IRENA: Outdated thinking curbing green energy momentum
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UPI) Sep 8, 2014 -
The director of the International Renewable Energy Agency said Monday from Abu Dhabi an outdated energy mentality was hurting the global climate.
"A convergence of social, economic and environmental forces is transforming the global energy system as we know it," IRENA Director-General Adnan Amin said in a statement. "But if we continue on the path we are currently on and fuel our growin ...
more
Sun-powered desalination for villages in India
Boston MA (SPX) Sep 09, 2014 -
Around the world, there is more salty groundwater than fresh, drinkable groundwater. For example, 60 percent of India is underlain by salty water - and much of that area is not served by an electric grid that could run conventional reverse-osmosis desalination plants.
Now an analysis by MIT researchers shows that a different desalination technology called electrodialysis, powered by solar ...
more
Stealth wind turbines to become operational in France in 2015
Moscow (Voice of Russia) Sep 08, 2014 -
A French company has begun producing stealth wind turbines that mask low-altitude airborne objects and therefore do not interfere with radars. Some elements of the renewable power generators have been borrowed from modern fighter jets.
France's EDF Energies Nouvelles, a 'green energy' branch of the state-controlled EDF Group, has announced the production of the towers, which minimize inter ...
more
China August trade surplus hits fresh record of $49.8 bn
Beijing (AFP) Sept 08, 2014 -
China's trade surplus surged to a record $49.8 billion in August, figures showed Monday, as imports saw a surprising fall and export growth slowed in a further sign of softness in the world's second-largest economy.
The mixed bag of data from the General Administration of Customs follows a string of figures showing continued weakness in the economy, fanning expectations the government will u ...
more
Cutting fossil subsidies must to advance renewables: agency
Paris (AFP) Sept 07, 2014 -
Renewable energy, essential for meeting global CO2 emission targets, needs a stable regulatory framework, a cut in fossil fuel subsidies and more interconnected power grids to develop, a global energy agency said Sunday.
The development of renewable energy will lead to a "new industrial paradigm" for electricity production, as it should expand by 70 percent globally between 2011 and 2030, ac ...
more
Japan's first female industry chief visits Fukushima plant
Tokyo (AFP) Sept 07, 2014 -
Japan's new industry minister Yuko Obuchi on Sunday visited the disaster-stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, days after assuming her new post.
Obuchi, a 40-year-old mother of two, was tapped by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week as the country's first female minister of economy, trade and industry, overseeing the power sector.
"For Japan's future and Fukushima's reconstruction, the ...
more
First-ever look inside a working lithium-ion battery
Columbus OH (SPX) Sep 09, 2014 -
For the first time, researchers have been able to open a kind of window into the inner workings of a lithium-ion battery. Using a neutron beam, chemists and engineers at The Ohio State University were able to track the flow of lithium atoms into and out of an electrode in real time as a battery charged and discharged.
The study, published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edit ...
more
Co-flowing liquids can stabilize chaotic 'whipping' in microfluidic jets
Atlanta GA (SPX) Sep 09, 2014 -
Industrial wet spinning processes produce fibers from polymers and other materials by using tiny needles to eject continuous jets of liquid precursors. The electrically charged liquids ejected from the needles normally exhibit a chaotic "whipping" structure as they enter a secondary liquid that surrounds the microscopic jets.
But the liquid jets sometimes form a helical wave. And that was ...
more
Live from inside a battery
Munich, Germany (SPX) Sep 05, 2014 -
Lithium-ion batteries are seen as a solution for energy storage of the future and have become indispensible, especially in electromobility. Their key advantage is that they are able to store large amounts of energy but are still comparatively light and compact. However, when metallic lithium forms and deposits during charging it can lead to a reduced battery lifespan and even short-circuits.
...
more
International Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Data Goes Public
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 05, 2014 -
The most accurate and comprehensive collection of rain, snowfall and other types of precipitation data ever assembled now is available to the public. This new resource for climate studies, weather forecasting, and other applications is based on observations by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, a joint mission of NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), w ...
more
Mantle plumes crack continents
Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Sep 09, 2014 -
In some parts of the Earth, material rises upwards like a column from the boundary layer of the Earth's core and the lower mantel to just below the Earth's crust hundreds of kilometres above. Halted by the resistance of the hard crust and lithospheric mantle, the flow of material becomes wider, taking on a mushroom-like shape. Specialists call these magma columns "mantle plumes" or simply "plume ...
more
Trinity geologists re-write Earth's evolutionary history books
Dublin, Ireland (SPX) Sep 09, 2014 -
Geologists from Trinity College Dublin have rewritten the evolutionary history books by finding that oxygen-producing life forms were present on Earth some 3 billion years ago - a full 60 million years earlier than previously thought. These life forms were responsible for adding oxygen (O2) to our atmosphere, which laid the foundations for more complex life to evolve and proliferate.
Worki ...
more
Brown Tide Algae Exploit Nutrient-Rich Coastlines
New York NY (SPX) Sep 09, 2014 -
The sea-grass beds of Long Island's Great South Bay once teemed with shellfish. Clams, scallops and oysters filtered nutrients from the water and flushed money through the local economy. But three decades after the algae that cause brown tides first appeared here, much of the sea grass and the bounty it used to provide is gone.
Spring on eastern Long Island is now marked by dense blooms of ...
more
New approaches for Ebola virus therapeutics
Liverpool, UK (SPX) Sep 09, 2014 -
Researchers from the University of Liverpool, in collaboration with Public Health England, have investigated new ways to identify drugs that could be used to treat Ebola virus infection.
They looked at what proteins inside a cell are critical for the functions of Ebola virus and are hijacked by the virus to help with infection.
One of the proteins they have targeted is known as VP24. ...
more
Ethanol fireplaces: the underestimated risk
Munich, Germany (SPX) Sep 05, 2014 -
Ethanol fireplaces are becoming more and more popular. However, they are not only highly combustible - in the past, severe accents have occurred repeatedly with decorative fireplaces. The devices also pollute the air in the rooms. This has been proven by a recent Fraunhofer study. Wood-burning ovens are also on the testing block.
Go to the DIY-market in the morning, buy the fireplace, and ...
more
Breakthrough for Carbon Nanotube Solar Cells
Evanston IL (SPX) Sep 05, 2014 -
Lighter, more flexible, and cheaper than conventional solar-cell materials, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have long shown promise for photovoltaics. But research stalled when CNTs proved to be inefficient, converting far less sunlight into power than other methods.
Now a research team led by Mark Hersam, professor of materials science and engineering and the Bette and Neison Harris Chair of Teac ...
more
China's Alibaba eyes record-breaking IPO
New York (AFP) Sept 05, 2014 -
Chinese online marketplace Alibaba unveiled plans Friday to raise up to $24.3 billion in what could be the biggest stock flotation in history.
The company told US regulators it would offer some 320 million shares in a range of $60 to $66 per share. An option will be available for 48 million additional shares.
The plan would raise a minimum of $19.2 billion even if the option for addition ...
more
Apple supplier in China accused of abuses
San Francisco (AFP) Sept 05, 2014 -
A Chinese factory that supplies Apple with parts has been operating with violations of basic standards for health, safety and environmental protection, an investigative report said Thursday.
China Labor Watch and Green America itemized their findings in a 25-page report based on an investigation in August of a Catcher Technology plant in the city of Suqian.
Asked about the report, Apple ...
more
Panama, Suez, Nicaragua canal schemes miss trade boat: analysts
London (AFP) Sept 07, 2014 -
Vast projects to expand the Suez and Panama canals are being talked up as the biggest upheaval for decades in global maritime traffic, but experts say they could be outflanked by a trade shift towards Asia.
In recent years, freight traffic travelling from Asia to the east coast of the United States has increasingly circumvented the Panama Canal and its restrictions on ship size in favour of ...
more
New phase of MH370 search to start in 2 weeks: Australia
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Sept 06, 2014 -
An intensified underwater search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 will start in about two weeks' time, Australian premier Tony Abbott said Saturday as he visited Malaysia to discuss the issue.
Abbott said the hunt for the jet, which inexplicably veered off its Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route on March 8 with 239 people aboard, would continue for as long as necessary.
Australia has be ...
more
Motorola puts smartwatch on sale, upgrades phones
Washington (AFP) Sept 05, 2014 -
Motorola kicked off sales of its new smartwatch Friday, in a series of product launches which could be the last before the Google-owned electronics firm is sold to China's Lenovo.
The company said its Moto 360 watch, which uses the Android Wear platform from Google for wearable technology, was going on sale starting at $249 for US customers.
Motorola also unveiled upgraded versions of it ...
more
Aircraft emissions to be regulated by EPA
Washington (UPI) Sep 5, 2014 -
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to issue a finding of endangerment for greenhouse gas emissions from commercial aircraft.
According to a rule making report, issued by the agency this week, the proposal will be released in April 2015.
An endangerment proposal, if approved, would act as an official acknowledgement by the EPA that aircraft emissions are harmful to public h ...
more
Australia, India sign long-awaited civil nuclear deal
New Delhi (AFP) Sept 05, 2014 -
Conservative leaders Tony Abbott and Narendra Modi sealed a long-awaited nuclear energy deal on Friday, paving the way for Australia to sell uranium to India, crippled by power shortages and blackouts.
The two prime ministers hailed the deal as "a concrete symbol" of strengthening trade and strategic ties following their talks in the Indian capital.
The agreement signing came at the end ...
more
Tesla picks Nevada for $5 bln battery plant
Los Angeles (AFP) Sept 05, 2014 -
US electric automaker Tesla Motors is to build the world's largest lithium-ion battery plant in Nevada, the state's governor announced Thursday, unveiling plans for the five-billion-dollar "Gigafactory."
The plant, plans for which were announced in July with Japanese electronics giant Panasonic, will bring nearly $100 billion dollars into Nevada's economy over the next 20 years, he said.
...
more
Apple: watching for new directions
San Francisco (AFP) Sept 07, 2014 -
Apple's mystery unveiling on Tuesday is expected to be a watershed moment for the California giant - and the entire tech industry. Here are key things to watch for:
- Can Tim Cook step up? -
Chief executive Tim Cook will seek to vanquish the notion that Apple lost its magic when its famed co-founder Steve Jobs died.
Cook could help Apple establish its dominance in a new category wi ...
more
