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Feb 13 | News
Researchers at Montana State University-Northern have developed a process to convert camelina oil to jet fuel and other high-value chemicals. Using a continuous-flow process at low temperature and pressure, the technology yields butane, pentane, gasoline, diesel, and other products.
7/28/2011 | News
A new photovoltaic energy-conversion system developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology can be powered solely by heat, generating electricity with no sunlight at all. While the principle involved is not new, a novel way of engineering the surface of a material to convert heat into precisely tuned wavelengths of light makes the new system much more efficient than previous versions.
5/9/2011 | News
As was highlighted in yesterday’s R&D Daily,
America does not hold a leadership position in developing green
technologies. But interest in renewable energy is strong, and according
to the National Renewable Energy Lab, more than 850 energy utilities
across the U.S. offer green power programs. NREL this week released its
annual list of its leaders.
1/20/2011 | News
Charles
Meneveau, a Johns Hopkins University fluid mechanics and turbulence
expert, working with a colleague in Belgium, has devised a new formula
through which the optimal spacing for a large array of wind turbines can
be obtained. The results show that current spacing standards are not as
efficient as they could be.
8/5/2010 | News
The U.S. Department of Energy last week dropped its long-running
plans to build a futuristic power plant in eastern Illinois and said it
will instead use the site for the storage of carbon dioxide produced by
another power plant across the state. The decision to radically
change the so-called FutureGen project appeared to take many of those
who were involved with it by surprise. The entire project is expected to cost $1.2 billion.
7/22/2010 | News
Electricity from sewage? Yes, bacteria from biowaste such as
sewage are placed in an anode chamber, where they form a biofilm,
consume nutrients and grow, in the process releasing electrons.
Engineers in Oregon now say a gold nanoparticle anode coating has increased
the electron release, and suggest that much cheaper iron coatings might
be able to do the same.
6/10/2010 | RDBlog
Windows accomplish a lot. They keep out the elements, but
let in the light. Properly designed they can insulate or transfer
thermal
energy, and they can also filter harmful wavelengths. But can they also
generate electricity? The recipient of the world’s large technology
prize for
2010 seems to think so.
4/30/2010 | News
Pokeberries could be the key to spreading solar
power across the globe, according to researchers at Wake Forest Univ.'s
Center
for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials.
4/8/2010 | News
Wind-generated electricity is inherently unsteady, susceptible to fluctuations
in output. Researchers at Stony Brook and the Univ. of Delaware analyzed five
years of wind observation on the U.S. East Coast and showed that a balanced,
relatively steady power system was possible if it reached a critical mass of
turbines and was fully interconnected.
3/31/2010 | News
A newly discovered path for the conversion of sunlight to electricity could brighten the future for photovoltaic technology. Researchers with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have found a new mechanism by which the photovoltaic effect can take place in semiconductor thin-films.
