Environment

Sustainable Biochar to Mitigate Climate Change

By producing biochar - a charcoal-like substance made from plants and other organic materials - up to 12 percent of the world's human-caused greenhouse gas emissions could be sustainably offset,...

Switchgrass Lessens Soil Nitrate Loss Into Waterways

By planting switchgrass and using certain agronomic practices, farmers can significantly reduce the amount of nitrogen and nitrates that leach into the soil, according to Iowa State...

PETE: A New Solar Energy Conversion Process

Stanford engineers have discovered a process called photon enhanced thermionic emission (PETE) that simultaneously combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity, and could...

Generating Energy Innovation: Disrupting the Alternatives

In just the last few years, innovation in alternative-energy technologies have gained significant footholds in product development lifecycles and are rapidly changing our individual...

Making Hydrogen From Waste Vegetable Oil

Researchers at the University of Leeds have found an energy-efficient way to make hydrogen out of used vegetable oils discarded by restaurants and other establishments. The process generates some of the...

Metal Alloy Increases Cooling Efficiency, Reduces CO2 Emissions

Researchers at the University of Maryland are developing a new "thermally elastic" metal alloy for use in advanced refrigeration and air conditioning systems. The technology...

Introducing the First Solar & Wind e-zine

The latest e-zine from Green Design & Manufacturing is here! The premiere issue of Solar and Wind Power features articles, tech briefs, application stories, and more regarding alternative energy...

Planar Micro-Optic Solar Concentration

A new solar concentrator from Ph.D. student Jason Karp of the University of California, San Diego collects sunlight with thousands of small lenses imprinted on a common sheet. All these lenses couple into...

Fish Schooling as a Basis for Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Farm Design

Most wind farms consist of horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs), but an alternative paradigm for wind energy extraction is found in vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) designs. A single spatially-isolated VAWT has a significantly lower power coefficient.

Effects of Cerium Removal from Glass on Photovoltaic Module Performance and Stability

In recent years, better stabilizer formulations for ethylene vinyl-acetate have been developed, giving more confidence in the long-term stability of PV packaging materials. Because of this, some manufacturers have stopped using Ce-doped glass. National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers studied Ce-free glass.

Bio-Based Process for Producing Fuel Additive

A new bio-based method for producing a much-used fuel additive and industrial chemical, which is currently made from petroleum products, has been developed by an Iowa State University...

Molecules Found in Blue Jean Dyes May Lead to 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...

Producing Biofuels from Woody Plants With No Waste

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a more efficient technique for producing biofuels from woody plants that significantly reduces the waste that results from...

Road Surface Purifies Air by Removing Nitrogen Oxides

Road surfaces can make a big contribution to local air purity. This conclusion can be drawn from the first test results on a road surface of air-purifying concrete, which reduces the...

Energy-Saving LED High Bay Fixture

Dialight (Farmingdale, NJ) has introduced ultra-bright DuroSite LED High Bay fixtures that incorporate Cree’s Xlamp® XP-G LEDs, delivering nearly 12,000 lumens while consuming only 150 watts. Free of...

Photovoltaic Metallization Paste

DuPont Microcircuit Materials (Research Triangle Park, NC) introduces DuPont™ Solamet® PV16x series photovoltaic metallization pastes for crystalline silicon solar cells. The photovoltaic metallizations are...

Funding for R&D to Support U.S. Manufacturing of SSL

Today, DOE announced the availability of up to $15 million in funding to advance research, development, and market adoption of solid-state lighting (SSL) technologies. The department will...

Hope for Carbon Capture Materials

Berkeley Lab scientists are betting on a recently discovered class of materials - called metal-organic frameworks, which boast a record-shattering internal surface area - to efficiently strip carbon dioxide...

Energy Harvesting Power Management Unit

Cymbet Corporation (Elk River, MN) introduces the EnerChip™ Energy Processor (EP) CBC915, which works universally across all energy harvesting transducer technologies including photovoltaic,...

Promise for Hydrogen-Fueled Cars

A new process for storing and generating hydrogen to run fuel cells in cars has been invented by chemical engineers at Purdue University. The process uses a powdered chemical called ammonia borane, which has...

Microbial Genetic System Dissects Biomass to Biofuel Conversion

A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers, working with the DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), has made a critical step in the development of...

Monitoring Carbon Dioxide Underground

A technique originally applied to monitor the flow of contaminants into shallow groundwater supplies has been repurposed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers to monitor carbon dioxide...

Scientists Use Nanoscale Architecture to Make Efficient Solar Cell

A thin film solar cell must be thick enough to collect a sufficient amount of light, yet it needs to be thin enough to extract current. Boston College physicists found a way...

Formula for the Removal and Remediation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Painted Structures

Low-Noise Current Controller Increases Detection of Trace Gases

A low-noise current controller developed at DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory was recently licensed to Wavelength Electronics Inc. (Bozeman, MT). The device delivers...

Water Membrane Evaporator

Integrated Solar Concentrator and Shielded Radiator