The superconductivity laboratory at the University of Rochester, New York.Credit: Adam Fenster
Scientists have created a mystery material that seems to conduct electricity without any resistance at temperatures of up to about 15 °C according to according to Nature.com 14 Oct 2020.
So what, you might say ?
Well, this is a new record for superconductivity, a phenomenon usually associated with freezing cold temperatures (-273.16 C). However, it survives only under extremely high pressures, approaching those at the centre of Earth, meaning that it will not have any immediate practical applications. But like Edison's perseverance with the Light Bulb physicists hope it could pave the way for the development of zero-resistance materials that can function at lower pressures.
So why should I be excited about this ?
Well, Superconductors that work at room temperature could have a big technological impact. In theory, with zero resistance Power Cabling there would be no loss of Power between Electricity Generators such as Fossil Fuel Burning Power Stations, and the End Consumer's electrical appliance, thereby, increasing electricity transmission efficiency, reducing C02 Emissions and paving the way for removal of Fossil Fuel Power Generation altogether. Further, because of the power transmission efficiency improvement Green Energy Generation from Wind and Wave power will not need to be built in close proximity to the main population centres. This could improve the viability of wind and wave power generation from the remote areas of Ireland as illustrated in the Orange and Red areas on the Irish Marine Institute below and transform industrial development in these rural areas.
A downside impact would be the need to transform Electricity Generation infrastructure from Alternating Current (AC) to Direct Current (DC). This would be a significant undertaking ! However, similar to the way legacy infrastructure supporting Telecoms is being transformed from Copper to Fiber and Automotive from Petrol/Diesel to Electric, this transformation could be entirely fiesable over tim.
What other applications are there ?
According to the Ankara University Centre of Excellence for Superconductivity Research if you set up a current in a loop of superconductor there is nothing to stop it and it will continue flowing forever, forming an immensely powerful electromagnet, that needs no maintenance. Applications include levitating Trains, small powerful electric motors to power ships, measure the magnetic field in your brain, find Ore deposits deep underground, sense minute signals from stars, MRI, Large Hadron Collider at the CERN Particle Physics Lab, Nuclear Magnet Research used by researchers and pharmaceutical companies for drug R&D.
We should be extremely excited and encouraged by the hard work being undertaken by researcher scientists across the globe and especially the folks at the Universities of Rochester and Ankara. These men and women are the modern-day Thomas Edison’s who I have no doubt will make Super Conductivity a technology revolution that could be to CO2 emission reduction like the Light Bulb was to eliminating Darkness.
Finally, if you liked this article as much as I enjoyed research and writing it please click "Like" and Share to your community of interest.
References 1.Snider, E. et al. Nature 586, 373–377 (2020). 2.Drozdov, A. P., Eremets, M. I., Troyan, I. A., Ksenofontov, V. & Shylin, S. I. Nature 525, 73–76 (2015). 3. Somayazulu, M. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 027001 (2019).
4. Superconductivity Application in Power System By Geun-Joon Lee
5. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02895-0
Comments