Energy news

Solar power coming to a store near you (AP)

Solar power coming to a store near you

Technology / Energy

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (31) | comments 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.


Lithium

Lithium to be extracted from geothermal waste

Technology / Energy

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (15) | comments 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 ...


INL develops safer, more efficient nuclear fuel for next-gen reactors

INL develops safer, more efficient nuclear fuel for next-gen reactors

Technology / Energy

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (15) | comments 7

As the nation ponders its energy choices, Americans keep asking themselves: how can the country make better use of its resources and emit fewer greenhouse gases without hurting U.S. industries? A research ...


plug-in hybrid electric vehicle

Pulling the plug on hybrid myths

Technology / Energy

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (16) | comments 31

(PhysOrg.com) -- Whether you call them myths, urban legends, fables or old wives' tales, there's a lot of misinformation out there about plug-in electric hybrid vehicles. These vehicles, abbreviated PHEVs, ...


Nissan Leaf

Electric cars rolling out

Technology / Energy

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | comments 5

(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.


A greener way to get electricity from natural gas

A greener way to get electricity from natural gas

Technology / Energy

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (16) | comments 9

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new type of natural-gas electric power plant proposed by MIT researchers could provide electricity with zero carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, at costs comparable to or less than ...


Battery Research Aims To Store Renewable Energy

Battery Research Aims To Store Renewable Energy

Technology / Energy

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (14) | comments 6

The biggest chemical battery in the United States is located near Interstate 90 in the small town of Luverne, Minn. The 80 ton device -- the size of two tractor-trailers stacked on top of each other -- stores ...


China is the world's largest emitter of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming

China harnesses mountain wind power

Technology / Energy

created Nov 22, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (12) | comments 3

In the mountains above the southwestern Chinese town of Dali, dozens of new wind turbines dot the landscape -- a symbol of the country's sky-high ambitions for clean, green energy.


Miracle light: Can lasers solve the energy crisis?

Technology / Energy

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (12) | comments 3

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: ...


The world's biggest car-maker Toyota Motor has said it plans to begin commercial sales of its first plug-in hybrid car

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

Technology / Energy

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (9) | comments 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.


NIST Team Demystifies Utility of Power Factor Correction Devices

Physicists Demystify Utility of Power Factor Correction Devices

Technology / Energy

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (8) | comments 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, ...


Liquid battery big enough for the electric grid?

Liquid battery big enough for the electric grid?

Technology / Energy

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (7) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- There's one major drawback to most proposed renewable-energy sources: their variability. The sun doesn't shine at night, the wind doesn’t always blow, and tides, waves and currents fluctuate. ...


NRL's Ion Tiger sets 26-hour flight endurance record

Hydrogen-Powered Ion Tiger Sets 26-hour Flight Endurance Record

Technology / Energy

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (7) | comments 2

The Naval Research Laboratory's Ion Tiger, a hydrogen-powered fuel cell unmanned air vehicle (UAV), has flown 26 hours and 1 minute carrying a 5-pound payload, setting another unofficial flight endurance record ...


Staying Power: Senate Hearing Focuses On Energy Storage

Staying Power: Senate Hearing Focuses On Energy Storage

Technology / Energy

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (8) | comments 6

Thursday's Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing featured testimony from experts about the power industry's need to develop systems capable of storing large amounts of electricity if the nation's ...


Workers at the Statkraft Osmotic power plant prototype in Tofte

Harnessing the power of salt, Norway tries osmotic power

Technology / Energy

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (6) | comments 4

After wind, sun, currents and tides, a company is preparing to make clean electricity by harnessing another natural phenomenon, the energy-unleashing encounter of freshwater and seawater.