Generating 'Green' Electricity: Waste Heat Converted to Electricity Using New Alloy Engineering researchers in the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota have recently discovered a new alloy material that converts heat directly into electricity. This revolutionary new energy conversion method is … Continue reading
'Tall Order' Sunlight-to-Hydrogen System Works, Neutron Analysis Confirms Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a biohybrid photoconversion system - based on the interaction of photosynthetic plant proteins with synthetic polymers - that can convert visible light into … Continue reading
World Can Be Powered by Alternative Energy, Using Today's Technology, in 20-40 Years, Experts Say If someone told you there was a way you could save 2.5 million to 3 million lives a year and simultaneously halt global warming, reduce air and water pollution and develop secure, reliable energy sources -- nearly all with … Continue reading
Carsten Beier from the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT in Oberhausen, Germany does not believe that "anyone would burn a 50-dollar bill just to keep warm. It's obvious that it simply is too valuable for that." But, in contrast to dollar bills, most energy carriers are all too … Continue reading
Green energy too comes out of the electricity socket, but to get there it has to travel a long journey - from wind turbines in the North Sea or regional solar, wind and biogas power plants. On the way to the consumer lots of energy is lost. New electronic components will change things in future. Cars and trucks race down … Continue reading
The Technische Universität Darmstadt has dedicated a pilot plant for capturing carbon dioxide contained in flue gases of power plants. Its Institute for Energy Systems and Technology plans to utilize the plant for investigating two innovative methods for CO2 capture that require less energy and lower operating costs than … Continue reading
Researchers at Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) are using biological principles as the inspiration to develop a new bionic fuel cell. Every living cell in our body can do it: covered with a thin membrane known as a cell membrane or nanomembrane, the cells can deliberately let specific substances in and out. … Continue reading
Ultra-thin solar cells can absorb sunlight more efficiently than the thicker, more expensive-to-make silicon cells used today, because light behaves differently at scales around a nanometer (a billionth of a meter), say Stanford engineers. They calculate that by properly configuring the thicknesses of several thin layers of … Continue reading
In tune with its focus on continuing with combining hybrid attempts and smaller size, Honda is offering another hybrid – the smallest and cheapest. This fall, Honda’s Fit will be on sale in Japan priced at 1.6 million yen hoping to become an instant hit. Honda will be launching the cute little car in the 2010 Auto … Continue reading
Empa researchers have succeeded in growing sea-urchin shaped nanostructures from minute balls of polystyrene beads using a simple electrochemical process. The spines of the sea urchin consist of zinc oxide nanowires. The structured surface should help increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic devices. Processes which … Continue reading