By Kristi L Bumpus Ten years ago, the Department of Energy put out a call for innovators to change the world of nuclear energy. What DOE hoped to accomplish with the then-new Energy Innovation Hubs concept was “translational research” — research and development on an accelerated timeline that could solve the problems facing the nuclear…
Novel 3D-printed device demonstrates enhanced capture of carbon dioxide emissions
By Jennifer J Burke The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have designed and additively manufactured a first-of-its-kind aluminum device that enhances the capture of carbon dioxide emitted from fossil fuel plants and other industrial processes. Solutions for reducing global emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases such as CO2 address the continued use of…
Toward an ultrahigh energy density capacitor
By Rachel Berkowitz Capacitors that rapidly store and release electric energy are key components in modern electronics and power systems. However, the most commonly used ones have low energy densities compared to other storage systems like batteries or fuel cells, which in turn cannot discharge and recharge rapidly without sustaining damage. Now, as reported in…
Simple process transforms PET plastic into a nanomaterial for supercapacitors
UC Riverside engineers have developed a way to recycle PET plastic waste, such as soda or water bottles, into a nanomaterial useful for energy storage. Mihri and Cengiz Ozkan and their students have been working for years on creating improved energy storage materials from sustainable sources, such as glass bottles, beach sand, Silly Putty and…
EnergyX announces partnership with ProfMOF, leading Nanotechnology Innovation Lab
Energy Exploration Technologies (EnergyX) and ProfMOF announce a partnership between their companies to promote the use of Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs), a relatively new class of nanotechnology materials suitable in the development of projects involving renewable energy and large-scale lithium-ion production and battery storage. ProfMOF is the world leader in the research and development of…
Brookhaven Lab partners in new $40M research center to convert sunlight to liquid fuels
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $40M in funding over five years for a new research center aimed at developing hybrid photoelectrodes for converting sunlight into liquid fuels. Chemists from DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory will be key partners in this effort, dubbed the Center for Hybrid Approaches in Solar Energy to Liquid Fuels…
Transportation – Gauging pandemic impact
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have developed a machine learning model that could help predict the impact pandemics such as COVID-19 have on fuel demand in the United States. Called the Pandemic Oil Demand Analysis, or PODA, this model compared mobility patterns before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, analyzing historical weekly motor travel trends and…
Berkeley Lab part of multi-institutional team awarded $60M for solar fuels research
by Theresa Duque (Adapted from news release by Robert Perkins, Caltech) The quest for renewable fuels harvested from the sun continues, as the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced two new major awards focused on advancing artificial photosynthesis technologies for the production of fuels from sunlight. As part of this effort, DOE has awarded…
Brookhaven and Forge Nano to mature noble gas-trapping technology
A research proposal submitted by the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) and Nuclear Science and Technology (NST) Department at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, with the startup Forge Nano as a partner, has been selected as a 2020 Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) project. Of the 82 technologies selected from among more…
ORNL welcomes six new research fellows to Innovation Crossroads
By Jennifer Burke ORNL’s Innovation Crossroads new research fellows include Renee Carder, Danielle Castley, Joe Fortenbaugh, Thomas Foulkes, Garret Meyer and Erica Grant. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy Oak Ridge National Laboratory welcomed six technology innovators to join the fourth cohort of Innovation Crossroads, the Southeast’s only entrepreneurial research and development…
DOE NETL commissions SwRI to develop methane quantification technology
Southwest Research Institute is developing machine learning algorithms to measure fugitive methane emissions through a project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through the Office of Fossil Energy and managed at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). The project leverages an SwRI technology previously funded by DOE, Smart Methane Leak Detection, or SLED/M —…
Smart farms of the future: Making bioenergy crops more environmentally friendly
By Julie Chao Farmers have enough worries – between bad weather, rising costs, and shifting market demands – without having to stress about the carbon footprint of their operations. But now a new set of projects by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) could make agriculture both more sustainable and more profitable.…
Successful delivery: ORNL demonstrates bi-directional wireless charging on hybrid UPS truck
By Stephanie G Seay Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in late February demonstrated a 20-kw bi-directional wireless charging system installed on a UPS medium-duty, plug-in hybrid electric delivery truck. The project is the first of its kind to achieve power transfer at this rate across an 11-in. air gap,…
HUBER+SUHNER enables continuous electric vehicle charging at 500 A
HUBER+SUHNER, a global supplier of electrical and optical connectivity solutions, has launched the RADOX HPC500; a new addition to the RADOX high-power charging portfolio. It is the world’s first cooled charging-cable system that allows continuous charging at 500 Amperes even in high-temperature environments. The HPC500 cable and connecter builds on the proven performance and design…
Can renewable energy really replace fossil fuels?
By Grace Niewijk As global temperatures and energy demand rise simultaneously, the search for sustainable fuel sources is more urgent than ever. But how can renewable energy possibly scale up to replace the vast quantities of oil and gas we consume? Plant power is a significant piece of the answer, says Purdue scientist Maureen McCann.…
Microwaves power new technology for batteries, energy
New battery technology involving microwaves may provide an avenue for renewable energy conversion and storage. Purdue University researchers created a technique to turn waste polyethylene terephthalate, one of the most recyclable polymers, into components of batteries. “We use an ultrafast microwave irradiation process to turn PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, flakes into disodium terephthalate, and use…
A new way to cool down electronic devices, recover waste heat
Using electronic devices for too long can cause them to overheat, which might slow them down, damage their components or even make them explode or catch fire. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Nano Letters have developed a hydrogel that can both cool down electronics, such as cell phone batteries, and convert their waste heat into…
Device turns shells of sea creatures into power for medical, augmented reality, cellphone devices
By Chris Adam An innovation using material derived from the shells of crabs and other sea creatures may soon provide a new option for powering medical sensors, phone screens and other devices. A team from Purdue University used chitosan – an abundant natural biopolymer from marine crustacean shells – to create triboelectric nanogenerators. TENGs help…
Scientists capture 3D images of nanoparticles, atom by atom, with unprecedented precision
Since their invention in the 1930s, electron microscopes have helped scientists peer into the atomic structure of ordinary materials like steel, and even exotic graphene. But despite these advances, such imaging techniques cannot precisely map out the 3D atomic structure of materials in a liquid solution, such as a catalyst in a hydrogen fuel cell,…
Scientists see energy gap modulations in a cuprate superconductor
For years physicists have been trying to decipher the electronic details of high-temperature superconductors. These materials could revolutionize energy transmission and electronics because of their ability to carry electric current with no energy loss when cooled below a certain temperature. Details of “high-Tc” superconductors’ microscopic electronic structure could reveal how different phases (states of matter)…
Using fiber optics to advance safe and renewable energy
Fiber optic cables, it turns out, can be incredibly useful scientific sensors. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have studied them for use in carbon sequestration, groundwater mapping, earthquake detection, and monitoring of Arctic permafrost thaw. Now they have been awarded new grants to develop fiber optics for two novel uses: monitoring offshore…
Upgrading biomass with selective surface-modified catalysts
Scientists have designed a catalyst composed of very low concentrations of platinum (single atoms and clusters smaller than billionths of a meter) on the surface of titanium dioxide. They demonstrated how this catalyst significantly enhances the rate of breaking a particular carbon-oxygen bond for the conversion of a plant derivative (furfuryl alcohol) into a potential…
Nature-inspired green energy technology clears major development hurdle
Scientist Heinz Frei has spent decades working toward building an artificial version of one of nature’s most elegant and effective machines: the leaf. Frei, and many other researchers around the world, seek to use photosynthesis – the sunlight-driven chemical reaction that green plants and algae use to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into cellular fuel –…
Turbomachine expander offers efficient, safe strategy for heating, cooling
A new device to help homeowners cut electricity bills also could provide more efficient and safer cooling options for companies and vehicles. Purdue University researchers developed their device to decrease energy consumption of the vapor-compression heat pump cycle, which is commonly used in homes, businesses and vehicles for cooling and heating. The team created a…
ORNL, TVA sign agreement to collaborate on advanced reactor technologies
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Tennessee Valley Authority have signed a memorandum of understanding to evaluate a new generation of flexible, cost-effective advanced nuclear reactors. Under the agreement, ORNL and TVA will collaborate on ways to improve the economic feasibility of potentially licensing, building, operating and maintaining one or…