Energy

People generally like the idea of wind energy, they just don't want generation facilities anywhere near their homes. Or, in the case of offshore wind power, their yachts. But remote, cold places may be a better fit and a new forecast says that govern ...

Article - News Staff - May 29 2013 - 12:39pm

Nuclear Power Saves Lives And Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Global use of nuclear power has prevented about 1.84 million air pollution-related deaths and release of 64 billion tons of greenhouse gases that would have resulted from burning coal and other fossil fuels, according to a paper in Environmental Science&a ...

Article - News Staff - May 29 2013 - 1:58pm

Geothermal Solar Hybrid System Gets SBIR Grant

The U.S. Department of Energy has approved a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase 1 grant proposal for $149,900 to study the differential data from retrofitting a concentrated solar thermal array to the existing geothermal electrical generation ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 1 2013 - 6:00am

College Student Clean Energy Startups Win $160,000 In Prizes

Young entrepreneurs tackling hard problems and billion dollar markets took top prizes at the First Look West (FLoW) regional finals competition with technologies that recover waste energy from energy servers powered by fuel cells, mobile phone apps for tra ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 2 2013 - 6:01am

Genetically Modified Clean Energy

Lignocellulosic waste such as sawdust or straw can be used to produce biofuel – but only if the long cellulose and xylan chains can be successfully broken down into smaller sugar molecules. To do this, fungi are used which, by means of a specific chemical ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 3 2013 - 2:56pm

Platinum Begone: Metal-Free Catalyst Makes Better Fuel Cell

Fuel cells can be as efficient (or more) than internal combustion engines, silent, and at least one type produces zero greenhouse emissions at the tail pipe. Car and bus manufacturers as well as makers of residential and small-business-sized generators ha ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 5 2013 - 3:23pm

Microfluidic Electrolyzer: Testing Artificial Photosynthesis

With nuclear power trapped in committee meetings and biofuels exposed as a bad idea, the search for another carbon-neutral alternative is ongoing. While the sun gives us enough energy in an hour to meet all human needs for a year, solar technologies are a ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 10 2013 - 6:48pm

Not Just Cleaner: Fracking A Good Energy Return On Investment Also

Natural gas is much cleaner than coal but it's also important that its energy return on investment (EROI)- the total input energy with the energy expected to be made available to end users- is similar to coal, according to a paper in the Journal of I ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 17 2013 - 1:57pm

Efficiency For Two-Junction Solar Cell Creeps Up

A National Renewable Energy Lab researcher at the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference in Tampa announced a 31.1% conversion efficiency for a two-junction solar cell under one sun of illumination. ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 25 2013 - 3:22pm

TwingKite- Electricity For The 21st Century, Ben Franklin Style

Is kite power economically viable in the 21st century? We'll find out. The TwingKite, based on Empa's Tensairity technology, is set to take flight thanks to a “Venture Kick” jury that is providing 10,000 Swiss Francs in support. A kite, a reel ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 30 2013 - 8:39am