Dec
20
A New and Efficient Wood to Butanol Process
December 20, 2011 | 2 Comments
Professor Aadrian van Heiningen and Tom Granström with a team of scientists at Aalto University in Finland and associated with the University of Maine in the U.S. have developed a process to make fuel grade butanol and other industrial chemicals from wood biomass. Butanol is particularly suitable as a transport fuel because it is not [...]
Dec
19
Solar Photovoltaic Catches a Major Breakthrough
December 19, 2011 | 10 Comments
At MIT or Massively Innovative Teams, in lieu of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a major new innovation in mounting photovoltaic solar panels should revolutionize the industry. It’s based on a simple and when thought through – obvious observation. On a clear bright day you’ll notice the shadows are a dark area with little light. But [...]
Dec
16
Doubling Up On Photovoltaic Solar Cell Efficiency
December 16, 2011 | 2 Comments
Chemistry Professor Xiaoyang Zhu at The University of Texas at Austin has a method of photon harvesting significantly increasing the efficiency of conventional solar cells. The professor’s work improves the mechanisms of solar energy conversion. Zhu and his team have discovered that it’s possible to double the number of electrons harvested from one photon of [...]
Dec
15
A Light Bulb Checkup
December 15, 2011 | 5 Comments
Consumer Reports’ (CR) is out with its latest light bulb tests finding which bulbs were the best performers. The question and answer format shines some light on a few of the most common questions consumers have about compact fluorescent lights, light-emitting diode, halogens and incandescent bulbs. The ratings are at the end of the article. [...]
Dec
14
Hope Glimmers For US Nuclear Power
December 14, 2011 | 3 Comments
New studies from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) conclude that small modular reactors may hold the key to the future of U.S. nuclear power generation. The reports assess the economic feasibility of classical, gigawatt-scale reactors and the possible new generation of modular reactors. The smaller modular reactors as considered would [...]
Dec
13
More Hydrogen Production Progress
December 13, 2011 | 1 Comment
While a few hold on to the pure hydrogen gas fuel idea, hydrogen for industrial use and fuel production is in great demand with a need for declining prices. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have come up with an extraordinarily efficient two-step process that electrolyzes, or separates, hydrogen atoms [...]
Dec
12
The Energy Future
December 12, 2011 | 2 Comments
ExxonMobil has their 2012 Outlook out for anyone to see and its different from what the government agencies are saying by some pleasing measures and some measures that will disappoint some folks. The variance comes from ExxonMobil being in business where careers, investors and consumers have to live with the results. As the world’s largest [...]
Dec
9
The Ascendancy of Low Energy Nuclear Reactions
December 9, 2011 | 20 Comments
Brian Wang put up two posts today [(1) + (2)] that link to what should seen as seminal events in the basic view of LENR (low energy nuclear reactions). Time passing as more hard credence evolves into research and the results, will show us which of the various physics are the activities of nature in [...]
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