The ever-more-humble carbon nanotube may be just the device to make solar panels—and anything else that loses energy through heat—far more efficient. Rice University scientists are designing arrays of aligned single-wall carbon nanotubes to channel mid-infrared radiation (aka heat) and greatly raise the efficiency of solar energy systems. Gururaj Naik and Junichiro Kono of Rice’s Read more about Carbon nanotube device channels heat into light, could increase solar panel efficiency[…]

Spanish renewable energy giant and offshore wind energy leader Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy last week inaugurated operations of its electrothermal energy storage system which can store up to 130 megawatt-hours of electricity for a week in volcanic rock. […] The heat storage facility consists of around 1,000 tonnes of volcanic rock which is used as Read more about Siemens Gamesa Unveils World First Electrothermal Energy Storage System, stores electricity in volcanic rock[…]

This week the world’s first and only digital circuit breaker was certified for commercial use. The technology, invented by Atom Power, has been listed by Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the global standard for consumer safety. This new breaker makes power easier to manage and 3000 times faster than the fastest mechanical breaker, marking the most radical Read more about How the World’s First Digital Circuit Breaker Could Completely Change Our Powered World[…]

The obvious drawback of solar panels is that they require sunlight to generate electricity. Some have observed that for a device on Earth facing space, which has a frigid temperature, the chilling outflow of energy from the device can be harvested using the same kind of optoelectronic physics we have used to harness solar energy. Read more about Experimental device generates electricity from the coldness of the universe, good for night time[…]

A technology that removes carbon dioxide from the air has received significant backing from major fossil fuel companies.British Columbia-based Carbon Engineering has shown that it can extract CO2 in a cost-effective way.It has now been boosted by $68m in new investment from Chevron, Occidental and coal giant BHP. […] The quest for technology for carbon Read more about Carbon Engineering receives $68m from energy companies to turn CO2 from air into fuel[…]

The research team led by RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, developed a new technique using a liquid metal electrolysis method which efficiently converts CO2 from a gas into solid particles of carbon. Published in the journal Nature Communications, the authors say their technology offers an alternative pathway for “safely and permanently” removing CO2 from the Read more about Scientists turn CO2 ‘back into coal’ in breakthrough carbon capture experiment[…]

For most of the industrial era, a nation’s carbon emissions moved in lock step with its economy. Growth meant higher emissions. But over the past decade or so, that has changed. Even as the global economy continued to grow, carbon emissions remained flat or dropped a bit. It would be simple to ascribe this trend Read more about Renewable energy policies actually work[…]

Ethereum mining consumes a quarter to half of what Bitcoin mining does, but that still means that for most of 2018 it was using roughly as much electricity as Iceland. Indeed, the typical Ethereum transaction gobbles more power than an average U.S. household uses in a day. “That’s just a huge waste of resources, even Read more about Ethereum Plans To Cut Its Absurd Energy Consumption By 99 Percent[…]

According to Chinese media, Qing Tao Energy Development Co, a startup out of the technical Tsinghua University, has deployed a solid-state battery production line in Kunshan, East China. Reports claim the line has a capacity of 100MWh per year — which is planned to increase to 700MWh by 2020 — and that the company has Read more about A Chinese startup may have cracked solid-state batteries[…]

Energy is already stored, of course, in batteries or various other technologies. Even reservoirs can act as huge stores of energy. However nothing that exists or is in development can store energy as well, and as cheaply, as compressed air. The concept seems simple: you just suck in some air from the atmosphere, compress it Read more about Let’s store solar and wind energy – by using compressed air[…]

Every major carmaker has plans for electric vehicles to cut greenhouse gas emissions, yet their manufacturers are, by and large, making lithium-ion batteries in places with some of the most polluting grids in the world. By 2021, capacity will exist to build batteries for more than 10 million cars running on 60 kilowatt-hour packs, according Read more about The Dirt on Clean Electric Cars[…]

New York – Sept. 26, 2018 – NantEnergy today announced a breakthrough in its six-year mission to develop the world’s first scalable air breathing, zinc rechargeable battery system at a manufacturing cost below $100 kWh and to operate this intelligent digitally controlled system on a global scale. This green rechargeable battery, an air-breathing cell, uses just zinc and air, integrated with digitally controlled intelligence. The energy system is monitored in real time in the cloud and has been Read more about NantEnergy Announces Largest Global Deployment of Novel Air Breathing Zinc Rechargeable Battery System and Breakthrough in Cost Barrier[…]

Solid Power is a Colorado-based startup that spun out of a battery research program at the University of Colorado Boulder. The company claims to have achieved a breakthrough by incorporating a high-capacity lithium metal anode in lithium batteries – creating a solid-state cell with an energy capacity “2-3X higher” than conventional lithium-ion. They have already attracted Read more about Solid-state battery startup secures backing from several automakers as it claims 2- 3x higher energy capacity, better safety through solid-state[…]

The Forever Battery comes in a AA form factor, and houses electronics (including an antenna) within its shell. Ossia’s Cota system uses a transmitter that beams electricity along direct paths through the air to the antenna in the battery, charging it from distances of up to 30 feet, with nary a wire to be seen Read more about With the “Forever Battery,” Ossia’s Cota AA system Promises True Wireless Charging[…]

The computer process that generates each coin is said to be on pace to require more electricity than the United States consumes in a year. This bitcoin “mining” allegedly consumes more power than most countries use each year, and its electricity usage is roughly equivalent to Bulgaria’s consumption. But here’s another thing you might want Read more about Another view: bitcoin isn’t likely to consume all the world’s electricity in 2020 (anyone reminded of climate change discussions?)[…]

Constructed by Guangzhou Shipyard International Company Ltd, it can travel 80 kilometers (approximately 50 miles) after being charged for 2 hours. As noted by Clean Technica, 2 hours is roughly the amount of time it would take to unload the ship’s cargo while docked.Other stats for China’s cargo ship include being 70.5 meters (230 feet) Read more about China Has Launched the World’s First All-Electric Cargo Ship[…]

A new battery designed at the University of Waterloo in Ontario could triple the range of electric vehicles, a new paper has claimed. The development, described by the article An In Vivo Formed Solid Electrolyte Surface Layer Enables Stable Plating of Li Metal (PDF) in energy journal Joule, is due to an improvement in the Read more about New battery boffinry could ‘triple range’ of electric vehicles • The Register[…]

If you’re like me, you’ve probably been ignoring the bitcoin phenomenon for years — because it seemed too complex, far-fetched, or maybe even too libertarian. But if you have any interest in a future where the world moves beyond fossil fuels, you and I should both start paying attention now.Last week, the value of a Read more about Bitcoin could cost us our clean-energy future[…]

Using satellite-based sensors, an international team of scientists sought to understand if our planet’s surface is getting brighter or darker at night, and to determine if LEDs are saving energy at the global scale. With the introduction of solid-state lighting—such as LEDs, OLEDs, and PLEDs—it was thought (and hoped) that the transition to it from Read more about Using LED lighting has resulted in more light, no energy savings[…]

Bitcoin’s incredible price run to break over $7,000 this year has sent its overall electricity consumption soaring, as people worldwide bring more energy-hungry computers online to mine the digital currency.An index from cryptocurrency analyst Alex de Vries, aka Digiconomist, estimates that with prices the way they are now, it would be profitable for Bitcoin miners Read more about One Bitcoin Transaction Now Uses as Much Energy as Your House in a Week[…]

Through Ionic Materials’ invention of a novel solid polymer electrolyte material that conducts ions at room temperature, we are on the verge of revolutionizing battery technology. A truly solid state battery is now possible. Significant improvements in battery safety, performance and cost are achievable with ionic conductivities that exceed those of traditional liquid systems over Read more about rechargable safe battery[…]

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