Energy
Advanced biofuels – liquid fuels synthesized from the sugars in cellulosic biomass – offer a clean, green and renewable alternative to gasoline, diesel and jet fuels. Bringing the costs of producing these advanced biofuels down to competitive levels with petrofuels, however, is a major challenge.
| 3 min read
Drivers who have ever noticed a residue on their windshields after going through a car wash will sympathize with nanoscientist Seth Darling’s pain. Darling and his colleagues at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have worked for years to develop a new type of solar cell known as organic photovoltaics (OPVs).
| 2 min read
University of Utah metallurgists used an old microwave oven to produce a nanocrystal semiconductor rapidly using cheap, abundant and less toxic metals than other semiconductors.
| 5 min read
A new strain of yeast that could help streamline cellulosic ethanol costs and production has been developed by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) researchers.
| 2 min read
Los Alamos scientists published an article in the scientific journal Nature Chemistry that could offer a big step on the path to renewable energy.
| 2 min read
Imagine how much you could save on your electricity bill if you could use the excess heat your computer generates to actually power the machine. Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have taken an important step toward harnessing that heat and converting it for practical use.
| 2 min read
Promising results are a step toward a range of renewable energy strategies fueled by nature.
| 4 min read
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have designed a low-cost, long-life battery that could enable solar and wind energy to become major suppliers to the electrical grid.
| 3 min read
Hydrogen sulfide, the pungent stuff often referred to as sewer gas, is a deadly substance implicated in several mass extinctions, including one at the end of the Permian period 251 million years ago that wiped out more than three-quarters of all species on Earth.
| 3 min read
A new process for growing forests of manganese dioxide nanorods may lead to the next generation of high-performance capacitors.
| 2 min read
Once they've finished powering electric vehicles for hundreds of thousands of miles, it may not be the end of the road for automotive batteries, which researchers believe can provide continued benefits for consumers, automakers and the environment.
| 2 min read
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and UC Berkeley and have discovered new materials to capture methane, the second highest concentration greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere.
| 3 min read
