Energy news

Panasonic plans home-use storage cell

Technology / Energy

Dec 23, 2009 | 4 / 5 (18) | 9

Panasonic Corp., which recently made a successful takeover bid for Sanyo Electric Co., plans to market a lithium-ion storage cell for home use around fiscal 2011.

Taiwan unveils Asia's biggest solar plant: govt

Technology / Energy

Dec 23, 2009 | 3.3 / 5 (6) | 3

Taiwan has unveiled what it calls Asia's biggest solar power plant as the island, which imports almost all its energy, seeks to tap into clean renewable resources, the government said Wednesday.

Glitter-sized solar photovoltaics produce competitive results

Technology / Energy

Dec 22, 2009 | 4.4 / 5 (32) | 0

Sandia National Laboratories scientists have developed tiny glitter-sized photovoltaic cells that could revolutionize the way solar energy is collected and used.

Can Snowmobiles Adapt in the Age of Ethanol?

Technology / Energy

Dec 18, 2009 | 1 / 5 (2) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- By 2022, federal regulations will require a 400 percent increase in the amount of renewable fuel in America’s gasoline, from 9 billion to 36 billion gallons.

STEM gets greener: Promoting critical thinking using renewable energy technology

Technology / Energy

Dec 17, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

Can building model cars really help create the next generation of electric vehicle designers and engineers? Researchers at North Carolina State University think so. Through a recent grant, they will develop a curriculum that ...

Electric cars rolling out

Technology / Energy

Dec 16, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (16) | 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- Electric vehicles are far from new, but we are still a long way from electric cars being the norm. Now two new electric cars may bring that goal a step closer.

Physicists Demystify Utility of Power Factor Correction Devices

Technology / Energy

Dec 16, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (8) | 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- If you've seen an Internet ad for capacitor-type power factor correction devices, you might be led to believe that using one can save you money on your residential electricity bill. However, ...

Toward home-brewed electricity with 'personalized solar energy'

Technology / Energy

Dec 16, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (6) | 1

New scientific discoveries are moving society toward the era of "personalized solar energy," in which the focus of electricity production shifts from huge central generating stations to individuals in their ...

Launch of first operating system for smart grid home automation

Technology / Energy

Dec 16, 2009 | 1 / 5 (1) | 0

Fraunhofer IWES (Germany) presents the OGEMA Alliance, which will offer an open software platform for energy management.

Study expects rising interest in energy saving

Technology / Energy

Dec 16, 2009 | 1 / 5 (1) | 0

(AP) -- Energy-efficient technology for batteries, grids and power storage will be trendy in 2010, according to a study released Wednesday on clean energy technology.

Miracle light: Can lasers solve the energy crisis?

Technology / Energy

Dec 15, 2009 | 4.4 / 5 (14) | 4

Next year will mark the 50th birthday of the laser, one of the most productive and widely used mega-inventions of the last century. Scientists hope that 2010 also will see the launch of laser technology's greatest challenge: ...

Seattle Charges Up for Electric Cars

Technology / Energy

Dec 15, 2009 | 3.3 / 5 (3) | 1

(AP) -- Over the next two years, 2,500 charging stations for electric vehicles will be built in the Seattle area as part of a partnership between Nissan North America and the Electric Transportation Engineering ...

Biodiesel refinery hopes to finally begin soon

Technology / Energy

Dec 15, 2009 | 5 / 5 (3) | 0

Starting up a new business is tough, but starting up in a new industry can be even tougher. That helps explain why the city's cutting-edge biodiesel refinery, one of a handful of its kind in the country, hasn't begun production ...

Lithium to be extracted from geothermal waste

Technology / Energy

Dec 14, 2009 | 5 / 5 (15) | 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- A technique developed by a Californian company, Simbol Mining, will enable the valuable mineral lithium, widely used in high-density batteries, to be reclaimed from the hot waste water produced ...

Toyota aims to roll out plug-in Prius in two years

Technology / Energy

Dec 14, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (10) | 6

Toyota Motor said Monday that it plans to begin commercial sales of its first plug-in hybrid vehicle in about two years, aiming to meet growing demand for fuel-efficient cars.

Hi-tech, eco-friendly dream home takes shape in Japan

Technology / Energy

Dec 14, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (3) | 0

On Tokyo Bay, at the edge of the largest urban sprawl on Earth, sits what may be an environmentalist's dream home.

Researcher studying ways to handle huge quantities of biomass

Technology / Energy

Dec 14, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- As scientists scramble to develop ways to generate enormous amounts of energy from cleaner-burning, renewable fuels to replace coal and oil, promising agricultural crops such as switchgrass ...

Solar power coming to a store near you

Technology / Energy

Dec 10, 2009 | 4.6 / 5 (31) | 28

(AP) -- Solar technology is going where it has never gone before: onto the shelves at retail stores where do-it-yourselfers can now plunk a panel into a shopping cart and bring it home to install.