Sep

28

Cyanobacteria Closes in On Algae for Fuel Production

September 28, 2012 | 1 Comment

Arizona State University scientists have developed a new method that relies on heat to improve the yield and lower the costs of high-energy biofuels production from cyanobacteria.  ASU has also been at the forefront of algae research for renewable energy production. ASU has run a dual role since 2007 with support from federal, state and [...]

Sep

27

The Reasons to Wonder About Natural Gas Prices

September 27, 2012 | 3 Comments

Asian demand for natural gas has risen sharply in recent years.  Prices in dollars per million BTUs, are about $13.50 in Argentina and $13.80 in Japan and South Korea, and $13.40 in China.  Even Argentina has a $13.50 price, but U.S. wholesale prices are about $2.50 to $3.00. The world price disparity raises a question [...]

Sep

26

Will There Be Enough Uranium for Generating Electricity?

September 26, 2012 | 1 Comment

The Nuclear Energy Institute announced a September telephone survey in a press release suggesting almost two thirds of U.S. adults favor the use of nuclear energy as one of the ways to provide electricity in the United States. This latest survey found that Americans strongly favoring nuclear energy outnumber those strongly opposed by a two-to-one [...]

Sep

25

An Almost Endless Fuel Supply

September 25, 2012 | 10 Comments

Scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) are developing a process to extract carbon dioxide (CO2) and produce hydrogen gas (H2) from seawater.  Then they catalytically convert the CO2 and H2 into jet fuel by a gas-to-liquids process. The NRL effort has successfully developed and demonstrated technologies for the recovery of the CO2 and [...]

Sep

24

The Nuclear Plant Locations with Tsunami Risk

September 24, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Researchers at the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium have completed and published their study on nuclear power plants with tsunami risk. The research shows 23 nuclear power plants with 74 reactors have been identified in high tsunami risk areas and one is the [...]

Sep

21

BMW Leads By Thinking Heat Pump and Infrared for the Car

September 21, 2012 | Leave a Comment

The BMW Group’s Efficient Dynamics strategy is hunting for reductions in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.  The targets are out there; BMW is looking at the battery electric vehicles, the full plug-ins, and the hybrids.  The goal is to increase performance in the typical BMW fashion.  The performance this time is range – distance traveled [...]

Sep

20

Heat To Electricity Breakthrough May be Commercial Scale

September 20, 2012 | 4 Comments

Northwestern University scientists collaborating with scientists and mechanical engineers at Northwestern and Michigan State University have developed a thermoelectric material that is the best in the world at converting waste heat to electricity resulting in the world record ZT of 2.2. Using a very environmentally stable material, the common semiconductor called lead telluride; the material [...]

Sep

18

Sandia Lab Releases Info On a New Type of Fusion Device

September 18, 2012 | 3 Comments

Sandia is testing a concept called MagLIF (Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion) that will use magnetic fields and laser pre-heating in the quest for net energy fusion. The idea uses magnetically imploded tubes called liners, intended to help produce controlled nuclear fusion at scientific “break-even” energies or better. The tubes and the system powering them have [...]

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