Can we convert our energy system from fossil fuels to clean, renewable
energy sources in time to avoid ecological and economic disaster?
[more]
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News and views from elsewhere
Rob Day, CleanTech Investing
Energy
Independence is all about oil demand, not supply
Wall Street Journal
Bad
Juice III: Biofuels Really Are Bad for Food Prices
Greentech Media
How
the CIGS Explosion Will Play Out
Greentech Media
Out
of Africa: New Concentrating-Solar Tech Inspired by Congo Stint
The Guardian
Greenpeace's
grid plan: North Sea grid could bring wind power to 70m homes
New York Times
Wind
Energy Bumps Into Power Grid’s Limits
Technology Review
Microbes for
Off-the-Grid Electricity
New York Times
Air
Storage Is Explored for Energy
World Architecture News
Dubai's
latest offering is a carbon-neutral 'pyramid' city
Popular Mechanics
Beyond
Nano Breakthrough, MIT Team Quietly Builds Virus-Based Batteries
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News
RESEARCH
Form microscopic pillars on a glass surface and you have a solar cell
top layer that cuts glare and keeps itself clean. [more]
RESEARCH
Copy part of an enzyme that plants use in photosynthesis and wrap
it in a plastic used in fuel cells, and you have a catalyst that extracts
oxygen from water. [more]
RESEARCH
Mix the right chemicals in a vapor and you get a flexible semiconducting
nanoscale mesh that could be used to extract hydrogen from water.
[more]
RESEARCH
Turn direct sunlight into diffuse light in a solar cell and you boost
the intensity of the light, which increases the cell's efficiency.
[more]
RESEARCH
Bundle microscopic glass fibers into a sheet of glass and selectively
etch some of the fibers with chemicals and you have a mirror with
a microscopically textured surface. [more]
RESEARCH
Get a single photon to knock loose more than one electron in a solar
cell and you get more electricity for the same amount of sunlight.
[more]
Q & A
Whole-systems energy research, solid-oxide fuel cells, energy demand
and research budgets. [more]
FUNDING
The US Department of Energy has budgeted up to $7 million to seven
of its national laboratories for clean energy technology commercialization.
[more]
STARTUPS & SPINOFFS
A pair of startups aim to commercialize university research in algae-based
biofuels. [more]
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September 8/15, 2008
Perspective
More work and effort is needed to communicate
what is a complex field -- this is vital if governments are to be
motivated by informed public opinion to make some of the hard decisions
we are facing in meeting our growing energy demand in a sustainable
way.
- Nigel
Brandon, ICL
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