Energy – Lifeboat News: The Blog

What Are The Roadblocks To More Renewables? — Bob Stojanovic and Dennis McKinley | CleanTechnica

Posted by Seb in energy

Jul 22
2015

“We have the technology to successfully integrate distributed, renewable energy with the grid to provide a reliable, seamless power source. That includes software that helps renewable-power providers better predict their output throughout the day and feed that information upstream to utilities so they can blend that power with their traditional generation portfolio…The real barrier to greater renewable use is less technological and more philosophical. People worry that connecting all these renewable sources to the grid will bring it down.” Read more

Metal foams found to excel in shielding X-rays, gamma rays, neutron radiation

Posted by Sean Brazell in biotech/medical, energy, space

Jul 21
2015

Lightweight composite metal foams like this one have been found effective at blocking X-rays, gamma rays and neutron radiation, and are capable of absorbing the energy of high impact collisions — holding promise for use in nuclear safety, space exploration, and medical technology applications (credit: Afsaneh Rabiei, North Carolina State University)

Nanoscale light-emitting device has big profile

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in energy, nanotechnology

Jul 20
2015

University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers have created a nanoscale device that can emit light as powerfully as an object 10,000 times its size. It’s an advance that could have huge implications for everything from photography to solar power.

Electric Vehicles Go the Distance with Fast Charging — By Reed McManus | Sierra Magazine

Posted by Odette Bohr Dienel in energy, environmental, transportationTagged BMW, Electric vehicles, Ford, GM, Nissan, Range anxiety, Tesla, Volkswagon

Jul 16
2015

I’M driving 550 miles in three days, all by myself, mainly for the fun of it—and I’m not an environmental villain. Behind the wheel of a borrowed bright-red electric Tesla Model S, I click off the miles as I head south from the San Francisco Bay Area on Interstate 5 through California’s San Joaquin Valley, feeling virtuous because my tailpipe spews no pollution.

New wireless power tech can charge multiple devices in any orientation

Posted by Simon Waslander in electronics, energy, futurism

Jul 11
2015

‪#‎Handy‬ New Wireless Charger Can Simultaneously Power 30 Mobile Phones at Distance.

Scientists at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed an omnidirectional wireless charging technology that can charge multiple devices at once, at a distance and, crucially, at peak efficiency regardless of which way the devices are facing.

An effective wireless transmitting power of 30 watts means the device can, according to the researchers, power either 30 smartphones or five laptops simultaneously.

The results were published in last month’s issue of the journal IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, and a spinoff company is now conducting pilot studies to apply this technology in cafes and offices.

In Historic Turn, CO2 Emissions Flatline in 2014, Even as Global Economy Grows

Posted by Jeremy Lichtman in energy, sustainability | 1 Comment on In Historic Turn, CO2 Emissions Flatline in 2014, Even as Global Economy Grows

Jul 9
2015

Perhaps (for once) some environmental news that we don’t have to fight over.

Paper-thin printed solar cells could provide power for 1.3 billion people

Posted by Bryan Gatton in energy, sustainability

Jun 26
2015

Thanks to inexpensive printed solar cells, 1.3 billion people currently without electricity may be able to plug in for the first time.

Water splitter produces clean-burning hydrogen fuel 24/7

Posted by Sean Brazell in energy

Jun 24
2015

Unlike conventional water splitters, the Stanford device uses a single low-cost catalyst to generate hydrogen on one electrode and oxygen on the other (credit: L.A. Cicero/Stanford University)

3 New Kinds of Battery That Just Might Change the World

Posted by Bryan Gatton in cyborgs, energy, futurism

Jun 24
2015

The search for smaller and more powerful batteries continues.

Dwarf Galaxies Loom Large in Quest for Dark Matter

Posted by Odette Bohr Dienel in anti-gravity, astronomy, cosmology, energy, general relativity, particle physics, spaceTagged Milky Way

Jun 24
2015

“In its inaugural year of observations, the Dark Energy Survey has already turned up at least eight objects that look to be new satellite dwarf galaxies of the Milky Way.”