Tag: energy
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E. Coli Engineered to Produce High-Volume Biofuel
Researchers at University of California in Los Angeles have engineered the bacteria E. coli to produce butanol, a type of alcohol that can substitute directly for gasoline in today’s car motors, and in greater quantities than before. The team published its findings earlier this month in the online edition of the journal Applied and Environmental…
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Solar/Thermal Power Alternative Being Developed for Soldiers
A new type of personal power pack in development by six universities in the U.K. could reduce the weight troops carry when engaged on the battlefield. The solar and thermoelectric-powered system aims to weigh up to fifty per cent less than conventional chemical battery packs used by British infantry. The two-year project is being developed…
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Nanotubes Reduce Energy Drain in Digital Memory
University of Illinois engineers have developed a form of ultra-low-power digital memory that is faster and uses 100 times less energy than similar available memory. The student-faculty team at the school’s Champaign campus published its findings online in this week’s Science Express (paid subscription required). Flash memory in mobile devices today stores bits — 0/1…
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Monsanto, Biofuels Company to Research Algae Agriculture
Agricultural chemicals maker Monsanto Company in St. Louis, Missouri and Sapphire Energy Inc. in San Diego, California signed a multi-year agreement to use Sapphire’s algae-based research platform for the discovery of genes applicable to agriculture. Sapphire Energy’s current work involves synthetic biology to produce replacement fuels for gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from algae. Under…
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Laser Technology Can Cut Solar Cell Costs, Raise Efficiency
Researchers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana are developing a manufacturing technology based on fast, pulsing lasers that aims to make solar cells more affordable and efficient. The technology creates small microchannels needed to connect solar panels into an array that generates usable amounts of power. Yung Shin, engineering professor and director of Purdue’s…
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Ultrasound System Developed for Submarine Data, Power
An engineering doctoral student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York has developed a new system using ultrasound to transmit large quantities of data and power wirelessly through thick metal walls, like the hulls of ships and submarines. The system built and demonstrated by Tristan Lawry (pictured right) is one of three finalists for…
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Finance Friday: 4 March 2011
Here are recent angel and venture finance transactions for science- and engineering-based companies, as reported by Xconomy and Venture Capital Reporter. Biomedical/Life Sciences Retina Implant AG in Reutlingen, Germany, a medical device company developing sub-retinal implants to help visually impaired people improve their sight, secured $18 million in its second round of equity funding from…
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Process Turns Algae into Renewable Fuel, Cleans Wastewater
Chemical engineers at University of Arkansas in Fayetteville have developed a method for converting common algae into butanol, a renewable fuel that can be used in today’s internal-combustible engines. The technology has the added benefit helping to clean and oxygenate U.S. waterways by removing excess nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizer in agricultural runoff. The team…
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Universities, Brewery Partner on Biofuels from Brewery Waste
Researchers from Anheuser-Busch Inbev Inc. in St. Louis, Missouri and three universities have discovered stable microbe communities in brewery sludge with the potential to produce the basic building blocks of fuels. Their findings appear in the 22 February online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The team from Cornell University, University…
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Michigan Start Up Company Licenses Biodiesel Technology
NextCAT Inc. in Detroit, Michigan says it has licensed biofuel catalyst technology developed at the National Biofuels Energy Lab at Wayne State University, also in Detroit. The company says the technology can help restart the biodiesel industry that has been mostly idle in the United States since 2008, when rising feedstock prices made the production…