Energy

Feeling increasingly uncomfortable on this blog, as it seems to be becoming an outlet for the Anti-God Squad, I nevertheless want to share with my friends this interesting news item which I first spotted in the Times of India Health&Science Section, where it was headlined Cabbage fuel reduces carbon release.WASHINGTON: Jet fuel's grave carbon emissions can be reduced by about 84 per cent by refining it from the seeds of a lowly weed, which is a cousin to the cabbage, says a Michigan Technological University researcher. This sounded too good to be true, but it corresponds with the claim…

In revisiting a chemical reaction that's been in the literature for several decades and adding a new wrinkle of their own, researchers with Berkeley Lab and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have discovered a mild and relatively inexpensive procedure for removing oxygen from biomass. This procedure, if it can be effectively industrialized, could allow many of today's petrochemical products, including plastics, to instead be made from biomass.  "We've found and optimized a selective, one-pot deoxygenation technique based on a formic acid treatment," said Robert Bergman, a co-…

Like ethanol, the darling of activists who refused to know any better until it was actually implemented and shown to be a disaster, there is a certain amount of marketing hype around CFL bulbs and environmental groups have drunk the Kool-Aid.   All mercury is bad when it comes to kids.   And who knows what those frequencies will do to your pets?   But it may not be an issue for long.   A new laser process says it can double the brightness of incandescent bulbs while using the same amount of energy.     The laser process creates a unique array of nano- and micro-…

A new study carried out at the University of Leicester reveals that an alternative to oil could be found in ancient sea deposits dating to 300 million years ago. Shale gas sourced in mudstones in shallow water seaways could provide the future alternative to fuel modern society in the wake of demands to find new energy sources, according to the doctoral research. These mudstones, now exposed across central and northern England, contain up to 14% carbon. Jennifer Graham, a postgraduate researcher in the Department of Geology, University of Leicester, will present her research, “Mudstones: their…

A new type of air-fuelled battery called the STAIR (St Andrews Air) cell could give up to ten times the energy storage of designs currently available, meaning a new generation of batteries for electric cars, mobile phones and laptops. The new design has the potential to improve the performance of portable electronic products and give a major boost to the renewable energy industry. The batteries will enable a constant electrical output from sources such as wind or solar, which stop generating when the weather changes or night falls. Improved capacity is thanks to the addition of a component…

Empa and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have, together with Bucher Schoerling, Proton Motor, BRUSA Elektronik AG und Messer Schweiz, developed a hydrogen powered municipal street cleaning vehicle which was presented to the public last week in Basel. The vehicle is named the "Bucher CityCat H2"  and is the first municipal utility vehicle in the world powered by fuel cell technology.   For the next 18 months it will be tested in everyday usage. Fuel cells are considered to be clean energy sources well-suited for our future mobility needs. They convert hydrogen directly into…

In Finland, leaders in various fields have taken up the challenge presented by the increasing use of natural resources. Jointly, they have set out to find an answer to the question of how to use natural resources to enhance both national competitiveness and global responsibility. One result of this cooperation is the Natural Resource Strategy for Finland, a unique effort on a global scale. The strategy work was coordinated by Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund, in collaboration with a wide range of national actors. The Natural Resource Strategy is unlike any other investigation into this…

Increased competition and the global economic crisis have cast clouds upon the Western European solar energy market. Falling polysilicon and solar module prices have the potential to cement China's role as a solar manufacturing hub. In terms of installed capacity, the United States is playing a greater role as more and more states are putting the renewable energy standards into existence, yet  emerging markets within Europe may turn into strong performers. Europe and Japan were the original trailblazers of the solar energy industry; thus they have historically held the strongest…

Scientists in California are reporting use of a first-of-its-kind approach to craft genetically engineered microbes with the much-sought ability to transform switchgrass, corn cobs, and other organic materials into methyl halides — the raw material for making gasoline and a host of other commercially important products. The new bioprocess could help pave the way for producing biofuels from agricultural waste, easing concerns about stress on the global food supply from using corn and other food crops. Their study is scheduled for the May 20 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society…

Rising shale gas production in the United States and Canada as well as potential natural gas supplies from Iraq could be pivotal in curbing Russia's ability to organize an "energy weapon" against European consumers, according to a new study released today by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.  The study, "Russia and the Caspian Basin in the World Energy Balance," examines Russia's evolving energy relations with its Caspian neighbors, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the West and considers potential scenarios for Russian and Caspian oil and natural…