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UCLA Engineering Researchers Use Electricity to Generate Alternative Fuel

By Guest PostApril 3, 2012Sciencecar, carbon dioxide, carbon source, chemical batteries, chemical energy, CO2, co2 fixation, dark reaction, electric vehicle, electrical energy, electricity, electro bioreactor, hydraulic pumping, hydrogen, isobutanol, james liao, liquid fuel, lithoautotrophic microorganism, photosynthesis, ralstonia eutropha h16, solar panels

Imagine being able to use electricity to power your car — even if it’s not an electric vehicle. Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have for the first time demonstrated a method for converting carbon dioxide into liquid fuel isobutanol using electricity.

Today, electrical energy generated by various methods is still difficult to store efficiently. Chemical batteries, hydraulic pumping and water splitting suffer from low energy-density storage or incompatibility with current transportation infrastructure. (more…)

Berkeley Lab Study Shows Significantly Higher Potential for Wind Energy in India than Previously Estimated

By Guest PostMarch 29, 2012Environmentamol phadke, berkeley lab, China, electricity, gw, India, jayant sathaye, julie chao, mnre, potential, ranjit bharvirkar, renewable energy, united states, western india, wind energy, wind power

A new assessment of wind energy in India by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has found that the potential for on-shore wind energy deployment is far higher than the official estimates— about 20 times and up to 30 times greater than the current government estimate of 102 gigawatts. This landmark finding may have significant impact on India’s renewable energy strategy as it attempts to cope with a massive and chronic shortage of electricity.

“The main importance of this study, why it’s groundbreaking, is that wind is one of the most cost-effective and mature renewable energy sources commercially available in India, with an installed capacity of 15 GW and rising rapidly,” says Berkeley Lab scientist Amol Phadke, the lead author of the report. “The cost of wind power is now comparable to that from imported coal and natural gas-based plants, and wind can play a significant role in cost effectively addressing energy security and environmental concerns.” (more…)

UCLA Engineers Create Tandem Polymer Solar Cells That Set Record For Energy-Conversion

By Guest PostFebruary 18, 2012Scienceabsorption, california nanosystems institute, cnsi, conductive, conversion, electricity, gang li, Japan, organic polymers, photovoltaic solar cells, polymer solar cells, shuji doi, solar energy, solar spectrum, sumitomo chemical, sunlight, tandem solar cell technology, tandem structure, yang yang

In the effort to convert sunlight into electricity, photovoltaic solar cells that use conductive organic polymers for light absorption and conversion have shown great potential. Organic polymers can be produced in high volumes at low cost, resulting in photovoltaic devices that are cheap, lightweight and flexible.

In the last few years, much work has been done to improve the efficiency with which these devices convert sunlight into power, including the development of new materials, device structures and processing techniques. (more…)

Color is Key in Controlling Flies, UF Researchers Find

By Guest PostFebruary 17, 2012Sciencebehavioral test, carrier, cholera, Cuba, dysentery, electricity, florida fly baiter, fly control, haitian refugee, house fly, hurricane, jeff hertz, joseph diclaro, natural disaster, pest problem, phil koehler, plumbing, program, robert h wells, roberto pereira, tsunamis, typhoid fever, university of florida, war fighter protection

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — As a carrier of as many as 100 types of germs, the common house fly is hardly as innocuous as its name might suggest.

Military personnel know this firsthand, and their need for effective fly control has helped University of Florida researchers create an innovative new fly control device. (more…)

Yale Engineers Making Solar Power More Efficient

By Guest PostDecember 14, 2011Environment, Scienceandre d taylor, applied physicists, arrays, chinedum o osuji, clean energy technology, electricity, energy, engineers, flow of electrons, fraction of light, hybrid organic inorganic pv devices, lisa d pfefferle, magnetic fields, photovoltaic systems, photovoltaics, polymer coated nanowires, pv, pv systems, sohrab ismail beigi, solar cell, solar power technology, yale university

Innovations by a team of Yale University researchers could lead to improvements in basic solar power technology that result in lower-cost, higher-efficiency photovoltaic systems.

Photovoltaics (PV) directly convert sunlight into electricity. PV systems can be arrayed on rooftops to generate electricity for entire buildings, among other uses. Less expensive, more efficient systems could encourage broader use of this clean energy technology. (more…)

Researchers Use New Approach to Overcome Key Hurdle for Next-Generation Superconductors

By Guest PostOctober 30, 2011Sciencecomputational approach, electricity, energy storage, high efficiency wind turbines, justin schwartz, key obstacles, materials genome initiative, medical mri technology, next generation superconductor material, next generation ybco superconductors, north carolina state university, quench, specific design applications, superconductive materials, superconductor, wan kan chan, White House, ybco, ybco conductors, yttrium barium copper oxide

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new computational approach to improve the utility of superconductive materials for specific design applications – and have used the approach to solve a key research obstacle for the next-generation superconductor material yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO).

A superconductor is a material that can carry electricity without any loss – none of the energy is dissipated as heat, for example. Superconductive materials are currently used in medical MRI technology, and are expected to play a prominent role in emerging power technologies, such as energy storage or high-efficiency wind turbines. (more…)

Microbes Generate Electricity While Cleaning Up Nuclear Waste

By Guest PostSeptember 8, 2011Environmentallison speers, conductive pili, dena cologgi, electricity, environmental disasters, gemma reguera, geobacter bacteria, groundwater, michigan state university, microbes, microbial fuel cells, microorganisms, nanowires, nuclear contamination, nuclear waste, polluted sites, production of nuclear fuel, radioactive material, sanela lampa pastirk, shelly kelly, toxic metals, uranium

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Researchers at Michigan State University have unraveled the mystery of how microbes generate electricity while cleaning up nuclear waste and other toxic metals.

Details of the process, which can be improved and patented, are published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The implications could eventually benefit sites forever changed by nuclear contamination, said Gemma Reguera, MSU microbiologist. (more…)

Berkeley Scientists Pioneer Nanoscale Nuclear Materials Testing Capability

By Guest PostJuly 2, 2011Environment, Scienceandrew minor, berkeley lab, clean energy future, compression tests of copper specimens, crystal structure, daniel kiener, dislocations, electricity, emission free sources, fukushima disaster, irradiated materials, Japan, lifetime of a nuclear reactor, macroscale materials strength properties, medical industry, nanoscale testing technique, national center for electron microscopy, ncem, nuclear materials, nuclear plants, nuclear power, operation and safety, peter hosemann, power generation, production of radioisotopes, renewable, safer nuclear technologies, stress tests, stuart maloy, sub nanoscale resolution, Technology, united states

Nuclear power is a major component of our nation’s long-term clean-energy future, but the technology has come under increased scrutiny in the wake of Japan’s recent Fukushima disaster. Indeed, many nations have called for checks and “stress tests” to ensure nuclear plants are operating safely.

In the United States, about 20 percent of our electricity and almost 70 percent of the electricity from emission-free sources, including renewable technologies and hydroelectric power plants, is supplied by nuclear power. Along with power generation, many of the world’s nuclear facilities are used for research, materials testing, or the production of radioisotopes for the medical industry. The service life of structural and functional material components in these facilities is therefore crucial for ensuring reliable operation and safety. (more…)

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