Energy

Solar Energy: How Do Plastic Solar Panels Work?

We all have some idea how solar panels work by now; a photovoltaic cell gets bombarded by photons from the sun, which knocks loose electrons that flow as electricity, hopefully while wasting as little energy in the form of heat as possible. Beyond that, i ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 1 2014 - 9:34am

Lithium-Ion Batteries Last 30 Percent Longer With A Silicon Sponge

Batteries are common in the devices we use- everything from electric cars to laptops. Unfortunately the last real breakthrough in battery technology was lithium-ion and it's been 25 years of not much since. We're no longer using a 386 PC but our ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 8 2014 - 8:35am

Wind Farms Catch Fire 10X More Than Reported

Government subsidies have made wind farming a leader in the renewable energy sector. It isn't just politicians tired of subsidies and environmentalists and homeowners who don't want them near their homes, they also catch fire more than is report ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 17 2014 - 9:30pm

Off The Grid: All-In-One Trigeneration System Offers Greener Power With Energy Storage

A trigeneration system fueled entirely by raw plant oils could have great potential for isolated homes and businesses operating outside grid systems. Combined Heat and Power units have been used by large businesses for many years, producing electricity fr ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 30 2014 - 11:18am

The Downside To Biofuels- They Can Be Invasive Crops

Throughout the 1990s, biofuels were the environmental rage. Everyone from Vice-President Al Gore to Greenpeace touted them as the replacement for fossil fuels. The future belonged to such renewable energy. Benefited by a Republican Congress that loved sci ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 7 2014 - 12:32pm

Your Stinky Gas Is My Clean Clean Energy

With carbon dioxide from the American energy sector plummeting back to early 1990s levels and coal, the dirtiest energy source, back at early 1980s levels, environmentalists have tried to turn on natural gas and its primary component, methane. Don't ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 12 2014 - 10:00am

Fukushima Report Questions US Nuclear Safety Culture

It wasn't explicitly tasked by Congress with assessing the safety culture of nuclear facilities. Nevertheless, an extensive new report written by the Committee on Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident for Improving Safety and Security o ...

Blog Post - Brandon T. Bisceglia - Aug 13 2014 - 8:18am

Electric Vehicle Consumers Are Better Off With Small Driving Ranges

The downside to electric cars is both cost and driving range. Cost simply takes time and adoption; as has been shown in every technology from agriculture to computers, it only gets affordable for the masses after enough rich people have uptake. Driving ra ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 18 2014 - 10:28am

The Future Of Nuclear Energy May Be A Battery

20 years ago, nuclear science died a horrible death at the hands of President Clinton and Senator John Kerry. It's science fiction fantasy to imagine now what nuclear science would be like if the last 40 years had been spent with American ingenuity an ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Jan 24 2019 - 11:29am

With Solar Panels In Peril, Asians Look To Lead In Energy Storage

The downside to solar and wind is not just low efficiency and high cost, it is also that they are intermittent. But that impacts cost also. Relying on them has meant contracting with traditional energy companies to be 'on demand' at far higher c ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 19 2014 - 4:30pm