Way back in the 1980’s, the U.S. Department of Defense devised a program that saved the American semiconductor industry from the grave, and now that same kind of model has been revived to benefit domestic solar manufacturing. Well, maybe zombie isn’t quite the right
A lab at MIT, led by Dr. Daniel Nocera, have invented a new and novel form of storing energy that may prove to be an important milestone in the development of alternative energy. In fact, the obvious utility of the process has engendered a bit of excitement, but this excitement has also generated some misconceptions about the process that I would like to clear up, now that I have a more complete understanding of how it works.
Top cleantech news and commentary of the last day or two. Check it out (top of the top is bold, source key is at the bottom)
A company called New Energy Technologies, Inc. is getting a little help from the federal government to push its new transparent solar window coating out of the lab and into the hands of building owners. That help comes in the form of government researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, … [continued]
Following up on my first cleantech and politics roundup yesterday, here are 20 more great or important stories from the past day or so. I’ve decided to also bold the stories I think are the most worth checking out.
A team from Wake Forest University is about to field-test a new home alternative energy system that collects power not only from visible sunlight but from the sun’s heat, as well. The new polymer-based solar-thermal system, though still in the development stages, has the potential to deliver
China hasn’t taken long to learn a lesson from the Japan nuclear crisis (perhaps). It is cutting its 2020 target for nuclear power and is filling in with increased solar power targets, according to an official from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
A French company, Wysips, has developed a way to charge your cell phone, e-book, tablet, or similar device without having to plug it in to anything. Not only that, but it would only add about $1 to the cost of a smart phone.
In the past 10 years or so, the world has seen a clean energy revolution. With growth rates like seen in the telephone industry, computer industry, and internet industry during comparable revolutions, clean energy options like solar and wind have been growing tremendously in recent years.
Clean Edge has been tracking the cleantech industry since 2000 and, in combination with its annual report on cleantech investment and growth, it reflected on the last 10 years as a whole this year. Clean Energy Trends 2011 reports a number of interesting statistics, the most salient of which I’m sharing below.
Yet another new breakthrough in low cost solar energy just made its debut, and this one is a doozy: a solar cell the size of a typical leaf, that actually creates energy the same way a leaf does: with photosynthesis. No, for real. You just park it in a bucket of water and
