The Green Optimistic

Fungi grown on rotten wood could one day be harvested and genetically engineered for providing future fuel cells with an alternative to the platinum that they nowadays have inside, playing the role of a catalyst.

Nicole Kuepper, a 23 year-old Australian scientist has invented a method of making cheap solar cells out of simple materials, that any DIY-er could find in his home.

One thing is to be noted here: one gram of carbon made from corncobs has its molecular internal surface equal to a football field, plus it has been proved that boron doping will further increase this capacity in great amounts.

They don’t want to use hydrogen in a fuel cell device, but rather burn it and use the power. The principle is the same with the one in BMW 7-series from last year, but they have something different on hand. Mazda doesn’t use the classic piston-engine, which can backfire sometimes if fueled with hydrogen. Instead, they use a Wankel rotary engine.

Not only US and Japan can take initiatives in this area, and here’s the proof: a couple of researchers from Greece designed a material that almost meets the 2010 standards set by the US Department of Energy (DOE) for hydrogen storage, in terms of weight/pressure supported.

Today, dr. Ross E. Dueber, the CEO of ZPower, a battery producing company, discusses the technology of making the silver-zinc battery for consumer electronics at the Batteries 2008 conference in Nice France. The conference just started today and is of great interest for the alternative energy blogosphere.

Scientists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University invented a silicon solar cell. The interesting fact is that it’s flexible and it can be printed on a curved surface or a fabric. Although solar paint has been produced, there are a few situations where you’d rather use more solid solar cells (like porous surfaces, where paint cannot be applied well).

Some researchers from the University of Århus, Denmark, have studied promising thermoelectric materials from the group or clathrates, which create crystals full of ‘nano-cages’.