Jay Whitacre’s New & Cheap Sodium-Ion Batteries Funded by DOE
Sodium is several orders of magnitude more available than lithium, and that makes it cheaper to use in batteries. Taking into account the destination of the projected batteries, to act like a buffer for storing renewable electricity, low voltages are enough, so making the technology cheaper by using a water-based electrolyte wasn't hard to think of.
New Technology Extracts Lithium from Geothermal Waste Water
The new technique developed by California-based Simbol Mining could make geothermal wells even more valuable. Extracting lithium with old technologies has up to now been considered impractical.
Magnetic Power Used to Cut Steel in New Industrial Technology
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU in Chemnitz, Germany, are working on a project that will change the way automobile manufacturers and steel industry make holes in the metal they are processing.
Suicidal Genetically Modified Cyanobacteria Generating Biofuels
They used cyanobacteria because they are easy to manipulate genetically and have a higher biofuel output capacity than any plant crops currently used to produce fuels.
Oyster – World's Largest Hydro-Electric Wave Energy Device Goes Online
Queen's University Belfast, Aquamarine Power Ltd. and the Scottish government have recently launched the largest working hydro-electric wave energy device, taking an important step for global wave energy industry.
U.S. Troops Powered by Solar Cells in Innovative GREENS Project
The 300-watt photovoltaic/battery system provides continuous power to Marines in the field. The widely dispersed units need constant power for their computing devices, targeting systems and communications. GREENS will even cut fuel use, cost and risk of ambush on the supplying convoys.
German Engineers Develop Diesel Engine With Barely Detectable Emissions
Engineers from the Technische Universitaet Munchen (TUM) have shown an engine prototype whose emissions are very close to the Euro 6 standard, even though the Euro 5 norm has just been put into force three months ago for all new car models.
Friction-Drive Wind Turbine Can Withstand Powerful Windstorms
In standard wind turbines, the blades turn a drive shaft which engages the gearbox. The gearbox is the most vulnerable part, as in wind blasts it has to withstand very high mechanical stress. In time, it will wear down or break some metal teeth making it in short time unusable.
T300: New Catalyst Produces More Cost-Competitive and Sustainable Biofuels
Researchers at Iowa State University and DOE's Ames National Laboratory, in partnership with biofuel specialist Catilin, Inc have developed a new technology that uses tiny nanoparticles to absorb free fatty acids from living microalgae.
New Nanomaterial Could Serve for Dust-Proof Solar Cells and Supercapacitors
The new material is made up of molecules of peptides that "grow" to resemble small forests of grass. And as if the coincidence wouldn't had been enough, supercapacitors could also benefit from this nano-coating.
