-
Israeli clean-car project largest recipient of VC clean-tech funding in 2007
Israeli electric car venture raises $200 million in first round financing — the largest single recipient of VC cleantech funding in 2007; total VC 2007 investment in cleantech: More than $3 billion
-
-
Three new wind farms in U.K.
Three new wind farms will have a combined output of 215 MW, which is enough to supply renewable energy to 109,000 homes; next year U.K. will overtake Denmark in percentage of national power generated by wind
-
-
Experts: Australia must take lead on climate change
Australia is more economically vulnerable than any other wealthy nation to the effects of global warming; new report says: “Australia would be a big loser — possibly the biggest loser among developed nations — from unmitigated climate change”
-
-
Moth eyes inspire more efficient solar cell design
Moth eyes do not reflect light: They have orderly bumps on their corneas, and the the array of bumps creates a situation in which almost no reflection exists, thus keeping the defenseless moth hidden from nocturnal predators; researchers want to increase the efficiency of solar panels by emulating moth eyes, allowing the panels to absorb and utilize — rather than reflect and waste — more of the sun’s light
-
-
DOE, partners test commercial geothermal technology in Nevada
Geothermal energy attracts more and more attention, and for good reason: One cubic kilometer of hot granite at 250 degrees centigrade has the stored energy equivalent of 40 million barrels of oil
-
-
Solar energy conversion breakthrough
Scientists say that sunlight falling on only 9 percent of California’s Mojave Desert could power all of the U.S. electricity needs — if the energy could be efficiently harvested; this is a big “if,” since current-generation solar cell technologies are too expensive and inefficient for wide-scale commercial applications; Northwestern University researchers show a way to increase solar cell efficiency
-
-
Graduate student invents gravity lamp
Virginia Tech engineering student wins second place in a Greener Gadgets Conference competition for inventing a floor lamp powered by gravity; lamp can last 200 years
-
-
World's biggest wind energy farms to be built off the Dutch coast
Two wind farms to be built sixty km off the shore of the Netherlands will generate 2,000 MW; Dutch government’s goal is to generate 6,000 MW by 2020
-
-
Connecting renewable energy sources to the national grid
Connecting different renewable energy sources to the national grid may be a costly proposition; new study aims to find community generation schemes which are able to connect to the grid without the need for expensive cable upgrades or digging up roads
-
-
Aussie company in $20 million wave energy project for Maui
Australian specialist in wave energy to build three platforms off the coast of Maui; project aims to provide up to 2.7 megawatts
-
-
World solar-to-grid conversation efficiency record set
Sandia, SES achieve solar-to-grid conversion efficiency rate of 31.25 percent; increasing conversion rate, coupled with the rising price of oil and worries about the environment, make solar power more attractive
-
-
World’s first commercial-scale tidal stream
The tidal farm scheme would be capable of generating 10.5 MW of power drawn entirely from the sea’s major tidal currents; project will be built off the north-west coast of Anglesey, north Wales
-
-
Life of U.K. project aiming to halve cost solar panels extended
U.K. government agency injects £6 million into research aiming to halve the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells; in the first four years of the project, scientists created platform technologies in crystalline silicon, thin film silicon, thin film cadmium telluride, and thin film copper indium diselenide; now they will narrow down the research
-
