Science and Enterprise

Tag: wind

  • New Method Devised to Predict Distributed Grid Power

    Computer scientists at University of Southampton in the U.K. have developed mathematical techniques that encourage accurate predictions of distributed electric power contributions to regional power grids. The work of Valentin Robu and colleagues from Southampton’s Agents, Interaction and Complexity Research Group was presented this week at the Twenty-Sixth Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Toronto. As…

  • Energy Dept. to Fund $102M for Small Business Research

    The U.S. Department of Energy says it will fund research projects by 104 small businesses in the U.S. to develop energy-related technologies for market. The grants, made under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, total $102 million. The projects cover technologies applying to energy efficiency, particularly for industrial…

  • Case Western Reserve Builds Utility Scale Wind Turbine

    Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and its industrial partners have built their largest research wind turbine, with two other turbines already erected and one in operation providing power. The new turbine resides on property owned by industrial grinder manufacturer William Sopko & Sons in nearby Euclid, the site of another university turbine. 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…

  • Report: Electrical Grid Needs Technology, Regulatory Changes

    The electrical power grid in the U.S. faces significant changes in technology over the next two decades, says a new report from the MIT Energy Initiative, but the grid also needs regulatory, economic, and security upgrades to meet these changes. The authors — 13 MIT faculty members plus one author from Harvard — discussed the…

  • Copper Compound Nanoparticles Advance Battery Electrodes

    Materials scientists at Stanford University in California have developed a new, longer-lasting battery electrode with crystalline nanoparticles of a copper compound. Their discovery, with implications for solar and wind energy storage on the power grid, is described this week in the journal Nature Communications (paid subscription required). According to the authors — materials science professor…

  • National Lab: U.S. Energy, Fossil Fuels Use Up in 2010

    Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California reports total U.S. energy use grew in 2010, particularly in the burning of fossil fuels. The lab’s annual accounting also shows the nation’s overall renewable fuel use in 2010 remained about the same as 2009, but wind energy and biomass power increased. Total energy use in the U.S. grew…

  • DoE Science Review Boosts Transport, Grid, Quicker Payoffs

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) today released its first Quadrennial Technology Review report, an assessment of the Department’s technology research and development portfolios. The report urges the department to focus its R&D more on transportation than stationary energy production, grid modernization, and technologies closer to fruition than is now often the case. The report…

  • Report: Electric Cars Can Balance Renewable Power Grid

    A report from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) says the growing use of electric vehicles offers a way of balancing the intermittent nature of renewable sources in the Northwest U.S. power grid. PNNL, a unit of the U.S. Department of Energy, examined grid conditions in the Northwest Power Pool, which covers Idaho, Montana, Nevada,…

  • Corp/Univ Project to Research Green Energy for Data Centers

    Chip maker AMD says it will take part with HP, Clarkson University, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) in a project researching the challenge of channeling renewable energy to data centers. Because wind and solar energy are intermittent power sources, the study will also seek ways to automatically shift a…