Science and Enterprise

Tag: energy

  • University Develops, Patents New Coke Fuel Process

    Researchers at Purdue University’s Calumet campus in Hammond, Indiana created a new  less-expensive process for producing coke, a derivative of coal used in the making of steel, and received a U.S. patent for their discovery. Patent number 8,287,696 was awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in October to Purdue-Calumet physics professor Robert Kramer…

  • R&D Project Aims To Cut Time, Cost of Solar Installations

    A new research and development project led by North Carolina State University in Raleigh seeks to reduce the time and cost of installing rooftop solar energy systems. The five-year, $9 million grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy to a consortium of NC State’s FREEDM Systems Center — an energy engineering research lab…

  • University Research Leads to Battery Sorting Machine

    Research on artificial intelligence by a professor at Gothenberg University in Sweden made possible a machine that sorts discarded household batteries and a company that developed and markets the system. Claes Strannegård, a researcher in logic and cognitive science at Gothenberg, applied his work on artificial intelligence to find a better way of sorting garbage.…

  • Synthetic Sugars Developer Lands $3.5M Venture Financing

    Proterro Inc. in Ewing, New Jersey, a developer of synthetic sucrose for biofuels and chemicals, secured $3.5 million in new venture financing. The company also says the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a notice of allowance for the genetically engineered bacteria used in its production process. The company combines genetic engineering with chemical…

  • DNA Repair Genes Identified as Blood Radiation Indicators

    Medical and engineering researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in California and several universities identified eight genes that can provide a faster diagnosis of potential radiation exposure than current methods. The team led by Andrew Wyrobek of Berkeley Lab’s Life Sciences Division published its findings in a recent issue of the journal PLOS One. The…

  • Nanotech Fibers Remove Sulfur from Petroleum Fuels

    Engineering and chemical researchers at University of Illinois in Champaign developed a nanoscale fiber that, when woven into a material, can adsorb sulfur from petroleum-based fuels more efficiently than current methods. The team from the labs of chemistry professor Prashant Jain and the late engineering professor Mark Shannon published their findings online in the journal…

  • Study: Insurance Industry Adjusting to Climate Change

    A study by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in California finds the global insurance industry is taking human-induced climate change seriously and undertaking a variety of actions to limit the impact of climate change on their companies’ finances. Environmental scientist Evan Mills describes his findings in this week’s issue of the journal Science (paid subscription required).…

  • Simple Process Developed to Remove Smokestack CO2 Emissions

    Researchers at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) in Québec City, Canada are developing an economical method for removing most carbon dioxide from emissions put out by large industrial plants. The project led by INRS environmental scientist Guy Mercier, is funded by a two-year, $300,000 grant from Carbon Management Canada, a federal Canadian…

  • Nanotech Lights Improve on Fluorescent, LED, CFL Bulbs

    Physicists at Wake Forest University in North Carolina and Trinity College Dublin in Ireland developed a new type of electric lighting that improves on many of the current commercial and display lighting technologies. Professor David Carroll, director of Wake Forest’s Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials, led the team that published its findings online in…

  • Membrane Technology to be Studied for Industrial Processes

    Engineers and materials scientists at University of Minnesota in Minneapolis received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop membrane technology for energy-efficient separations in a range of process industries. The three-year, $1.8 million grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) aims to adapt lab research on nanotechnology for membranes that can improve…