Tag: energy
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GE, Illinois Tech to Partner on Wind Energy Management
GE’s software division will collaborate with researchers from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) to devise better monitoring and diagnostic methods for the management of wind farms. The project is part of IIT’s University-Industry Consortium for Wind Energy funded by Department of Energy. The two-year project aims to help wind farms reduce maintenance costs and improve…
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Patent Filed for Nanocomposite Polymer-Based Film
A materials scientist at University of Cincinnati has developed a transparent and electrically conductive polymer-based film with potential solar and fuel cell applications. Jude Iroh (pictured right), who is also an engineering professor at UC, recently filed a provisional patent for the discovery. The nanocomposite film is transparent and electrically conductive, says Iroh, as well…
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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…
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National Lab Developing Alternatives to Rare Earth Materials
The Ames Laboratory in Iowa is developing alternatives to rare earth materials in two separate projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy — one material for use in permanent magnets for electric vehicles, and the other material a manganese-based alternative to rare earths. The Ames Laboratory is a national lab under Department of Energy’s…
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Universities, Companies Partner on Data Center Power Use
Three U.S. universities have joined with 15 companies in a collaborative research center to increase energy efficiency and help create a greener electronics industry. Researchers at Binghamton University in New York, Villanova University in Pennsylvania, and University of Texas at Arlington are the institutions taking part in the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center in Energy-Efficient Electronic…
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Researchers Give Robotics a Human Face
Research engineers at Technical University of Munich (Technische Universitaet Muenchen, TUM) in Germany and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan have developed a way to give robots a human-like plastic head. Called Mask-bot, the technology may have a more immediate application as a tool to create avatars for participants in…
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Solar Technology Developed for Current Electric Power Plants
Researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel have come up with a technology that integrates solar energy into current gas turbine power generating plants. Engineering professor Avi Kribus (pictured left) and graduate student Maya Livshits describe their work online in Solar Energy Journal; paid subscription required. The process devised by Kribus and Livshits, called a…
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National Lab, MIT Launch Materials Discovery Database
Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a database to accelerate discovery and development of new materials in critical technologies. The Department of Energy database, part of an initiative called the Materials Project, will be available to scientists and engineers at universities, national laboratories, and private industry. Parts…
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European Project to Advance Organic Solar Cells
The Belgian research institute Imec will lead a consortium of 17 European organizations and companies to develop a more commercially-viable organic photovoltaic technology. The X10D project, funded by the European Commission, aims to improve the efficiency of organic solar cells while retaining their low manufacturing costs. Organic solar cells are made from low-cost polymers that…
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U.S. Venture Investments Up in Q3, Science Companies Mixed
Dow Jones VentureSource reports that venture capital (VC) investment in the U.S. rose in the third quarter of 2011 compared to 2010, including the number and size of deals and investment volume. Among science-based companies, medical device and energy companies gained in investment deals and volume. Among biotech and pharmaceutical companies, the number of deals…