Even with aggressive research, the hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle will not be better than the diesel hybrid (a vehicle powered by a conventional engine supplemented by an electric motor) in terms of total energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, says a study recently released by the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment (LFEE).
And while hybrid vehicles are already appearing on the roads, adoption of the hydrogen-based vehicle will require major infrastructure changes to make compres
Today in Brussels European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin presented the status of the international negotiations relating to the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) research project on nuclear fusion energy.
A significant step has been achieved with the entry into negotiations of the People’s Republic of China and the comeback of the United States of America. Participants to the negotiations will have to identify the ITER site from among the four current c
The device was awarded the Guinness World Record for “smallest biological computing device”
Fifty years after the discovery of the structure of DNA, a new use has been found for this celebrated molecule: fuel for molecular computation systems. The research, conducted by scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science, will appear in this week’s issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS).
Whether plugged in or battery powered, computers need energ
Appliances that need no cables or batteries but operate purely on power generated from their surrounding vibrations could save manufacturers and consumers large sums of money, according to scientists at the University of Southampton.
Professor Neil White and his colleagues at the University’s Department of Electronics and Computer Science realised three years ago that sensors were being used in increasingly diverse application areas where physical connections to the outside world were d
In laboratory tests, Penn State environmental engineers have shown that wastewater from a Pennsylvania confectioner, apple processor, and potato chip maker can produce hydrogen gas worth $80,000 a year or more. Steven Van Ginkel, doctoral candidate, and Dr. Sang-Eun Oh, postdoctoral researcher in environmental engineering, conducted the tests.
“In addition to hydrogen, which can be used as a fuel and industrial feedstock, methane, the main component of natural gas, can be generated from the
Consumer demand for lighter, more powerful handheld devices such as laptop computers and mobile phones is growing year on year. The EUREKA project 3D STRUCTURES has addressed one of the key requirements – cheaper and lighter batteries that last longer.
French lead partner SCPS (Societé de Conseil et de Prospective Scientifique S.A.) has developed a new kind of conductive metallic foam capable of replacing heavy metallic parts. A cylindrical block of foam is immersed in an aqueous solution t
Jefferson Lab is once again taking center stage, as Lab scientists, engineers and technicians mobilize to provide 81 niobium cavities for 23 cryomodules for the Spallation Neutron Source under construction in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Thermos bottles usually don’t weigh nearly five tons or measure almost 26 feet end-to-end. But these aren’t run-of-the-mill containers for soup or coffee. Rather, they’re the complex, state-of-the-art supercooled components in which particle beams are
An experiment conducted by the Department of Energy’s Jefferson Lab generates THz radiation 20,000 times brighter than anyone else; breakthrough lights way for application development
Experiment generates THz radiation 20,000 times brighter than anyone else; breakthrough lights way for application development
An experiment conducted with Jefferson Lab’s Free-Electron Laser has shown how to make a highly useful form of light — called terahertz radiation — 20,000 times brigh
Currently there is great talk of renewable energies and, amongst these solar energy is highly important. In order to harness and utilise this form of energy there are many technologies available of which one is solar panels. These panels are made up of photoelectric cells (the 80-100 little square units in any one panel).
Photoelectric cells are classified according to the power they produce, given that total power production of any panel can be limited by just one photoelectric cell of lowe
2% of buildings capable of having solar air-conditioning installed, could stop emitting 27,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere
The Basque Energy Authority (BEA) has been participating in the European ALTENER programme for the encouragement of renewable energies since their creation in 1992. Along these lines, the BEA has been chosen to develop a project involving the air-conditioning of buildings using renewable energies as an alternative to the traditional systems based on energies
RIT scientists develop nanomaterials for NASA program
Someday, large-scale solar power stations in space could beam electricity to the surface of the moon, the earth and other planets, decreasing our dependence on a dwindling fossil-fuel supply.
Scientists at Rochester Institute of Technology are developing the next generation of solar cells, advancing the technology that could put a solar power system into earth’s orbit.
The National Science Foundation recent
The University of the Basque Country, IBERDROLA (an electricity utility supplying the Basque Country), the enterprises INGETEAM and INDAR and innovative energies company EHN have participated jointly in this research project. The project has put forward an innovative use of wind-sourced energy to control fluctuations on the grid. The research site where measurements were made was the Salajones wind park in Sanguesa (Navarre).
In recent years the electricity utilities have shown much greater
The Zeolite Crystal Growth (ZCG) experiment got off to a successful start this week aboard the International Space Station.
Hard as a rock, yet able to absorb liquids and gases like a sponge, zeolites form the backbone of the chemical processes industry. Virtually all the world’s gasoline is produced or upgraded using zeolites. Improving zeolites could make gasoline production more efficient or lead to ways of storing clean-burning hydrogen for fuel. Zeolites can also be applied to
A European website designed to stimulate informed debate on future energy sources this week launches a multi-lingual survey to gauge public attitudes to, and knowledge of, crucial energy issues.
The INTUSER website (www.intuser.net) is a new on-line forum for both the general public and energy experts to communicate about energy issues – from nuclear power and global warming to alternative energy sources such as solar and wave power.
Renewable energy expert Robin Saunders, of the Un
The future of nanoelectronics looks promising. Built with nanotubes and various self-assembling molecular structures, this technology may revolutionize the electronic world by replacing the silicon transistor in approximately ten years.
Chemically synthesized nano building blocks are expected to replace semiconductor logic and memory devices and target niche applications over the next decade.
“In 20 to 50 years, we will likely see wide-ranging use of self-assembly,” says Technical I
Researchers in the Materials Sciences Division (MSD) of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, working with crystal-growing teams at Cornell University and Japan’s Ritsumeikan University, have learned that the band gap of the semiconductor indium nitride is not 2 electron volts (2 eV) as previously thought, but instead is a much lower 0.7 eV.
The serendipitous discovery means that a single system of alloys incorporating indium, gallium, and nitrogen can convert virtually the full spectru
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