Steam Could Remove CO2 to Regenerate Capture Materials
Researchers have demonstrated a relatively simple regeneration technique that could utilize waste steam to remove carbon dioxide from solid amine materials used to capture the greenhouse gas from the flue gases of coal-burning facilities. This steam-stripping technique could produce concentrated carbon dioxide ready for sequestration.
Yield Projections for Switchgrass as a Biofuel Crop
Scientists compile field studies across U.S. to identify influences on biomass yield.
Study Calls for Natural Gas Pricing Reform to Facilitate Carbon Tax Policy
As federal legislators and regulators consider taxing utility companies for carbon emissions, a new UC Berkeley study suggests a fixed pricing structure on natural gas service that would protect consumers and satisfy utility companies.
Cell Signaling Classification System Gives Researchers New Tool
Using ever-growing genome data, scientists with the Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee are tracing the evolution of the bacterial regulatory system that controls cellular motility, potentially giving researchers a method for predicting important cellular functions that will impact both medical and biotechnology research.
Study Shows Stability and Utility of Floating Wind Turbines
Wind turbines may be one of the best renewable energy solutions, but as turbines get larger they also get noisier, become more of an eyesore, and require increasingly larger expanses of land. One solution: ocean-based wind turbines. While offshore turbines already have been constructed, they've traditionally been situated in shallow waters, where the tower extends directly into the seabed. That restricts the turbines to near-shore waters with depths no greater than 50 meters -- and precludes their use in deeper waters, where winds generally gust at higher speeds.
Molecules Typically Found in Blue Jean and Ink Dyes May Lead to More Efficient Solar Cells
Making better solar cells: Cornell University researchers have discovered a simple process - employing molecules typically used in blue jean and ink dyes - for building an organic framework that could lead to economical, flexible and versatile solar cells.
Researcher Develops Green, Bio-Based Process for Producing Fuel Additive
A new green, bio-based method for producing a much-used fuel additive and industrial chemical that is currently made from petroleum products has been developed by Iowa State University researcher Thomas Bobik.
Motorcycle Engines Powered by Compressed Air
Two scientists in India have conceptually designed a new, cleaner motorcycle engine that uses compressed air to turn a small air turbine, generating enough power to run a motorcycle for up to 40 minutes. Their design is described in a recent issue of the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy.
Researchers Develop New Method for Mass-Producing Graphene
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a simple new method for producing large quantities of the promising nanomaterial graphene. The new technique works at room temperature, needs little processing, and paves the way for cost-effective mass production of graphene.
Blue-Green Microbe Converts Sunlight to Electricity, Pollution-Free
University of Maryland, Baltimore researchers discovered that cyanobacteria possess a natural light-dependent electrogenic activity. The bacteria can generate and transfer high-energy electrons--generate electricity--to the external environment under illumination.
New Microbial Genetic System Dissects Biomass to Biofuel Conversion
A research team at the DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) has developed a powerful new tool that promises to unlock the secrets of biomass degradation, a critical step in the development of cost-effective cellulosic biofuels. The details of this method were published online on June 11 in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
Oil from Spill Could Have Powered 38,000 Cars (And More) for a Year
As of today (Wednesday, June 9), if all the oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico had been used for fuel, it could have powered 38,000 cars, and 3,400 trucks, and 1,800 ships for a full year, according to University of Delaware Prof. James J. Corbett. He has launched a website (http://www.ceoe.udel.edu/getinvolved/oilSpill.aspx) that reports the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in terms of lost uses of the lost fuel on a daily basis.
Working Toward the Next Battery Breakthrough
If battery-making is an art, then University at Buffalo scientist Esther Takeuchi is among its most prolific masters, with more than 140 U.S. patents, all in energy storage. Now Takeuchi is applying to the electrical grid -- the vast, national network that delivers energy from suppliers to consumers -- her unique perspective on how to coax the best performance out of battery chemicals.
Potentially 'Transformative' Method to Make Biofuels
A new way to make valuable chemicals and green biofuels from solar power, bacteria and CO2 may be "truly transformative" if it works on a larger scale, says Derek Lovley, head of a group developing carbon neutral microbial electrosynthesis. It also solves a major problem of solar energy: Storage.
Gene Discovery Potential Key to Cost-competitive Cellulosic Ethanol
Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are improving strains of microorganisms used to convert cellulosic biomass into ethanol, including a recent modification that could improve the efficiency of the conversion process.
Advancing the Nuclear Enterprise Through Better Computing
Scientists at the Nuclear Science and Technology Division of the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are merging decades of nuclear energy and safety expertise with high-performance computing to effectively address a range of nuclear energy- and security-related challenges.
Student Researchers Transform Waste Plastic Into an Alternative Fuel
Student researchers at Northeastern University have designed an apparatus to convert plastic waste into clean energy without releasing harmful emissions.
Biofuel Combustion Chemistry More Complex than Petroleum-based Fuels
Biofuel combustion chemistry more complex than petroleum-based fuels, say Sandia and Lawrence Livermore researchers.
Engineers Design Power Structures That Help Keep the Lights On
Iowa State University engineers are developing new and improved poles to carry electricity across the countryside. They say the new structures -- which can bend and deflect an extreme load -- would be cheaper, easier to install, more secure and more resistant to cascading failures. That means better electrical service for everybody.
Algae Advances as a "Green" Alternative for Improving Water Quality
Algae--already being eyed for biofuel production--could be put to use right away to remove nitrogen and phosphorus in livestock manure runoff, according to an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist.
Corn for Food and Fuel
Developing a Dual-Purpose Corn that can be bred for both food and cellulosic ethanol.
Missouri S&T Students Win International Hydrogen Design Competition
A design for a hydrogen-powered community in California by students from Missouri University of Science and Technology captured the grand prize in the national Hydrogen Student Design Contest sponsored by the Hydrogen Education Foundation.
Defense-Scale Supercomputing Comes to Alternative Energy Research
A new supercomputer that more quickly models the most efficient ways to harness energy from the sun, wind and other renewable resources is now operating at Sandia National Laboratories.
Sorting Protons Faster to Improve Hydrogen Fuel Cells
In a discovery that could solve one of the biggest hurdles blocking affordable fuel cell development, a team of UMass Amherst scientists has found a way to improve proton conductivity under very low humidity conditions where few materials perform well at present, they report in Nature Chemistry.
Purple Pokeberries Hold Secret to Affordable Solar Power Worldwide
Pokeberries - the weeds that children smash to stain their cheeks purple-red and that Civil War soldiers used to write letters home - could be the key to spreading solar power across the globe, according to researchers at Wake Forest University's Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials.