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Mar 19 | News
The project hasn’t reached full-scale yet, but the renewable energy research project that started out in a Nevada lab has reached demonstration stage at a water reclamation facility. The process dries sludge that is normally trucked away for disposal, converting it to solid fuel that can be gasified to produce electricity.
Mar 15 | News
Developed with funding from the DOE's Clean Coal Power Initiative, a new DryFining technology from NETL uses waste heat from a power plant to reduce moisture content in lignite coal and also segregates particles by density. Occurring before oxidation, this sorting process eliminates many higher density compounds like sulfur and mercury and allows greater energy extraction and lower harmful emissions.
Mar 11 | News
Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Lab are analyzing 1,000 samples of biomass at a time, finding which one, combined with the right enzyme, most eagerly gives up its sugars to be converted into biofuel. Their work is part of an effort to meet federal regulations that require the U.S. produce 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022.
Mar 5 | News
If harnessing the unlimited solar power of the sun were easy, we wouldn't still have the greenhouse gas problem that results from the use of fossil fuel. And while solar energy systems work moderately well in hot desert climates, they are still inefficient and contribute only a small percentage of the general energy demand. A new solution may be coming from an unexpected source—a source that may be on your dinner plate tonight.
Mar 5 | News
Solar cells made from silicon are projected to be a prominent factor in future renewable green energy equations, but so far the promise has far exceeded the reality. While there are now silicon photovoltaics that can convert sunlight into electricity at impressive 20% efficiencies, the cost of this solar power is prohibitive for large-scale use. Researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), however, are developing a new approach that could substantially reduce these costs.
Feb 24 | RDBlog
Almost a year ago, the buzz during the downturn was that the economic stimulus will help boost jobs in a sort of national improvement program reminiscent of the 1930s. Our coal would be phased out. Our grids would get smart. Our cars would get hybridized.
Feb 19 | News
Aerodynamic drag can sap more than 50% of the energy produced by diesel-powered semi-truck’s engine and rolling resistance can claim about 30% more. To relieve some of inefficiencies—and ease our reliance on this fuel—Livermore Lab is using NASA Ames’ wind tunnel to design a whole new type of truck.
Feb 8 | News
Diesel fuel is the backbone of the U.S. economy, and most of it is imported and derived from petrochemicals. Biodiesel is a significant alternative, but refining it from food stocks is an ethical and economic hazard, and waste grease is rarely clean or convenient. But now, startup BioFuelBox is using an Idaho Lab catalytic process that may crack the bottleneck on this type of fuel.
Jan 28 | News
Employing some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have shown that mismatched alloys are a good match for the future development of high performance thermoelectric devices. Thermoelectrics hold enormous potential for green energy production because of their ability to convert heat into electricity.
Jan 5 | News
Reliance on rain-fed agriculture has led to tenuous lives for many rural residents of the sub-Sahara, which has prompted the development of a solution to irrigation without centralization power. A two-year study by Stanford Univ. found that solar-power pumps and drip irrigation were effective at battling the shortages of the dry season.