Whether the search for alternative energy sources is driven by our concern about global fossil fuel supplies or over the atmospheric effects of burning of fossil fuels, the government has laid out its aim to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 60% of 1990 levels by 2050, and aims to over- achieve its goal of sourcing 10% of energy from renewables by 2010.
In a significant step to achieve these targets, an enormous £4.5 million award has been made under the UK SuperGen programme to drive
Solar Photovoltaic Systems converting sunlight into electricity are a key technology in reaching Europe’s objectives of safe, secure and sustainable energy supply. World-wide production of solar electricity has continued to increase by more than 30% per year, reaching 1000 megawatts (enough to meet the domestic needs of 660.000 European citizens) in 2004 and has become one of Europe’s foremost growth industries. Certified power measurements are crucial to guaranteeing the competitiveness of solar
To develop ever-smaller chips that consume less. These are the indispensable requirements of the current market for portable applications such as mobile telephone technology and biomedical systems, obtaining correct and trouble-free operation of the devices over the maximum possible duration of time. One of the techniques which, in fact, can be used for the development of this type of reduced-size, low-consumption microchip is one analysed by Carlos Aristóteles de la Cruz in his PhD defended at t
Another important step towards realizing the promise of lightning fast photonic technology has been taken by scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley. Researchers have demonstrated that semiconductor nanoribbons, single crystals measuring tens of hundreds of microns in length, but only a few hundred or less nanometers in width and thickness (about one ten-millionth of an inch), can serve as “wa
A common mineral can remove carbon dioxide from combustion gases, but in its natural state, it is glacially slow. Now, a team of Penn State researchers is changing serpentine so that it sequesters the carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning in hours, not eons.
“Serpentine naturally sequesters carbon dioxide over geologic time, but it is too slow to help us,” says Dr. M. Mercedes Maroto-Valer, assistant professor of energy and geo-environmental engineering and program coordinator fo
Vulnerabilities inadvertently built into the U.S. power grid, which is one of the most complex systems ever constructed, have been identified by a research team lead by Reka Albert, assistant professor of physics at Penn State. The team’s topological analysis of the grid structure reveals that, although the system has been designed to withstand the random loss of generators or substations, its integrity may depend on protecting a few key elements.
“Our analysis indicates that
Austrian-German research team demonstrates for the first time an attosecond “oscilloscope” rendering the hyper-fast field oscillations of visible light
The human eye can detect changes in the intensity of light, not however the wavelength because light oscillates too fast (approximately 1000 trillion times per second). An international collaboration led by Ferenc Krausz and made up of researchers from the Vienna University of Technology, the Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Opt
Most of the energy that goes into building U.S. homes is consumed – not by the power tools, welding and trucking during construction – but during the manufacture of the building materials, according to a comprehensive life-cycle assessment comparing typical wood-, steel- and concrete-frame homes.
Using the least energy-intensive building materials – and taking steps toward such things as recycling and reusing more building materials – makes sense considering the nation’s energy conc
Wonder where the fuel will come from for tomorrow’s hydrogen-powered vehicles? Virginia Tech researchers are developing catalysts that will convert water to hydrogen gas. The research will be presented at the 228th American Chemical Society National Meeting in Philadelphia August 22-26, 2004
Supramolecular complexes created by Karen Brewer’s group at Virginia Tech convert light energy (solar energy) into a fuel that can be transported, stored, and dispensed, such as hydro
Solar hydrogen fuel dream will soon be a reality
Australian scientists predict that a revolutionary new way to harness the power of the sun to extract clean and almost unlimited energy supplies from water will be a reality within seven years.
Using special titanium oxide ceramics that harvest sunlight and split water to produce hydrogen fuel, the researchers say it will then be a simple engineering exercise to make an energy-harvesting device with no moving parts and emitting n
Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of Florida have uncovered information that may help “molecular wires” replace silicon in micro-electronic circuits and/or components in solar energy storage systems. The scientists were studying how electric charge is distributed in polymer molecule chains that are several nanometers, or billionths of a meter, in length.
Brookhaven chemist John Miller, the study’s lead scientist
In time for the Olympic Games RWE SCHOTT Solar has begun operation of the country’s largest rooftop solar-energy unit in Athens. Supported by its Greek and German partners, this will help the company to further strengthen its market position in Greece.
“With this unit on the roof of the German School in Athens we aim to encourage the Greek government in introducing an incentive scheme along the lines of the German Feed In Tariff”, comments Dr. Winfried Hoffmann, Spokesman for the B
An electricity meter that sometimes runs backwards is just one of the cool aspects of Department of Energy near-zero-energy homes.
While low or no electric bills are an obvious benefit, high energy efficiency homes and businesses also reduce the amount of electricity that needs to be generated, thus reducing pollution, said Jeff Christian of DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
In Tennessee, air pollution is of special concern as the state ranked third behind Cal
As the dog days of summer approach, the electrical grid feels the heat, but a new integrated data network may help the aging transmission system weather the season without another massive blackout like the one experienced over much of the Eastern United States and Canada last August.
The Eastern Interconnection Phasor Project will “go live” this summer providing the first real-time, system-wide data to utilities and transmission operators within the Eastern power grid.
“I
H2i Technologies of France is to present its new, innovative user-machine interface at the Electronica show to be held in Munich in the autumn. This cutting-edge, patented optoelectronic technology re-invents data-entry systems for industrial and medical equipment as well as consumer and household goods by making it possible for any surface to be fully interactive – thus leading designers and engineers to re-think the ergonomic and other features of the devices they make.
As the winner of
The Free-Electron Laser (FEL), supported by the Office of Naval Research and located at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, achieved 10 kilowatts of infrared laser light in late July, making it the most powerful tunable laser in the world. The recently upgraded laser’s new capabilities will enhance defense and manufacturing technologies, and support advanced studies of chemistry, physics, biology, and more.
“No other laser can provide the same be
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