Many energy researchers and environmental advocates are excited about the prospect of gaining more efficient large-scale biofuel production by using large grasses like miscanthus or switchgrass rather than corn. They have investigated yields, land use, economics and more, but one key factor of agriculture has been overlooked: water.
New Department of Energy efficiency standards will cut the energy use of most new refrigerators by 25 percent and help save consumers money, create jobs, reduce pollution and spur innovation and investment.
A new study published in the current issue of Science rebuts earlier claims that drought has induced a decline in global plant productivity during the past decade and poses a threat to global food security.
In July, at the Association for Computing Machinery’s MobiSys conference, researchers from MIT and Princeton University took the best-paper award for a system that uses a network of smartphones mounted on car dashboards to collect information about traffic signals and tell drivers when slowing down could help them avoid waiting at lights.
In building a fuel cell that uses bacteria to break down waste in water, Israel's water company Emefcy Ltd. has raised about $10 million from investors including GE, NRG Energy Inc. and ConocoPhillips.
NEDAK Ethanol LLC, an alternative fuels manufacturer, has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $3,600 to the United States for failing to develop a risk management program and file a risk management plan for its ethanol production facility at Atkinson, Neb.
Except for the few temperate regions on the West Coast, air conditioners are now standard equipment in most homes, especially in those newly constructed.
A novel microscopy method at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is helping scientists probe the reactions that limit widespread deployment of fuel cell technologies.
U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels were 5,638 million metric tons carbon dioxide (MMTCO2) in 2010, an increase of 3.9 percent from the 2009 level.
A report forecasts that the EV cybersecurity market will increase from just $26 million in 2011 to $144 million by 2015, with a cumulative investment of $432 million during that period.
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside along with their research partners received a $1.2 million grant from the Department of Energy to study and evaluate technologies that provide feedback to drivers so they can cut harmful emissions and reduce fuel use by up to 30 percent.
Undergraduate researcher Safatul Islam is a member of a team in the College of Optical Sciences investigating organic photovoltaics, which can lead to improved electronics.
Their estimate, reported this week in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is based on a signal sent across the Pacific Ocean when operators of the damaged reactor had to resort to cooling overheated fuel with seawater.
A team of researchers from the Department of Energy's BioEnergy Science Center has pinpointed a single, key gene in a microbe that could help streamline the production of biofuels from non-food sources.
As consumers stay focused on keeping cool during the hottest months of the year, they may fall victim to some of the myths that may be giving electricity customers the wrong idea about how to curb their electricity consumption and save money on their monthly bills.
Rice University engineering researchers unveiled a new method for rapidly converting simple glucose into biofuels and petrochemical substitutes
These findings point to climate change and variability working together equally to accelerate the observed sea ice loss during the late 20th century.
Algae-based fuel is one of many options among the array of possible future energy sources. New University of Virginia research shows that while algae-based transportation fuels produce high energy output with minimal land use, their production could come with significant environmental burdens.
We've all worried about the charge on our smartphone or laptop running down when we have no access to an electrical outlet. But new technology developed by researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science could finally help solve the problem.
While geologists and economists debate the specifics, American University School of Communication professor Matthew Nisbet believes peak petroleum and the associated risks to public health may provide an opportunity to bring conservatives and liberals together in the move toward alternative forms of energy.