UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering Asst. Prof. Chong Liu discovered the ideal particles for efficiently isolating lithium from seawater, ground water, or other dilute sources of the mineral As the electric vehicle market booms, the demand for lithium — the mineral required for lithium-ion batteries — has also soared. … [continued]
A customizable smart window harnesses and manipulates solar power to save energy and cut costs.
BNEF says renewable energy costs are continuing to fall faster than predicted, making renewable cost competitive with coal and gas power plants. But researchers at the University of Chicago claim renewable energy standards raises the cost of electricity. Both cannot be correct, so which is it?
The costs of wind and solar energy keep falling; installing a new wind turbine costs about a third of what it did in 2008. Solar prices fell by 88 percent during that time. In fact, renewable energy is so inexpensive, utilities have found that they can save customers money by closing coal plants early and replacing them with wind and solar power.
A new fracking study is being pitched as great news for the oil and gas industry, but the oil and gas industry has been oddly quiet about the news.
A new study has concluded that fossil fuels consumption is likely to grow unless an adequate price is placed on carbon dioxide emissions. The new study, Will We Ever Stop Using Fossil Fuels, published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, finds that fossil fuel consumption is likely to continue to increase … [continued]
Research targeting the development of new polymer solar cells — called PID2 — will hopefully contribute to significant increase in solar cell efficiency. This research, taking place between the University of Chicago’s chemistry department, the Institute for Molecular Engineering, and Argonne National Laboratory, was initially reported last September. Even with the … [continued]
You’ve heard about urban food deserts, and pretty soon you’re going to start hearing about urban water deserts, too. We’re talking about cities where water in general is abundant but clean drinking water is becoming more difficult and expensive to provide on a municipal level. Well, it looks like Chicago … [continued]
A new study from the University of Chicago is providing compelling evidence that certain types of intellectual property rights work to stifle subsequent research on the copyrighted technology. “The goal of intellectual property rights — such as the patent system — is to provide incentives for the development of new … [continued]
A unique high tech financing organization called Shrink Nanotechnologies is putting its money behind a new kind of electronic glue that could help bring about a significant improvement in photovoltaic cells. The “glue” is actually a means of switching molecules on the surface of nanocrystals, in order to achieve a … [continued]
