The Green Optimistic

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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’.

Engineers and scientists from the University of Texas at Austin, led by Rod Ruoff, a mechanical engineering professor and physical chemist, have created a one-atom thick layer of carbon, called “graphene”, and they put it to use in electrical storage systems, such as ultracapacitors, a viable way to clean and efficient energy storage.

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has discovered a new type of iron-based superconductor that shares the same magnetic properties with the older copper-oxide superconductors. The amazing fact is that the new superconductors have all those magnetic properties at higher temperatures.

Over the past four years, a thriving market for household solar panels has sprung up in India, with the help of a United Nations programme which assists local banks in offering cheaper loans for the panels.
Since 2003, the $1.5 million programme has helped 16,600 Indians living in the southern state of Karnataka buy solar power [...]

Researchers convert mechanical energy to electrical energy for self-powered nanometer scale devices
Atlanta — Researchers have developed a new technique for powering nanometer-scale devices without the need for bulky energy sources such as batteries.
By converting mechanical energy from body movement, muscle stretching or water flow into electricity, these “nanogenerators” could make possible a new class of [...]

CSEM, the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology, has signed a contract with the government of the Emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah (RAK) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to develop a prototype of a “Solar Island”. The aim of the project is to validate a concept for the large-scale transformation of solar energy into hydrogen [...]

This guy invented a device which uses a simple plastic belt to vibrate from wind blowing and generate a significant amount of electricity for its size. It is 10 times cheaper than regular electricity, more easy to build than a standard wind mill and much, much smaller. The belt vibrates and moves a magnet placed [...]

America can kick its addiction to fossil fuels by drilling more wells, says a panel of experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Not for oil, but to tap Earth’s heat.
Converting geothermal heat into electricity by pouring water onto hot rocks underground and using the steam to turn turbines is arguably the most promising - [...]