Energy

Smart Facades And Windows Generate Electricity, Heat And Algae Biomass

Windows with transparent photovoltaic modules or façades in which microalgae are being bred to provide the house with its own biofuel are just some of the aspects buildings of the future could feature.  A new international research effort, coordinated by   ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 23 2014 - 9:30am

Lithium-Sulfur Batteries, With A Graphene Wrapper

A thin sheet of graphene wrapped around a new multifunctional sulfur electrode that combines an energy storage unit and electron/ion transfer networks could lead to a promising design for rechargeable lithium-sulfur batteries. Lithium-sulfur batteries are ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 2 2015 - 1:24pm

Use GMOs To Make Better Biofuels

Biofuels have long been studied and, like many alternative fuels, given corporate subsidies by the government, but they haven't made much progress. And that isn't just because subsidies discourage innovation, it is because of biology. Lignin, wh ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 7 2015 - 3:30pm

Sustainability Crisis: Renewable Resources Growth Has Been Maxed Out Since 2006

In the future, if we use money to fund basic research for solar and stop subsidizing existing technology that does not work very well, there will be no energy crisis. In the time it takes you to read this article, the sun will provide enough energy to powe ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 14 2015 - 2:30pm

New Polymer Gel Stores Light Energy

Sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, said Aristotle. That certainly applies to biology, where molecular motions in living systems have a macroscale effect- such as large muscles that contract due to protein motors. A team at CNRS' ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 20 2015 - 2:00pm

Wind Turbine Studies: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

The debate over wind turbines is heated, so it's best to rely on solid science. Fir0002/Flagstaffotos/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-NC By Jacqui Hoepner, Australian National University and Will J Grant, Australian National University ...

Article - The Conversation - Jan 21 2015 - 5:04pm

Battery Leasing And Better Charging Will Make Electric Cars Popular

Electric cars are fine for people who have another car as a back-up or who only make short trips or who are not afraid of a little charge rage in the office parking lot. For everyone else, electric cars only work if they are heavily subsidized.  To become ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 28 2015 - 7:12pm

Bionic Leaf Uses Bacteria To Convert Solar Energy Into Liquid Fuel

Harvesting sunlight is old technology for plants but it's a level of efficiency in solar energy we would love to be within a billion years of- artificial photosynthesis is needed if we want to go beyond the energy density of things like combustion eng ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 10 2015 - 9:30am

Stockholm, The World's Most Sun-Deprived Capital, Has A Lab With Solar 24 Hours A Day

Stockholm is considered the world's most sunlight-deprived capital- in November of 2014 the Swedes living there had just a few hours of the stuff and in winter months, it will get dark at 3 PM anyway, so if the sun is hidden by clouds, it can be a rea ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 25 2015 - 10:18am

Biobattery Converts Organic Waste Into Electricity, Gas Or Engine Oil

Sewage sludge, green waste, even animal excrement can be utilized for energy recovery with  the biobattery modular concept.  Biogas plants are an important element for decentralized energy supply. They produce electricity from renewable resources and can c ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 28 2015 - 8:30am