What do the countries of Thailand, Uruguay and Ghana have in common? They all could become leading producers of the emerging renewable fuel known as biodiesel, says a study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.
As Texas' electric grid operator prepares to add power lines for carrying future wind-generated energy, an electrical engineer at The University of Texas at Austin is developing improved methods for determining the extent to which power from a wind farm can displace a conventional power plant, and how best to regulate varying wind power.
The "Energy Efficiency Partnership of Greater Washington" will tackle global warming by retrofitting existing buildings with energy efficiency products designed to decrease energy use and significantly cut carbon emissions.
The newest addition to five Kansas schools or school districts will give students a chance to learn more about wind power.
"National Wildlife Federation welcomes the release of a new National Academy of Sciences report, Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States, which highlights the need for a new Biofuels Innovation Program in the next Farm Bill.
Engineers have found a way to turn discarded chicken eggshells into an alternative energy resource. The patented process uses eggshells to soak up carbon dioxide from a reaction that produces hydrogen fuel. It also includes a unique method for peeling the collagen-containing membrane from the inside of the shells, so that the collagen can be used commercially.
An ESF student makes fuel for the college fleet, and his own Mercedes-Benz, from cooking oil that comes from a university dining hall.
The search for alternatives to fossil fuels has led to a major investment in a microbe that converts plant matter into ethanol. Noted for its appetite for all things cellulose, the bacterium efficiently converts biomass to ethanol in a carbon-neutral process that doesn't require the additional enzyme treatments usually accompanying bioethanol production.
The University of Haifa, in cooperation with Stanford University, is embarking on a unique, wide-ranging research effort to investigate energy production using a gas lying beneath the ocean floor, as an alternative to oil. The initiative will be conducted in the new School for Marine Studies at the University of Haifa, whose establishment was made possible through the generous donation of American businessman Mr. Leon Charney.
Hybrid electric cars need much better batteries--and A123, a plucky Massachusetts startup, says it's got them.
As the national debate over energy independence intensifies, researchers at the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research are refining methods to convert coal into liquid fuel.
Victor Lin, a chemistry professor at Iowa State University, has developed a catalyst that he thinks will revolutionize biodiesel production. Lin has founded a company in Ames, Catilin Inc., to develop and market that technology.
Reporting in the June 21 issue of the journal Nature, University of Wisconsin-Madison chemical and biological engineering Professor James Dumesic and his research team describe a two-stage process for turning biomass-derived sugar into 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF), a liquid transportation fuel with 40 percent greater energy density than ethanol.
An Oak Ridge National Laboratory-developed technology collecting sunlight connected to special indoor light fixtures has earned an Excellence in Technology Transfer Award from the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer.
Researchers at Virginia Tech, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and the University of Georgia propose using polysaccharides, or sugary carbohydrates, from biomass to directly produce low-cost hydrogen for the new hydrogen economy. The vision is for the ingredients to be mixed in the fuel tank of your car to power a fuel cell.
Few have been unaffected by the rapidly increasing price of gas, which has inched its way up toward $4 a gallon in some parts of the United States. And consumers aren't feeling those effects just in their wallets, a Florida State University professor in Tallahassee, Fla., has found.
Termites and fungi already know how to digest cellulose, but the human process of producing ethanol from cellulose remains slow and expensive. The central bottleneck is the sluggish rate at which the cellulose enzyme complex breaks down tightly bound cellulose into sugars, which are then fermented into ethanol.
If solar power is going to play a significant role in the energy equation of the future, there must be advances in technologies to store that power and more investment by manufacturers, concludes a new federally funded study by University of Massachusetts Amherst scientist Erin Baker.
Texas Tech scientists can speak on a range of alternative energy topics, including their own collaborative investigations into new methods to more cheaply and efficiently produce ethanol and other fuels.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have developed an advanced concept in nanoscale catalyst engineering "“ a combination of experiments and simulations that will bring polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells for hydrogen-powered vehicles closer to massive commercialization.
New biofuels technology developed by North Carolina State University engineers has the potential to turn virtually any fat source "“ vegetable oils, oils from animal fat and even oils from algae "“ into fuel to power jet airplanes.
Texas Tech scientists can speak on a range of alternative energy topics, including their collaborative investigations into new methods to more cheaply and efficiently produce ethanol and other fuels.
The wind resource off the Mid-Atlantic coast could supply the energy needs of nine states from Massachusetts to North Carolina, plus the District of Columbia--with enough left over to support a 50 percent increase in future energy demand--according to a study by researchers at the University of Delaware and Stanford University.
Utah State University researchers are using an innovative approach that takes oil from algae and converts it to biodiesel fuel. USU is currently conducting research on algae and plans to produce an algae-biodiesel that is cost-competitive by 2009. Algae, plainly referred to as pond scum, can produce up to 10,000 gallons of oil per acre and can be grown virtually anywhere.
Research to genetically modify switchgrass at URI is expected to double crop yields and produce 100% ethanol to power vehicles for less than $1 per gallon. Scientist says corn is a poor choice for biofuels.
A practicum that focused on alternative energy use led MBA students to the jatropha plant, a hardy shrub with seeds that produce an oil that can power basic generators. The students' articulated the potential for economic stability that jatropha offers African villages.
Lower gas prices have given low-income customers a break and fueled a seven-point increase in consumer in October to 90, its highest level in seven months, University of Florida economists report.
Dr. Onn Winkler, An expert from the Center for advanced Energy Studies in University of Haifa: The price of a barrel of oil will not drop significantly in the next few years.
The foremost myth about resource geology is that the world is running out of oil, a University of Washington geologist says, and he wants to dispel that and other false notions about mineral resources.
Iowa State University researchers are working with an Iowa company to replace the natural gas burned to make ethanol with a renewable gas made from biomass.
As the United States looks to crops as possible future sources of energy, a University of Arkansas researcher and his colleagues call for caution, citing the possibility of some biofuel crops becoming invasive species.
Iowa State researchers have made discoveries in materials science and plasma chemistry that they hope will boost the performance of thin, flexible solar cells manufactured by an Iowa company.
Purdue Research Foundation has licensed a technology to Bio Processing Technology Inc. for the development of a new environmentally friendly method to produce ethanol that also costs less than current methods.
A tree that can reach 90 feet in six years and be grown as a row crop on fallow farmland could represent a major replacement for fossil fuels. Purdue University researchers are using genetic tools in an effort to design trees that readily and inexpensively can yield the substances needed to produce alternative transportation fuel.
While an engineering professor and alternative fuels researcher predicts we're stuck with high gas prices, he has some tips to ease drivers' burden.
The Sen. Richard G. Lugar - Purdue University Summit on Energy Security will bring more than 600 leaders to the Purdue campus in West Lafayette, Ind. to discuss national energy issues and policy. A goal of the summit is to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and to develop new strategies for alternative fuels.
The most energy efficient engine in mass use currently is the diesel engine, and the best alternative fuel for that engine is biodiesel.
Montana State University professor John Mandell has been testing materials used to build wind turbine blades since 1989, creating one of the nation's largest open-acess databases on the subject.
The price of gas has doubled over the past three years, hovering around $3 a gallon nationally. Wayne Hochwarter, an associate professor of management in the College of Business at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla., recently conducted research to determine how increased gas prices have affected personal finance, as well as behavior at work. More than 300 employees across a wide range of occupations were surveyed.
Mississippi State University researchers are using a $1.5 million federal grant to implement an innovative oil recovery process that could streamline U.S. production and help reduce the nation's dependence on foreign energy sources.
Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have developed a new storage system to hold large quantities of hydrogen fuel that may one day power cars in a more cost-effective and consumer-friendly way.
The summer 2006 issue of the Virginia Tech Research magazine reports on a new device to monitor the nation's electric grid, technologies to supplement the grid, and alternative energy sources.
James Dumesic, a University of Wisconsin-Madison chemical and biological engineering professor, reports in the June 30 issue of the journal Science on a better way to make a chemical intermediate called HMF (hydroxymethylfurfural) from fructose - fruit sugar. HMF can be converted into plastics, diesel-fuel additive, or even diesel fuel itself, but is seldom used because it is costly to make.
Georgia Tech researchers have created a new combustor (combustion chamber where fuel is burned to power an engine or gas turbine) designed to burn fuel in a wide range of devices with next to no emission of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO), two of the primary causes of air pollution. The device, originally developed for NASA, has a simpler design than existing state-of-the-art combustors.
Iowa State scientists are using chemistry and nanotechnology to create a better way to make biodiesel.
A team of Iowa State researchers has used ultrasonic pretreatment of corn in laboratory experiments to increase the corn's release rates of sugars by nearly 30 percent. That could mean each bushel of corn that goes into an ethanol plant could more efficiently produce ethanol for your car's fuel tank.
Iowa State University researchers have used mold to convert corn fiber into ethanol. The discovery could turn byproducts of corn milling into another source of fuel.
Consumer confidence among Floridians in May did not budge from its April level of 86, the likely result of a downturn in the housing market and continued high fuel prices, University of Florida economists report.
Approximately 2 billion of the world's people have no access to electricity. Without electricity to power factory operations or other commercial endeavors, those 2 billion people remain mired in an endless cycle of poverty. One FSU researcher is working to break that cycle through the development of new energy technologies that are easy to install, environmentally sound and, perhaps most importantly, inexpensive to produce.
It took nearly seven years, but a University of Maryland time-use expert finally managed to get his answer to better fuel mileage into this country "“ the "Smart Car." "I think I may be the first person in Maryland or the DC area to own one," says John Robinson, a sociologist and a national expert on time usage.
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