Power and Electrical Engineering

Study shows vast amounts of ’buried sunshine’ needed to fuel society

A staggering 98 tons of prehistoric, buried plant material – that’s 196,000 pounds – is required to produce each gallon of gasoline we burn in our cars, SUVs, trucks and other vehicles, according to a study conducted at the University of Utah.

“Can you imagine loading 40 acres worth of wheat – stalks, roots and all – into the tank of your car or SUV every 20 miles?” asks ecologist Jeff Dukes,

Available report outlines goals, challenges, and research areas

The results of a two-day workshop on hydrogen production through biological and artificial systems now is available.

The workshop, sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and hosted jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), included key scientists from the Air Force, NREL, DOE, other national la

A bus in Indiana is the latest laboratory for MIT’s plasmatron reformer, a small device its developers believe could significantly cut the nation’s oil consumption as well as noxious emissions from a variety of vehicles.

The work will be the subject of an invited talk next Thursday, October 30, at a meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division of Plasma Physics in Albuquerque, NM.

The researchers and colleagues from industry report that the plasmatron, used with an exhaust t

A new way of generating electricity from flowing water could mean that in the future you will never have to charge up your mobile phone again. Instead of a normal battery, mobile phones could be fitted with a battery that uses water – you just need to pressurise it regularly.

Research published today by the Institute of Physics journal, Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering reveals a new method of generating electric power by harnessing the natural electrokinetic properties of a li

Cerulean International Limited, the Oxford, UK-based subsidiary of the British nanomaterials company Oxonica Limited, has announced that its new product Envirox is to be commercially evaluated by Stagecoach UK, with a view to adopting the product over Stagecoach’s 7000 strong UK bus fleet.

Using new technology, Cerulean has developed Envirox, a product based on a well-established oxidation catalyst, that has now been formulated for use within the fuel, delivering a cleaner and more complete

An invention being developed jointly by the Low Temperature Engineering Group at the University of Southampton and BOC Edwards could help turn the dream of hydrogen technology into reality. In future, electricity, and in some applications useful heat, could be generated in a fuel cell through the combination of hydrogen and oxygen, with water being produced at the end of the process.

Howard Stone, an Engineering Doctorate student, and his supervisor Dr Neil Richardson of the School of Engine