Mar

31

Fuel From the Gribble

March 31, 2010 | 8 Comments

From examining the genes expressed in the guts of the gribble, researchers have demonstrated that a gribble’s digestive system contains enzymes that could hold the key to converting wood and straw into liquid biofuels.  Yes, there is such a creature called the gribble, it’s a really small crustacean scientifically named Limnoria quadripunctata. Since the dawn [...]

Mar

30

A Path to the Artificial Leaf

March 30, 2010 | 4 Comments

A new recipe based on the chemistry and biology of natural leaves that could lead to working prototypes of an artificial leaf that capture solar energy and use it efficiently to change water into hydrogen fuel was reported the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society last week. Tongxiang Fan, Ph.D. and colleagues Di [...]

Mar

29

Batteries vs. Generators or Both

March 29, 2010 | 5 Comments

Tiny generators that could produce enough electricity from random, ambient vibrations to power a wristwatch, pacemaker or wireless sensor would offset a bit of lithium and stacked might replace some of those transformer blocks to recharge batteries. Khalil Najafi, chair of electrical and computer engineering and Tzeno Galchev, a doctoral student at the University of [...]

Mar

27

A Bussard Fusion Update

March 27, 2010 | 1 Comment

Not a lot of news to tell, just a brief recap, some fresh links, and pertinent observations. First off, to no particular surprise, the Freedom of Information Act request from some of the folks at Talk Polywell was denied. The parties of interest, EMC2 and the Department of the Navy have sensible reasons not to [...]

Mar

26

The Cold Fusion War Nears An End

March 26, 2010 | 6 Comments

This week saw nearly 50 presentations describing the latest discoveries on Cold Fusion at the American Chemical Society’s 239th National Meeting over two days at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.  Cold Fusion is a potential new energy source so controversial that people once regarded it as junk science is finally moving closer to acceptance [...]

Mar

25

Better Light Emitting Diodes and Solar Cells

March 25, 2010 | 5 Comments

Researchers Cun-Zheng Ning and Alian Pan at Arizona State University are developing nanowires could lead to better light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that could replace less energy-efficient incandescent light bulbs and more efficient photovoltaic cells for generating energy from sunlight. The research effort is to improve quaternary alloy semiconductor nanowire materials. Quaternary alloys are made of semiconductors [...]

Mar

24

Hydrogen Fuel from Sound

March 24, 2010 | 6 Comments

Sound is energy is motion whether in gasses, fluids or through solid materials it could be something worth pursuit. A team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is on it with a new material made from crystals of zinc oxide that, when immersed in water, absorb vibrations and develop areas of strong negative and positive charge. [...]

Mar

23

A New Low Cost & Clean Process for BioFuel Production

March 23, 2010 | 6 Comments

Dr. Albin Czernichowski, a professor with the University of Orleans, France, presented two papers at the American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco on Monday detailing a GlidArc reactor that uses electrically-charged clouds of gas called “plasmas” to produce in three steps super-clean fuels from waste materials. Dr. Czernichowski said, “Low-tech and low cost are [...]

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