Green Innovations
Engineers explore compressed air for renewable energy storage
May 21, 2013 8:35 am | News | Comments
A new study has identified two unique methods for storing energy using wind power. A team from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Bonneville Power Administration has located two sites in Washington that could serve as multi-megawatt facilities. They say power for about 85,000 homes each month could be stored in porous rocks deep underground for later use.
Study: Nation equipped to grow serious amounts of pond scum for fuel
May 22, 2013 9:02 am | by Tom Rickey, PNNL | News | Comments
A new analysis shows that the nation's land and water resources could likely support...
Engineers explore compressed air for renewable energy storage
May 21, 2013 8:35 am | News | Comments
A new study has identified two unique methods for storing energy using wind power. A...
Mechanism converts natural gas to energy faster, capture CO2
May 7, 2013 11:36 am | News | Comments
Chemical engineers have identified a new mechanism to convert natural gas into energy...
Fracking brings economic boost, but risks raise concerns
May 14, 2013 2:42 pm | News | CommentsMost Michigan and Pennsylvania residents say fracking is good for the economy, but have concerns about chemicals used and other environmental risks, according to a University of Michigan survey. Fracking is the common term for hydraulic fracturing, which involves injecting a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals deep into the ground through encased wells at high pressure to create and expand fractures in the shale rock.
Prototype provides pedestrian power
May 8, 2013 7:44 am | News | CommentsA group of Rice University mechanical engineering students are getting a charge out of having the coolest new shoes on campus. As their capstone project that is required for graduation, four seniors created a way to extract and store energy with every step. Their PediPower shoes turn motion into juice for portable electronics and, perhaps someday, for life-preserving medical devices.
New solar cell design based on dots, wires
March 25, 2013 7:40 am | by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office | News | CommentsUsing exotic particles called quantum dots as the basis for a photovoltaic cell is not a new idea, but attempts to make such devices have not yet achieved sufficiently high efficiency in converting sunlight to power. A new wrinkle added by a team of researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology—embedding the quantum dots within a forest of nanowires—promises to provide a significant boost.
A cooler way to protect silicon surfaces
February 13, 2013 7:49 am | by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office | News | CommentsSilicon requires a surface coating before use in its given applications. The coating "passivates" the material, tying up loose atomic bonds to prevent oxidation that would ruin its electrical properties. But this passivation process consumes a lot of heat and energy, making it costly and limiting the kinds of materials that can be added to the devices. Now a team of researchers has found a way to passivate silicon at room temperature, which could be a significant boon to solar cell production and other silicon-based technologies.
PNNL smart grid management technology licensed to Calico
January 29, 2013 3:33 pm | News | CommentsThe U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Calico Energy Services announced that Calico has licensed a portfolio of advanced energy management intellectual property developed by PNNL. The technology was licensed by Battelle, which manages PNNL for the DOE.
PNNL awarded $2.8 million to keep troops cool
January 25, 2013 8:12 am | News | CommentsA new, energy-efficient air chilling system could keep troops on the front lines cool while using about half as much diesel as current systems. The system's decreased fuel consumption could also save lives by reducing attacks on American soldiers who deliver fuel to field operations.
Research team maximizes impact of new energy technologies
January 24, 2013 12:46 pm | News | CommentsWhat if we could assess technologies for hidden environmental dangers before they hit the marketplace? And even better, what if the technology's positive impacts could be maximized and negative ones minimized before the technology is even deployed, as part of the development process? The Emerging Technology Assessment Team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is working to do just that, using energy and environmental analysis techniques to estimate potential impacts of early-stage technologies.
Cross-arms could speed connection of electricity supplies
January 22, 2013 9:23 am | News | CommentsA device developed by engineers at The University of Manchester and EPL Composite Solutions Ltd. could increase the capacity of the U.K.'s electricity network, enabling rapid increases in renewable generation and lower bills for consumers.
New material for warm-white LEDs
January 18, 2013 8:09 am | News | CommentsLight-emitting diodes (LEDs) are known for their energy efficiency and durability, but the bluish, cold light of current white LEDs has precluded their widespread use for indoor lighting. Now, University of Georgia scientists have fabricated what is thought to be the world's first LED that emits a warm white light using a single light-emitting material, or phosphor, with a single emitting center for illumination.
Photovoltaics beat biofuels at converting sun's energy to miles driven
January 17, 2013 10:51 am | News | CommentsUniversity of California, Santa Barbara researchers debate which makes more sense, growing fuel crops to supply alternative-fuel vehicles with ethanol and other biofuels or using photovoltaics to directly power battery electric vehicles?
NREL launches interactive tool for developing a cleaner energy future
January 15, 2013 2:20 pm | News | CommentsThe U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory has created an energy analysis tool to help individuals and educators experiment with future energy use scenarios. The interactive Buildings, Industry, Transportation, Electricity, and Transportation Scenarios (BITES) allows users to explore how changes in energy demand and supply can impact carbon dioxide emissions and the current U.S. energy trajectory.
Scientists mimic fireflies to make brighter LEDs
January 8, 2013 9:53 am | News | CommentsThe nighttime twinkling of fireflies has inspired scientists to modify a light-emitting diode (LED) so it is more than one and a half times as efficient as the original. Researchers from Belgium, France, and Canada studied the internal structure of firefly lanterns, the organs on the bioluminescent insects’ abdomens that flash to attract mates.
R&D 100 award-winning PV cell pushes efficiency higher
December 30, 2012 9:00 am | News | CommentsIt takes outside-the-box thinking to outsmart the solar spectrum and set a world record for solar cell efficiency. The solar spectrum has boundaries and immutable rules. No matter how much solar cell manufacturers want to bend those rules, they can't. So how can we make a solar cell that has a higher efficiency than the rules allow? NREL researchers know with the development of their SJ3 solar cell.
Hot Climate, Cool Laboratory
December 14, 2012 10:45 am | by Todd See, Senior Vice President, WSP Flack+Kurtz, San Francisco | Articles | CommentsChilled beams can provide an energy-efficient laboratory environment even in a tropical paradise.
AVEtec plans proof-of-concept to extract energy from tornado
December 13, 2012 9:52 pm | News | CommentsThe Thiel Foundation this week announced three new grants awarded through Breakout Labs, a revolving fund to promote innovation in science and technology. The most recent award takes the program into clean energy, with a bold new proposal from Canadian company AVEtec to harness the power of atmospheric vortexes.
Physics team demonstrates new power generation technique
November 12, 2012 1:24 pm | News | CommentsA University of Texas at Arlington physics professor has helped create a hybrid nanomaterial that can be used to convert light and thermal energy into electrical current, surpassing earlier methods that used either light or thermal energy, but not both. The team has synthesized a combination of copper sulfide nanoparticles and single-walled carbon nanotubes to construct the thermoelectric generator.
Cooling challenge spurs more energy-efficient air conditioner
November 8, 2012 1:29 pm | News | CommentsA University of California, Davis challenge to build more energy-efficient air conditioning has spurred a major global manufacturer to build a rooftop air conditioner that is 40% more energy efficient than conventional units. Trane is the second manufacturer to achieve Western Cooling Challenge certification.
Capturing carbon with clever trapdoors
November 8, 2012 11:22 am | News | CommentsOne method of capturing carbon dioxide is through molecular sieve that is an ultra-fine filter system that captures a variety of molecules that need further filtering. Engineers in Australia have developed new sieve that allows only carbon dioxide molecules to be trapped and stored, helping to eliminate the cost and energy typically required for filtering.
Study: Tradeoffs needed in battling urban heat island effects
September 11, 2012 4:15 am | News | CommentsA team of researchers from Arizona State University have found that warming resulting from megapolitan expansion is seasonally dependent, with greatest warming occurring during summer and least during winter. Painting the roofs of buildings white can combat this effect, but not without consequences for the region’s hydroclimate.
A greener way to fertilize nursery crops
August 28, 2012 7:48 am | by Dennis O'Brien | News | CommentsOrnamental nursery and floral crops require micronutrients like iron, manganese, copper and zinc. But fertilizers that provide these micronutrients often include synthetic compounds that bind with the micronutrients to make them available to the roots. They also extract metals from sediments, contributing to heavy metals in runoff. A Dept. of Agriculture scientist has found a biodegradable alternative to these agents.
Space-age technology helps insulate old buildings
August 22, 2012 4:20 am | News | CommentsRendering, or cladding, is the most common way of maintaining the look of an old house while adding insulation. But cutting panels to size and shape is a cumbersome process. Researchers in Switzerland, which has many old houses that need fresh insulation, have developed an aerogel-based plaster that is both easier to apply and provides better insulation.
Biorefinery finds treasure in spent coffee grounds and stale bakery goods
August 20, 2012 10:18 am | News | CommentsIn a report presented this week at the American Chemical Society meeting in Philadelphia, researchers based in Hong Kong, in cooperation with Starbucks restaurant chain, described their work on development and successful laboratory testing of a new biorefinery designed to change food waste into a key ingredient for making plastics, laundry detergents and scores of other everyday products.
Energy storage system helps control fluctuation of renewable energies
August 9, 2012 9:11 am | News | CommentsAt Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, several pilot plants of solar cells, small wind power plants, lithium-ion batteries, and power electronics are under construction to demonstrate how load peaks in the grid can be balanced and what regenerative power supply by an isolated network may look like in the future.
Wastewater transformed into fertilizer
August 3, 2012 5:06 am | News | CommentsSewage sludge, wastewater and liquid manure are valuable sources of fertilizer for food production. Researchers in Germany have now developed a chemical-free, eco-friendly process that enables the recovered salts to be converted directly into organic food for crop plants.
New loo turns poo into power
June 26, 2012 7:17 am | News | CommentsScientists in Singapore have invented a new toilet system that will turn human waste into electricity and fertilizers and also reduce the amount of water needed for flushing by up to 90%. Dubbed the No-Mix Vacuum Toilet, it separates liquid and solid wastes, using vacuum suction technology minimizes flushing liquid. The waste is then sent to bioreactors or used in fertilizers.
