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. German Environment Minister Peter Altmaier said Friday his country would never again return to nuclear energy, hitting back at a top EU official who doubted Berlin's commitment to phase out nuclear power. http://phys.org/news276497629.html Technology Fri, 04 Jan 2013 04:53:57 EST news276497629 British renewable energy firm Blue Energy announced Tuesday that it will build a giant solar power plant in Ghana which it claimed will become the biggest in Africa. http://phys.org/news273848015.html Technology Tue, 04 Dec 2012 12:54:08 EST news273848015 Scientists at the University of Liverpool have discovered that proposed offshore renewable energy developments in the English Channel have the potential to affect the foraging behaviour of northern gannets from Alderney in the Channel Islands. http://phys.org/news271673345.html Biology Fri, 09 Nov 2012 08:49:37 EST news271673345 (Phys.org)—Petrol from air at first glance from this week's headlines, claiming scientists have turned fresh air into petrol, looked as if this was yet another over the top claim about a killer solution to solve the environmental crisis and specter of global warming. Still, engineers in the UK believe a small UK company may be on to something real, a synthetic replacement for fossil fuel. A small company in the north of England, Air Fuel Synthesis (AFS), has developed air capture technology to create synthetic petrol. The company has been running a demonstration plant in Stockton-on-Tees where it has produced five liters of petrol since August, manufacturing gasoline from carbon dioxide and water vapor. http://phys.org/news269873650.html Technology Fri, 19 Oct 2012 13:54:26 EST news269873650 There were cheers around Germany when Chancellor Angela Merkel announced last year, in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan, a swift end to nuclear power in favor of renewable energy sources like wind and solar. http://phys.org/news269508555.html Technology Mon, 15 Oct 2012 08:29:24 EST news269508555 (Phys.org)—Researchers at the SCK CEN Belgian Nuclear Research Centre have announced that they are going to build a Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications (MYRRHA) which is an experimental way of producing electricity via a nuclear reactor using a particle accelerator as a neutron source. The benefits of such an approach would mean spent nuclear fuel would have a far shorter half-life than conventional reactor technology methods and increased safety as runaway chain reactions cannot occur. http://phys.org/news267952452.html Technology Thu, 27 Sep 2012 08:14:24 EST news267952452 Researchers at the University of California, Riverside's College of Engineering – Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) are working with the state of California to develop diesel formulations with higher levels of renewable biofuels. http://phys.org/news265477270.html Technology Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:41:15 EST news265477270 (Phys.org)—Most Americans don't have to think much about energy reliability. We plug in a computer and it powers up; we flip a switch and the lights come on. http://phys.org/news265279107.html Technology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 09:38:35 EST news265279107 With cyanobacteria, carbon dioxide and sunlight, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers aims to create a sustainable alternative source of commodity chemicals currently derived from an ever-decreasing supply of fossil fuels. http://phys.org/news265019337.html Chemistry Fri, 24 Aug 2012 09:30:14 EST news265019337 Siemens, working together with European partners, is studying if and how direct current (DC) could be used inside buildings in addition to the usual alternating current (AC). This addition could save energy when used in certain applications, such as in office buildings. It could also be advantageous for the integration of renewable energy sources and for grid stability. The project, known as DC Components and Grid (DCC+G), is funded by a number of European research ministries and will run until spring 2015. http://phys.org/news261994753.html Technology Fri, 20 Jul 2012 09:19:19 EST news261994753 A new biodiesel plant in Cuba -- the first of its type -- is turning seeds from the so-called "bellyache bush" into a green energy source, it was announced Monday. http://phys.org/news261674738.html Technology Mon, 16 Jul 2012 16:25:43 EST news261674738 People living in Glasgow could get around 40% of the energy they need to heat their homes and businesses from tapping into the rocks and water in old abandoned mineshafts and other mine workings beneath the city. http://phys.org/news261218293.html Technology Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:39:05 EST news261218293 Although it's long been suspected that human activity has greatly contributed to environmental stress, it's only recently that science has begun to show just how great a role that activity is playing. http://phys.org/news258637594.html Space & Earth Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:47:03 EST news258637594 Apple says its $1 billion data center in Maiden, N.C., will include a second large solar farm to help power the site entirely by renewable energy by the end of this year. http://phys.org/news256820056.html Technology Mon, 21 May 2012 14:00:03 EST news256820056 Solar power gathered in space could be set to provide the renewable energy of the future thanks to innovative research being carried out by engineers at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. http://phys.org/news256382359.html Technology Wed, 16 May 2012 10:19:42 EST news256382359 Tiny Pacific nations which are most at threat from rising seas have vowed to dump diesel and other dirty expensive fuels blamed for causing global warming and replace them with clean sources. http://phys.org/news255868092.html Technology Thu, 10 May 2012 11:28:19 EST news255868092 Siemens recently put two virtual power plants into operation. Virtual power plants are networks of several small power stations that are run like a single system. One of the new virtual power plants enables the Munich municipal utility company to run six of its cogeneration modules, five hydroelectric facilities, and one wind-power plant more efficiently and economically than if they were operated separately. The facilities have a combined output of 20 megawatts. The second virtual power plant was set up for the utility company RWE and consists of a number of similar components to those in Munich. Although it will initially also have an output of 20 megawatts, the second virtual power plant will be expanded to 200 megawatts by 2015. The key component of each virtual power plant network is the distributed energy management system from Siemens. http://phys.org/news254731843.html Technology Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:51:10 EST news254731843 Public can see the latest progress in a unique, ongoing electromobility research project during the international trade fair MobiliTec, which takes place April 23-27 at the Hannover Messe. Embodied in a sleek, Colani-designed tractor-trailer that looks more like a spaceship than a truck, the project "Diesel Reloaded" aims to demonstrate how paradigm shifts in automotive, energy, and information technologies can help to address major societal trends and needs. The research group, based at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen, is led by Prof. Dr. Gernot Spiegelberg, who has responsibility for electromobility initiatives at Siemens Corporate Technology and is a Rudolf Diesel Industry Fellow of the TUM Institute for Advanced Study. http://phys.org/news253877648.html Technology Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:34:22 EST news253877648 By the year 2020, thousands of kilometers of new grids will be operating in Germany to permit even more extensive use of power from renewable sources. However, these new "smart grids" also come with increased complexity, costs and vulnerability. Fraunhofer researchers developed new software that can be used to analyze and optimize transport grids for electricity, gas and water even at the planning stage, based on numerical simulations. http://phys.org/news252838453.html Technology Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:54:22 EST news252838453 The State of Illinois is facing an important renewable energy deadline in 2025, and Northwestern University's Harold H. Kung has a piece of advice for Springfield to consider now: Investment Tax Credit. http://phys.org/news252246686.html Technology Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:32:06 EST news252246686 From mosques, to homes and streets, Pakistanis are increasingly seeing the light and realising that year-round sun may be a cheap if partial answer to an enormous energy crisis. http://phys.org/news252039877.html Technology Tue, 27 Mar 2012 04:04:55 EST news252039877 A new edition of the Strategic Energy Technologies review has been published. This "2011 Technology Map", produced by the European Commission's in-house science service, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), provides a European and worldwide analysis of 15 low-carbon energy technologies, energy efficiency in industry, energy performance of buildings and electricity storage in the power sector. Compared with the 2009 Technology Map, the steep increase of wind and solar (photovoltaics) generation capacity in the EU and worldwide is to be highlighted. On a global scale, hydropower continues to be the technology most widely used, providing 88% of electricity generated from renewable sources. http://phys.org/news250336764.html Technology Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:59:31 EST news250336764 (PhysOrg.com) -- When it comes to driving hydrogen production, a new catalyst built at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory can do what was previously shown to happen only in nature: store energy in hydrogen and release that energy on demand. This new nickel-based complex drives the reaction but is not consumed by it. While slow, the catalyst wastes little energy. It turns electrons and protons into hydrogen. The hydrogen molecule holds the energy in a very small space until it is needed. The same catalyst then breaks the single bond in the hydrogen molecule, releasing electrons to do work. http://phys.org/news248598084.html Chemistry Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:01:33 EST news248598084 California now gets about 5 percent of its electricity from wind power, according to data released Tuesday by the California Wind Energy Association. http://phys.org/news247822705.html Technology Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:10:01 EST news247822705 Some of the water used worldwide for irrigation comes from renewable sources such as local precipitation, rivers, lakes, and renewable groundwater. But some comes from nonrenewable groundwater sources. http://phys.org/news247247349.html Space & Earth Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:50:01 EST news247247349 Energy-hungry China is tapping its vast shale gas reserves to reduce its reliance on dirty coal and imports, but experts warn its lack of technical expertise and scarce water supplies pose challenges. http://phys.org/news240050414.html Space & Earth Wed, 09 Nov 2011 08:40:22 EST news240050414 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 The technical standard for the first global consumer label for companies to buy wind power and other clean renewable energy has been launched today. http://phys.org/news237711547.html Technology Thu, 13 Oct 2011 07:59:22 EST news237711547 (PhysOrg.com) -- While many are taking to the oceans and trying to find the best ways to harness offshore wind and provide clean energy from renewable sources, the basic design of any wind turbine is that of a windmill. That is until now. The new design in the works is by Ehrnberg Solutions AB, which is owned and operated by Daniel Ehrnberg. Ehrnberg is also the inventor behind this newly designed turbine called SeaTwirl. http://phys.org/news236440431.html Technology Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:54:15 EST news236440431 Wiring systems powered by highly-efficient superconductors have long been a dream of science, but researchers have faced such practical challenges such as finding pliable and cost-effective materials. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University have found a way to make an old idea new with the next generation of superconductors. http://phys.org/news234586095.html Physics Wed, 07 Sep 2011 03:48:33 EST news234586095