Burning things produce soot. And that soot contains materials that have been morphed into something else. As Nancy Stauffer at MIT explains, new research there has shown the burning process can be used to produce cathodes far more cheaply, quicker, more simply, and with less energy than the standard method. Itâs another example, from an unexpected direction, of innovations cutting the costs of an essential component of the energy transition: … [Read more...]
Smart Glasses: experts can monitor and advise on power plant inspections anywhere in the world
The pandemic made on-site testing of power stations and their components more complicated â and considerably so in some cases. But it also made a wide range of product and services companies aware of the availability of technology to monitor, manage and repair units remotely. Rather than fly several experts to a single site, the experts can stay where they are and watch the inspection happen virtually, while giving advice and instructions on the … [Read more...]
From lab to commercialisation: what is the optimal pathway for Clean Energy Technologies?
Itâs a considerable challenge to predict, decades in advance, what the world will need and get it from lab to market. Madeline Geocaris and Andrea Wuorenmaa at NREL summarise four case studies that reveal the key elements required: a good balance of technology, R&D, and public-private partnership; regulatory and market force alignment; good timing for market opportunities. The goal is the optimal pathway to the successful first … [Read more...]
Comparing the efficiency and progress of the 5 leading Solar PV cell technologies
NRELâs âBest Research-Cell Efficiency Chartâ allows researchers to easily compare the performance of specific PV technologies, stretching back 50 years. Itâs regularly updated and is free to use, explains Wayne Hicks and Harrison Dreves at NREL. A new âinteractiveâ version is now available. The focus is on crystalline silicon cells, single-junction gallium arsenide cells, multijunction cells, thin films, and emerging PV. For example, you can … [Read more...]
Turning waste biomass into clean fuel: cheap, portable equipment, cuts emissions, earns income for rural poor
The burning of biomass accounts for 10% of primary energy used worldwide: wood, peat, animal dung, corn stalks, rice husks, hay, straw, and other agricultural waste. Billions of people, mainly in remote and poorer regions, rely on such fuels for cooking, heating, and other household needs. But itâs a major source of emissions as well as pollution. And, annually, an estimated $120bn worth of crop and forest residues are burned out in the open … [Read more...]
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