Archive for the 'Energy' Category
Iron-Nitrogen Compound Forms Strongest Magnet Known
March 23rd, 2010Possible solution to peak neodymium doom? Via: PhysOrg: A group of scientists from the University of Minnesota say that Fe16N2 crystals are more magnetic than the most magnetic material previously known, and its magnetism exceeds the predicted limit of magnetism for a material. Magnetism arises with the spinning electrons in a material, and with every […]
Australia: Electricity Prices to Rise by Up to 64%
March 19th, 2010Via: 9MSN: A NSW government rebate will be expanded to more than one million electricity consumers, to allay fears some families will be left in the dark by the state’s largest-ever electricity price increases. Electricity bills in NSW will soar by up to a total of 64 per cent over the next three years, with […]
The Lithium Chase
March 10th, 2010Via: New York Times: For many years, few metals drew bigger yawns from mining executives than lithium, a lightweight element long associated mostly with mood-stabilizing drugs. Suddenly, the yawns are being replaced by eurekas. As awareness spreads that lithium is a crucial ingredient for hybrid and electric cars, a global hunt is under way for […]
Company Claims New Fuel-Injection System Can Increase Efficiency of Gasoline Engines by More than 50 Percent
March 8th, 2010Your mileage may vary. Via: MIT Technology Review: Transonic Combustion, a startup based in Camarillo, CA, has developed a fuel-injection system it says can improve the efficiency of gasoline engines by more than 50 percent. A test vehicle equipped with the technology gets 64 miles per gallon in highway driving, which is far better than […]
How Food and Water Are Driving a 21st-Century African Land Grab
March 7th, 2010Via: Guardian: We turned off the main road to Awassa, talked our way past security guards and drove a mile across empty land before we found what will soon be Ethiopia’s largest greenhouse. Nestling below an escarpment of the Rift Valley, the development is far from finished, but the plastic and steel structure already stretches […]
Greenhouse Gas Taxes to Push Gasoline to $7 a Gallon?
March 3rd, 2010Via: New York Times: To meet the Obama administration’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, some researchers say, Americans may have to experience a sobering reality: gas at $7 a gallon. To reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the transportation sector 14 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, the cost of driving must simply increase, according […]
Oil Spill Reaches Italy’s River Po After ‘Sabotage’
February 24th, 2010Via: BBC: An oil spill has reached Italy’s River Po after the suspected sabotage of a former refinery led to large amounts of oil pouring into a tributary. The spill began early on Tuesday when someone broke into the plant near Monza, now an oil depot, and opened the taps, Italian news reports said. They […]
Low-Cost, More Efficient Solar Cells Made Mostly of Plastic
February 22nd, 2010Via: EETimes: By growing arrays of silicon wires in a polymer substrate, researchers have demonstrated what they say are flexible solar cells that absorb up to 96 percent of incident light. California Institute of Technology (Caltech) researchers said the wires are made up of 98 percent plastic, potentially lowering the cost of photovoltaics by using […]
Prisons Turn to the Wind for Energy
February 19th, 2010It’s clean. It’s green. It’s fascism. More: Clean, Green U.S. Prison Camp: The Guantanamo Naval Base Wind Farm Via: Christian Science Monitor: When the Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic and landed at Plymouth Rock, it was the wind blowing into their ships’ sails that pushed them across the water. That power of the wind will soon […]
Britain: Nanoscale Energy Storage Material Under Development
February 16th, 2010Related: The EEstor Situation Via: AFP: A nanoscale material developed in Britain could one day yield wafer-thin cellphones and light-weight, long-range electric cars powered by the roof, boot and doors, researchers have reported. For now, the new technology — a patented mix of carbon fibre and polymer resin that can charge and release electricity just […]
