Global climate models may be overstating the warming properties of black carbon particles, according to new research led by the University of California, Davis. The study will be published online Aug. 31 in the journal Science. “Our results don’t change the fact that things are going to warm — just to what degree, literally,” said Christopher Cappa, a UC Davis …

TAKING BACK AMERICA’S ENERGY FUTURE FROM THE LOBBYISTS: 1 MILLION AMERICANS TO FIGHT INDUSTRY EFFORTS TO KILL CLEAN ENERGY AGENDA Three Dozen Citizen Organizations From Across Nation Take on Undue Influence of Energy Company “Goliath”; Push Reflects Views of 83 Percent of Americans That a “New-Grassroots Driven” Effort is Needed. Fed up with the undue influence of the energy companies, …

When power plants begin capturing their carbon emissions to reduce greenhouse gases – and to most in the electric power industry, it’s a question of when, not if – it will be an expensive undertaking. Current technologies would use about one-third of the energy generated by the plants – what’s called “parasitic energy” – and, as a result, substantially drive …

In celebration of the 75th birthday of the Golden Gate Bridge, space scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, are topping each tower with a glittering solar candle. Space scientist John Vallerga describes the Solar Beacon project and how the public can experience it. Video by Roxanne Makasdjian. The “candles” are mirrors that the public can control through the Internet …

I have worked with roofing contractors in recent years and they have seen some movement towards this idea of light colored and insulated roofing materials that save energy and cooling. I put a light colored roof on my home and noticed an almost immediate drop in interior temperature and had less need to cool the house in summer. Makes for …

Carbon Storage – and More A novel process developed by a University professor with help from an IREE grant aims to produce clean, renewable energy while reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. A University of Minnesota earth sciences professor and a postdoctoral fellow in his work group have imagined a new process for generating electricity with a two-for-one climate benefit. …

New Energy Technologies, Inc. and US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory Develop ‘Invisible Wires’ for Transporting Electricity on SolarWindow(TM) New Energy Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: NENE), a developer of innovative technologies for generating sustainable electricity, announces that Company and NREL scientists collaboratively developing New Energy’s SolarWindow(TM) technology – capable of generating electricity on see-through glass – have successfully collected …

$30,000 Lemelson-MIT Collegiate Student Prizes Awarded to Inventive Students at Three Leading Universities CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (March 7, 2012) – Miles C. Barr today received the prestigious $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for his innovative solar technologies and creativity. Barr received his Ph.D. from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2012 and a Master of …

Solar panels, also referred to as photovoltaic panels, transform light into electrical energy. When the Sun’s radiation reaches the panel, electrons get energized and commence to move. Vibrating electrons develop an electrical current and that’s what we call electrical energy. Certainly one of probably the most crucial variables of capturing the maximum amount of light besides the top quality of …

The latest episode in the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) award-winning “Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions” podcast series puts forth the reassuring finding that concerns about global warming having a domino effect — unleashing 600 billion tons of carbon in vast expanses of peat in the Northern hemisphere and accelerating warming to disastrous proportions — may be less justified than previously thought. In …

Catching a nasty virus certainly isn’t on anyone’s holiday wish list, but for solar power it might be just what the doctor ordered. With the help of a genetically modified virus, materials researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found a way to boost the efficiency of one type of thin-film photovoltaic cell by 30 percent. For years, engineers …

By: Dr. Michael T. Gamble So much sound and fury over the Higgs Boson, signifying what? A complete understanding of the fundamental constituents of the world in which we live? Of the universe of which we are an integral part? No … and yes. High-energy physicists at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, announced this week they are closer …

By Elisa Wood December 7, 2011 Electric utilities operated under a rarefied business model for decades. Their customers were captive so they rarely had to think about what motivated them to buy. New government energy efficiency mandates have changed that, and done so with an ironic twist. Now utilities must figure how to get their customers to refrain from buying. …

We have had water mills to help do farm chores, we have had hydroelectric dams to harness and create energy from water but these have either been too small (mills) to do much good for our energy needs or they are too disruptive (dams) of the river environment. Now scientists are looking into new and innovative ways to harness the …

This is an interesting post about a recent conference where scientists are reporting on their efforts to mimic photosynthesis in order to extract cheap and efficient energy sources to power the world in the future. One of them in particular has to do with creating a synthetic leaf which absorbs sunlight and then converts it into fuel which can be …

Future technology may allow you to step into the sunlight and recharge a cellphone PITTSBURGH—Developing solar energy that is low-cost, lightweight, and energy efficient has proven to be one of the greatest challenges the science world faces today. Although current plastic solar cells are low in cost and easy to produce, they are not energy efficient and, therefore, not easily …

SHORT DOCUMENTARY EXPLORES THE MOVEMENT THAT EVANGELIZES THE FORGOTTEN NUCLEAR ALTERNATIVE In the Wake of the Fukushima Disaster and India’s Plans to Build a Thorium Reactor this Silver Bullet Solution Returns to the Spotlight Official Selection at the Imagine Science Film Festival, The Thorium Dream Premieres Today on Motherboard.tv VICE today unveiled The Thorium Dream, the latest documentary from its …

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26, 2011 — Amid growing concern that using soybeans and other food crops to produce biodiesel fuel will raise the price of food, scientists have identified a new and unlikely raw material for the fuel: Alligator fat. Their report documenting gator fat’s suitability for biofuel production appears in the latest episode in the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) award-winning …

Poll: Americans Believe U.S. Headed in Wrong Direction on Energy AUSTIN, Texas — A poll released today by The University of Texas at Austin found less than 14 percent of Americans think the country is headed in the right direction on energy. Of more than 3,400 consumers surveyed, 84 percent were worried about U.S. consumption of oil from foreign sources …

By Elisa Wood September 21, 2011 Not so long ago the green energy movement celebrated because President Obama used words like ‘renewable energy’ and ‘climate change’ in his inaugural speech. It was a first for a US president. Now comes the downside of being a political darling. Opponents of green energy – or rather opponents of its proponents – are …