Energy

Improving Density, Durability And Performance Of Lithium-ion Batteries

As portable electronic devices such as laptops and smartphones get more robust, consumers would like for batteries to keep pace. But rechargeable batteries-- Lithium-ion (Li-ion) being among the most popular- haven't done that. They are 25 year old t ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 19 2013 - 3:43pm

Invasive Plants As Biofuels Isn't Workable

Maybe you like to eat carp. Invasive Asian carp have been successfully harvested and served on a dinner plate but the idea of similarly harvesting invasive plants and converting them into ethanol isn't realistic yet- even less realistic than currentl ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 21 2013 - 8:46am

Thermionic Conversion And The Path To A New Thermoelectronic Generator

Thermionic conversion to heat energy, such as light from the sun or heat from burned fossil fuels, can mean very high efficiency, and because of its promise has been researched for over 50 years with little success. That may soon change, thanks to a new d ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 3 2013 - 11:50am

Loofahs Help Turns Waste Into Power With Bacteria

Loofahs, those exfoliating things for skin that men pretend they don't use in the shower, may be a new potential tool to advance sustainability efforts of both energy and waste, according to a paper in the journal Environmental Science&Technology ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 4 2013 - 12:26pm

Toxicity And Explosive Gases: The Little Discussed Risk Of Higher Ethanol Blends

Like most government spending programs, once environmental lobbyists got their way and renewable ethanol biofuels became mandated and subsidized, they have been difficult to eliminate. Perhaps the news that blending more ethanol into fuel to supposedly cu ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 27 2013 - 2:25pm

Natural Gas Is Better For Global Warming And Saves Water Too

Texas, the U.S. state that annually generates the most electricity, has transitioned from coal to natural gas for electricity generation and that has not only reduced CO2 emissions but is saving water and making the state less vulnerable to drought. ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 20 2013 - 6:31am

Global Warming Did Not Cause Methane Hydrates To Erupt Into Gas Flares

Methane hydrates are ice-like solid fuel composed of water and methane. And they are fragile.  In some areas, such as in the North Atlantic off the coast of Svalbard, scientists have detected gas flares regularly and the reasons for their occurrence were ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 2 2014 - 4:26pm

Thank Natural Gas: US Power Plant Emissions Continue To Go Down

America is back at mid-1990s levels of carbon dioxide emissions. Some of that is due to the ongoing recession, of course, but a large chunk is due to the switch from the dirty coal plants that ballooned after America stopped producing emissions-free nucle ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 9 2014 - 1:46pm

Artificial Photosynthesis, The Chromophore Way

Every child learns about photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert sunlight into energy. It sounds simple but duplicating it elegantly remains one of the biggest challenges for chemists. Currently, the most efficient methods that we have of maki ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 15 2014 - 6:00am

Tidal Power: Pentland Firth Island Channel Could Provide 50% Of Scotland's Electricity

A new estimate has said that tidal power generated by turbines placed in the Pentland Firth, between mainland Scotland and Orkney, could power about half of Scotland- they estimate 1.9 gigawatts could be available. ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 20 2014 - 11:30am