This topic covers issues related to energy generation, conversion, transportation and consumption and how the industry is addressing the challenge of energy efficiency in general.
innovations-report provides in-depth and informative reports and articles on subjects ranging from wind energy, fuel cell technology, solar energy, geothermal energy, petroleum, gas, nuclear engineering, alternative energy and energy efficiency to fusion, hydrogen and superconductor technologies.
Engineers at the University of Alberta have created a wind energy generator that they hope people will one day be able to use to power their own homes.
“We have developed a simple, reliable, controller for small scale wind energy generators that is cheaper than competing technologies,” said Dr. Andy Knight, a professor in the U of A Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and lead author of a paper on the subject published recently in IEEE Transactions on Energy Convers
Solar concentrators using highly efficient photovoltaic solar cells will reduce the cost of electricity from sunlight to competitive levels soon, attendees were told at a recent international conference on the subject. Herb Hayden of Arizona Public Service (APS) and Robert McConnell and Martha Symko-Davies of the U.S. Department of Energys National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) organized the conference held May 1-5 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Concentrating solar electric
Double threat could power 900 American homes
An environmental engineer at Washington University in St. Louis has created a device similar to a hydrogen fuel cell that uses bacteria to treat wastewater and create electricity.
Lars Angenent, Ph.D., assistant professor of Chemical Engineering, and a member of the Universitys Environmental Engineering Science Program, has devised a microbial fuel cell which he calls an upflow microbial fuel cell (UMFC) that is fed co
Novel electronic devices based upon nanotechnology may soon be realized due to a new understanding of how impurities, or dopants, can be intentionally incorporated into semiconductor nanocrystals. This understanding, announced today by researchers at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and the University of Minnesota (UMN), should help enable a variety of new technologies ranging from high-efficiency solar-cells and lasers to futuristic spintronic and ultra-sensitive biodete
The microelectronics industry is continually striving to miniaturize conventional silicon-based electronic devices to provide higher performance technology that can be housed in smaller packaging.
Progress resulting from this miniaturization is evident from the rapid advances in consumer electronics, such as cell phones and laptop computers, that have been observed in recent years. Now, silicon-based molecular electronics — a complementary technology to conventional microelectr
Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard is constructing a solar-powered plane to fly around the world. His aim is to support sustainable development by demonstrating what renewable energy and new technologies can achieve. ESA is assisting by making available European space technologies and expertise through its Technology Transfer Programme.
Bertrand Piccard made the first non-stop around the world balloon-flight in a Breitling Orbiter in 1999 with Brian Jones from Britain. Now togeth