|
|
|
8/02/2009
  Are we really in danger of running out of energy? Earth has abundant energy available, providing we develop the technologies necessary to put it to use. Space-based solar power stations could capture and beam down to Earth using microwaves or lasers sufficient energy from the Sun to handle all of our civilization's energy needs indefinitely. And lasers might also be able to let us put those solar power stations in orbit much more cheaply. Then there are the energy sources right here on Earth. Sea water contains 3.3 parts per billion of uranium, enough to supply all of the world's present annual electricity usage for 1.98 million years without strip mining another ounce of CO2 spewing coal. Labels: Watts
7/28/2009
Solar collector + Stirling Engine = much more affordable solar power  The SunCatcher is a 25-kilowatt-electrical (kWe) solar concentrator dish structure with an array of curved glass mirror facets that track the sun and focus the concentrated energy on a Stirling engine that generates power grid-quality electricity. Stirling engines move their pistons by means of internal temperature differentials maintained by any external heat source. Someone has even made a working Stirling model that runs off the heat generated by sitting it on the palm of your hand. They make the perfect generators for a solar power system and have many other possible uses. See also: A new personal transport pod that runs on anything that burns Labels: Watts
7/27/2009
Breakthrough in biofuels makes them competitive with petroleum A start-up called Joule Biotechnologies has revealed details of a process that it says can make 20,000 gallons of biofuel per acre per year. If this yield proves realistic in actual production, it would make it practical to replace ALL fossil fuels used for transportation with biofuels. The company also claims that the fuel can be sold for prices competitive with fossil fuels, running the equivalent of $50 per barrel of crude. Genetically engineered microorganisms are grown in specially designed photobioreactors. The microorganisms use energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide and water into ethanol or hydrocarbon fuels (such as diesel or components of gasoline). The organisms excrete the fuel, which can then be collected using conventional chemical-separation technologies. With yields per acre that are 10 to 15 times higher than that of corn ethanol, all of the country's transportation fuel needs could be supplied from an area only the size of the Texas panhandle. Labels: Watts
7/23/2009
New MIT electric car to offer performance rivaling gas models  Inside a plain-looking garage on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's campus, a team is build an all-electric car to match or exceed the performance capabilities of gasoline cars. MIT's car will have a top speed of about 161 kph, a family sedan's capacity, a range of about 320 kilometers with batteries that can be recharged in about 10 minutes. They hope to complete the project, which they chronicle on their blog, by the third quarter of 2010. Labels: Watts
7/22/2009
Why big oil is investing big time in tiny little algae plants By the barrel, algae fuel provides three to four units of energy for every unit used to make it -- a ratio that approaches petroleum's 5-to-1 level of efficiency. The ratio for making ethanol from corn is a mere 1.2 to 1, according to some studies. Even making ethanol from cellulosic plants like switchgrass, researchers can achieve only a 2.5 to 1 ratio. This efficiency has lead ExxonMobil to invest $300 million over five to six years in Synthetic Biology, which is Craig Venter's new company using synthetic biology to fashion a sustainable future. Labels: Watts
7/22/2009
Dye-doped DNA nano-fibers can be tuned to emit different colors of light By adding fluorescent dyes to DNA and then spinning the DNA strands into nano-fibers, researchers at the University of Connecticut have made a new material that emits bright white light. The material absorbs energy from ultraviolet light and gives off different colors of light--from blue to orange to white--depending on the proportions of dye it contains. Labels: Watts
7/16/2009
There are now over 100 million electric bikes in China  Electric bikes are huge in China, the number on the streets just passed the 100 million mark. They are so popular because, unlike the electric bikes sold here that can set you back $5,000 to $10,000, China's typical electric bike cost an astonishingly low 2000 RMB (only about US$290). And what you get for that is pretty good, a 100 km range on a full charge at a speed of 12mph to 30 mph. In 2006 there were 2,700 licensed manufacturers, and countless additional smaller shops. The top manufacturer, Xinri, makes about 1.6 million of the over 23 million electric bikes sold worldwide in 2008. By the way, the Chinese bought about 90% of the world's e-bike output last year. Shown in the image is a KLD scooter with a 100 mile range and a 40mph top speed.
7/14/2009
How that cloud of tiny armed spy bots overhead, watching your protest, will be powered  That cloud of small but highly lethal attack/spy bots, designed to fly over any city and keep restive urban populations in check, will be powered by flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) says the US Air Force. The choice of DSSCs is due to their better power to weight performance than other types of solar cells, a very critical spec for an aerial bot that needs to orbit overhead for hours on end. So when that food price protest you are leading in 2014 gets out of hand and the crowd trashes a fast food chain outlet. Thanks to DSSCs, those clever mesh-net aerial bots overhead will be able to track you back home and terminate you quietly by releasing a small guided probe that deposits a lethal heart attack inducing toxin onto your skin. See also: Iraq offers the perfect excuse for developing WOMO (Weapons Of Mass Oppression)
7/14/2009
A national system for distributing power may prove an expensive boondoggle Energy experts generally agree that the electrical grid in the United States needs to be upgraded if the country is to increase its use of renewable-energy sources like wind power and significantly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. But plans to string new high-voltage lines to bring wind power from the midsection of the country to the coasts, where most of the demand is, could be expensive and unnecessary, and a distraction from more urgent needs, some experts say. Labels: Watts
7/13/2009
The public's anti-nuclear mind-set has us headed for catastrophe By whipping the public up into a mindless fright about nuclear power, environmentalists have directly caused a massive expansion in fossil fuel use for power generation. An expansion that is potentially large enough to cause a catastrophic melting of ice caps that would put most of the world's coastal cities, home to well over a billion people, under 50 meters of sea water. Thinking people have been trying to turn these folks around before they bring about the unthinkable catastrophe of a billion displaced people. Gradually, perhaps not fast enough to avoid disaster, prominent environmentalists like Steward Brand are seeing the error of their ways. Those that talk about getting rid of human influence on the climate, so things will return to the natural order, are idiots. They think the natural order is how the climate was in the first half of the 20th century. In reality, for the last billion years our planet's climate has been swinging back and forth from ice ages to periods when there is no summer ice on the planet at all. One of these states will destroy nearly all our coast cities, while the other will put many of our interior cities under hundreds of feet of ice. The only way an eventual catastrophe can be avoided is for humans to take active control over our planet's climate. Fortunately, as Steward Brand points out, done thoughtfully, this need not be an expensive project.
7/10/2009
Will the stars ever align for space-based solar power?  Although the US has plenty of terrain that's well placed for producing solar power, the intermittent nature of that power and the distances of these sites from major population centers on the east coast puts severe constraints on what we can do with it. Space-based solar power, which can gather energy around the clock and transmit it to most of the populated areas of the planet, provides a way around these limits. Several companies are now betting that we'll see hardware in space well before the next decade is over. Labels: Watts
7/07/2009
Breakthrough nanopillar design could cut the cost of solar cells by 90%  Their breakthrough nanopillar design allowed the University of California, Berkeley researchers to use cheaper, lower-quality materials than those used in conventional silicon and thin-film technologies. What's more, the technique used to make the cells could be adapted to make rolls of flexible panels on thin aluminum foil, cutting manufacturing costs, says Ali Javey, an electrical-engineering and computer-sciences professor who led the work. The work is at an early stage, and "you won't know the cost until you do this using a roll-to-roll process," he says. "But if you can do it, the cost could be 10 times less than what's used to make [crystalline] silicon panels." Labels: Watts
6/30/2009
A new personal transport pod that runs on anything that burns  Segway inventor Dean Kamen is developing a hybrid electric scooter that can run on almost anything that burns - from wood chips to plastic. According to the patent, the bike uses a small two-piston Stirling engine. Stirlings move their pistons by means of internal temperature differentials maintained by an external combustion heat source. The image is of a low temperature difference Stirling Engine by American Stirling Company that is powered by the heat from a warm hand holding it.
6/30/2009
Researchers create 'artificial leaf' light harvesting antenna An international team of researchers has modified chlorophyll from an alga so that it resembles the extremely efficient light antennae of bacteria. The team was then able to determine the structure of these light antennae. This technology allows the convertion of sunlight directly into usable energy with what amounts to an artificial leaf device. Labels: Watts
6/26/2009
New battery technology could let electric cars go 500 miles on a $5 charge PolyPlus is developing lightweight, high-energy batteries that can use the surrounding air as a cathode that could eventually power electric vehicles that can go for much longer in between charges. Lithium-metal batteries approach the energy density of fuel cells without the plumbing needed for these devices; in theory, the maximum energy density is more than 5,000 watt-hours per kilogram, or more than 10 times that of today's lithium-ion batteries. Lithium metal-air batteries are also very lightweight because it's not necessary to carry a second reactant. Lithium metal is "the holy-grail battery material," says Steven Visco, chief technical officer and founder of PolyPlus. IBM is also working on lithium air batteries. Labels: Watts
6/25/2009
Drive around town for pennies per mile in a compressed air powered mobile pod  The 2010 MDI AIRPod emits no emissions and runs on nothing but compressed air. The heart of the 2010 MDI AIRPod is a piston engine that has been specially adapted by MDI to run on compressed air. The expansion of the compressed air within the cylinders moves the pistons. The engine is "fueled" by a system of high-pressure air tanks that can be refiled in just a few minutes.
6/20/2009
Could solar panels filled with gasoline-secreting diatoms replace petroleum? Scientists in Canada and India are proposing a surprising new solution to the global energy crisis: "milking" oil from the tiny, single-cell algae known as diatoms, renowned for their intricate, beautifully sculpted shells that resemble fine lacework. Abstract: Here, we review a simple line of reasoning: (a) geologists claim that much crude oil comes from diatoms; (b) diatoms do indeed make oil; (c) agriculturists claim that diatoms could make 10 to 200 times as much oil per hectare as oil seeds; and (d) therefore, sustainable energy could be made from diatoms. Labels: Watts
6/17/2009
Hydrogen powered car ready to go and it's design is open source  A new hydrogen-powered mobile pod, whose designs will be open source and posted for free use in the cloud, was unveiled in London. The open-source approach means entrepreneurs around the world could download the designs and manufacture the two-seater prototype locally for free.
6/17/2009
Flexible solar panels that install on roofs like shingles  A new type of flexible rooftop solar panels, called building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs), promises to replace today's boxy solar panels that are made with rigid glass or silicon and mounted on thick metal frames. The flexible solar shingles would be less expensive to install than current panels and made to last 25 years. Labels: Watts
6/16/2009
Safer, scalable factory-built nuclear power plants  The Babcock and Wilcox mPower reactor, with its scalable, modular design, has the capacity to provide 125 MWe to 750 MWe or more for a five-year operating cycle without refueling, and is designed to produce clean, near-zero emission operations. Each B&W mPower reactor that is brought online will reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 57 million metric tons over the life of the reactor. Babcock and Wilcox has been making nuclear reactors for United States Navy ships for 50 years. See also this general overview of new developments in safer, lower-cost nuclear power. Labels: Watts
6/15/2009
Want to solve the energy problem - go fly a bot-controlled kite In the future, wind power tapped by high-flying kites could light up New York. A new study by scientists at the Carnegie Institution and California State University identifies New York as a prime location for using kites to exploit high-altitude winds, which globally contain enough energy to meet the world's entire demand 100 times over.
6/15/2009
Diesel-electric trike pod kit gets a sweet 225mpg  Robert Riley's XR3 kit mobile pod has three-wheels and a plug-in diesel-electric hybrid that get 225mpg on combined diesel-electric power or about 125mpg on the diesel engine alone.
6/11/2009
IBM jumps into development of amazing new lithium-air batteries  Lithium-air batteries can give us cheap electric cars with 1,000 mile ranges. Labs at PolyPlus Battery, in Berkeley, CA, Japan's AIST, and St. Andrews University, in Scotland, are currently working on lithium-air batteries. Now IBM has joined the race to a low cost, practical, long-range electric car battery pack. See also: Using zinc-air battery technology in lithium batteries can increase power ten fold Labels: Watts
6/11/2009
Quantum Dot LED tunable light breakthrough  Spectrally narrow electroluminescence of our QD-LEDs is tuned over the entire visible wavelength range from λ = 460 nm (blue) to λ = 650 nm (deep red). By printing close-packed monolayers of different QD types inside an identical QD-LED structure, we demonstrate that different color QD-LEDs with QDs of different chemistry can be fabricated on the same substrate.
6/09/2009
Smart bot outlets and 10 cent plug chips could save thousands of lives annually  Billions in losses and tens of thousands of annual deaths and injuries from home electrical fires and kids sticking things into power outlets could all be eliminated by putting a ten cent chip in power plugs and modding our power outlets with smart bots.
6/09/2009
Two atom thick superconducting metal created by physicists  A superconducting sheet of lead only two atoms thick, the thinnest superconducting metal layer ever created, has been developed by physicists at The University of Texas at Austin by Dr. Ken Shih and colleagues. Shown is a scanning tunneling microscope image of the 2-atom thick lead film. The inset is a zoomed view showing the atomic structure. Superconductors are unique because they can maintain an electrical current indefinitely with no power source.
6/09/2009
Nokia says ambient radiation can keep your cell phone charged indefinitely Ambient electromagnetic radiation--emitted from Wi-Fi transmitters, cell-phone antennas, TV masts, and other sources--can be converted into enough electrical current to keep a cell phone battery topped up, says Markku Rouvala, a researcher from the Nokia Research Centre, in Cambridge, U.K. Rouvala says that Nokia's prototype can harvest up to 50 milliwatts of power--enough to slowly recharge a phone, or keep it running in standby mode. "You can basically have it on standby indefinitely," he says. Labels: Watts
6/08/2009
Large, flexible, roll-up solar panels  Xunlight has developed a roll-to-roll manufacturing technique that forms thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells on thin sheets of stainless steel. Each solar module is about one meter wide and five and a half meters long. As opposed to conventional silicon solar panels, which are bulky and rigid, these lightweight, flexible sheets could easily be integrated into roofs and building facades or on vehicles. Such systems could be more attractive than conventional solar panels and be incorporated more easily into irregular roof designs. They could also be rolled up and carried in a backpack, says the company's cofounder and president, Xunming Deng. "You could take it with you and charge your laptop battery," he says. Labels: Watts
6/05/2009
Batteries do better than expected in long term tests of electric cars  Over the past two and a half years, Southern California Edison has been testing a lithium-ion battery sub-pack for electric cars, and the results are far better than expected. The lithium-ion battery has displayed remarkable longevity, surviving 180, 000 miles with no significant deterioration. With the average family vehicle traveling less than 15,000 miles per year, this test seems to show practical electric vehicles have arrived.
5/31/2009
OLED screens that last for a lifetime  DuPont Displays today announced it has developed a new organic light emitting diode (OLED) materials technology, which has led to substantial performance gains for printable OLED light-emitting materials. A DuPont Gen 3 green OLED material achieved a record lifetime of over 1,000,000 hours -- 114 years in continuous use.
5/20/2009
Using zinc-air battery technology in lithium batteries can increase power ten fold  Imagine a laptop that would go a week between charges or an electric car that could travel 1,000 miles. These could soon become possible thanks to a new battery technology developed by researchers at the University of St Andrews. According to Professor Peter Bruce, combining the air-breathing capacity of a zinc-air battery with standard lithium ion battery technology can produce a lithium-air battery with ten times the power of standard lithium batteries. The new battery has a much higher energy density than existing lithium ion batteries because it no longer contains dense lithium cobalt oxide. Instead, the positive electrode is made from lightweight porous carbon, and the lithium ions are packed into the electrolyte which floods into the spongy material. When the battery is discharged, oxygen from the air also floods through a membrane (see image, top) into the porous carbon, where it reacts with lithium ions in the electrolyte and electrons from the external circuit to form a solid lithium oxide. Labels: Watts
5/20/2009
Google's PowerMeter bot can save you up to $3,000 annually on your power bill  Watch a webmovie about Google's PowerMeter bot that give you total control of your home energy use through you computer. Testers report achieving up to 64% reductions in energy use -- saving $3,000 annually -- with no significant changes in lifestyle. Google just announced the first deployments of this home energy and money saving bot in coordination with eight electric utility companies. If they are not yet offering the PowerMeter bot, use the Cloud to form a group to pressure your local utility into upgrading to the smart meters needed to emplement this money and resource saving Civilization 2.0 technology.
5/20/2009
Moore's Law and Cloud power advance solar energy  Enphase's Microinverter System brings the power of Moore's Law and the Cloud to solar power for the first time. The solar power system monitoring and control bot has hardware, software and Cloud components: 1. The Microinverter that attaches to the racking beneath each solar module and converts DC power to grid-compliant AC power. 2. The Envoy Communications Gateway (EMU) that collects and transmits performance information from each solar module to a proprietary website for use by the customer. 3. The Enlighten website where Enphase customers can monitor and manage their solar power systems 24 hours a day.
5/18/2009
24-hour laptops, 500-mile electric cars possible from major lithium battery breakthrough The research team of professor Linda Nazar at University Of Waterloo has engineered a lithium battery that can store and deliver more than three times the power of conventional lithium ion batteries using lithium-sulphur. The prospect of lithium-sulphur batteries has tantalized chemists for two decades, and not just because successfully combining the two chemistries delivers much higher energy densities. Sulphur is also cheaper than many other materials currently used in lithium batteries. It has always showed great promise as the ideal partner for a safe, low cost, long lasting rechargeable battery, exactly the kind of battery needed for energy storage and transportation in a low carbon emission energy economy. Labels: Watts
5/11/2009
Ultra-dense deuterium may be the nuclear fuel of the future  So what happens if you refine deuterium until it is a hundred thousand times heavier than water and more dense than the core of the Sun and then irradiate it with a laser? "Ultra-dense deuterium may be a very efficient fuel in laser driven nuclear fusion," says Leif Holmlid, one of the scientists doing this research at the University of Gothenburg. "It is possible to achieve nuclear fusion between deuterium nuclei using high-power lasers, releasing vast amounts of energy." Labels: Watts
5/11/2009
Why fully electric vehicles are better than hybrids  Watch Tesla CEO Elon Musk explains why fully electric cars are superior to plug-in hybrids, or if you have the time, watch the full 1 hour and 29 minute interview that also covers his important efforts to help mitigate humanity's high vulnerability to extinction by colonizing Mars in the next two decades. A smarter move would be the colonization of the asteroid belt where a civilization boosting fortune in minerals are waiting to be recovered.
5/11/2009
New nanocrystals show potential for cheap lasers, new lighting  For more than a decade, scientists have been frustrated in their attempts to create continuously emitting light sources from individual molecules because of an optical quirk called "blinking," but now scientists at the University of Rochester have uncovered the basic physics behind the phenomenon, and along with researchers at the Eastman Kodak Company, created a nanocrystal that constantly emits light.
5/08/2009
Cellulosic biofuel breakthrough cuts costs by 60% Mascoma Corporation says they has made major research advances in consolidated bioprocessing, or CBP, a low-cost processing strategy for production of biofuels from cellulosic biomass. CBP avoids the need for the costly production of cellulase enzymes by using engineered microorganisms that produce cellulases and ethanol at high yield in a single step. "This is a true breakthrough that takes us much, much closer to billions of gallons of low cost cellulosic biofuels," said Michigan State University's Dr. Bruce Dale, who is also Editor of the journal Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefineries. "Many had thought that CBP was years or even decades away, but the future just arrived. Mascoma has permanently changed the biofuels landscape from here on." .... READ Labels: Watts
5/08/2009
Converting biomass to electricity far more efficient than converting it to ethanol Bioelectricity is the clear winner ver ethanol in the transportation-miles-per-acre comparison, regardless of whether the energy was produced from corn or from switchgrass. For example, a small electric SUV powered by bioelectricity could travel nearly 14,000 highway miles on the net energy produced from an acre of switchgrass, while a comparable internal combustion vehicle could only travel about 9,000 miles.... READ Labels: Watts
5/07/2009
NASA says floating ocean algae bags can solve sustainable fuel problems  "The reason why algae are so interesting is because some of them produce lots of oil," said Jonathan Trent, the lead research scientist on the Spaceship Earth project at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. “In fact, most of the oil we are now getting out of the ground comes from algae that lived millions of years ago. Algae are still the best source of oil we know." Land-based algae growing schemes require storing water on land and controlling its temperature, which are the big problems that make them prohibitively expensive to build and operate. "The inspiration I had was to use offshore membrane enclosures to grow algae. We're going to deploy a large plastic bag in the ocean, and fill it with sewage. The algae use sewage to grow, and in the process of growing they clean up the sewage," said Trent.... READ Labels: Watts
5/07/2009
New ink jet solar cell process cuts expensive silicon by 50% The process uses ink-jet printing to make electrical connections within a solar cell, replacing the existing screen-printing process. Because the ink-jet method is more precise, it can use less material for these connections. Also, because the printheads don't make contact with the silicon, the method works with thinner silicon wafers.... READ Labels: Watts
5/05/2009
Revolutionary LifePO4 battery makes possible much cheaper and better electric vehicles  "It's a revolutionary battery because it is made from non-toxic materials abundant in the Earth's crust. Plus, it's not expensive,'" says Michel Gauthier, an invited professor at the Universite de Montreal Department of Chemistry and co-founder of Phostech Lithium, the company that makes the battery material. "This battery could eventually make the electric car very profitable." "It is a battery that is much more stable and much safer," says Dean MacNeil, a professor at the Universite de Montreal's Department of Chemistry and new NSERC-Phostech Lithium Industrial Research Chair in Energy Storage and Conversion. "In addition, it recharges much faster than previous batteries."... READ Labels: Watts
5/05/2009
Electrospun fibers that can create wearable power  Electrospinning, the most general way to make a continuous polymer nanofiber, uses an electrical charge to draw the fiber from a liquid polymer. As a jet of charged fluid polymer sprays out the bottom of a nozzle, an electric field forces the stream to whip back and forth, stretching the fiber lengthwise so its diameter shrinks from 100 microns to as little as 10 nanometers.... READ
5/05/2009
Hydroelectric voltage is generated when water is pushed through a single-walled carbon nanotube  Scientists have found that they can create an electric current by pushing water through a single-walled carbon nanotube. The direction of the electric potential along the tube could even be flipped by changing the course of the water flow. Chinese scientists led by Lianfeng Sun have made hydroelectric power converters based on this phenomenon.... READ Labels: Watts
5/05/2009
A summary of the latest developments in nuclear power China work on mass production of pebble bed reactors. Work on integral fast reactors can achieve 99.5% burn up of uranium. Work on Liquid Flouride Thorium Reactors and several promising approaches to fusion are all covered. Also new approaches to recovery uranium from sea water... READ Labels: Watts
5/05/2009
Scientists determine the structure of highly efficient light-harvesting molecules  An international team has determined the structure of chlorophyll molecules in green bacteria, which are super-efficient at harvesting light energy. The research could be used to build artificial photosynthetic systems, such as those that convert solar energy to electrical energy. "We found that the orientation of the chlorophyll molecules (shown in the image) make green bacteria extremely efficient at harvesting light," said Donald Bryant, professor of biotechnology at Penn State.... READ Labels: Watts
4/24/2009
Natural gas power plants can be cheaply retrofitted to also make hydrogen Natural gas power plants could be cheaply retrofitted to generate hydrogen as well as power with a catalyst that converts methane into hydrogen gas and combustible coke, allowing the power station to produce hydrogen alongside electricity. Discovered by Gadi Rothenberg and colleagues at the University of Amsterdam and at IRCE Lyon, this kind of technology could ease a transition to a hydrogen economy, reducing the need for heavy investment in large hydrogen-focused plants.... READ Labels: Watts
4/21/2009
Modding yeast and bacteria into a cheaper than oil fuel factory Take brewer's yeast, add a gene from a salt marsh plant, grow it with an obscure bacterium found in a French landfill, and what have you got? A cheap, renewable way to fuel our cars, claims Christopher Voigt, a synthetic biologist at the University of California, San Francisco.... READ Labels: Watts
4/19/2009
Singapore researchers first to transform carbon dioxide into methanol Scientists at Singapore's Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have found a new non-toxic process to produce the clean-burning fuel methanol directly from carbon dioxide.... READ Labels: Watts
4/17/2009
The SuperWave fusion device  This animation shows what scientist think is going on in Energetics Technologies SuperWave Fusion device that may prove to be a revolutionary approach to the generation of clean, abundant energy. The company's experiments, which have been reproduced in other labs, appear to produce 25 times more energy output than the energy required to produce it.... WATCH .... READ Labels: Watts
4/13/2009
Trapping light inside the nanoscale pores can triple solar cell efficiency By trapping light inside the nanoscale pores of thin-film solar cells coated with diatoms, the engineers claim that more incident photons are captured to boost electricity generation, thereby greatly increasing efficiency. "In our system, photons bounce around inside pores formed from diatom shells," said OSU professor Greg Rorrer, "making them three times more efficient.".... READ Labels: Watts
4/10/2009
Printable thin film supercapacitors using single-walled carbon nanotubes  Thin film supercapacitors were fabricated using printable materials to make flexible devices on plastic. The active electrodes were made from sprayed networks of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) serving as both electrodes and charge collectors. Using a printable aqueous gel electrolyte as well as an organic liquid electrolyte, the performances of the devices show very high energy and power densities.... READ Labels: Watts
4/10/2009
Protein that concentrates CO2 in algae found An Iowa State University researcher has identified the key proteins in microalgae responsible for concentrating and moving CO2 into cells. "This is a real breakthrough," said Martin Spalding, professor and chair of the department of genetics, development and cell biology. "No one had previously identified any of the proteins that are involved in transporting CO2 in microalgae." The protein that Spalding and his team have identified as responsible for transporting CO2 is called HLA3.... READ Labels: Watts
4/09/2009
A new heater cable lowers the cost of getting oil out of shale A new ceramic-composite material that can withstand high temperatures and constant exposure to moisture could provide an economical way to unlock America's vast oil-shale deposits. U.S. oil-shale resources hold three times as much crude oil as the whole of Saudi Arabia. But unlike with the gushing fields of the Middle East, extracting oil from shale is like trying to squeeze juice out of frozen lemons.... READ Labels: Watts
4/05/2009
A catalyst for cheaper fuel cells A new catalyst based on iron works as well as platinum-based catalysts for accelerating the chemical reactions inside hydrogen fuel cells. The finding could help make fuel cells for electric cars cheaper and more practical.... READ Labels: Watts
4/04/2009
Yeast-powered fuel cell feeds on human blood Yeast cells feeding on the glucose in human blood might one day power human implants such as pacemakers. A living source of power that is able to regenerate itself eliminating the need for operations to replace batteries.... READ
4/03/2009
New virus-built battery could power cars, electronic devices  For the first time, MIT researchers have shown they can genetically engineer viruses to build both the positively and negatively charged ends of a lithium-ion battery. The new virus-produced batteries have the same energy capacity and power performance as state-of-the-art rechargeable batteries being considered to power plug-in hybrid cars, and they could also be used to power a range of personal electronic devices, said Angela Belcher, the MIT materials scientist who led the research team.... READ Labels: Watts
4/02/2009
Microbes turn electricity directly to methane without hydrogen generation  A tiny microbe can take electricity and directly convert carbon dioxide and water to methane, producing a portable energy source with a potentially neutral carbon footprint, according to a team of Penn State engineers. "We were studying making hydrogen in microbial electrolysis cells and we kept getting all this methane," said Bruce E. Logan, Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering, Penn State. Image shows researchers with their microbial cell that produces methane directly from electricity.... READ Labels: Watts
3/28/2009
Taking a walk to charge your cell phone or iPod  The illustration shows the microfiber-nanowire hybrid nanogenerator, which is the basis of using the motion of fabrics for generating electricity. "Quite simply, this technology can be used to generate energy under any circumstances as long as there is movement," says lead researcher Zhong Lin Wang, Regents' Professor, School of Material Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.... READ
3/28/2009
Algae biofuel advances reported world algae summit  Algae Ventures says the harvester illustrated lowers the cost for harvesting, removing water and drying algae by over 99.75%. They say their cost of processing a gallon drops to only $0.01. And Bionavitas has a Light Immersion Technology that solves a major problem in algae cultivation. By eliminating the self-shading phenomenon, when the top layer of algae gets so thick it limits light reaching algae beneath it, their device greatly increasing yields per acre.... READ .... READ Labels: Watts
3/27/2009
Breakthrough invention lets you power your home and car off-grid
Labels: Watts
3/26/2009
Researchers promise U.S. independence from petroleum using algae oil  Chemists reported development of what they termed the first economical, eco-friendly process to convert algae oil into biodiesel fuel -- a discovery they predict could one day lead to U.S. independence from petroleum as a fuel. "This is the first economical way to produce biodiesel from algae oil," according to lead researcher Ben Wen, Ph.D.. "It costs much less than conventional processes because you would need a much smaller factory, there are no water disposal costs, and the process is considerably faster."... MORE Labels: Watts
3/25/2009
Modding alga so it can power our civilization Researchers studying a hydrogen-producing, single-celled green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, have unmasked a previously unknown fermentation pathway for increasing hydrogen production.... MORE Labels: Watts
3/25/2009
Natural gas lying around in chunks on the ocean floor  Gas hydrates, known as "ice that burns," could provide a clean, sustainable fuel source government researchers are reporting. Gas hydrates, a frozen form of natural gas that bursts into flames at the touch of a match, are an abundant, untapped source of clean, sustainable energy found on the ocean floor.... MORE Labels: Watts
3/25/2009
20 years of bad science or is cold fusion something real  Twenty years to the day that two electrochemists ignited controversy by announcing signs of cold fusion, a separate team has made a similar claim. But this time, the evidence appears more solid and is being taken more seriously. Watch a briefing from the researchers.... WATCH ....MORE .... MORE Labels: Watts
3/24/2009
A nano-coating that traps more power and self cleans solar cells  Using two different types of chemical etching to create features at both the micron and nanometer size scales, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a surface treatment that boosts the light absorption of silicon photovoltaic cells in two complementary ways. The surface treatment increases absorption both by trapping light in three-dimensional structures and by making the surfaces self-cleaning – allowing rain or dew to wash away the dust and dirt that can accumulate on photovoltaic arrays. Because of its ability to make water bead up and roll off, the surface is classified as superhydrophobic.... MORE
3/24/2009
The all electric four seats, five doors, 250km range Bluecar  The Bluecar is a compact and elegant town car with four seats, five doors and an automatic transmission. Its L. M. P. battery gives it a range of 250 km between charges, well in excess of the 40 km clocked up on average by a driver in an urban environment. To recharge the BLUECAR, simply plug it into a public power outlet or a standard power socket at home. It takes six hours to recharge the car's battery from a standard power socket, and only two hours on the future fast-charging outlets. If need be, the batteries can be fast-charged for five minutes, giving the car enough power to run 25 km.... MORE Labels: Watts
3/23/2009
Bot flown kites could fill all America's electricity needs  Large bot-flown kite turbines can create large amounts of clean, renewable energy much more efficiently than ground based wind turbines.... WATCH Labels: Watts
3/17/2009
Better super-capacitors that can out perform batteries Electrostatic capacitors are ideal candidates to replace batteries in devices that require speedy discharge of power, such as electric cars but can hold only a limited charge. Super-capacitors that store charge chemically as well as electrically have far greater capacities, but perform only as well as the best batteries in discharge of power. Now a prototype capacitor has been made that manages to store power as densely as a super-capacitor, but deliver it at speeds comparable with electrostatic capacitors.... MORE Labels: Watts
3/14/2009
Nano-solar that can turn air and water into methane Dual catalysts may be the key to efficiently turning carbon dioxide and water vapor into methane and other hydrocarbons using titania nanotubes and solar power, according to Penn State researchers.... more
3/14/2009
A much less costly way to get the CO2 out A new process, which is to be tested in Germany this summer, promises to remove up to 90 percent of CO2 from power-plant exhaust gases while using far less energy than other methods.... more Labels: Watts
3/12/2009
Researchers demonstrate lithium batteries that can charge in seconds  Two MIT researchers have developed battery cells that can charge up in less time than it will take you to read this brief post. Nano-materials designed to speed ion flows could eventually produce ultra-fast power packs for everything from laptop computers to electric vehicles. The image shows a sample of the battery material developed.... more Labels: Watts
3/12/2009
A new type of battery, called a spin battery works using magnetic fields  Researchers at the University of Miami and at the Universities of Tokyo and Tohoku, Japan, have been able to prove the existence of a "spin battery," a battery that is "charged" by applying a large magnetic field to nano-magnets in a device called a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ).... more Labels: Watts
3/11/2009
The only practical way to control global warming ~ Sunshade  Although they are obviously achieving a hidden goal of putting lots of money into the pockets of their political cronies. The hugely expensive boondoggles for controlling global warming that the world's politicos are currently funding, are having no positive impact on the actual problem. Fortunately, researchers have already worked out a simple way to effectively control the negative effects of global warming for less than 1% of the annual amount of taxpayer's money our politicos are currently shoveling out to their corporate sponsors for so-called solutions, like corn ethanol, that have no actual chance of working. By simply mixing into commercial jet fuel the correct amount of a particulate additive. Enough of the sun's heat can be deflected from the upper atmosphere back out into space, to effectively mitigate the effects of global warming. Researchers call it Sunshade, and it is nothing more than a precisely controlled version of the process that has allowed volcanoes to bring about ice ages again and again in the past, by spewing tiny particles into the upper atmosphere with their eruptions. Researchers do warn, though, that if you are considering adding solar power panels to you home or business. You should take into account that when Sunshade, the only practical system for controlling global warming, finally, inevitably, gets implemented. It will cut the electric output of your solar panels by around 20% to 30% -- so plan accordingly... more
3/11/2009
Researchers create a nano-sized photocatalyst for artificial photosynthesis  Plants employ photosynthesis to capture energy from sunlight and convert it into electrochemical energy. Now researchers at Berkeley Lab have taken the critical step towards developing an artificial version of photosynthesis that can be used to produce liquid fuels from carbon dioxide and water. As shown in the image, nano-sized crystals of cobalt oxide can effectively carry out the critical photosynthetic reaction of splitting water molecules to free up electrons and oxygen (O2) that then react with carbon dioxide (CO2) to produce a fuel, shown here as methanol.... more
3/04/2009
Riding a wave to safer, cheaper nuclear power reactor  Unlike today's reactors, a traveling-wave reactor requires very little enriched uranium, reducing the risk of weapons proliferation. The reactor uses depleted-uranium fuel packed inside hundreds of hexagonal pillars. In a wave that moves through the core at only a centimeter per year, this fuel is transformed (or bred) into plutonium, which then undergoes fission. The reaction is ignited by a small amount of enriched uranium and then runs for decades without refueling ... more Labels: Watts
3/02/2009
Long anticipated $1 per watt solar milestone arrives For over a decade, energy experts have been predicting that once the cost of solar power drops below $1 per watt, it will really take off. That day has now arrived ... more Labels: Watts
2/27/2009
Carbon nanotubes can deliver much cheaper fuel cells Fuel cells have been hailed as saviours of the environment, because they can cleanly and efficiently turn hydrogen and other fuels into electricity. But so far this technology has been hobbled by the high cost of the platinum catalysts needed to make it work. Now a new type of fuel cell based on carbon nanotubes promises to be much cheaper, as well as more compact and more efficient ... more ... more
2/27/2009
Vortex vibrations tapped for energy capture from water flows The phenomenon of Vortex Induced Vibrations (VIV), which was first observed 500 years ago by Leonardo DaVinci, can be used to efficently capture energy from ocean and stream water flows. For decades, engineers have been trying to prevent VIV from damaging offshore equipment and structures. Navy funded research at the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory at the University of Michigan has found that by maximizing and exploiting VIV rather than spoiling and preventing it, an ocean engineering problem can be transformed into a device able to extract energy from the ocean much more efficiently than today's generators using wave motion ... more Labels: Watts
2/23/2009
Producing hydrogen from bio-waste without the expensive platinum catalyst Bruce Logan and his colleagues at Pennsylvania State University have used a stainless-steel cathode high-density bristle brush as the catalyst in the microbial electrolysis cell. With increased surface area, hydrogen production rates increased to values that matched or even exceeded those of an expensive platinum cathode. The new technique promises to cut the costs of converting bio-waste into hydrogen fuel with a microbial fuel cell by about 80% ... more Labels: Watts
2/23/2009
Muscle-driven biomechanical electricity nanogenerator You have numerous sources of mechanical energy, such as muscle stretching, arm/leg swings, walking/running, heart beats, and blood flow. We demonstrate a piezoelectric nanowire based nanogenerator that converts biomechanical electric energy ... more
2/21/2009
Make solar cells that are as efficent as the ones plants use Researchers say they have developed a powerful new laser technique that for the first time has been able to take pictures showing how the sun's energy actually moves inside plants to drive the process of photosynthesis. Until now, quantum effects have made it difficult for scientists to explain how photosynthetic molecules are able to transport energy with such a remarkably high efficiency. Scientists can use this data to duplicate in solar power cells the most efficient solar energy capturing system on Earth ... more Labels: Watts
2/21/2009
On the road to a successful electric mobile pod design  The new Zero electric city car concept from Tazzari appears to be on the road towards what would seem an optimum design for this class of vehicles. Small and light but designed with safety in mind, offering enough room for people and groceries, sharp looks (no one wants to drive a golf cart to work), simple to charge, easily maintainable, with enough range to easily handle a day's commute plus after work errands ... watch
2/20/2009
Restore America's economic strength by becoming the world's electric utility The main problem with solar power is that it won't work when the sun isn't shining. But this isn't a problem if you put the solar collector up in space and beamed the power down to Earth. The sun never stops shining in space. By creating a space-based solar industry, America could solve our own energy problem, eliminate the problem of global warming, restore our economy by becoming the world's electric utility, and insure that we will never again need to send our young men and women to die to maintain the flow of oil. For less than we have spent on the Iraq war, we could turn ourselves into the world's new OPEC and live rich and free by making energy instead of war ... watch ... more
2/20/2009
Solar concentrator delivers cost-effective solar power  A number of labs around the world, including one at MIT, have been looking into the possibility of revolutionizing the cost-effectiveness of solar power by using low-cost concentrators able to collect the sun's energy over a larger area and focus it onto smaller solar cells. The idea is that instead of making a one meter square solar cell, you find a cheap material that could focus all the energy from that square meter to a very thin and cheap solar cell around its edge. Now a company called Moran Solar says they have a commercial version of this promising technology ready to go ... more Labels: Watts
2/19/2009
Sun-powered device converts carbon dioxide directly into fuel Powered only by natural sunlight, an array of nanotubes is able to convert a mixture of carbon dioxide and water vapor into natural gas at unprecedented rates. Such devices offer a new way to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and convert it directly into fuel or other chemicals cutting the effect of fossil fuel emissions on global climate, says Craig Grimes, from Pennsylvania State University, whose team designed and built the device ... more Labels: Watts
2/18/2009
Can fool's gold save the world from an energy crisis?  Today's solar cells are made from exotic and expensive materials like crystalline silicon and thin films of rare elements like cadmium and tellurium. This has the effect of preventing solar panels from ever supplying any significant amount of the world's power needs. But now researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have found that iron pyrite, commonly known as fool's gold, offers a solution. Although cells made with fool's gold are somewhat less efficient than those made with the exotic, costly minerals, their significantly lower cost and potentially unlimited supply, makes fool's gold a key to producing enough solar power to have any significant impact on supplying global energy needs ... more Labels: Watts
2/17/2009
Is the BugEV the Model T of 21st century mobile pods?  The designer calls this electric bike kit, an electric Model T for the 21st century. And indeed it does appear to provide reasonably priced, basic transportation, which is both function and very easy to work on yourself. And those are exactly the traits that caused the Model T to revolutionize the horseless carriage market. Could this little electric bike, rather than those fancy but tremendously costly vehicles like the Tesla and the Volt, be the true model for the electric city vehicles of tomorrow? As we watch the world's economy sinking at an unprecedented pace and see many traditional auto companies facing bankruptcy, I wonder if that might not just turn out to be the case ... watch ... more
2/16/2009
LEDs + great designer + legos = awesome lights  Not only can the bulbs last 10 times longer and the electric bill be 80% less, but in the hands of a talented designer, LEDs can also be way cooler (in both meanings of that word) ... more (and while you are at the Design blog, check out the chess board design, absolutely silly, but fun) Labels: Watts
2/15/2009
Nanogenerators produce electricity from running or tapping fingers  Nanogenerators could soon power our wearware and implants. "Using nanotechnology, we have demonstrated ways to convert even irregular biomechanical energy into electricity," said Zhong Lin Wang, a Regent's professor in the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering. "This technology can convert any mechanical disturbance into electrical energy." Image shows a hamster wearing a tiny jacket containing nanogenerators ... more Labels: Watts
2/15/2009
Easy to install, cheap home wind power The Jellyfish Wind Appliance is a small 36-inch tall vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) with a solid-state controller and a variable-speed induction generator that plugs directly into an existing wall socket and automatically generates power whenever the wind blows. The Jellyfish can generate up to 40 kWh per month in moderate winds enough to light an average home using energy efficient light bulbs ... watch ... more Labels: Watts
2/14/2009
India is improving the design of fast breeder reactors Breeder reactor are the only kind of electric generation plant that can actual produce more fuel than they consume. Worries over nuclear proliferation have limited their use in the west, but India is going strong. In the west, we just keep building more carbon spewing fossil fuel power plants instead. Yes, some rouge group will doubtless blow up a city one day with a nuke, but if we don't stop putting carbon into the atmosphere at the current rate, all the world's coastal cities and towns will wind up under 100 meters of water. There is no such thing as risk free, everything is a trade off ... more Labels: Watts
2/13/2009
In a shocking & absorbing development - MIT students invent pot hole power  A team of MIT undergraduate students has invented a shock absorber that harnesses energy from small bumps in the road, generating electricity while it smooths the ride more effectively than conventional shocks. Turning the old obsolete and failing infrastructure into energy - how ingenious ... more Labels: Watts
1/30/2009
Breakthrough LED fab technique promises to reduce your lighting bill by 75%  A new way of making LEDs could see household lighting bills reduced by up to 75% in five years time. LEDs use Gallium Nitride (GaN), a man-made semiconductor that emits a brilliant bright light but uses very little electricity. Until now high production costs have made GaN lighting too expensive for widespread use in homes and offices, but the Cambridge University Center for Gallium Nitride has developed a new way of making GaN, which can produce LEDs for 10% of current prices. The new technique grows GaN on silicon wafers instead of the much more expensive material currently used ... more Labels: Watts
1/27/2009
Breakthrough nuclear fusion-fission device destroys nuclear waste  Physicists at The University of Texas at Austin have designed a new system that, when fully developed, would use fusion to eliminate most of the waste produced by nuclear power plants. The scientists propose destroying the waste using a fusion-fission hybrid reactor, the centerpiece of which is a high power Compact Fusion Neutron Source (CFNS) made possible by a crucial invention. The invention could help combat global warming by making nuclear power cleaner and thus a more viable replacement of carbon-heavy energy sources, such as coal. "We have created a way to use fusion to relatively inexpensively destroy the waste from nuclear fission," says Mike Kotschenreuther, senior research scientist with the Institute for Fusion Studies (IFS) and Department of Physics. "Our waste destruction system, we believe, will allow nuclear power - a low carbon source of energy - to take its place in helping us combat global warming." ... more Labels: Watts
1/14/2009
The nPower personal energy generator  Never lose battery power again with the nPower PEG (Personal Energy Generator). The nPower PEG is an environmentally friendly, portable way to recharge your handheld electronic devices including your cell phone, MP3 player, PDA, digital camera, and GPS. nPower provides you never-ending security, communication, and entertainment when you need it most; while you are on the go. The power is in you! ... more
1/09/2009
Creating super batteries from thin films of carbon nanotubes Researchers at MIT have made pure, dense, thin films of carbon nanotubes that show promise as electrodes for higher-capacity batteries and supercapacitors. Dispensing with the additives previously used to hold such films together improved their electrical properties, including the ability to carry and store a large amount of charge ... more
1/08/2009
Bacteria turns coal into natural gas underground  Luca Technologies has discovered that on-going biogenic production of methane (natural gas) is taking place today in a number of large coal fields in the United States. This methane production is the result of indigenous populations of microorganisms that, in the absence of oxygen, metabolize the large hydrocarbon molecules present in coal and oil into smaller hydrocarbons, principally methane. Now Luca is working to culture and harness these organisms to convert coal to natural gas underground releasing only half the carbon of mining and burning that coal ... more
1/07/2009
Production fuel cell mobile pods finally actually hit the road  Honda's FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle is powered by an electric motor running on electricity generated by a breakthrough Vertical Flow (V Flow) hydrogen-powered fuel cell stack that is much smaller than other fuel cells, allowing for more passenger space and a bigger trunk. A compact, high-efficiency lithium-ion battery pack is used as a supplemental power source capturing lost energy during deceleration and braking ... more
1/06/2009
On the road to a better, cheaper hydrogen fuel cell Fuel cells are an incredibly efficient way to convert chemical energy into electricity, but tend to operate at high temperatures or require extremely pure hydrogen for fuel. But now some innovative solid acid fuel cell (SAFC) technology is offering a better, cheaper fuel cell that promises to handle dirty hydrogen at relatively low temperatures ... more Send comments to: humods [at] gmail [dot] com |
