university of minnesota Archives

Clean Power

New Solar Energy Innovation Network Teams Announced

March 23rd, 2020 | by Guest Contributor

Washington, D.C. — Today the U.S. Department of Energy announced that eight teams have been selected to participate in the second round of the Solar Energy Innovation Network, a program that supports multi-stakeholder teams pursuing new applications of solar energy and other distributed energy resources in unique locations and contexts

Clean Power

Under What Conditions Will Clean Energy Become The Norm?

March 8th, 2020 | by Carolyn Fortuna

Language can lead us to get the agency we need to create conditions where renewables are the norm

Air Quality

3 Urban Form Metrics Strongly Tied To Air Pollution Levels

November 1st, 2017 | by James Ayre

The alteration of the urban form of cities — and thus the alteration of motor vehicle use patterns — could be used as a means of reducing local air pollution levels, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Washington and the University of Minnesota

Agriculture

Nitrous Oxide Emissions From US Corn Belt Greatly Underestimated

August 18th, 2015 | by Derek Markham

The emissions of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, from agricultural operations in the central United States may be greatly [&hellip

Biomass

New Perspective On Bioenergy Economic Model

February 19th, 2015 | by Glenn Meyers

Bioenergy, while environmentally cleaner and more sustainable than fossil fuels, has historically been too energy intensive to produce — a [&hellip

Cars

No Rain On Parade For 2013 World Solar Challenge

October 13th, 2013 | by Ronald Brakels

That sound you can’t hear is not the clatter of my keyboard but rather rain coming down on Adelaide as [&hellip

Clean Power

New Method For Producing ‘Electronic Ink’ — Solar Cells As Cheap As Roof Shingles In The Near-Future?

August 2nd, 2013 | by James Ayre

A new method for producing “electronic ink” — a specialized form of ink from non-toxic nanometer-sized crystals of silicon — [&hellip

Consumer Technology

Is There Phantom Power Usage In Your Home?

June 30th, 2013 | by Dan Thiede, CERTs

Dr. David Schmidt of the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences is practicing what he [&hellip

Biofuels

Volvo Trucks Takes DME Plunge, Biofuel Or No Biofuel

June 7th, 2013 | by Tina Casey

Volvo Trucks has ambitious plans for dimethyl ether (DME), which is more familiarly known as a propellant for spray-on cosmetics [&hellip

Biofuels

Coalition for Sustainable Rail to Convert World’s First Modern Steam Engine Powered with Biocoal

May 29th, 2012 | by Glenn Meyers

This is not just a trip down memory lane to visit an old smoky railroad locomotive. At the University of Minnesota, the Coalition for Sustainable Rail (CSR) is actively converting a 1937 locomotive – # 3463 – into what will be the world’s first carbon-neutral high-speed locomotive. It will not be electric, running instead on steam generated by the burning of biofuel, or torrefied biocoal.