Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have discovered that cleanliness is next to cheapliness. They have developed a simple one-step method, based on wax and soap, that will enable researchers to develop a wide variety low-cost materials for use in lithium-ion batteries. [social_buttons] The high price of lithium-ion batteries … [continued]
In just five years of the Recovery Act stimulus, by 2015, we are now on track to produce fully 40% of the world’s batteries for electric vehicles. Currently, we make only 2%. Before The Recovery Act passage, the US was hardly a world leader in advanced electric vehicles, or in … [continued]
[social_buttons] The International Energy Agency (IEA) presented two new solar energy analyses in Valencia, Spain this week, a Solar Photovoltaic Energy Technology Roadmap and a Concentrating Solar Power Technology Roadmap. The key finding from these is that 20-25% of global electricity production could be from solar energy by 2050. In … [continued]
Here’s one electricity storage technology that’s been around for over 20 years, under the radar, but might be due for a resurgence in interest with the addition of more wind power to the grid. Wind tends to blow at night when we don’t need it. [social_buttons] Steffes Electric Thermal Storage … [continued]
Flywheels are the ultimate green energy storage machines. They store energy mechanically, like a wind-up toy, so they don’t involve large quantities of lead, acid, or other environmental hazards, and they have a much longer lifespan than conventional batteries. That makes flywheels an ideal storage format for sustainable energy, but … [continued]
Researchers at the University of San Diego have discovered that carbon nanotubes don’t have to be perfect to do a better job. The team of UCSD Professor Prabhakar Bandaru and grad student Mark Hoefer found that defective carbon nanotubes actually store energy more effectively than their unflawed counterparts. [social_buttons] The … [continued]
Total, a French oil company, recently agreed to give the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) $4 million for a 5-year research project to develop stationary batteries that can more efficiently store solar energy. More efficient energy storage has been a difficult issue for scientists to crack. It is a major … [continued]
Researchers at Rice University have announced the discovery of a new breakthrough method for producing carbon nanotubes in bulk fluids. Rice’s new nanotube “stew” could spur the inexpensive mass production of carbon nanotube-based products, much like the plastics industry employed bulk loads of melted polymers as a cheap base for … [continued]
A Florida school district was way ahead of the clean energy curve in the ’80’s. The Hillsborough School District contracted with the first companies pioneering the use of cheap excess off-peak night time power to freeze water at night which would then provide simple cooling by day for air conditioning. … [continued]
New research at the University of Florida (UF) has just brought to light a new method in the capturing and guiding of energy that may lead to cheaper and more efficient solar cells.
