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Yearly Archives: 2010
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.
Good News: Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Dropped by 1.1 Percent in 2009
Among the dozen of bad news that keep filling our mailboxes daily, we once in a while read something worth smiling at: the global greenhouse emissions generated by energy use dropped for the first time since 1998, by 1.1 percent. Through this, the economic crisis has its good actions, because it reduced the industrial production and fossil fuel consumption worldwide.
Hawaii To Run $1 Billion Undersea Cable That Will Share Wind Power Between Islands
Replacing Hawaii's dirty diesel powered generators that provide the electricity necessary to run the islands isn't an easy job. The state's current plan is to feed Oahu, the state's most populated island, through an undersea cable, from the wind farms on the islands Molokai and Lanai.
An Idea to Naturally Harvest Algae for Biofuels By Using Stable Ocean Currents
Here's an interesting idea to cultivate algae that could be transformed into biodiesel. The basic idea is that people should use the stable currents that exist in the Pacific ocean to carry algae from one point to another, time during which the algae should mature with the ocean's support and some slowly-dissolving nutrients that should float along with them.
Scientists Use Palladium as Core to New Hydrogen Fuel Cell-Improving Nanoparticle
Hydrogen fuel cells generate electricity when fed with hydrogen, which combines with oxygen and results water. Still, hydrogen fuel cells are expensive due to the catalyst used in the cathode for the reaction known as oxygen reduction. That catalyst is 100% pure platinum, which is a rare and expensive material.
Apple Patents Embedded Solar Panel in Upcoming iPhones
Apple has got us used to innovations and brilliant design in all of their products, being them hardware of software. By wanting to stay on the trendy wave of being green (and possibly wanting to make a difference), Apple has filed a patent of a solar powered iPhone. But it's not the usual solar panel they dream of.
