Evaluation and re-understanding of the global natural gas hydrate resources

Natural gas hydrate(NGH)has been widely considered as an alternative to conventional oil and gas resources in the future energy resource supply since Trofimuk’s first resource assessment in 1973.At least 29 global estimates have been published from various studies so far,among which 24 estimates are greater than the total conventional gas resources.If drawn in chronological order,the 29 historical resource estimates show a clear downward trend,reflecting the changes in our perception with respect to its resource potential with increasing our knowledge on the NGH with time.A time series of the 29 estimates was used to establish a statistical model for predict the future trend.The model produces an expected resource value of 41.46×1012 m3 at the year of 2050.The statistical trend projected future gas hydrate resource is only about 10%of total natural gas resource in conventional reservoir,consistent with estimates of global technically recoverable resources(TRR)in gas hydrate from Monte Carlo technique based on volumetric and material balance approaches.Considering the technical challenges and high cost in commercial production and the lack of competitive advantages compared with rapid growing unconventional and renewable resources,only those on the very top of the gas hydrate resource pyramid will be added to future energy supply.It is unlikely that the NGH will be the major energy source in the future.

Call for Papers Journal of Electronic Science and Technology Special Section on Energy-Efficient Technologies—Crowd Energy Applications

Since decades,the global electricity demand shows only one direction：a considerable constant increase every year.But the unlimited growth in energy consumption is discussed increasingly critical,not only primarily in terms of limitations but also in terms of more efficient,more intelligent,and more sustainable usage of energy.Energy-efficient technologies（EET）and renewable energy technologies are already in a competitive position in different markets,and they are also activelyembedded in scientific research. Meanwhile, enormous research on key points, such as smart home, smart cities, smart environments, and smart living in general, have been executed. Applying EET to improve human well-being and to reduce energy and resource consumption is on focus.

Hip-mounted electromagnetic generator to harvest energy from human motion

A type of electromagnetic hip-mounted generator （EHG） is proposed to harvest energy from human hip motion to generate electricity. Based on the law of electromagnetic induction, the EHG generator can convert the kinetic power of the thigh swing into electrical energy during walking or running. To demonstrate the feasibility of the present method, a prototype of the EHG has been designed and fabricated. A theoretical analysis has been conducted to interpret the working behavior of this prototype. In addition, the performance of the system has been experimentally tested through a rotary motor and human body motion. When driven by the rotary motor at a rotation speed of 100 r/rain, the open-circuit voltage of this prototype is 2.5 V. Further, a maximum open-circuit voltage of approximately 1 V and a maximum output power of 284 μW could be produced respectively when walking with an EHG at a speed of 1.47 m/s. This handy renewable energy technology is promising as a pervasive electricity generation system for a group of wearable or implanted sensors, actuators and mobile electronics.