Global Warming Won’t Change Wind Power Potential, Indiana Researchers Say
Wind power is the most use form of clean energy that nations around the world are now harnessing as one of their most valuable asset. It has been speculated, though, that power extracted from wind will decrease while global temperatures will rise during the next decades. A study performed by Indiana University Bloomington researchers proves this theory is wrong, and encourages decision makers to pursue their existing plans.
Nautricity's Device to Make Tidal Energy More Affordable
Tides are capable of producing electricity and are more predictable than wind or solar power. Just like wind turbines in the sea, they need to stand on very firm ground. All of that is known from the 60's, but what researchers didn't know was how to make that cost-effective, the main reason why development lagged behind.
$1.5 Million Paid to UK Wind Power Companies for Extra Electricity They Haven't Delivered
Usually, one man's garbage is another man's gold, as they say. The rule does not always stand up when the latter pays 20 times more than he should, and there's so much of it that it can't be carried from one to another. That's the case with some Scottish wind farms that just provided too much energy and had to be disconnected recently, but the wind power companies had to be paid anyway.
3D Nanocone Solar Cells Improve Efficiency by 80% in Lab Experiments
Jun Xu and his team from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory have just created a three-dimensional "nanocone-based solar cell platform," which is able to increase the light conversion efficiency by almost 80 percent by eliminating the issue of poor charge transport due to bulk material defects.
Unxepected Discovery Proves Magma More Potent Than Geothermal Reservoirs
Scientific breakthroughs have been known to come by accident, not necessarily after a nice, long study: look at Newton's apple! This is roughly what happened at the Krafla volcano in Iceland: instead of testing geothermal energy harvesting, the team of researchers discovered the amazing power of magma.
Wake Forest Researchers Develop Polymer-Based Solar PV & Thermal Device
Infrared light makes up the most part of the light spectrum, but the glitch in today's solar panels is that they can't really harvest it for direct electricity generation, because of the long wavelengths involved. Thus, a standard solar panel misses about 75% of the incoming energy, and some of them, concentrated solar cells, need cooling to prevent damage to the silicon substrate that favors the energy conversion.
Saudi Arabia Solar Power Project Has Ambitious Dreams
It would be such a shame if countries with huge solar potential would sit around doing nothing about it. Saudi Arabia is not to be told twice! First, because it is one of those countries which enjoy sunlight from dawn till dusk and second of all, because some of its massive oil reserves are slowly but surely emptying out.
Blimp Wind Turbine Can Generate Power at 2000 Feet Above the Ground
As you may know, many people became experts in generating wind power in recent years. Even so, they are still searching for more powerful, more consistent winds. For this purpose, some graduates from MIT came up with a new concept: if we can produce wind power on the ground, why not try to do the same thing in the air?
Highways in California Could Actually Produce Energy
When cars or trains move on the surface of the earth, they produce vibrations. These vibrations can be captured and directed through underground piezoelectric materials to a smart grid or roadside batteries.
Researchers Study How Electric Car Batteries Could Get Second Life After Losing Capacity
Officially, car batteries are supposed to have a life span of 8 to 10 years, or at least that's what engineers are trying to achieve. They do have to admit that charge after charge, the battery is not the same any longer: for example, the Chevrolet Volt's battery will probably lose about 60 to 65% of its initial capacity, according to GM.
