Engineers have come up with a handful of uses for computer chip-like devices that chill objects when plugged in or convert waste heat into electrical power—stuff like car seats that cool drivers on hot days and coolers that chill drinks when plugged in. But by-and-large, these devices, known as thermoelectrics, have remained too inefficient to make much of a real-world impact...
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MIT researchers and their collaborators have come up with an unusual, highly efficient and possibly less expensive way of turning the sun’s heat into electricity. Their system, described in a paper published online in the journal Nature Materials on May 1, produces power with an efficiency roughly eight times higher than ever previously reported for a solar thermoelectric device — one that produces electricity from solar heat...
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Exelon Corp.'s $7.9 billion bid to buy Constellation Energy builds on a series of recent deals meant to create profitable electric power companies that burn less coal, use more natural gas and combine existing nuclear fleets. Early yesterday, Chicago-based Exelon and Baltimore-based Constellation proposed a merger that would combine the nation's largest operator of nuclear power plants with a large marketer of electricity along the East Coast...
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The Solar Trust of America is to be the recipient of a $2.1 billion loan from the US government, given in support of the construction of what will become the largest solar thermal power plant in the world. The funds will be used in the construction of the Blythe Solar Power Project, a joint venture between Solar Trust of America...
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Gamma rays are the most energetic type of light wave and can penetrate through lead and other thick containers. A powerful new source of gamma rays will allow officials to search for hidden reactor fuel/nuclear bomb material. These gamma rays, called MEGa-rays (for mono-energetic gamma rays), are made by using a beam of fast-moving electrons to convert laser photons (light at a lesser energy) into the gamma ray part of the spectrum...
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The United States and other countries around the world looking to nuclear power for their energy needs must consider how spent fuel will be handled as they construct new plants and examine existing ones, especially in light of the recent crisis in Japan, according to a comprehensive study from MIT. The ongoing problems at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi powerplant—caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami—have been...
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BrightSource Energy, Inc. a utility-scale solar developer, has filed a US$250 million initial public offering (IPO). The California-based solar thermal developer has several intriguing qualities; however, these are saddled along with a few areas of concern. BrightSource sports a significant list of powerful investors and partners including: Google, Inc., Chevron, Alstom, NRG Solar, Vantage Point Capital Partners, Morgan Stanley and Bechtel. All totaled, the company has raised US $530 million.....
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Researchers at MIT have found a way to make significant improvements to the power-conversion efficiency of solar cells by enlisting the services of tiny viruses to perform detailed assembly work at the microscopic level. In a solar cell, sunlight hits a light-harvesting material, causing it to release electrons that can be harnessed to produce an electric current. The new MIT research...
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For more than 150 years, spark plugs have powered internal combustion engines. Automakers are now one step closer to being able to replace this long-standing technology with laser igniters, which will enable cleaner, more efficient, and more economical vehicles. In the past, lasers strong enough to ignite an engine's air-fuel mixtures were too large to fit under an automobile's hood. At this year's Conference on Lasers and Electro Optics...
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The car of the future could be propelled by a fuel cell powered with hydrogen. But what will the fuel tank look like? Hydrogen gas is not only explosive but also very space-consuming. Storage in the form of very dense solid metal hydrides is a particularly safe alternative that accommodates the gas in a manageable volume. As the storage tank should also not be too heavy and expensive, solid-state chemists worldwide focus on...
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