Science and Enterprise

Tag: cleantech

  • GE, Carbon Trust to Partner on Clean Tech Start-Up Support

    General Electric and the U.K. environmental organization Carbon Trust will collaborate on backing start-up companies in Europe focusing on clean technologies. The partnership comes as the share of European investment in clean energy has declined over the past five years. During the first 18 months of the partnership, the Carbon Trust and GE will identify…

  • Student Devises Lithium Battery for Solar Energy Storage

    A joint research project between a graduate student at University of Southampton in the U.K. and the company REAPSystems, also in Southampton, has resulted in a battery that can help improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of solar power. REAPSystems was founded by Dennis Doerffel, himself a former Southampton researcher and now the company’s…

  • Online Simulator Optimizes Solar Cell Materials Efficiency

    An online tool offered by MIT helps companies and researchers determine the tradeoffs in manufacturing strategies for solar cells based on planned materials and processing steps. The simulator, which takes about a minute to run, can provide a preview of the efficiency of resulting solar cells in converting sunlight to electricity, a process previously determined…

  • Energy Dept Seeks $20M Battery/Storage Research Hub

    The Department of Energy (DoE) says it will open competition for a new research center to speed development of advanced battery and energy storage technologies. The new energy innovation hub, as these programs are called, will have up to $20 million in funding in the current (2012) fiscal year. Energy innovation hubs bring together researchers…

  • Ignore the Sticker Shock, Electric Trucks Can Pay You Back

    A new MIT study indicates that electric vehicles have the potential to improve the bottom line for many kinds of businesses, in addition to being good for the environment. The findings from the study, conducted by researchers at MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics (CTL), were presented last month at the IEEE Power and Energy…

  • Maryland Utility to Purchase Solar Contest Winning House

    The electric utility company Pepco says it will purchase the WaterShed house that won the 2011 Solar Decathlon contest in October. The house was built by faculty and students at the University of Maryland in College Park, its current location. The 2011 Solar Decathlon pitted 20 teams representing institutions in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and…

  • Venture Investment for European Companies Drops in 2011

    Venture capital declined 14 percent and number of deals dropped 19 percent for European companies in 2011 compared to 2010, with €4.4 billion ($US 5.8 billion) going into 1,012 deals. Industries based on scientific discoveries were among those suffering double-digit percentage declines from the previous year. Dow Jones VentureSource that compiled the data says it…

  • U.S. VC Investments Up for 2011, Flat for Science Companies

    Venture capital (VC) investors in the U.S. increased in 2011 compared to 2010, both in terms of numbers of deals and amount of money invested. However, the fourth quarter of the year was an unusually slow period, according to Dow Jones VentureSource that compiled the data, and consumer Web companies appeared to benefit from the…

  • Cleantech Investment Volume Up, Deal Numbers Down in 2011

    Global investment dollars in clean technologies increased in 2011 from the previous year, but the number investment deals declined somewhat, according to the industry research company CleanTech Group in San Francisco. Clean technologies, as defined by Cleantech Group, include renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, as well as energy efficiency, pollution control, infrastructure…

  • Apple Files Patent Applications for Fuel Cell Power

    Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California has filed two U.S. patent applications for building fuel cell systems into the power supplies used in their electronic devices. The patent applications were reported yesterday on the Web site AppleInsider. One invention outlines a fuel cell system to directly power a portable electronic device. In this system, a fuel…