Tag: energy
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Process Developed to Grow Carbon Nanotubes on Graphene
Researchers from Rice University in Houston developed a method of growing seamless carbon nanotubes on graphene, with a high surface area and electric conductivity. The team that included members from Tianjin University in China and University of Texas at San Antonio published their findings today in the journal Nature Communications (paid subscription required). James Tour…
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Fuel Cell Generates Power from Green Roofs, Wetlands
An environmental scientist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands designed a fuel cell that can generate electrical power from living plant roots and soil bacteria found in natural wetlands or vegetation on green roofs of urban buildings. Wageningen’s Marjolein Helder defends her doctoral dissertation today describing the technology, and she has started a company to…
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Electric Bus Developer Lands $23 Million in Series B Funds
Proterra Inc. in Greenville, South Carolina, a developer of electric buses for public transportation, secured $23 million in series B funds, the second round of venture financing after initial start-up. New investor Hennessey Capital led the round, with new investor NMT Capital, and current investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, GM Ventures, Mitsui & Co.…
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University at Buffalo to Close Shale Research Center
The president of University at Buffalo in New York closed an industry-funded research institute doing studies on shale gas. Satish Tripathi announced the decision to close the Shale Resources and Society Institute yesterday in an open letter to the university community. In the letter, Tripathi said the university’s geographic proximity to large shale deposits holding…
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Stronger, Tougher Steel Variety Developed
Engineers at Wayne State University in Detroit developed a new type of steel that they say is stronger and more resistant to fracture, and can also resist the fatigue encountered with similar materials. The work of engineering professor Susil Putatunda, leading this research group, is supported by National Science Foundation, Michigan Initiative for Innovation and…
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Heartbeat Vibrations Found Feasible to Power Pacemakers
Engineers at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor developed a device that can harvest enough energy from a beating heart to power an implanted pacemaker. Michigan engineering research fellow Amin Karami (pictured right) and colleague Daniel Inman presented their findings yesterday at a meeting of the American Heart Association in Los Angeles. Pacemakers help regulate…
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Solar Cell Developed from Carbon-Based Nanotech Materials
Researchers at Stanford University in California developed a solar cell made entirely of carbon, instead of silicon and more expensive materials found in current solar cells. The team that included contributors from University of Rochester in New York and Nankai University in China published their findings today in the online issue of the journal ACS…
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Americans Use More Gas and Renewables, Less Coal in 2011
Americans used less energy overall in 2011 than in 2010 due mainly to reductions in the amount of energy wasted, along with natural gas and renewable sources increasing, and coal declining. The findings were published in an annual accounting of national energy supply and demand by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, based on data from the…
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Robotic Programming Language Devised for Bio Labs
Researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California created a programming language for robotic devices in biology labs. The high-level language called PaR-PaR — short for Programming a Robot — is described this month in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology. Par-Par is written to help train robotic devices perform repetitive…
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Iowa State Testing Bio-Oil Gasifier for Biofuels
Engineers at Iowa State University in Ames are testing a new machine that converts biomass to oil and then gas, for conversion to transportation and boiler fuels. The new bio-oil gasifier is part of a next-generation biofuels feasibility research project, funded by state and federal grants of nearly $1.5 million. The bio-oil gasifier uses a…