Energy

Biofuels such as ethanol offer an alternative to petroleum for powering our cars, but growing energy crops to produce them can compete with food crops for farmland, and clearing forests to expand farmland will aggravate the climate change problem. How can we maximize our "miles per acre" from biomass? Researchers writing in Science magazine say the best bet is to convert the biomass to electricity, rather than ethanol. They calculate that, compared to ethanol used for internal combustion engines, bioelectricity used for battery-powered vehicles would deliver an average of 80% more miles of…

An international team of scientists has determined the structure of the chlorophyll molecules in green bacteria that are responsible for harvesting light energy. The team's results one day could be used to build artificial photosynthetic systems, such as those that convert solar energy to electrical energy. The scientists found that the chlorophylls are highly efficient at harvesting light energy. "We found that the orientation of the chlorophyll molecules make green bacteria extremely efficient at harvesting light," said Donald Bryant, Ernest C. Pollard Professor of Biotechnology at Penn…

A research team from Northeastern University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has discovered that a residue of a process used to build arrays of titania nanotubes (that wasn’t even previously noticed), plays an important role in improving the performance of the nanotubes in solar cells that produce hydrogen gas from water. Their results indicate that by controlling the deposition of potassium on the surface of the nanotubes, engineers can achieve significant energy savings in a promising new alternate energy system. Titania (or titanium dioxide) is a versatile…

Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers have discovered a potential chink in the armor of fibers that make the cell walls of certain inedible plant materials so tough. The insight ultimately could lead to a cost-effective and energy-efficient strategy for turning biomass into alternative fuels. In separate papers published today in Biophysical Journal and recently in an issue of Biomacromolecules, Los Alamos researchers identify potential weaknesses among sheets of cellulose molecules comprising lignocellulosic biomass, the inedible fibrous material derived from plant cell walls. The…

Engineers at Oregon State University say they have discovered a way to use ancient life forms, diatoms, to create one of the newest technologies for solar energy - systems that may be surprisingly simple to build compared to existing silicon-based solar cells. Diatoms are tiny, single-celled marine life forms have existed for at least 100 million years and are the basis for much of the life in the oceans, but they also have rigid shells that can be used to create order in a natural way at the extraordinarily small level of nanotechnology.   They are also a key part of the marine food…

You may soon be able to say goodbye to batteries for your Blackberry or cell phone.  Instead, they will get power from just a wave of your hand. In research presented at the ACS meeting in Salt Lake City, scientists describe technology that converts mechanical energy from body movements or even the flow of blood in the body into electric energy that can be used to power a broad range of electronic devices without using batteries. The researchers describe harvesting energy from the environment by converting low-frequency vibrations, like simple body movements, the beating of the heart or…

Chemists reported development of what they termed the first economical, eco-friendly process to convert algae oil into biodiesel fuel — a discovery they predict could one day lead to U.S. independence from petroleum as a fuel. One of the problems with current methods for producing biodiesel from algae oil is the processing cost, and the New York researchers say their innovative process is at least 40 percent cheaper than that of others now being used. Supply will not be a problem: There is a limitless amount of algae growing in oceans, lakes, and rivers, throughout the world. Another benefit…

In the future, natural gas derived from chunks of ice that workers collect from beneath the ocean floor and beneath the arctic permafrost may fuel cars, heat homes, and power factories. Government researchers are reporting that these so-called "gas hydrates," a frozen form of natural gas that bursts into flames at the touch of a match, show increasing promise as an abundant, untapped source of clean, sustainable energy. Gas hydrates, known as "ice that burns," hold special promise for helping to combat global warming by leaving a smaller carbon dioxide footprint than other fossil fuels. The…

Researchers at the ACS meeting in Salt Lake City say they have new evidence for the existence of low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR), the process once called "cold fusion." One group describes what it terms the first clear visual evidence that LENR devices can produce neutrons, subatomic particles that scientists view as tell-tale signs that nuclear reactions are occurring.  Cold fusion is the darling of science fiction and certainly researchers  because it would be a limitless and environmentally-clean energy source for generating electricity - and will take a century and trillions…

The Multinational Nuclear Power Pulse Survey, conducted online in November 2008, was released on 17 March 2009 by its originator Accenture, a consulting company. 10,508 people in 20 countries participated in a series of 20-minute interviews. Included in geography are Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, UK, and USA.  Accenture says in  www.accenture.com: "the strongest support for nuclear energy as a means of reducing fossil fuel…