Algae power goes practical. A pair of Missouri universities and electric companies plan to use the carbon dioxide pollution from coal-fired power plants for algae growth that could be further processed for biofuel.This project plans to employ a relatively small portion of carbon emissions for growth of algae.The science behind the use of algae for biofuel processing has been around for some time .From 1978 to 1996, the U.S. Department of Energy funded a program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., to develop renewable transportation fuels from algae.However of late there has been a renewed effort into finding eco-friendly ways of cultivating the same , to mitigate environmental damage.
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Algae Power From Carbon Emissions in Missouri
Srikant Rajan -
Solar Power Goes Nano
Srikant RajanNow solar goes miniature.scientists at US Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory ,are working to create flexible plastic sheets containing billions of nanoantenna arrays.These would work as an interface for tapping in heat generated by the sun and also heat generated by working of electronic equipment.These nanoantenna’s also act as a medium for cooling of such devices without using any electricity.Essentially these nanoantenna’s absorb the infra red rays given, and reemit them as energy of harmless wavelengths.Lead researcher,Steven Novack says “ Every process in our industrial world creates waste heat . It’s energy that we just throw away “.Novack further adds that such sheets might power common appliances such as hybrid cars and ipods.
The process is unique , however for this to work efficiently the heat drawn from the appliances must be at a constant temperature which in practice is difficult to achieve.The greater heat is drawn ,more the likelihood of decrease in temperature which in turn may lower the efficiency of the device.
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Google Pursuing Geothermal Energy Technology
Srikant RajanGoogle.org the philanthropic arm of Google aims to utilize cutting edge technology for addressing challenges of climate change,poverty and disease.It endeavors to achieve these aims by means of strategic partnerships with experienced enterprises in he respective domains.One of the major initiatives of Google.org, referred to as (Re<Coal) aims to create utility scale electricity from renewable energy that would prove to be more cost economic than coal.In order to archive this aim senior Google executives recently met up with counterparts from Ormat to discuss about the viability of geothermal energy.Ormat is one of the major companies actively pursuing geothermal energy technology,and has recently announced a test of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) technology, to be executed in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Google .org and Ormat aim to advance legislation for advanced geothermal technology development budgets from the US government in the coming years.Larry Page,co -founder Google is confident of producing one Gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy , cheaper than coal in the coming years.
