Related topics: energy

Charging an electric car as fast as filling a tank of gas

Electric cars will only be truly competitive when it doesn't take longer to charge them than it does to fill a gas tank. The storage capacity of batteries is improving exponentially, but the power grid is the weak link: how ...

Climate change may overload US electrical grid: study

As the planet warms due to climate change and hot days become more common, the US electrical grid could be unable to meet peak energy needs by century's end, researchers warned Monday.

New battery design could help solar and wind power the grid

(Phys.org) —Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have designed a low-cost, long-life battery that could enable solar and wind energy to become ...

New sensor for measuring electric field strength

Accurately measuring electric fields is important in a variety of applications, such as weather forecasting, process control on industrial machinery, or ensuring the safety of people working on high-voltage power lines. Yet ...

Getting ready for the next big solar storm

(PhysOrg.com) -- In Sept. 1859, on the eve of a below-average1 solar cycle, the sun unleashed one of the most powerful storms in centuries. The underlying flare was so unusual, researchers still aren't sure how to categorize ...

New battery design could give electric vehicles a jolt

A radically new approach to the design of batteries, developed by researchers at MIT, could provide a lightweight and inexpensive alternative to existing batteries for electric vehicles and the power grid. The technology ...

General Electric Plans Net-Zero Energy Home by 2015

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using solar panels, wind turbines, appliance monitoring, and on-site energy storage, General Electric has a plan to enable homeowners to cut their annual energy consumption (from the electric grid) to zero, ...

Going off grid: Researchers tackle rural electrification

More than 300 million people in India have no access to grid electricity, and the problem is especially acute in rural communities, which can be difficult and expensive to reach with grid power.

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