Green Innovations
Carbon 'grapevine' may store hydrogen
June 13, 2011 7:35 am | News | CommentsA nanoscale grapevine with hydrogen grapes could someday provide your car's preferred vintage of fuel. Rice Univ. researchers have determined that a lattice of calcium-decorated carbyne has the potential to store hydrogen at levels that easily exceed Department of Energy (DOE) goals for use as a "green" alternative fuel for vehicles.
Lab-industry partnership to launch deep sea offshore wind demo
June 10, 2011 11:23 am | by Anne M Stark | News | CommentsLivermore Lab has signed a memorandum of understanding with SWAY, a renewable energy company, that has developed floating towers for wind turbines located in deep water. Though California has not yet approved offshore wind turbines, SWAY will launch a 1/5 scale prototype of the technology off the coast of Norway on June 10 to demonstrate how the system could work in the Pacific Ocean.
Moser Baer Technologies wins $2.9 M U.S. Dept. of Energy award
June 10, 2011 9:08 am | News | CommentsThe U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected Moser Baer Technologies (MBT), Inc., which has growing operations at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering’s (CNSE) Smart System Technology & Commercialization Center of Excellence (STC) in Canandaigua, as the recipient of a $2.9 million grant to enable green energy research and development designed to accelerate the use of innovative solid-state lighting technologies.
'Produced water' used to grow algae for biofuels
June 9, 2011 12:07 pm | News | CommentsIn collaboration with a Texas-based research facility, Los Alamos National Lab researchers conducted the first pilot-scale test of algae growth using saline water from an oil-production. This so-called produced water is sourced from mining operations and used to grow salt-tolerant algae for biofuel.
Recent studies on EVs may inform makers of both policy and autos
May 19, 2011 12:46 pm | by Elizabeth Boyle | News | CommentsWhile engineers are still tinkering with the electric vehicles’ real-world practicality, economics researchers are also taking a close look at EVs. New research sheds light on the priorities of potential customers and the actual economic impact on different types of drivers. The reports hold some surprises.
Pyroelectric energy harvesters transform waste heat into energy
May 16, 2011 12:46 pm | News | CommentsTiny energy converters being developed Oak Ridge National Lab are designed for deployment in high-performance computer chips as way to use thermal energy to generate power for much-needed cooling. The research team reports that efficiency levels of their cantilevered invention are far higher than existing harvesters.
Flying green may not be that simple
May 11, 2011 11:26 am | by Jennifer Chu, MIT News Office | News | CommentsAirlines are racing to be the first to bring biofuel to the skies, but researchers at MIT say the industry should cool its jets. The carbon footprint picture is complicated, especially with regard to biofuels. In some cases, the study reveal, conventional fossil fuels may be the “greener” choice.
NREL highlights 2010 utility green power leaders
May 9, 2011 10:20 am | News | CommentsAs 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.
New lithium-ion battery “top candidate” for electric cars
May 4, 2011 11:19 am | News | CommentsA team of scientists in Italy and South Korea have built a new type of lithium-ion based spinel cathode material that, when used in a battery with a tin-carbon anode, have been shown to supply high rate charge and discharge cycles and energy density on the order of 170 Wh/kg -1 . This performance indicates a suitable use in electric vehicles
Water cleaning technology could reduce environmental impacts from shale production
May 2, 2011 10:52 am | News | CommentsThe National Energy Technology Laboratory and an industry partner, ABSMaterial, have built two pilot-scale water treatment systems that they hope will address concerns over the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing in oil and gas well. ABSMaterial’s Osorb technology uses swelling glass to remove 99% of impurities in the water used for this technique.
NETL-sponsored project aims to reduce emissions for natural gas industry
April 21, 2011 5:13 am | News | CommentsWith funding from the National Energy Technology Laboratory, researchers at Kansas State University are developing emissions control and monitoring technologies that can be applied to engines used in natural-gas-gathering systems. These are engines that are too costly to replace as they age, but must be updated to meet new federal EPA emissions regulations.
Ionic liquid batteries are under development at Naval Research Lab
April 19, 2011 6:08 am | News | CommentsScientists anticipate a move away from centuries of caustic, hazardous aqueous-based battery cells, and the future could include the latest invention from scientists at NRL. Their new battery operates on hydrogen sulphate, an ionic liquid that acts as an electrolyte and can mimic alkaline batteries with discharge voltages up to 1.8 V.
Researchers close in on technology for making renewable petroleum
March 23, 2011 7:09 am | News | CommentsUniv. of Minnesota researchers are a key step closer to making renewable petroleum fuels using bacteria, sunlight, and dioxide, a goal funded by a $2.2 million United States Department of Energy grant.
Testing smart energy systems
March 9, 2011 5:36 am | News | CommentsThe Fraunhofer Institute in Germany has built a test lab, the SmartEnergyLab, to investigate how to network various electrical household appliances and operate them remotely. With a co-generation plant and photovoltaic simulator, researchers can analyze almost energy management system for controlling power and heat.
Super-efficient cells key to low-cost solar power
March 7, 2011 6:05 am | by Bill Scanlon | News | CommentsThe ability to deliver electricity at prices competitive with natural gas was a big reason why the Amonix 7700 Concentrated Photovoltaic Solar Power Generator earned an R&D 100 Award in 2010. The DOE’s National Renewable Energy Lab reports on the technology it developed with Amonix, and how it has been designed to eventually compete with coal as a cost-effective energy source.
Mimicking photosynthesis: The key to cheap hydrogen for fuel?
February 23, 2011 4:44 am | News | CommentsThe production of inexpensive hydrogen for automotive or jet fuel may be possible by mimicking photosynthesis, according to a Penn State materials chemist, but a number of problems need to be solved first.
Energy experts to help U.S. Navy get greener
February 17, 2011 7:13 am | News | CommentsUC Davis agreed to help the U.S. Navy find new ways to use less energy and to derive more of the energy it does use from renewable sources such as the sun and wind, instead of oil and coal.
Getting a charge out of solar 'paint'
February 14, 2011 6:04 am | by Miles O'Brien and Marsha Walton | News | CommentsBrian Korgel, a nanomaterials chemist at the University of Texas at Austin, and his team are designing solar cells that are light, flexible, efficient, and affordable. Their solution is a nanocrystal paint that can be dispersed in a solvent, allowing users to coat surfaces like windows in a photovoltaic film. The crystals themselves are based on CIGS technology.
The hidden inflexibility of plastic
July 7, 2010 8:58 am | by Paul Livingstone | Blogs | CommentsEvery week, the small plastic bag filled with our collected plastic and metal tidbits—a partial fossil record of the consuming habits two American adults—hits the curb beside the cardboard. It's recycling day. But much of the plastic will never see the light of day again.
To LEED or not to LEED
June 8, 2010 6:14 am | by Rita C. Peters | Articles | CommentsLeadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). It provides third-party verification that a building was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance in energy savings, water efficiency, CO 2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.
A rough ride: the green energy rollercoaster
April 9, 2010 8:31 am | by Paul Livingstone | Blogs | CommentsThe economic stimulus of 2009 was partly supposed inject a little nitrous oxide into the burgeoning green energy sector. But the jury's still out on whether green energy is the future of U.S. jobs. And we’re still not sure which green jobs those will be.
A clean energy America…is it coming or not?
February 24, 2010 2:18 pm | Blogs | CommentsAlmost 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.
The Power of Bacteria
December 14, 2009 10:41 am | Blogs | CommentsI always thought of bacteria as being intrusive. The same goes for fungi. It seemed more of something that would infect the body instead of helping the body, or any field of science. It was why I wore shower shoes in college. However, the more I read on bacteria and fungi, the more I started to see the benefits that these micro-organisms have toward science.
Joule Biotechnologies Introduces Process For Producing Renewable Transportation Fuels
July 28, 2009 10:50 am | Product Releases | CommentsJoule Biotechnologies unveiled its Helioculture technology—a process that harnesses sunlight to directly convert carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into SolarFuel liquid energy.
GREEN-struments
April 16, 2009 1:30 pm | by Paul Livingstone | Articles | CommentsStraight-ahead performance is still job one for scientific instruments, but in the name of environmental awareness, it's not the only selling point.
