Energy

True efficient wireless power transfer, not just giant machines in a lab or tiny mats under a cell phone, are what we all dream about. Getting rid of cords that force airport travelers to huddle around power outlets like cavemen around an Arctic fire has been the goal for a hundred years. There are real-world obstacles to overcome, such as what happens to a resonant wireless power transfer system in the presence of complex electromagnetic environments, like metal plates. A team of researchers explored the influences at play in this type of situation and describe how efficient wireless…

If you live in an area where solar power is close to viable, you probably also do not get a lot of rain. Over time, dust and dirt build up on solar panels, leading to a loss of efficiency. But not enough to warrant washing them, according to an analysis by the University of California, San Diego.  The authors of a new paper found panels that hadn't been cleaned, or rained on, for 145 days during a summer drought in California, lost only 7.4 percent of their efficiency. Overall, for a typical residential solar system of 5 kilowatts, washing panels halfway through the summer would…

A new solar cell and a photo anode made of a metal oxide has resulted in storing nearly five percent of solar energy chemically, in the form of hydrogen. The solar cell is simpler than that of traditional high-efficiency triple-junction cells based on amorphous silicon or expensive III-V semiconductors. The photo anod is made from the metal oxide bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) to which a small amount of tungsten atoms was added, was sprayed onto a piece of conducting glass and coated with an inexpensive cobalt phosphate catalyst. "Basically, we combined the best of both worlds," explains Prof. Dr…

In the aftermath of Japan's earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was initially driven into shutdown by the magnitude 9.0 quake; its emergency generators then failed because they were inundated by the tsunami. While the prefecture escaped a true disaster - and all of the damage could have been prevented with modern technology - the greatest damage to the complex and the greatest release of radiation may have been caused by explosions of hydrogen gas that built up inside some of the reactors. That hydrogen buildup was the result of hot steam coming into…

Researchers have developed a battery made from a sliver of wood coated with tin that shows promise for becoming a tiny, long-lasting, efficient and environmentally friendly energy source - 1,000 times thinner than a sheet of paper.  Liangbing Hu, Teng Li and colleagues note that today’s batteries often use stiff, non-flexible substrates, which are too rigid to release the stress that occurs as ions flow through the battery. They knew that wood fibers from trees are supple and naturally designed to hold mineral-rich water, similar to the electrolyte in batteries. They decided to explore…

Global warming is on hold, at least temporarily, and being five years behind means we have time for a legitimate basic research solution to become viable technology. A classic trash-to-treasure story would be producing electricity from carbon dioxide. A new method uses CO2 from electric power plant and other smokestacks as the raw material for making electricity. Bert Hamelers, Ph.D., and colleagues explain that electric power-generating stations worldwide release about 12 billion tons of CO2 annually from combustion of coal, oil and natural gas. Home and commercial heating produces…

Bacteriorhodopsin found in the membranes of ancient microorganisms in desert salt flats have been used generate environmentally friendly hydrogen fuel by researchers at Argonne National Laboratory. The scientists combined bacteriorhodopsin, a pigment which is responsible for the unusual purple color of a number of salt flats in California and Nevada, with semiconducting nanoparticles in a system that uses light to spark a catalytic process that creates hydrogen fuel. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles have been used for light-based reactions since the early 1970s, when Japanese…

Is kite power economically viable in the 21st century? We'll find out. The TwingKite,  based on Empa's Tensairity technology, is set to take flight thanks to a  “Venture Kick” jury that is providing 10,000 Swiss Francs in support. A kite, a reel and a console are the components of this new method for making electricity from wind. Rather than going up a hundred meters, like legacy wind efforts, TwingKite will go up to 300. The principle is simple: the high-tech kite is fastened to lines attached to the reel in the ground station. The kite rises up to high altitudes with strong winds…

A National Renewable Energy Lab researcher at the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference in Tampa announced a 31.1% conversion efficiency for a two-junction solar cell under one sun of illumination. The previous record of 30.8% efficiency was held by Alta Devices so this is evolutionary, not revolutionary, but it is a waypoint on the road to lower the cost of solar energy to a point where it can be competitive with other sources, including fossil fuels.  Silicon solar cells now dominate the world photovoltaic market, but researchers see opportunities for new materials.…

Natural gas is much cleaner than coal but it's also important that its energy return on investment (EROI) - the total input energy with the energy expected to be made available to end users - is similar to coal, according to a paper in the Journal of Industrial Ecology. The paper looked at gas from horizontal, hydraulically fractured wells in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania and their analysis indicates that the EROI ratio of a typical well is likely between 64:1 and 112:1, with a mean of approximately 85:1. This range assumes an estimated ultimate recovery of 3.0 billion cubic feet per…