Science and Enterprise

Tag: energy

  • German Institute, BASF to Collaborate on Batteries

    Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Karlsruhe, Germany and the chemical company BASF in Ludwigshafen will develop advanced battery materials at a new KIT lab. The new lab, called BELLA — for Batteries and Electrochemistry Laboratory — is expected to accelerate the implementation of research results in products for high-energy battery systems. KIT and BASF…

  • Researchers Improve Efficiency of LED Lighting

    Researchers from North Carolina State University in Raleigh have developed a new technique that reduces defects in the gallium nitride (GaN) films used to create light-emitting diodes or LEDs, making this energy-efficient form of lighting even more efficient. The team of engineers and and materials scientists published their findings online in the 17 January issue…

  • Cleantech, Electronics Venture Funding Jump in 2010

    Venture capital investments recorded a solid increase in 2010 over 2009, the first annual jump since 2007. Industries based on science and engineering were among the gainers, particularly clean technology and electronics. The statistics were contained in the MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), based on data from Thomson Reuters.…

  • Study: Energy Dept Lab Generates $271 Million for State

    An economic study estimates that the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, a U.S. Department of Energy nuclear physics research laboratory in Newport News, Virginia, generates more than $271 million in economic output and 2,200 jobs in Virginia. The study for Jefferson Science Associates LLC, the contract operators of the lab, was conducted by The Wessex…

  • Formula Devised to Better Place Wind Farm Turbines

    Engineers in the U.S. and Belgium have developed a formula to help wind farm planners arrange the most effective placement of wind energy turbines. Charles Meneveau of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and Johan Meyers at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium presented their findings at a recent meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division…

  • Engineers Develop Improved Computer Memory Device

    Researchers from North Carolina State University in Raleigh have developed a new device that its inventors say can make large banks of computers more energy efficient, and allow computers to start more quickly. The advance, developed by a faculty-student team from NC State’s engineering school, will be published in an upcoming issue of the IEEE…

  • Nanotech Compound Helps Convert Waste Heat Into Electricity

    Researchers at Northwestern University have placed nanocrystals of rock salt into lead telluride, a compound of lead and tellurium, creating a material that can harness electricity from heat-generating items more efficiently than has been reported in the past. The results of the study are published by the journal Nature Chemistry (paid subscription required). The new…

  • Biofuel Developer to Build Commercial-Scale Ethanol Plant

    Mascoma Corporation, a biofuels company in Lebanon, New Hampshire, said today it has secured financing to build a commercial-scale refinery to produce wood-based cellulosic ethanol. The company says the plant, located in Kinross Charter Township, Michigan, will be one of the first of its kind. Mascoma Corporation was founded by Lee Lynd and Charles Wyman,…

  • New Math Tools Developed to Monitor Power Grid

    University and company engineers have developed new mathematical tools for monitoring and measuring electrical power grid performance. The team that developed the tools — from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and Southern California Edison in Los Angeles — published their results in the online issue of IEEE…

  • Enviro. Engineer Recalibrates Solar Panel Placement

    An environmental engineer at University of California San Diego (UCSD) has researched the optimum placement of fixed solar panels in the U.S., and for some installations, it may mean making adjustments. UCSD environmental engineering professor Jan Kleissl computed the optimum tilt and azimuth angles for photovoltaic solar panels in the continental U.S., with his findings…