electricity
A team of researchers at the Ikerlan-IK4 technological centre have made a laboratory-scale photoelectric panel which, apart from fulfilling the function of converting solar light into electricity, solves the problems of integratability and availability that current technology presents.
The installation of solar photoelectric panels - capable of converting the sun's light energy into elect
Could hamsters help solve the world's energy crisis? Probably not, but a hamster wearing a power-generating jacket is doing its own small part to provide a new and renewable source of electricity.
A team of MIT undergraduate students has invented a shock absorber that harnesses energy from small bumps in the road, generating electricity while it smoothes the ride more effectively than conventional shocks.
Software designed by the University of Liverpool which automatically shuts down computer systems after usage, is saving large organisations up to £13,000 in electricity costs each month.
A new way of making LEDs could see household lighting bills reduced by up to 75% in five years time, thanks to research at Cambridge University.
Picture a tree in the forest. The tree "inhales" carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, transforming that greenhouse gas into the building materials and energy it needs to grow its branches and leaves.
A study conducted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers Kristina Hamachi-LaCommare and Joe Eto for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution estimates that electric power outages and blackouts cost the nation about $80 billion annually. The costs of these power interruptions, which can last from just seconds to days, is a key missing element from recent discussions to modernize the grid.
As the price of energy continues to rise, businesses are looking to renewable energy for cheaper sources of power. Making electricity from the most plentiful of these sources - the sun -can be expensive due to the high price of producing traditional silicon-based solar cells. Enter organic solar cells. Made from cheaper materials, their flexibility and feather-weight construction promise to open up new markets for solar energy, potentially powering everything from Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tags to iPods and laptop computers.
It may be tiny, but a new microgenerator developed at Georgia Tech can now produce enough power to run a small electronic device, like a cell phone, and may soon be able to power a laptop. The microgenerator is about 10 millimeters wide, or about the size of a dime. When coupled with a similarly sized gas-fueled microturbine (or jet) engine, the system, called a microengine, has the potential to deliver more energy and last 10 times longer than a conventional battery.
Biomedical engineers and physicians have brought the day when artificial limbs will be controlled directly by the brain considerably closer by discovering a method that uses laser light, rather than electricity, to stimulate and control nerve cells. The researchers have discovered that low-intensity infrared laser light can spark specific nerves to life, exciting a leg or even individual toes without actually touching the nerve cells.
A study in the recent issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest addresses how economic status is no longer a sufficient gauge of a nation's well-being. The authors argue that the psychological well-being of its citizens is the greatest measure of a nation-- not the well-being of its economy. ''While wealth has trebled over the past 50 years?well-being has been flat, mental illness has increased at an even more rapid rate, and data, not just nostalgic reminiscences, indicate that the social fabric is more frayed than it was in leaner times,'' the authors state. Prosperity is neither the answer nor the cause of satisfaction. The study calls for an ongoing systematic set of national indicators of well-being to report on a society and aid in its policy-making.
Nuclear power contributes to Japan's energy security by reducing the economic impact of an oil price shock, a new study concludes. The study estimates that in the absence of nuclear power, the cumulative impact of a single oil price shock (25-percent change in oil prices) could result in a loss of up to 2 trillion yen (U.S. $18.2 billion) in gross domestic product. On a per-megawatt basis, this places the value of nuclear power at roughly 42 million yen (U.S. $382,000) per megawatt of installed nuclear capacity. That's about 15.7 percent of the capital cost of a nuclear plant in Japan.
The energy stored in Toronto's municipal wastewater could be harnessed to run water treatment facilities and contribute power to the city grid, says new U of T research. The study, published in the August issue of the Journal of Energy Engineering, is the first to measure the energy content of the raw municipal wastewater in the Ashbridges Bay, North Toronto, Highland Creek and Humber plants. The research revealed that the wastewater contained enough organic material to potentially produce 113 megawatts of electricity or close to 990 million kilowatt hours a year.
Until now, lightweight plastic solar cells have remained elusive. During the last decade, scientists have struggled to substitute polymers for the expensive, but effective crystalline materials such as silicon, a traditional solar cell material. These attempts produced solar cells with poor efficiencies at converting light into electricity. Researchers now hope to develop an improved polymer solar cell using nanomaterial additives. Specifically, a team in Rhose Island will use a thin polymer film that can be rolled out in sheets. The film will contain nanoscale pieces of semiconductor material and single-walled carbon nanotubes to maximize energy conversion.
A University of California scientist working at Los Alamos National Laboratory and researchers from Northrop Grumman Space Technology have developed a novel method for generating electrical power for deep-space travel using sound waves. The traveling-wave thermoacoustic electric generator has the potential to power space probes to the furthest reaches of the Universe.
