http://phys.org/technology-news/energy-green-tech/ en-us PhysOrg Team Phys.Org provides the latest news on energy sciences and green technology, energy technology, energy renovation, alternative energy, and green energy. A new Purdue University-developed process for creating biofuels has shown potential to be cost-effective for production scale, opening the door for moving beyond the laboratory setting. http://phys.org/news258044432.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-06-04T16:00:50-07:00 A Swiss adventurer aims to make the world's first intercontinental flight in a solar-powered plane Tuesday, taking off from Madrid shortly before dawn on a daring trip to Rabat. http://phys.org/news258042211.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-06-04T15:23:38-07:00 (Phys.org) -- How can we make nuclear waste safe for millennia? Fundamental research led by the University of Cambridge will help find the answers. http://phys.org/news258016148.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-06-04T08:09:17-07:00 Panasonic Corporation announced today that it will start in June mass-production of a compact, secure and long-life lithium-ion battery system the company has developed for European homes. This marks the first time for the company to produce in volume such a system designed for Europe. http://phys.org/news258013989.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-06-04T07:33:30-07:00 A University of Adelaide scientist believes it is inevitable that Australia will become a user of the world's most advanced nuclear power technology, if the country is serious about cutting carbon emissions. http://phys.org/news258007331.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-06-04T05:42:28-07:00 (AP) — Fisker Automotive is expanding a recall of its 2012 plug-in hybrid Karma because of potential problems with the electric car's battery. http://phys.org/news257922139.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-06-03T06:02:37-07:00 Individual homes and entire neighborhoods could be powered with a new, small-scale solid oxide fuel cell system that achieves up to 57 percent efficiency, significantly higher than the 30 to 50 percent efficiencies previously reported for other solid oxide fuel cell systems of its size, according to a study published in this month's issue of Journal of Power Sources. http://phys.org/news257703279.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-31T17:14:57-07:00 Sharp Corporation has achieved the world’s highest solar cell conversion efficiency of 43.5% using a concentrator triple-junction compound solar cell. These solar cells are used in a lens-based concentrator system that focuses sunlight on the cells to generate electricity. http://phys.org/news257667549.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-31T07:19:24-07:00 The Swiss sun-powered aircraft Solar Impulse is waiting for weather conditions to improve before continuing on its first transcontinental flight, organisers said Wednesday. http://phys.org/news257609217.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-30T15:07:02-07:00 Japan on Wednesday inched closer to re-starting idle nuclear reactors, just weeks after the last one was switched off amid public disquiet following the disaster at Fukushima. http://phys.org/news257595570.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-30T11:20:04-07:00 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/news257586593.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-30T08:50:46-07:00 (Phys.org) -- Wind energy lowers carbon emissions, but adding turbines to the current grid system does not eliminate emissions proportionally, according to a report by researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory. http://phys.org/news257578242.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-30T06:30:50-07:00 (Phys.org) -- Solar power plants in Germany have set a new record. “Never before anywhere has a country produced as much photovoltaic electricity," said Norbert Allnoch, Germany’s director of the Institute of the Renewable Energy Industry in Muenster. The plants peaked at 22 gigawatts of output for a few hours over the weekend, on Friday and Saturday. The numbers are important in that they yielded almost half the country's energy mid-day electricity needs. The 22 gigawatts is up from 14 GW a year ago. Also, this 22 gigawatts of output is equal to about 20 nuclear plants. http://phys.org/news257574388.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-30T05:26:43-07:00 It's often said that knowledge is power. Knowledge about power is what drives Opower, a 5-year-old online customer engagement platform. http://phys.org/news257504602.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-29T10:40:01-07:00 Does that old Honda in your driveway need a valve job? Transform it with an electric conversion. A team at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh has come up with a kit to make your 2001-2005 Civic a zero-emission battery car. Converting an existing car instead of buying a new one is good for the planet, and the old beater will have a new lease on life. http://phys.org/news257501918.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-29T09:30:01-07:00 Consumers could save on power bills thanks to an energy saving solution devised by two savvy students at the University of Sydney's Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies. http://phys.org/news257486500.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-29T05:01:46-07:00 The Swiss sun-powered aircraft Solar Impulse has been delayed by strong winds during a stop-off on its first planned intercontinental flight, organisers said on Monday. http://phys.org/news257426956.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-28T12:30:56-07:00 Fuel efficiency was the most important car-purchase factor for 37 percent of those surveyed in the new Consumer Reports National Research Center car-owner survey. http://phys.org/news257414335.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-28T11:00:01-07:00 You've got a smartphone and maybe a smart TV, and may have heard that smart refrigerators are in the works. Next up: the smart home. http://phys.org/news257413869.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-28T10:30:01-07:00 Thanks to TV shows such as The Jetsons and Star Trek, many Americans grew up dreaming that homes of the future would be equipped with fantastic high-tech features. From automatic food dispensers to sliding doors, to Rosie the Robot doing the household chores, the imagined homes of the future seemed to be driven by an unlimited supply of energy. http://phys.org/news257408333.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-28T07:19:01-07:00 (Phys.org) -- Swiss researchers at EPFL have developed a device intended for monitoring and saving the energy consumed by large data centers. It was developed in collaboration with Credit Suisse, which has used it to equip the power of its server racks. http://phys.org/news257407552.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-28T07:06:00-07:00 Alaska has massive hydro, wind, geothermal and other renewable resources, but the state's rural villages are chained to diesel and suffer oppressive energy costs they say threaten their existence. Lawmakers, energy experts and Native leaders said Thursday it's a dire problem with elusive solutions. http://phys.org/news257159726.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-25T10:50:01-07:00 Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers have created a man-made oasis in the desert with the successful application of a solar-powered desalination system that provides water for irrigation in arid regions. The project was made possible with support from American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU). http://phys.org/news257155810.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-25T09:26:37-07:00 ... And now they have the data to prove it.  The middle of Lake Michigan is a vast, untapped reservoir of wind energy. The next step will be to find out if it can be harvested economically without harming the environment. http://phys.org/news257152414.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-25T08:13:44-07:00 President Barack Obama urged Congress on Thursday to extend tax credits for clean energy companies the White House says are responsible for some 37,000 jobs. http://phys.org/news257133619.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-25T03:00:27-07:00 The Swiss sun-powered aircraft Solar Impulse landed safely in Madrid early Friday at the end of the first leg of its attempt at an intercontinental flight without using a drop of fuel. http://phys.org/news257133278.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-25T02:58:06-07:00 Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs plans to invest $40 billion into projects linked to renewable energy over the next decade, a company spokesman said Thursday. http://phys.org/news257132681.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-25T02:44:48-07:00 (Phys.org) -- The Santa Barbara, California, company, HyperSolar, is set to transparently share the ups and downs of its research experiences toward the company’s ultimate vision, successfully producing renewable hydrogen. The company is setting down experiences with their own development processes. The company this week reported an achievement, in that it was able to announce that its first proof of concept prototype is successfully producing renewable hydrogen. http://phys.org/news257093425.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-24T15:50:37-07:00 The Swiss sun-powered aircraft Solar Impulse on Thursday took off for Morocco on its first intercontinental flight attempt without using a drop of fuel. http://phys.org/news257080574.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-24T12:16:21-07:00 (Phys.org) -- The limitations of conventional and current solar cells include high production cost, low operating efficiency and durability, and many cells rely on toxic and scarce materials. Northwestern University researchers have developed a new solar cell that, in principle, will minimize all of these solar energy technology limitations. http://phys.org/news256995859.html Technology - Energy & Green Tech 2012-05-23T13:00:09-07:00