Masdar to Build 100MW Concentrated Solar Power Plant in Abu Dhabi
The CSP power plant dubbed Shams 1 (the Arabic word for "Sun") will cover one square mile of the desert in Madinat Zayed, about 75 miles from Abu Dhabi and will be able to generate 100 MW of electricity.
Solar Powered Windows With Adjustable Haze Presented at Taipei Exhibition
Solar panels are usually big, black ugly things sitting on rooftops and making your house look geekily hi-tech. Chin Hua, a Chinese company, exposed one type of solar panel that, if applied to existing or future buildings, will decrease their carbon footprint by producing energy and will also play the role of window blinds.
STES: Underground Heat Storing Solution Designed for the Military, Also Applicable to Your Home
Storing hot materials while it's cold and storing cold materials while it's hot isn't anything new in concept, but transplanting the idea in geothermal science is both attractive and economic. For example, the Defense Department spends $3.5 billion on the energy needed by its bases, out of which most money go to cooling and heating.
Scientists Compartmenting Bacteria to Create Biodiesel and Vaccines
I have always thought that bacteria and genetics are not play with, but it looks like some researchers at the University of Kent and University College Cork have hacked into some simple bacteria's (like e-coli) inner structure and created compartments where they could synthesize biofuels and vaccines.
Recently Discovered Nanocoating Makes Heat Transfer Happen Much Easier
The action of cooling things down plays a critical part of any mechanical or electric system, because the inevitable heat, produced by friction, is the number one cause of almost instant failure. So far, different methods that cool systems have been discovered, but not to the extent of performance that engineers dream of building their computers or mechanical devices (cars, for example).
Wetox Process Invented in New Zealand Breaks Waste Sludge Into Usable Chemicals and Energy
Cleaning out the dirt that we leave behind is an important task for the well-being of a society. One of the biggest pollution sources is currently the disposal of organic materials coming from animal farms, wineries and dairy factories. Wetox is a clean technology project announced by Viclink, who commercializes products based on Victoria University of Wellington's (New Zealand) theoretical works.
New Graphene Production Technology Offers Hope for Cheap Hydrogen Storage
Victor Aristov, a Ph.D. at the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, along with a team of other researchers, has discovered how to produce high-quality graphene by using the cheapest methods possible.
Michael Grätzel Receives 800,000 Euros Millennium Technology Prize for Inventing Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
Michael Grätzel, one of the world's most famous scientists and innovators in the field of solar power, has received the best prize any scientist...
Lithium Air Batteries Find That Gold-Platinum Catalyst Increases Their Efficiency and Lifetime
MIT researchers have just discovered an alloy that, if used as a catalyst, makes lithium-air batteries more efficient. This type of battery works by reacting the metal lithium with the oxygen from the air, and is very efficient at storing high amounts of energy (three times more than lithium ion). The industry awaits the development of lithium air batteries so they can be used in future electric cars.
Nano-Sized Solar Cells Inspired by Coaxial Cables Developed by Boston College Researchers
To make thin film solar cells have a higher efficiency than any of the previously experimented models, some Boston College researchers propose using nano-scale solar cells inspired by the working principle of coaxial cables. There's a so-called "thick & thin" issue in making thin solar cells, which states that a solar cell has to be thick enough to collect light in sufficient amounts, and at the same time it needs to be thin enough to extract current from it.
