Tag: new energy news

Indian wind turbine manufacturers and project developers have been advised by the government to make efforts to increase annual capacity addition to five times its current level, a leading Indian newspaper has reported. The new Indian government is looking to promote aggressive investment in the wind energy sector after it re-introduced financial incentives in this year’s budget. The current rate

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Vivian Li, assistant professor in the Department of Design and Merchandising, and William Sanford, associate professor in the Department of Geosciences, are trying to find patterns in how certain nanoparticles move underground. If successful, they could train the nanoparticles to indicate when specific chemicals are present in the subsurface, including those found in underground water deposits. These modified “smart” nanoparticles,

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Stanford University Professor Hongjie Dai has developed an emissions-free electrolytic device that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen at room temperature. In 2015, American consumers will finally be able to purchase fuel cell cars from Toyota and other manufacturers. Although touted as zero-emissions vehicles, most of the cars will run on hydrogen made from natural gas, a fossil fuel that

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China is the world’s top energy consumer, with the vast majority of its electricity coming from domestically-mined coal. But the Asian nation is cutting its dependence on coal, oil and natural gas and replacing it with solar at a breakneck pace. Between January and the end of June, China added 3.3 gigawatts of solar capacity, double the additions over the

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When Mercedes-Benz contacted me last month to ask whether I would be interested in driving its new B-class electric, I thought they were either too sure of themselves or foolish. Why else would they ask a self-proclaimed Tesla fanboy to reconsider his “breakup” with them? In February 2013, I wrote that after driving my Model S, I couldn’t drive my

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Michigan battery company Sakti3, a spinout of the University of Michigan, which is financed by the worlds top cleantech fund, Khosla Ventures, and the worlds largest automotive investor, General Motors Ventures, has claimed that the company’s solid state battery will be able to double the range of an electric car. The solid state batteries would enable a vehicle like the

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Sanken Electric Co., Ltd. has developed a mixed-signal microcontroller unit (MCU), the MD6602, that is targeted for use in digitally-controlled power supplies and other applications. Samples of the new MCU are available for shipment beginning mid-October 2014 at 500 yen. The production of new MCU will start in March 2015 and 50,000 pieces per month will be shipped initially. To

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WeCycle has launched a free app for iPhones (and soon Android devices) that automatically detects multiple modes of transport and crowdsources information about one’s travel patterns. With this app, cyclists will help make urban areas friendlier and safer. The app shows where the town or city needs more investment in bike routes. This new app does that job and more.

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Sub-Saharan Africa is set to see more renewable energy come online this year than it has in the previous 14 years, proof that the region is becoming one of the most exciting markets to watch for renewable energy technologies such as onshore wind, small-scale and utility-scale solar, and geothermal power. This is according to new research from Bloomberg New Energy

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Honestly, this one wasn’t planned: last night, I wrote about a new study concluding that until EV battery costs get down to $100 per kWh, most US consumers would be better off going with an electric car with less than 100 miles of range rather than splurging for a long-range electric car. Now, battery startup Sakti3 is saying that its

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