Posts Tagged ‘solar energy’
‘Shadow state’ boosts solar cells by 40%
U. TEXAS (US) — Recent experiments show it’s possible to double the number of electrons harvested from one photon of sunlight using an organic plastic semiconductor material. Continue…
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 12:53 - 0 Comments
Science & Technology - Dec 9, 2011 11:58 - 2 Comments
Small-scale irrigation: ‘Ladder out of poverty’
STANFORD (US) — Investments in small-scale irrigation and geophysical mapping will help relieve food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa, researchers say. (more…)
Science & Technology - Nov 28, 2011 12:56 - 2 Comments
Electrode for durable batteries on the grid
STANFORD (US) — A new type of battery electrode could make large-scale storage for solar and wind power more feasible. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 20, 2011 15:35 - 0 Comments
Hijack photosynthesis to make hydrogen
U. CHICAGO (US) — Researchers were able to produced hydrogen at a rate five times greater than the previous record-setting method by linking platinum nanoparticles with algae proteins. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 9, 2011 10:16 - 1 Comment
Plasmonics trap the light fantastic
STANFORD (US) — A new type of thin solar cell harnesses plasmonics to more effectively trap light and improve performance. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jan 26, 2011 11:46 - 4 Comments
Reactor converts sunlight into fuel
CALTECH (US) — A common metal found in self-cleaning ovens is the key component of a reactor that uses concentrated solar energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into fuels. (more…)
Science & Technology - Dec 23, 2010 12:45 - 1 Comment
Indoor simulator equal to 3,000 suns
U. MINNESOTA (US) — The first solar simulator of its kind in the US can replicate the amount of sunlight equivalent to more than 3,000 suns. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 22, 2010 9:16 - 0 Comments
Plastic solar cells let sun in for less
RUTGERS (US) — Newly discovered properties could lead to efficient and inexpensive plastic solar cells for pollution-free electricity production. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Aug 26, 2010 13:58 - 2 Comments
How to make solar energy super efficient
STANFORD (US)—A new conversion process could make solar power production twice as efficient as existing methods—and potentially cheap enough to compete with oil. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Jun 2, 2010 11:38 - 1 Comment
How to debug solar panel design
MICHIGAN STATE (US)—Solar power might be nature’s most plentiful and benign source of energy, but shiny black solar cells can lure water insects away from critical breeding areas. (more…)
Science & Technology - Mar 19, 2010 12:13 - 0 Comments
Au naturel protein: No staples required
STANFORD (US)—For the first time, researchers have been able to confine and study an individual protein without having to pin it down so tightly as to alter its fundamental behavior. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Mar 15, 2010 10:39 - 2 Comments
Cobalt catalyst could propel solar energy
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. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 17, 2010 16:49 - 3 Comments
Flexible solar cells soak up the sun
CALTECH (US)—Scientists have created a new type of flexible solar cell that enhances the absorption of sunlight and efficiently converts its photons into electrons. The solar cell does all this using only a fraction of the expensive semiconductor materials required by conventional models. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 17, 2009 17:56 - 1 Comment
Taking America’s energy temperature
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. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Oct 23, 2009 17:25 - 3 Comments
Totally clean and green by 2030?
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. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Oct 5, 2009 11:30 - 0 Comments
Bioengineer a better hydrocarbon?
IOWA STATE (US)—Researchers are looking to plants and algae as a source of green, renewable hydrocarbons—and second-generation biofuels. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Aug 31, 2009 11:52 - 1 Comment
Move over trees. Here comes the sun
Scientists are exploring new ways to tap the sun’s energy directly, without the help of plants, to create potential fuel sources. “The main problem with current solar power technology is that if the sun’s not shining, you’re out of luck,” says Tom Meyer. “Solar fuels give us the ability to collect and stockpile that energy.”
Earth & Environment - Jul 31, 2009 15:33 - 0 Comments
Solar energy solution buried in the mud
“We envision producing hydrogen in a photochemically driven process, where the electrons and protons needed to produce the hydrogen are furnished by water,” chemist Brian Dyer explains. “You could then burn the hydrogen as fuel and get water back. It would be a perfectly clean cycle.”
Earth & Environment - Mar 9, 2009 19:05 - 0 Comments
Wind tops list as most promising renewable energy source
STANFORD (US)—The answer to the U.S. addiction to oil is most likely blowing in the wind and shining in the sky and rippling in the water. A new study suggests wind, solar, and water offer the most potential as sources of clean, renewable energy.
