Solar-powered LED light made of bottles
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Solarbulb, a new lighting gadget from miniWIZ, doesn't exactly come with all parts included: you have to add your own water or soda bottle. The LED Solarbulb screws onto just about...
View ArticleTurning heat to electricity... efficiently
(PhysOrg.com) -- In everything from computer processor chips to car engines to electric powerplants, the need to get rid of excess heat creates a major source of inefficiency. But new research points...
View ArticleDigital quantum batteries inspired by plasma TVs
(PhysOrg.com) -- Plasma TVs are notorious for their excessive use of electricity, but the same principle used to produce high definition pictures in the TVs could result in the development of a new...
View ArticleScavenging energy waste to turn water into hydrogen fuel
(PhysOrg.com) -- Materials scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have designed a way to harvest small amounts of waste energy and harness them to turn water into usable hydrogen fuel.
View ArticleClemson engineers to create model underground energy-storage facility
With a new twist on an old idea, two Clemson University environmental engineers are developing ways to store "waste" energy underground to cut heating and cooling costs and reduce carbon emissions.
View ArticleFirst renewable energy exchange opens in Amsterdam
Dutch-Belgian energy market provider APX-Endex launched a "biomass exchange" Thursday specialising in trading wood pellets as a source of renewable energy, a venture it said was a world first.
View ArticleUN chief launches sustainable energy initiative
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched on Monday an initiative designating 2012 as the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All, with the aim of reaching its set goals by 2030.
View ArticleSustainability threatened by rising demand for livestock products
Global demand for meat, milk and eggs has tripled in the past four decades and is expected to double by 2050. Increased global livestock production has great impacts on the environment and increases...
View ArticleMASSIVE advances in aerodynamics
Engineers are closer to understanding, and therefore manipulating, invisible aerodynamic drag forces, that cause an estimated 50 per cent of transportation fuel to be lost before we can use it.
View ArticleQatar unveils low-emission hybrid car
A Qatari research centre unveiled a low-emission and low-fuel-consumption hybrid car Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN climate talks taking place in the gas-rich country, it said in a statement.
View ArticleImproved thermoelectric materials with atomic layer deposition
Researchers at the Aalto University School of Chemical Technology have applied atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique to the synthesis of thermoelectric materials. Converting waste energy into...
View ArticleContinuous monitoring of UV exposure
UV lamps are used to cure coatings and adhesives in many industrial manufacturing processes. And special sensors are used to measure the intensity of the UV light applied to these surfaces. But because...
View ArticleNuclear powered submarines 'do-able' for Australia
Developing a nuclear-powered submarine may present no greater challenge for Australia than developing its own uniquely modified conventional submarine, according to a green paper published today by...
View ArticleRattling ions limit heat flow in materials used to reduce carbon emissions,...
A new study published today in the journal Nature Materialss has found a way to suppress the thermal conductivity in sodium cobaltate so that it can be used to harvest waste energy.
View ArticleWaste could help fuel low carbon energy and transport
In a time when society– and nature itself– are threatened by climate change, it seems fair to ask: Does recycling still matter? Two Swedish scientists say it does.
View ArticleResearchers recovering metals and minerals from waste
Scarcity of clean water is one of the most serious global challenges. In its spearhead programme, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland developed energy-efficient methods for reuse of water in...
View ArticlePhysicists find a compound to more efficiently convert waste heat to...
Physicists at the University of Houston's physics department and the Texas Center for Superconductivity are working on an innovation that could boost vehicle mileage by 5 percent and power plant and...
View ArticleNeutrons help understand the origin of thermoelectric properties in sodium...
Thermoelectric materials, which can generate electricity from waste heat or be used as solid-state refrigerators, could play an important role in a global sustainable energy solution. Such a...
View ArticleEnvironmentally friendly cement is stronger than ordinary cement
New research from the Niels Bohr Institute shows that cement made with waste ash from sugar production is stronger than ordinary cement. The research shows that the ash helps to bind water in the...
View ArticleMicrobes strip power from poo
EPSRC-funded scientists have developed a process using microbes which removes the need to use electricity to process sewage at treatment plants. The microbes can also be used to produce large...
View Article
