The world's best thinkers on energy and climate
Companies have discovered that finding innovative ways to procure, generate, and store energy not only helps them meet their emissions goals, but also reduces energy costs. That’s why the private sector is leading the charge to invest in clean technology as companies seek to engage suppliers through supply chains, increase competitiveness, gain access to new markets, and diversify to prepare for long-term decarbonization. … [Read more...]
Last November, on the same day the Paris climate agreement took effect, 10 of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, including BG Group, BP, Eni, Pemex, Reliance Industries, Repsol, Saudi Aramco, Shell, Statoil and Total, announced a billion-dollar investment in climate solutions. Together, the member-companies of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) produce 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas and operate in 55 countries. … [Read more...]
This article follows up development discussed in the article 'Mexico's New Power Industry Law: Implications for Clean Energy.'In the Official Gazette of December 19, 2014, Mexico’s Secretary of Energy, Pedro Joaquin Caldwell, issued the Transition Strategy to Promote the Use of Cleaner Technologies and Fuels (“Transition Strategy”), as an integral part of the April 2014 National Program for the Sustainable Use of Energy, 2014-2018. … [Read more...]
In 1897, Dr. Philip O’Hanlon, a coroner’s assistant on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, was asked by his then eight-year-old daughter, Virginia, whether Santa Claus really existed. O’Hanlon suggested she write to The Sun, a prominent New York City newspaper at the time, assuring her that “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” So with thanks and apologies to “Is There a Santa Claus?“, September 21, 1897, The New York Sun, staying true to the original … [Read more...]
Sometimes a little money can go a long way. That is the hope of the Department of Energy’s new $2.3 million pilot program, Lab-Corps, which will attempt to accelerate technology transfer from the national labs to the marketplace.The program is similar to the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps, or I-Corps, which has successfully ushered technology from universities to the commercial space.For decades, each national lab has had a … [Read more...]
I tend to think of the US as ahead of most of the rest of the world when it comes to energy efficiency. Maybe not in the Germany or Japan league, but at least above the median. After all, our utilities are spending billions of dollars per year encouraging energy efficiency and our policy makers talk about it a lot.But, I’ve stayed in hotels in France, Singapore and Kenya over the past six months and seen an energy-saving device that I’ve never … [Read more...]
Diagram of an exciton within a tetracene crystal, used in these experiments, shows the line across which data was collected. That data, plotted below as a function of both position (horizontal axis) and time (vertical axis) provides the most detailed information ever obtained on how excitons move through the material. Illustration courtesy of the researchersTechnique developed at MIT reveals the motion of energy-carrying quasiparticles in solid … [Read more...]
Switchable material could harness the power of the sun — even when it’s not shining.David L. Chandler, MIT NewsIt’s an obvious truism, but one that may soon be outdated: The problem with solar power is that sometimes the sun doesn’t shine.Now a team at MIT and Harvard University has come up with an ingenious workaround — a material that can absorb the sun’s heat and store that energy in chemical form, ready to be released again on demand.This … [Read more...]
This rendering depicts how an office might appear with SmartLight off (above) and on (below). Sunlight is directed to different spaces, including to a “SmartTrackLight” in the outer hallway.A new technology called SmartLight has been presented at Italy’s CasaClima international energy forum, a technology that uses sunlight, electrofluidic cells, and a series of open-air “ducts” to use sunlight to naturally illuminate spaces deep inside office … [Read more...]
For all the advances with hybrid and pure electric vehicles and the attention they are grabbing, personal, commercial and government vehicles around the world will be using enormous volumes of gasoline and diesel fuel for decades to come. Investors and innovators know there is a lot of money to be made improving the efficiency of internal combustion engines. If that can be accomplished at a lower cost and with fewer emissions, all the better.Well … [Read more...]
What a difference 34 years can make. When the Carter Administration installed solar panels at the White House back in 1979, photovoltaic cells were space age technology that most households could not afford, aside from the rare DIY-er. Now the price of solar power has been sinking like a stone, thanks partly to the introduction of low cost materials and inexpensive thin film fabrication methods. Switzerland’s Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories … [Read more...]
Fuel cell "startup" Bloom Energy just raised $130 million more in venture capital, according to a scoop from Fortune. That takes the VC funding to beyond $1.1 billion for this firm and makes it one of the all-time leaders in VC funding. Along with Fisker and Solyndra -- not exactly great company.According to Fortune, the first $100 million came from an unidentified new investor and $30 million came from Credit Suisse -- while existing … [Read more...]
By Lily GregoryRiddle me this: how are dandelions, oranges and sunflowers related to car tires? These three items may be the future of tires and their production. Tire manufacturers are searching for alternative ingredients for tires as the demand for rubber and eco-friendly products increases. Engineering innovation and organic ingredients are ushering in the next era of tires.It’s All In Your TreadThe carbon footprint of tires can be … [Read more...]
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