Wednesday, 14 December 2011

Engineers from Duke University developed a repository of more than 2,500 compounds with thermoelectric properties to help scientists create the next generation of power-producing materials.
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Tuesday, 15 November 2011

The International Academy of Astronautics has completed the first international study looking into whether collecting solar energy out in space is possible. While it found that the idea of a space solar power or S.S.P. system is technically feasible within 10 to 20 years, the study noted there remain many barriers to such a system’s economic viability.
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Thursday, 03 November 2011

Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are developing a cost model for fuel cells, a tool which should help users assess better the costs and benefits associated with the technology. The aim of the study is to develop a tool to quantify the manufacturing costs of fuel cell technology and potential benefits from using it that may ultimately bring down cost. The researchers are working on a $2 million grant from the United States Department of Energy.
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Friday, 16 September 2011

Alphabet Energy raised $12 million from three clean technology investors to speed up the development of a thermoelectric generator that can recover waste heat for electricity with the use of silicon.The two-year-old San Francisco startup plans to use the round’s proceeds to employ more people, relocate to a new facility in the San Francisco Bay Area, and finally complete a prototype of a silicon-based thermoelectric device.
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Thursday, 15 September 2011

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have improved how tiny piezoelectric generators harvest vibrations from its environment to generate 100 times more electricity compared with similarly sized devices. The team came up with a device the size of a quarter that can pick up a wider range of vibrations to generate more electricity.
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Thursday, 11 August 2011

Europe’s largest solar power plant located in Ukraine will be completed by the end of 2011 and will deliver 80 megawatts of power to add on to the existing energy supply of the country. The solar photovoltaic power plant in Crimea, an autonomous republic in Ukraine, is part of the country’s National Natural Energy project launched by the State Agency of Ukraine for Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation in 2010.
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Wednesday, 10 August 2011

Scientists in the United States are developing a new technique to store carbon dioxide underground that will not just reduce the level of atmospheric carbon but also generate electricity. The researchers, led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, aim to integrate geothermal energy production with carbon capture and storage. They were the recipients of $5 million from the Department of Energy in June to design and test the system.
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Thursday, 23 June 2011

Researchers at the University of Minnesota’s College of Science and Engineering discovered a new alloy that converts heat directly into electricity – which they believe could create environmentally friendly electricity from waste heat. “This research is very promising because it presents an entirely new method for energy conversion that’s never been done before. It’s also the ultimate green way to create electricity because it uses waste heat to create electricity with no carbon dioxide,” said
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Friday, 03 June 2011

Ulvac-Riko Inc., a Japanese vacuum technology company, developed a technology for converting heated water to electricity. The technology can generate between 3 kilowatts to 12 kW of power depending on the heat of the water, which could range from 75 to 150 degrees Celsius. Power generated could match the energy demand of five to 20 average households, the company said.
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Thursday, 05 May 2011

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have a higher efficiency solar thermoelectric device that coupled with a flat, stationary panel design eliminates the need for a tracking system thus reducing its price drastically. A solar thermoelectric device can produce electricity from generating and harnessing temperature differences.
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Friday, 29 April 2011

A researcher from Louisiana Tech University has developed a cost-effective and environment-friendly nanotube made out of cheap materials abundant on earth – soils and dirt. Dr. Yuri Lvov, a chemistry professor and chair of micro and nanosystems in the university, said that his ‘clay’ nanotube can be used to strengthen plastics, paints, epoxies, rubber and other materials.
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Friday, 15 April 2011

University of Michigan researchers have found a way to utilize solar power without the use of solar panels by using magnetic effects. Stephen Rand, a professor in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Physics and Applied Physics, and his colleagues discovered that at the right intensity, a light field can generate a magnetic effect 100 times stronger than previously thought.
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Thursday, 31 March 2011

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are looking at thermoelectric materials on the atomic level in the hopes of making waste-heat-to-energy systems commercially viable. Thermoelectric materials display the thermoelectric effect, the ability to create a voltage in the presence of a temperature difference. Thermoelectrics can convert low-grade waste heat – such as that created in an industrial process or from the exhaust system of a car – into electricity.
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Wednesday, 30 March 2011

Stanford researchers developed a battery that makes use of the difference in salinity between freshwater and saltwater to produce an electric current, making it possible for power stations to be built wherever a river containing freshwater flows into the ocean. The battery they developed has two electrodes immersed in liquid containing electrically charged ions.
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Friday, 25 March 2011

California-based OriginOil developed a new method of eliminating invading algae pests that can kill or damage algae ponds without the use of harmful chemicals. The method, called Algae Screen, uses low-power electromagnetic pulses to target rotifers, ciliates and bacteria which reduce the yield of algae crops by consuming its oil and biomass.
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Friday, 11 March 2011

Researchers at Purdue University are using an ultra-fast pulsing laser to manufacture a less costly and more efficient thin-film solar cell. The researchers use the laser to create tiny “microchannels” on thin films. Microchannels are needed to interconnect a series of solar panels into an array.
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Monday, 21 February 2011

The United States Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the department’s primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development, is collaborating with a California-based fuel cell company to validate methanol fuel cell technology.
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Thursday, 17 February 2011

The actualization of the United States goal of replacing 30 percent of their petroleum consumption with biofuels by 2030 could come with a price tag of several billion dollars, researchers said.A new study from a team of researchers from the University of Illinois found that between 600 and 900 million metric tons of biomass could be produced in 2030 to meet biofuel needs , however, it would have the hefty price tag of $140 per metric ton (in 2007 dollars).
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Thursday, 27 January 2011

Research shows material has an increased capacity to convert heat into electricity
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Wednesday, 19 January 2011

The material can convert waste heat to electricity
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