doe Archives – The Green Optimistic

Department of Energy’s Green Initiatives Still Alive, Despite Trump

Nicholas Say — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 17:32:25 +0000

As of yet, President Trump hasn’t de-funded the DoE and shut down badly needed sustainable energy programs. His appointee Rick Perry is making the rounds, and appears to be interested in creating connections with level headed backers of green technology. Many of the future programs that the DOE will offer come down to the new […]

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The Coming Solar Age – Elon Musk

Benji Jerew — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 16:57:21 +0000

Renewable energy, such as wind power, solar power, and hydro, has been becoming less expensive and more efficient, so how soon will it take over? Over the last thirty years or so, thanks to renewable energy adoption, the power grid is ever so slowly becoming decentralized. Whereas public utility companies have long been the center […]

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DoE Announces Winners of Second Round of Funding for Energy Research

Mila Luleva — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 15:55:22 +0000

In a press release last week, the Department of Energy (DoE) announced the winners of the second round of funding for innovative energy research. Thirty-two proposals will share $100 Million in order to develop new-generation technologies associated with energy storage, production and use, as part of the Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) program. The new designs […]

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Chevy Volt Racks Up More EV Miles than Nissan Leaf?

Benji Jerew — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 16:00:20 +0000

This may seem like a contradiction, but a recent study done by the United States Department of Energy [DOE] seems to indicate that drivers of the Chevy Volt go more miles on electricity than do Nissan Leaf drivers. For a little background, the Nissan Leaf is a pure electric vehicle [EV], powered by a lithium-ion […]

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PNNL Fungus Study Could Speed up Biofuels Production

Benji Jerew — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 18:36:25 +0000

In theory, biofuels programs could gives us a ready supply of carbon-neutral fuels for use in everyday applications, but the process is expensive and inefficient. [On the other hand, is it really carbon-neutral?] Researchers have been looking for ways to improve biofuel synthesis, speed up the process, reduce energy inputs, and reduce costs. The feedstocks […]

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Fisker Automotive Loan to be Auctioned – DOE Mostly Likely Will Lose

Benji Jerew — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 20:18:21 +0000

I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time, but the chips just didn’t fall right for Fisker Automotive. Fisker’s defaulted loan is now up for auction. In the beginning, Fisker Automotive had been awarded $529 million in guaranteed loans, from DOE’s [Department of Energy] Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, about four years […]

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DoD, US Navy Focus on Clean Energy in Hawaii

Leigh Hutchens — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 01:51:27 +0000

The Energy Excelerator, a funding agency for renewable energy start-ups based out of Hawaii, has just been given $30 million by the US Navy to continue its work on alternative fuel initiatives. The Energy Excelerator also receives funding from the Department of Energy (DOE), among others. The agency already has a host of success stories […]

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Princeton University to Develop Alkaline Electric Vehicle Battery Packs

Benji Jerew — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 15:29:23 +0000

Electric vehicle battery technology is constantly advancing and, thanks to Department of Energy [DOE] grants and loans under the Robust Affordable Next-Generation Energy Storage Systems [RANGE] program, universities and battery companies are taking a crack at it. The way things are going with electric vehicle battery packs, energy density is constantly rising, while costs are […]

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DOE Awards $17 Million in Funding to Advance Clean Ocean Power

Leigh Hutchens — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 01:33:08 +0000

The US Department of Energy (DOE) just announced the $16 million in funding for public/private partnerships in order to focus on untapped energy resource from waves, tides, and currents. The DOE funding will be spread out over 17 projects that focus on data collection in environmental surveys and improving efficiency in tidal and wave generators. […]

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Electric Cargo Trucks May Improve Texas Air Quality

Leigh Hutchens — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 02:20:33 +0000

The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) in Texas has teamed with the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) and Smith Electric Vehicles Corporation (Smith Electric) to reduce vehicle emissions from delivery trucks in the region. As part of the US Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) funded project, local fleets will replace […]

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DOE Announces Safeguards to Protect Energy from Climate Change

Leigh Hutchens — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 02:54:13 +0000

On Thursday, the US Department of Energy (DOE) released a report that stated that action must be taken to address the increasing number of blackouts and disruptions to power and fuel delivery across the nation. The droughts of 2013, coupled with hotter temperatures across the country and rising sea levels are impacting the ability of […]

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eGallon: Department of Energy’s New Measurement Unit for Electric Vehicle Energy Efficiency

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:02:33 +0000

Times are changing and so do measurement units. Because people in the U.S. are used to thinking of gasoline consumption in miles per gallon, and electric/plug-in hybrids have to do with kilowatt-hours, the Department of Energy is now introducing a measuring unit called the eGallon. The eGallon, as they define it (and it will be […]

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H2USA Plan Pushes for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles and Infrastructure

Benji Jerew — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:10:10 +0000

Several automakers have already decided that they want to release fuel cell vehicles as early as 2017 or so, and the Department of Energy’s [DOE] H2USA plan could expand the infrastructure. There are already a few hydrogen fueling stations in the US, but only a couple dozen or so are available for public access. This […]

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Shortage of Rare Earth Metals Dealt by The Department of Energy

Mila Luleva — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:01:13 +0000

In order to deal with domestic shortages of rare earth metals, The Department of Energy (DOE) has established a research hub that will develop strategies and find solutions to preserve the depleting resources.The rare earth elements are 17 in total and include scandium, yttrium and the 15 lanthanides (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, […]

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Department of Energy Sponsors Contest to Find Top Energy-Saving Monitors

Leigh Hutchens — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:05:15 +0000

In an effort to lessen electricity usage, the US Department of Energy (DOE), in partnership with the International Clean Energy Coalition, is sponsoring a contest to find the more efficient energy-saving monitors. This initiative is part of the Clean Energy Ministerial that was launched in 2010 – a global forum launched by the DOE and […]

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DOE Studying How to Better Extract Uranium from Seawater

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:51:15 +0000

Although the Earth’s oceans only contain uranium in trace amounts (3 parts per billion), if someone put their mind to it and gathered all of the oceanic uranium, 4.5 billion tons would get harvested, enough to fuel our civilization’s energy needs for the next 6,500 years. This is not news, however. Japan tinkered with oceanic […]

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Greenfire Energy Replaces Water With CO2 for Geothermal Extraction

Mike Sandru — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:55:10 +0000

Greenfire Energy stands to prove us how good projects, as long as they're really good, will stand out and receive funding. This project will get $2 million in funding for replacing water with CO2 in the process of extracting geothermal energy.

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Biomass Transformed Directly Into Gasoline-Replacing Fuel, Energy Secretary Chu Excited About the Idea

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 19:44:16 +0000

I have been acknowledging the work of most scientists and their discoveries kept my interest awake to see what's new every morning. It's seldom times, though, when I read something like "the U.S. Energy Secretary congratulates DOE scientists for the discovery of a biomass-derived liquid that can be produced cheaply and can replace gasoline without any engine modifications," I have to wonder...

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T300: New Catalyst Produces More Cost-Competitive and Sustainable Biofuels

Mike Sandru — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:33:54 +0000

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.

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Solar Power Satellite: Green Energy or Ultimate Mass Destruction Weapon?

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:41:08 +0000

Based in the 1960s, the idea of sending a solar powered satellite into outer space to provide electricity to ground stations has been brought up over the years several times by the Department of Energy (DOE) and The Department of Defense (DOD) of the United States.

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New Diesel DeNOx Catalyst to Reduce Emissions by 95%

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:00:22 +0000

A new catalyst has been developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory. It can reduce the nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions diesel engines from 90%-95%. Integrated Fuel Technologies, Inc. (IFT), a Washington State start-up company with offices in Spokane and Kirkland, has been licensed to produce it.

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Animated CO2 Map of the United States

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:24:19 +0000

Some researchers from the Purdue University have made up a project revealing the CO2 emissions over the United States. They made a video showing the “hottest” areas in which CO2 is produced by several sources: power plants, factories, vehicle traffic. Kevin Gurney, the leader in the project, told The New York Times: “The resulting database […]

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CO2 collected in sponges by Atmospheric Carbon CapturE SystemS

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:13:23 +0000

The ACCESS, as you can see in the title, was developed by Global Research Technologies in Tucson, Arizona. They made a sponge-based system that filters out CO2 from the air and releases clean oxygen. The system has been made in a smaller-scale unit, that can momentarily capture only less than 100kg of CO2 per day, […]

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