Energy

In Europe, Spain and Germany, whose populations bought into the 'subsidize legacy technology now and it will be cheaper later' myth, there is a backlash against solar power. Politicians are seeing the financial numbers through a prism of reality ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Dec 20 2012 - 11:42am

Biofuels: First Enzyme Linked To Galactan Synthesis Identified

Galactan is a polymer of galactose, a six-carbon sugar that can be readily fermented by yeast into ethanol and is a target of interest for those researching advanced biofuels produced from cellulosic biomass. Galactans are polysaccharide components of pect ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 1 2013 - 1:13pm

The Swedish Dream

These days Sweden is better known for its design exports than its blonde bombshells. IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, has developed a brand using a business philosophy that incorporates economics, society and the environment. Through mass prod ...

Article - Randall Mayes - Jan 4 2013 - 3:14pm

Perennial Biofuel Crops Reduce Nitrogen Losses

While corn ethanol was always a bad idea, biofuels themselves have a potential. Perennial biofuel crops miscanthus, switchgrass, and mixed prairie species have shown high yields in producing ethanol, and a 4-year University of Illinois study has found ano ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 17 2013 - 4:45pm

Converting Solar Power To Car Miles- Which Is Better, Photovoltaic Or Biofuels?

In 2005, a decade and a half of environmental lobbying convinced President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress that corn ethanol was a promising fossil fuel substitute which would reduce both American dependence on foreign oil and greenhouse gas emission ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 17 2013 - 11:30am

New Material May Make LEDs Less Creepy

In America, the government banned incandescent light bulbs, convinced that if they banned them, the free market would replace it with something affordable, effective and efficient. In reality, since there was no good alternative, people just horded light ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 18 2013 - 10:37am

Germany's Decentralization Problem

Decentralization is the greatest challenge facing energy companies in Germany- directing energy efficiently has become more important than how much to produce. "Distribution System Operators (DSO) and energy companies are working feverishly on vario ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 26 2013 - 6:30am

This Time, Let's Spend Money On Battery Research Rather Than Subsidies

We love our modern gadgets, so we sometimes forget we still have an energy problem our Founding Fathers faced- and it impacts everything from the usability of solar power to the uptake of electric cars also. ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Jan 31 2013 - 2:23pm

Evolution Algorithm Inspires Organic Solar Cell Design

The sun has terrific energy potential but harnessing its electricity with silicon solar cells is too expensive; at times 10 times the price of coal energy it is fine for wealthier people but unrealistic in developing nations, where CO2 emissions are risin ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 27 2013 - 10:59am

Domesticating Switchgrass For Biofuels Has Its Downsides

In the ongoing quest to optimize alternative energy sources like biofuels, researchers are looking more to plants that grow in the wild, such as switchgrass. But domesticating wildgrowing plants has a downside- it could make them more susceptible to any n ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 15 2013 - 11:30am