vehicle with its local partner Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp. It also has just opened an advanced technology center to support its efforts to build more energy efficient and safer automobiles, with a lab devoted to developing new battery cells for EVs.

GE builds natural gas-fired generators for utilities, electric motors, advanced electric meters and electric car charging stations, all of which could be in higher demand if drivers buy electric cars. The company estimates the expanding market could bring it up to $500 million in revenue over the next three years.

China, the world's biggest market for new vehicles, is seen as a promising market for electric vehicles because of its keenness on limiting its dependence on costly imports of crude oil and reducing severe pollution from auto emissions.

The government has made development of so-called "new energy" vehicles a key part of its current five-year economic plan, promising subsidies and billions of dollars in new investments.

But spurring demand for electric and hybrid vehicles will hinge on providing the charging infrastructure, and bringing costs down to affordable levels, those working in the industry say.

Thursday's agreement calls for the two big U.S. companies to coordinate work with government agencies on developing EV standards.

In August, GE Energy also announced a partnership with car rental company Hertz Corp. for advancing the rollout of EVs and charging stations in China.

Source:  The Associated Press

Graphene can be strengthened by folding

Engineerblogger
Sept 22, 2011

The researchers, Yongping Zheng and Zhigao Huang of Fujian Normal University in China; Ning Wei and Zheyong Fan of Xiamen University in China; and Lanqing Xu of both universities, have published their study in a recent issue of Nanotechnology.

“The results of this work provide a new route for tailoring the properties of graphene-based nanomaterials,” Zheng told PhysOrg.com. “Currently, many researchers and engineers are concerned with doping, alchemy, etc. We have demonstrated here that structure re-construction could also lead to interesting results.”

In their study, the researchers used molecular dynamics simulations to investigate grafold. They compared graphene with grafold in two areas: tension (the force that pulls the material apart) and compression (the force that pushes the material together). The ability to be both elongated and squeezed without damage is very helpful for engineering applications. However, as the researchers explain, graphene only has a high tensile strength; because of its two-dimensional nature, it is “soft” under compression and can’t be squeezed.

In contrast, the researchers’ simulations showed that grafold is “harder” than graphene and can withstand much larger amounts of compression (10-25 GPa depending on the structure of grafold compared with less than 2 GPa for graphene). While its compressive strength is significantly higher than that of graphene, grafold’s tensile strength approaches that of graphene. The Young’s modulus (a measure of elasticity) and fracture strain of grafold are a little lower than those of graphene. The scientists noted that several other materials can withstand greater compression than grafold, including carbon nanotubes, which can be both elongated and squeezed like grafold.

“As is well known, graphene can’t withstand any compression,” Zheng said. “Via folding, graphene transforms into grafold and can be compressed to a certain amount. Even when highly compressed, it won’t break down, just be squeezed into a shorter folded belt. Furthermore, the deformation is elastic. As we know, if the strength exceeds carbon nanotubes’ breaking point, it will crash and never return to its original form.”

Among grafold’s advantages is that folding a graphene nanoribbon to create grafold will be much easier than rolling it up to create a carbon nanotube. Plus, grafold’s mechanical properties can be tuned by the modifying the folding design, such as changing the size, shape, and number of folds.

Overall, the results of the simulations provide a new route for tailoring the properties of graphene-based nanomaterials, which could lead to advanced mechanical applications. The researchers hope to experimentally fabricate grafold in the near future. “There could be versatile applications,” Zheng said. “Say, one could utilize the elastic and low-to-mid stiffness of grafold in applications where a large damping is required.”

Source: Physorg.com

Additional Information:

• Mechanical properties of grafold: a demonstration of strengthened graphene

GM expands technology investments in China

Engineerblogger
Sept 21, 2011

General Motors Co. says it is seeking to buy back a 1 percent stake sold to its main Chinese joint venture partner, as it expands its technology investments in a market where it is maneuvering to keep its edge.

The Detroit company opened an advanced technology center in Shanghai on Wednesday meant to help it design lighter, safer and more efficient cars for China, a market that has proved crucial to its survival.

The center opened a day after GM announced plans to develop a brand new electric vehicle "architecture" with flagship venture partner, Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp.

While the China market has cooled considerably in recent months, following the expiration of tax incentives and subsidies meant to spur sales during the financial crisis, it remains the world's largest and fastest growing major market for sales of new vehicles.

GM expects total vehicle sales in China to grow by about 5 percent to 19 million units or just a bit higher, said GM China President Kevin Wale. Sales of passenger vehicles, excluding large buses, should grow by double-digits, he said, after jumping by a third last year to 13.7 million vehicles.

GM's own sales in China have risen 5.4 percent so far this year to 1.6 million units as of the end of August.

Wale confirmed GM is seeking to buy back a 1 percent stake in its originally 50-50 joint venture, Shanghai GM, that it sold to SAIC in 2009 for $84.5 million as it faced bankruptcy. That would end SAIC's majority control and allow GM to reclaim its equal share.

"We have a contractual right to buy that back. We are having discussions but we have nothing further we can add at this point," he said.

GM is adamant about its commitment to developing electric vehicles specifically for the China market. The next generation battery-driven vehicle to be developed with SAIC will be designed and made in China, the company says.

That would qualify the car for government subsidies, amounting to about $19,000 per car, that the imported Chevrolet Volt will not be eligible for after its planned launch in China in December. China also imposes hefty tariffs on imported vehicles.

Under the agreement with SAIC, the two companies will equally share the cost of developing a new all-electric vehicle, reducing GM's cost and risk.

The Detroit company denies that the agreement is linked to China's desire to acquire more advanced technology that its own automakers have yet to develop. The Volt can travel about 35 miles on battery power, and a gas-powered generator kicks in to run the car when the batteries are depleted. The generator technology eliminates anxiety over whether a driver will run out of electricity.

The Volt and the new car to be developed with SAIC are engineered for very different customers.

"This is more about making sure we have the right product for China," Wale said.

GM likewise recently agreed with Korean battery maker LG Group to design and engineer electric vehicles that may be marketed to other parts of the world, he noted.

Source: The Associated Press

Toyota to make key hybrid parts in China

AFP
Sept 4, 2011

Toyota Motor will manufacture the Prius hybrid and its key parts in China in a bid to boost sales in the world's largest car market, a company spokeswoman said Sunday.

This will mark the first time the Japanese automaker has produced key components such as motors and batteries for the petrol-electric hybrid in a facility outside Japan.

Toyota manufactured the second model of the Prius in China, with key components exported from Japan, but stopped the operation in 2009.

"The company has a business policy to expand sales of environmentally friendly cars in China," said Toyota spokeswoman Shiori Hashimoto, adding production of the car in the country had been approved by Chinese authorities.

The Nikkei business daily reported that production of the third Prius model is set to begin in China at 2012 at the earliest.

The Nikkei said that it will be a joint venture with China FAW Group Corp, a major Chinese automaker.

The car's major components will be produced at the company's research and development facility in Changshu, in eastern China, but the Toyota spokeswoman would not say where in China the car would be assembled.

Toyota would also not disclose which parts would be made in China.

Volkswagen and General Motors plan to produce environmentally friendly vehicles in China, but are reluctant to talk about local production of key parts due to concerns over technology leaks, the Nikkei said.


Related Articles:

• Toyota: To Halt Camry Exports To North America

China Tops 2011 Index Rankings for Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy World
Aug 23, 2011

Influential commentators in Japan, Germany, Russia, the US, China, Spain, Italy, Thailand, Yemen and numerous other nations have all weighed in on the need to de-emphasise nuclear and focus on renewables in the wake of the Japanese tsunami and nuclear disaster. So concludes the Ernst & Young 2011 All Renewables Index.

At the same time, recent unrest and the risk of further conflict in the Middle East and North Africa region have highlighted crucial issues around energy supply security and oil price volatility. European governments have slashed budgets and reduced feed-in tariffs (FiTs), causing solar cell prices to fall while solar manufacturers' margins are being squeezed due to rising silicon and other commodity costs.

RANKINGS OVERVIEW

China has climbed to its highest ever score in the Index, principally by diversifying its renewables portfolio through an increased focus on offshore wind and CSP.

While China surpassed the US to become the world's largest energy consumer in 2010, environmental targets set out in the 12th Five-Year Plan include an increase in the proportion of energy from non-fossil fuels to 11.3 percent by 2015, from the current 8.3 percent. To meet this target, China says it intends to build at least 70 GW of new wind farms and 5 GW of new solar farms.

According to the report, the latest statistics indicate that, in 2010, the China Development Bank (CDB) made around $35 billion in low-interest credit available to Chinese renewables companies. This compares with the $4 billion of grants and $16 billion in loan guarantees awarded to clean-tech companies in the US.

China overtook the US at the end of 2010 to become the world leader in wind power, having installed around 16 GW in 2010 or almost half of global installations - taking cumulative installed capacity to 42 GW. This is contrasted with an additional 5 GW installed in the US last year and a total of 40 GW.

However, China ranks second globally in terms of grid-connected capacity; more than a third of wind capacity had yet to be connected to the national grid at the end of 2010.
To read more click here...

China Debuts a Drone at Robotics Show

Wall Street Journal
Aug 17, 2011

China made its debut this week at the world's largest robotics trade show when a Shenzhen-based firm showcased its F50, a small drone with a high-definition video camera that a company brochure billed as a tool for monitoring protests, or responding to building fires.

The appearance of AEE Technology Co.'s relatively small, short-range drone—about the size of a pizza pan—in the drone market underscores the burgeoning international competition in the market for unmanned aerial vehicles and military robots.

State-run and private Chinese companies have invested heavily in recent years in developing drones both for export and for China's military and domestic security needs.

Western defense officials and experts were taken by surprise in November, when at least 25 Chinese drone models were on display at an air show in south China. Several models were also shown at an exhibition of police and antiterrorism equipment in Beijing in May.

"The market for military robotics has gone global, and China is looking to be a major producer and exporter in that market, just like the U.S.," said P.W. Singer, the author of "Wired for War," a book about the revolution in military robotics.

To read more click here...

Nissan and China partner Dongfeng to invest $8 bln

Engineerblogger
July 26, 2011

Nissan and its Chinese partner Dongfeng Motor Co. will invest 50 billion yuan ($8 billion) and launch around 30 vehicle models in China over the next five years, the Japanese auto giant said Tuesday.

The two firms also plan to increase sales from nearly 1.3 million vehicles in 2010 to more than 2.3 million units by 2015 and launch a fully electric zero-emission car for the Chinese market, Nissan said in a statement.

"Nissan's strong partnership with Dongfeng Motor Corporation has been the primary driver of its robust growth over the past eight years in the Chinese market," Carlos Ghosn, Nissan Motor's chief executive, said in the statement.

"The new plan, with its investments in capacity, products and innovation, will ensure that China continues to be Nissan's largest global market."

China, which overtook the US to become the world's top auto market in 2009, has become increasingly important for global players. Auto sales in China rose more than 32 percent last year to a record 18.06 million units.

But the sector has since lost steam after Beijing phased out sales incentives such as tax breaks for small-engined vehicles, introduced to ward off the impact of the global financial crisis.

The government is considering new incentives to revive the sector. But an industry group still predicted earlier this month that auto sales growth was expected to slow, despite showing a slight rebound in June.

Nissan said its Chinese joint venture planned to achieve and maintain a 10 percent share of the Chinese market over the next five years.

Ghosn told reporters at a press conference that Nissan currently has a 6.2 percent share of the market.

The two firms will also build a new manufacturing facility in the eastern province of Jiangsu, which will reinforce existing plants in other parts of the country to achieve the 2015 sales target, it added.

Sales of the first passenger vehicle sporting the Dongfeng Nissan brand Venucia are scheduled for next year, and a total of five new models will be launched under that brand.

Copyright © 2011 AFP

Location Matters in Manufacturing

Technology Review
July 24, 2011

The migration of manufacturing from the United States to Asia could be having a significant impact on which advanced technologies are commercialized. Specifically, there is evidence that the shift in manufacturing is curtailing the development of emerging technologies in areas such as optoelectronics and advanced materials for the automotive industry.

In studies with colleagues at MIT, Erica Fuchs, an assistant professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, shows that the relocation of component manufacturing from the United States to East Asia in optoelectronics and to China in composite body parts for automobiles changed the economics of producing the technologies. The result in both cases is that emerging technologies developed in the United States were not economically viable to produce in the Asian countries because of differences in manufacturing practices. And Fuchs suspects similar effects are happening more generally as production shifts to the developing world. Location matters for "which products will be economically viable, which products countries will be most competitive in producing, and which products countries and companies globally are most likely to develop," she says.

The findings add to a growing awareness that manufacturing plays a critical role in driving innovation. Harvard Business School professors David Pisano and Willy Shih argue, for example, that innovation capacity often disappears if a country loses its manufacturing sector, because the knowledge and abilities needed to develop new technologies are often closely linked to the skills and expertise associated with manufacturing (see "Innovation Depends on a Robust Manufacturing Sector"). Fuchs builds on this idea by showing that regional manufacturing differences can cause the most advanced technologies to fall by the wayside. "Manufacturing locations can affect the evolution of technology globally," she says.
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China makes nuclear power breakthrough

AFP
July 22, 2011

China said Friday it had hooked its first so-called "fourth generation" nuclear reactor to the grid, a breakthrough that could eventually reduce its reliance on uranium imports

The experimental fast-neutron reactor is the result of more than 20 years of research and could also help minimise radioactive waste from nuclear energy, the state-run China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) said.

China is the ninth country to develop a fast-neutron reactor, which uses uranium 60 times more efficiently than a normal reactor, helping the country to reduce its reliance on imports of the mineral.

Beijing has stepped up investment in nuclear power in an effort to slash its world-leading carbon emissions and scale down the country's heavy reliance on coal, which accounts for 70 percent of its energy needs.

But China's uranium reserves are limited, and it will have to import increasingly large amounts as its civilian nuclear programme gathers speed.

China -- the world's second largest economy -- currently has 14 nuclear reactors and is building more than two dozen others. It aims to get 15 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020.

According to the World Nuclear Association, it aims to increase nuclear power capacity to 80 gigawatts by 2020 from 10.8 gigawatts in 2010.

The fourth-generation reactor, located just outside Beijing, has a capacity of just 20 megawatts. Other recently launched nuclear reactors in China had a capacity of more than one gigawatt, or 1,000 megawatts.

The latest technological step comes after China succeeded in reprocessing spent nuclear fuel in an experimental reactor in the northwestern province of Gansu in January.

Authorities said this would help extend the lifespan of proven uranium deposits to 3,000 years from the current forecast of 50-70 years.

Beijing has also pledged to improve emergency procedures and construction standards at its nuclear power plants, after Japan's devastating earthquake and ensuing tsunami triggered an atomic crisis.

Copyright © 2011 AFP

Nanostructures Could Result In Cheaper Electric-Car Batteries

Technology Review
July 12, 2011

A Beijing startup called Wuhe is making electrode materials and batteries that could lower the cost of electric vehicles. The company uses nanostructures for battery materials that, like other recent nanostructures, let the materials deliver the large bursts of power needed for acceleration while maintaining energy storage capacity. But the Wuhe advance also makes the materials easier to work with than similar electrode materials, and as a result, it could cut battery-cell manufacturing costs by 10 percent.

Battery packs are the most expensive item on electric cars such as the Tesla Roadster and the Nissan Leaf. The cost either makes electric cars too expensive for most people, or it prompts automakers to use small battery packs, which limits the range of the cars.

To reduce battery costs and improve their performance, Wuhe founder Yu-Guo Guo, a professor of chemistry at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, has developed new, low-cost ways to improve the properties of lithium-iron phosphate, one of the leading lithium-ion battery electrode materials, and other promising electrode materials.

Ordinarily, the conductivity of lithium-iron phosphate is too low to be useful. The conductivity can be increased by milling it into extremely fine nanoscale powders—as companies such as A123 Systems do. Because the particles are small, electrons or lithium ions—both of which are necessary to create current—can move in and out of them quickly. But this powder is difficult to work with, which raises manufacturing costs.

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University invents heat-regulating building material

The University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC)
July 8, 2011

In a major scientific breakthrough with important long-term environmental consequences, researchers at The University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) have developed a material that will cut the amount of energy a building uses by more than one-third.

The material has the remarkable quality of being able to retain and release heat according to the specific temperature requirements for a building and will help dramatically reduce heating and cooling bills.

It has the unique advantage of possessing a larger energy storage capacity with faster thermal response than existing materials and could be cheaply manufactured.

If, for example, the required optimum temperature in a room is 22°C, the material can be fixed so that it starts absorbing any excess heat above that temperature.

The heat-regulating material can be used in existing buildings as well as during the construction of new real estate and could be applied anywhere, from walls and roofs to wallpaper.

The material looks like a circular tablet with the circumference of a large coin in the laboratory. It can be manufactured in a variety of shapes and sizes, including so small that it can be sprayed as an unobtrusive microscopic film to surfaces.

The building material was recently awarded a patent application approval in China, the University was in a position to announce this week, and patent applications are in the pipeline in other countries.

It was invented by researchers at the University’s Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies.

The scientists responsible for the invention are: project leader Professor Jo Darkwa, who is Director of the Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies; Research Associate Oliver Su; and, PhD student Tony Zhou.
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Exploiting China's Coal While It's Still Underground

Technology Review

July 8, 2011

China is pushing forward with a new strategy for expanding access to coal energy that could also reduce its environmental impact: turning coal into clean-burning gases in the ground.

At a U.K.-Chinese summit in Beijing late last month that included British prime minister David Cameron and Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, a $1.5-billion commercial partnership was launched to gasify six million tons of buried coal per year and generate 1,000 megawatts of power.

The project in Inner Mongolia's Yi He coal field is being advanced by the state-owned China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group, and U.K.-basedSeamwell International, a newly formed developer of underground coal gasification (UCG) technology. It is the most high-profile of several such proposed projects in China. More than a dozen similar large-scale projects are under development in other countries, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Hungary.

UCG is promoted as a relatively clean method of exploiting coal seams that are too deep or thin to be tapped economically using conventional mining. Such seams in Inner Mongolia hold an estimated 280 billion tons, according to Seamwell. That's more than double the tonnage of recoverable coal in China recognized by the London-based World Energy Council. UCG can also generate electricity from coal with less air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and water consumption than existing coal-fired power plants.
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