Magnetism Key to Lossless Electricity Transmission
EPFL research in atomic scale magnetism could play a role in the development of new materials that could permit lossless electricity transmission.
Might it one day be possible to transmit electricity from an offshore wind turbine to land-based users without any loss of current? Materials known as “high temperature” superconductors — even though they must be maintained at -140 C — which can conduct electricity without any losses, were supposed to make this dream a reality. But over the past twenty-five years, scientists have not been able to make any progress in this area. Research being done in collaboration between Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and EPFL’s Laboratory for Quantum Magnetism (LQM) could change that. Their study of magnetism at extremely small scales could give physicists a tool to use in their search for new superconducting materials.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2012/09/magnetism-key-lossless-electricity-transmission
