Futurity.org » renewable energy

Organic semiconductors on fast track

Louis Bergeron-Stanford — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:00:47 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Researchers have created a new material for high-speed organic semiconductors in a way that may shorten the development timeline by months, if not years.

Up until now, organic semiconductors have held immense promise for use in thin film and flexible displays—imagine an iPad that can be rolled up—but had not reached the speeds needed to drive high definition displays. Inorganic materials such as silicon are fast and durable, but don’t bend.

For the most part, developing a new organic electronic material has been a time-intensive, somewhat hit-or-miss process, requiring researchers to synthesize large numbers of candidate materials and then test them.

How to split water with silicon and sunshine

Andrew Myers-Stanford — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:25:13 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Researchers have overcome a major obstacle to using solar power to split water into pure oxygen and hydrogen fuel—the Holy Grail for clean energy.

The notion of using sunshine to split water into oxygen and storable hydrogen fuel has been championed by clean-energy advocates for decades, but stubborn challenges have prevented adoption of an otherwise promising technology.

Sugarcane: Climate’s double-edged sword

Louis Bergeron-Stanford — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:03:10 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Depending on the comparison, farming sugarcane for biofuel is either better for the environment or worse.

Sugarcane, a principal crop for biofuel, reduces the local air temperature when compared to pasturelands or fields growing soybeans or maize, but raises it when compared with natural vegetation.

E. coli may not be all bad after all

Ken Branson-Rutgers — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:27:35 +0000

RUTGERS (US)—E. coli, long associated with illness brought on by food poisoning, may hold the key to the future of renewable energy.

“If we can engineer biological organisms to produce biodiesel fuels, we’ll have a new way of storing and using energy,” says Desmond Lun, associate professor of computer science at Rutgers University–Camden.

Biofuel success hinges on diverse feedstock

Jennifer Shike-Illinois — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:43:36 +0000

U. ILLINOIS (US)—A highly productive perennial grass that grows throughout Canada and the midwestern United States may offer the best bet to produce ethanol sustainably without taking up more of the land currently used for food and feed production.

Researchers believe Miscanthus, along with sugarcane, could produce enough ethanol to replace the US’s use of petroleum and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Climate change remains hot topic in UK

Jessica Kelly-Cardiff — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:33:55 +0000

CARDIFF U. (UK)—Despite a decline in concern about climate change, the majority of the British public still believe the climate is changing and are prepared to act, a new survey shows.

As the new government begins to get to grips with the task of meeting its climate change obligations while also renewing the energy supply system for Britain, the survey from Cardiff University offers a snapshot of public opinion.

Final liftoff for space shuttle Atlantis

Jim Scott CU-Boulder — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:23:10 +0000

U. COLORADO (US)—The launch today from Kennedy Space Center is expected to be the last one for space shuttle Atlantis, marking the end of a career that includes 32 space missions—covering more than 115 million miles.

Atlantis and six astronauts are headed for the International Space Station to deliver research materials and conduct experiments on a 12-day mission.

Cobalt catalyst could propel solar energy

Carol Clark-Emory — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:39:59 +0000

Bubbles of oxygen forming from water oxidation, catalyzed by the new tetra-cobalt water oxygen catalyst (WOC). The new WOC is based on the cheap and abundant element cobalt, adding to its potential to help solar energy go mainstream. This “has really upped the standard from the other known homogeneous WOCs,” says Craig Hill. (Credit: Benjamin Yin)

EMORY (US)—Chemists have developed what they say is the most potent homogeneous catalyst known for water oxidation, considered a crucial component for generating clean hydrogen fuel using only water and sunlight.

In order to be viable, a water oxygen catalyst (WOC) needs selectivity, stability, and speed. Homogeneity is also a desired trait, since it boosts efficiency and makes the WOC easier to study and optimize.

Taking America’s energy temperature

Steve Manas-Rutgers — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:56:45 +0000

A recent energy survey of 2,700 Americans reveals a “white male effect”—almost 66 percent of white male respondents favored increased reliance on nuclear fuel compared to only 35 percent of other males and females. Above, a 1.4 megawatt solar farm generates approximately 11 percent of the electrical demand of Rutgers’ Livingston Campus.

RUTGERS (US)—Of the estimated 1,000 energy-related public opinion polls conducted during the last 20 years, environmental policy expert Michael Greenberg says there are two basic types: polls that include energy questions among a range of societal issues and hypothesis-driven surveys that measure preferences and try to link them to underlying factors.

Greenberg, whose teaching and research interests at Rutgers include environmental planning and economic and environmental trade-offs, recently conducted his own survey. Findings were published in the journal Energy Policy.

Totally clean and green by 2030?

Louis Bergeron-Stanford — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:25:41 +0000

If the world allows carbon- and air pollution-emitting energy sources to play a substantial role in the future energy mix, Mark Jacobson says, global temperatures and health problems will only continue to increase. (Credit: L.A. Cicero)

STANFORD (US)—Most of the technology needed to shift the world from fossil fuel to clean, renewable energy already exists. A new report suggests that implementing that technology requires overcoming obstacles in planning and politics, but doing so could result in a 30 percent decrease in global power demand.

To make clear the extent of those hurdles—and how they could be overcome—Stanford University civil and environmental engineering professor Mark Jacobson and University of California-Davis researcher Mark Delucchi have written an article that is the cover story in the November issue of Scientific American.