Blogs
Energizer Stays One Step Ahead by Catering to Diminutive Device Trend
July 31, 2008 9:55 am | by by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Comments“Quad A” may soon become part of the common vernacular. Although the AAAA battery (or Quad A) has been commercially available since 1989, it’s mostly been a niche product, difficult to find on shelves. But with consumer electronics moving towards smaller, more lightweight devices, with decreasing power requirements, the battery industry is adapting. Quad A has long been an internal industry standard for 9 V batteries (6 Quad A’s linked together, each generating 1.5 V, equals 9 V), but it could soon displace the AAA as the battery of choice for portable electronics.
EPA Creates Bedlam With Amendment for Residential Light Fixtures
July 22, 2008 5:17 am | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | CommentsAyn Rand, one of capitalism’s greatest proponents, once said, “I am an innovator. This is a term of distinction, a term of honor, rather than something to hide or apologize for. Anyone who has new or valuable ideas to offer stands outside the intellectual status quo.” Governmental interference in private enterprise is always disastrous. What’s worse is when innovation is stifled by bureaucratic finagling and pc notions of impartiality (or as some would say, preventing a “competitive disadvantage”). You can’t give a chimp a skateboard and call him Tony Hawk.
Report Suggests Plug-in Hybrids Threaten to Strain Freshwater Resources
July 9, 2008 10:47 am | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | CommentsAdvanced technology vehicles are the wave of the future, but they aren’t the elegant solutions advocates posit them as. The conservation of one resource inevitably comes at the expense of another resource. A report by Carey W. King and Michael E. Webber of the University of Texas suggests that plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) will place a strain on the nation’s freshwater resources. The research compares miles driven with a conventional internal combustion engine vs. a PHEV.
New Study Calls for World-Wide Reduction in Energy Consumption
July 3, 2008 8:42 am | by Jason Lomberg | CommentsA Swiss Academic Study, “The 2000 Watt Society,” is gaining a lot of traction in the environmental movement. First developed by researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the latest treatise ("Smarter Living") was coordinated by Novatlantis, and is an urgent call to action. In short, it proposes an overall reduction in energy consumption to the world-wide average of 2,000 watts per capita by the year 2050. Naturally, the US bears the brunt of the scorn.
Innovative Technology to Maximize Output of Solar Panels
July 1, 2008 6:14 am | by Jason Lomberg | CommentsIn 1839, French physicist Alexandre Edmond Becquerel discovered the “photovoltaic” effect, or the natural phenomenon which allows the conversion of solar into electrical energy. Over the next 150 years, this inexorably led to solar-powered satellites, solar cars, and solar-panel technology for domestic use. Among their many strengths, financial savings (after the initial investment), environmental conservation, and minimal upkeep, solar panels always suffered weaknesses inherent in a technology that relies on a giant ball of ionized gas 150 million kilometers away.
Nextreme Strives to Increase Efficiency of Heat-to-Power Conversion
June 30, 2008 10:47 am | CommentsWith soaring energy costs, all sectors are feeling the crunch, including the thermoelectrics industry. But Nextreme Thermal Solutions has a plan to stem the tide. One potential solution is to convert a system’s thermal energy byproduct into a functional resource. Using a grant from the North Carolina Green Business Fund, Nextreme plans to optimize their thin-film growth process with the goal of doubling the power output of a single device from 250mW to 500mW.
Researchers demonstrate 'avalanche effect' in solar cells
June 12, 2008 10:55 am | CommentsResearchers at TU Delft (Netherlands) and the FOM Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter have found irrefutable proof that the so-called avalanche effect by electrons occurs in specific, very small semiconducting crystals.
“Challenge X” Vehicles Strut Their Stuff In Manhattan
May 19, 2008 6:56 am | by Alix Paultre | CommentsIt may have been a cold and damp morning in Manhattan, but that didn’t damp the passions of the participants in the Challenge X national collegiate engineering competition. This year’s challenge, sponsored by the US Department of Energy and General Motors, focuses on technology integration and full-vehicle development of advanced alternate-technology drivetrain and subsystems. By participating in the Challenge X program, the students gain real-world engineering skills and hands-on learning to better prepare them for a future career in engineering.
Printed Flexible Solar Cells Provide Embedded Renewable Power
May 12, 2008 6:43 am | CommentsWith the cost of energy approaching the insane, new and improved methods of creating better and more easily deployable solar power cells are very welcome. This advance in manufacture by Konarka Technologies promises to deliver cheaper power cells in large quantities. I hope they can commercialize the technology to the point we can use solar as a tricke-charge backup in every powered application exposed to the sun.
Green is also the Color of Money
April 9, 2008 10:08 am | CommentsImproving the environment is always a good idea, but wireless companies are finding ways to go green while bringing more “green” to their bottom lines.
New Record: Wind Powers 40% Of Spain
April 4, 2008 11:50 am | CommentsWind power is breaking new records in Spain, accounting for just over 40 percent of all electricity consumed during a brief period last weekend. As heavy winds lashed Spain on Saturday evening wind parks generated 9,862 megawatts of power which translated to 40.8 percent of total consumption.
X PRIZE Group Offers $10 Million Challenge to Auto Industry for 100-MPG Car
March 21, 2008 10:54 am | CommentsThe goal is to inspire a new generation of viable, super fuel-efficient vehicles that offer more consumer choices.
One Step Closer to Making OLEDs a Viable Option
March 12, 2008 7:46 am | CommentsGE Global Research announced the successful demonstration of “roll-to-roll” manufactured OLEDs. The company claims that this process is a key step toward lower costs of the technology.
On the Spot: Digital Power Management Drives Energy Efficiency
February 27, 2008 11:27 am | by Jim MacDonald, Zilker Labs, Inc. www.zilkerlabs.com | CommentsJim MacDonald, Zilker Labs, Inc. comments "The need for higher energy efficiency in embedded systems continues to rise on the priority list of systems developers and end users alike"
Trend Report: Energy Conservation and Sustainable Design
February 27, 2008 11:23 am | by by Jeff Uden, Newark, www.newark.com | CommentsThe concept of sustainable design started, not as a way of conserving the environment, but to prolong battery life in portable consumer goods such as cell phones, laptops and PDAs.
