Tag: energy
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Texas Instruments Opens New Analog Chip Research Lab
Semiconductor manufacturer Texas Instruments launches today a new Silicon Valley research laboratory in Santa Clara, California. The company says the lab will also provide opportunities for collaboration with researchers and students at universities in the region. The company’s 70-acre Silicon Valley Labs plans to focus on R&D involving analog and mixed analog/digital signal circuits. Projects…
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U.S. Patent Awarded for Isobutanol Production Process
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Gevo Inc. in Englewood, Colorado, a maker of biofuels from renewable feedstocks, a patent for its process of producing isobutanol with reduced accumulation of by-products. Patent no. 8,133,715, “Reduced By-Product Accumulation for Improved Production of Isobutanol,” was awarded today to 12 inventors and assigned to Gevo. Isobutanol…
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Computer Processor Power Scheme Cuts Waste, Energy Use
Engineers and computer scientists at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland have developed a method for allocating power in computer processors that cuts device energy use by as much as 40 percent. The team led by computer science professor Swarup Bhunia presented their findings in January at the 25th International Conference on VLSI (Very-Large-Scale Integration)…
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Grant to Fund R&D on Oil-Producing Plants for Biofuels
A research team at University of Illinois, with other academic and national lab colleagues, has received a $3.2 million grant to study bioengineering sugar cane and sorghum to produce oil for biofuels. The Department of Energy funding for this project also supports researchers at University of Florida, University of Nebraska, and the Brookhaven National Laboratory,…
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ARPA-E to Fund $44M for Natural Gas, Algae Biofuels R&D
The Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) will devote $44 million to fund new research in natural gas for transportation and biofuels from algae. The new programs were announced by President Obama yesterday in a speech at University of Miami in Florida. Some $30 million of the ARPA-E funds will support research on innovations…
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No-Engine Commercial Aircraft Taxiing Deemed Feasible
Research conducted at University of Lincoln in the U.K. indicates airliners can power their taxiing after landing by harnessing energy in the wheel rotation of their landing gear to generate electricity. The study was funded by a grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the U.K. government’s main funding agency for studies…
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Nanotech Fiber Material Converts Heat to Electricity
Researchers at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina have developed a fiber-like material with the ability to convert heat, such as body heat, into electric power. The team, which includes researchers from universities in New Zealand and Korea, and the company NanoTechLabs Inc. in nearby Yadkinville, North Carolina published its findings online in the…
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University Research Spinoff To Build Manufacturing Plant
Aquion Energy Inc. in Pittsburgh, a developer of sodium ion batteries and energy storage systems, says it will build its first large-scale manufacturing plant in southwestern Pennsylvania. Aquion Energy that makes energy storage systems for electrical power grids expects to create over 400 high-tech manufacturing jobs by the end of 2015. The company’s systems are…
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Energy Efficient, Low CO2, Lower Cost Cement Developed
Engineers at Drexel University in Philadelphia have developed a new cement that reduces energy use and carbon dioxide output by 97 percent compared to standard Portland cement. The research behind the new cement is described in the March 2012 issue of the journal Cement and Concrete Composites (paid subscription required). The new type of cement…
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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…