http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Hitachi Ltd., Toshiba Corp. and other major Japanese electronics makers are increasingly turning their sights toward "smart city" projects designed to create eco-friendly, energy-efficient communities. http://phys.org/news246096647.html Technology Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:10:01 EST news246096647 Optimistic predictions that Germany's decision to turn its back on nuclear energy will lead to the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the renewable energy sector have met with scepticism. http://phys.org/news245228014.html Technology Sun, 08 Jan 2012 06:55:55 EST news245228014 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scraps from sweet sorghum harvested for biofuel production enrich the diets of elephants, monkeys, parrots and other animals in Tucson' Reid Park Zoo. http://phys.org/news243590052.html Biology Tue, 20 Dec 2011 08:10:01 EST news243590052 Brazil's Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the heart of the Amazon will have fewer environmental effects than fossil-fuel alternatives and will be cheaper than other renewable energy sources, state media said Sunday. http://phys.org/news242885341.html Space & Earth Mon, 12 Dec 2011 04:30:02 EST news242885341 The concept of the hydrogen economy (HE), in which hydrogen would replace the carbon-based fossil fuels of the twentieth century was first mooted in the 1970s. Today, HE is seen as a potential solution to the dual global crises of climate change and dwindling oil reserves. A research paper to be published in the International Journal of Sustainable Design suggests that HE is wrong and SHE has the answer in the sustainable hydrogen economy. http://phys.org/news242568710.html Technology Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:11:57 EST news242568710 Google on Tuesday announced the latest list of products being tossed out as part of a drive by chief executive Larry Page to focus resources on more promising projects. http://phys.org/news241246755.html Technology Wed, 23 Nov 2011 04:59:22 EST news241246755 Australia passed its controversial pollution tax Tuesday in a sweeping and historic reform aimed at lowering carbon emissions blamed for climate change, after years of fierce debate. http://phys.org/news239946124.html Space & Earth Tue, 08 Nov 2011 04:20:01 EST news239946124 As Belgium becomes the latest European nation to agree to switch off nuclear power, operator Electrabel warned Monday of high costs, environmental fallout and increased dependency on foreign suppliers. http://phys.org/news239288914.html Technology Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:08:43 EST news239288914 The Czech Republic is poised to build on its position as central Europe's nuclear hub, seeking greater energy security and shrugging off the concerns of environmentalists and other opponents. http://phys.org/news239241726.html Technology Mon, 31 Oct 2011 01:02:14 EST news239241726 While they may have similar environmental aims, the Swedish electricity market's two policy instruments -- tradable green certificates and carbon emissions allowances -- are not easy bedfellows. Although straightforward at first glance, the green certificate system turns out, on closer inspection, to be highly complicated and extremely obscure in terms of its effects, especially when combined with carbon emissions allowances. Such is the opinion of Anna Widerberg, economics researcher at the University of Gothenburg, in her recently presented thesis on how the two policy instruments together affect the Swedish electricity market. http://phys.org/news236957972.html Other Sciences Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:39:40 EST news236957972 Shares in Spain's Gamesa, one of the world's top wind turbine makers, closed sharply higher Tuesday after it announced a new contract with a Chinese firm that is part of a surge in clear energy investments in China. http://phys.org/news236350184.html Technology Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:50:39 EST news236350184 The discovery of a fundamental, previously unknown property of microbial nanowires in the bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens that allows electron transport across long distances could revolutionize nanotechnology and bioelectronics, says a team of physicists and microbiologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. http://phys.org/news231943377.html Nanotechnology Sun, 07 Aug 2011 13:43:29 EST news231943377 The South African government on Thursday opened a bidding process for private companies to launch "green" energy projects to feed the national grid, in a bid to improve the power supply. http://phys.org/news231691147.html Technology Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:20:02 EST news231691147 An annual report published by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) shows that despite a troublesome worldwide economy over the past year, international investment in renewable energy sources continues to be strong. http://phys.org/news231059652.html Technology Thu, 28 Jul 2011 08:14:40 EST news231059652 How does the power output from solar panels fluctuate when the clouds roll in? And can researchers predict these fluctuations? UC San Diego Professor Jan Kleissl and Matthew Lave, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Jacobs School, have found the answer to these questions. They also have developed a software program that allows power grid managers to easily predict fluctuations in the solar grid caused by changes in the cloud cover. The program uses a solar variability law Lave discovered. http://phys.org/news227882918.html Technology Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:48:54 EST news227882918 Nuclear power is still a viable source of global energy despite the crisis in Japan, the OECD chief said Monday. http://phys.org/news227762749.html Technology Mon, 20 Jun 2011 04:25:59 EST news227762749 As America struggles down the road toward a coherent energy policy that focuses on a higher degree of self-reliance, policymakers face numerous issues and realities. These include: the finite supply and environmental impact of fossil fuels, the feasibility and costs to implement a widespread switch to renewable energy sources, and the variables that lead to consumers' preferences for particular types of power generation. http://phys.org/news227190149.html Technology Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:22:42 EST news227190149 (PhysOrg.com) -- From renewable energy sources to pharmaceuticals, iodide ions are a common actor, and now, thanks to scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the ion's behavior can be better predicted. By considering electrons' subtler choices about where to reside, Dr. Chris Mundy and Dr. Marcel Baer showed the negatively charged iodine ion congregates at the air-water interface. However, the ions gather at a lower concentration than previously predicted. http://phys.org/news226749119.html Chemistry Wed, 08 Jun 2011 10:52:12 EST news226749119 (PhysOrg.com) -- Conversion to renewable energy sources like wind and sun is only a question of time. Because wind and solar radiation vary in strength, the increase in renewable energy sources will cause significant fluctuations in the power grid. These must be absorbed by energy storage systems. This need could be fulfilled by a device known as a supercapacitor. http://phys.org/news226657830.html Nanotechnology Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:00:01 EST news226657830 To make solar cells a competitive alternative to other renewable energy sources, researchers are investigating different alternatives. A step in the right direction is through new processes that change the surfaces of silicon solar cells. By creating different nanostructures on the surfaces, the energy harvesting properties of solar cells can be improved. http://phys.org/news225619155.html Nanotechnology Thu, 26 May 2011 08:59:31 EST news225619155 Japan will have ten million solar-powered homes, Prime Minister Naoto Kan pledged Wednesday, as the country makes a major push in coming years towards renewable energy following its nuclear crisis. http://phys.org/news225552789.html Technology Wed, 25 May 2011 14:33:21 EST news225552789 The Swiss government on Wednesday recommended to parliament that the country's five nuclear power plants should not be replaced as they age, leaving them to be phased out by 2034. http://phys.org/news225552712.html Technology Wed, 25 May 2011 14:32:15 EST news225552712 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the next 40 years, California's population is expected to surge from 37 million to 55 million and the demand for energy is expected to double. Given those daunting numbers, can California really reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, as required by an executive order? Scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who co-wrote a new report on California's energy future are optimistic that the target can be achieved, though not without bold policy and behavioral changes as well as some scientific innovation. http://phys.org/news225461934.html Technology Tue, 24 May 2011 13:20:01 EST news225461934 (PhysOrg.com) -- The noise that we produce can be a lot of things. It can be a valid means of communication. It can be an annoyance when you are trying to get to bed at night. It can be a migraine waiting to happen, and depending on who you ask, it can even be a form of pollution. But, could that annoying loud man next to you on the subway, or your can't keep it down neighbors TV, be a potential source of renewable-energy? http://phys.org/news224255075.html Technology Tue, 10 May 2011 14:04:58 EST news224255075 A major new report by the United Nations-supported Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) launched today underscores the incredible environmental and social advantages of a future powered by renewable energy over the next decades, WWF said. http://phys.org/news224254615.html Technology Tue, 10 May 2011 13:57:06 EST news224254615 Scientists are reporting development of a new battery that extracts and stores energy produced from the difference in saltiness at the point where freshwater in rivers flows into oceans. A report on the battery, which could supply about 13 percent of the world's energy needs, appears in ACS' journal Nano Letters. http://phys.org/news222516781.html Nanotechnology Wed, 20 Apr 2011 11:13:15 EST news222516781 After years of neglect, scientists and policy makers are focusing more attention on developing technologies needed to make the so-called "green grid" possible, according to an article in ACS' Chemical Reviews. That's the much-needed future electrical grid, an interconnected network for delivering solar and wind-based electricity from suppliers to consumers. http://phys.org/news221918422.html Chemistry Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:00:36 EST news221918422 Germany's cabinet approved a draft law on storing carbon dioxide underground on Wednesday after months of debate as Europe's top economy wrangles over energy policy following Japan's nuclear disaster. http://phys.org/news221906341.html Space & Earth Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:39:11 EST news221906341 A global scare sparked by Japan's stumbling efforts to contain a nuclear crisis is encouraging promoters of renewable energy, but defenders of atomic power insist it has a long-term future. http://phys.org/news221281965.html Technology Wed, 06 Apr 2011 04:13:08 EST news221281965 Medical and military leaders have come together today to warn that climate change not only spells a global health catastrophe, but also threatens global stability and security. http://phys.org/news221279804.html Space & Earth Wed, 06 Apr 2011 03:36:59 EST news221279804