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    renewable energy tagged posts

    Solar-Powered Plane Completes Journey across Pacific Ocean

    April 24, 2016, Categories  Environment/Geology, Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Solar-powered plane completes journey across Pacific Ocean

    Solar Impulse 2 flies over San Francisco on Saturday, April 23, 2016. The solar-powered airplane, which is attempting to circumnavigate the globe to promote clean energy and the spirit of innovation, arrived from Hawaii after a three-day journey across the Pacific Ocean. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

    A solar-powered airplane landed in CA on Saturday, completing a risky, 3-day flight across the Pacific Ocean as part of its journey around the world. Pilot Bertrand Piccard landed the Solar Impulse 2 in Mountain View, in the Silicon Valley south of San Francisco, at 11:45 p.m. following a 62-hr, nonstop solo flight without fuel.

    The landing came several hours after the Piccard performed a fly-by over the Golden Gate Bridge as spectators watched the narrow aircraft with extra wide wings from below...

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    Making Biodiesel with Used Cooking Oil and a Microwave

    April 22, 2016, Categories  Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    SiO2 Beads Decorated with SrO Nanoparticles for Biodiesel Production from Waste Cooking Oil Using Microwave Irradiation.

    SiO2 Beads Decorated with SrO Nanoparticles for Biodiesel Production from Waste Cooking Oil Using Microwave Irradiation.

    Weaning cars and trucks off of gasoline and diesel made from fossil fuels is a difficult task. One promising solution involves biodiesel, which comes from natural oils and fats, but it is costly. Using a microwave and catalyst-coated beads, scientists have devised a new way to convert waste cooking oil into biodiesel that could make it more affordable. They report how they did it in ACS’ journal Energy & Fuels.

    Biodiesel has many advantages over traditional fuels. It is renewable, biodegradable and emits less CO2. It can also easily take the place of conventional diesel without the need for carmakers to modify engines...

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    New Artificial Leaf safely creates Fuel from Sunlight and Water with record Efficiency and Stability

    August 29, 2015, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Illustration of an efficient, robust and integrated solar-driven prototype featuring protected photoelectrochemical assembly coupled with oxygen and hydrogen evolution reaction catalysts. [View full size] Credit: Image provided courtesy of Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis; artwork by Darius Siwek. - See more at: http://www.caltech.edu/news/artificial-leaf-harnesses-sunlight-efficient-fuel-production-47635#sthash.l86JNzpe.dpuf

    Illustration of an efficient, robust and integrated solar-driven prototype featuring protected photoelectrochemical assembly coupled with oxygen and hydrogen evolution reaction catalysts. [View full size] Credit: Image provided courtesy of Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis; artwork by Darius Siwek. – See more at: http://www.caltech.edu/news/artificial-leaf-harnesses-sunlight-efficient-fuel-production-47635#sthash.l86JNzpe.dpuf

    The new Artificial Leaf JCAP system has 3 main components: 2 electrodes–one photoanode and one photocathode, and a membrane. The photoanode uses sunlight to oxidize water molecules, generating protons and electrons as well as oxygen gas. The photocathode recombines the protons and electrons to form H2...

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    Molecular Fuel Cell Catalysts hold promise for Efficient Energy Storage

    July 17, 2015, Categories  Chemistry/Nanotechnology, Physics, Technology/Electronics

    A team of chemists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has introduced a new fuel cell catalyst approach that uses a molecular catalyst system instead of solid catalysts. Credit: Stahl Group/University of Wisconsin-Madison.

    A team of chemists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has introduced a new fuel cell catalyst approach that uses a molecular catalyst system instead of solid catalysts.
    Credit: Stahl Group/University of Wisconsin-Madison.

    Instead of expensive platinum etc, a metal-free alternative catalyst for fuel cells may be at hand. A team of chemists from University of Wisconsin-Madison introduces a new approach that uses a molecular catalyst system instead of solid catalysts. Although molecular catalysts have been explored before, earlier examples were much less efficient than the traditional platinum catalyst.

    A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electricity by reacting H2 and O2 at 2 different electrodes. A catalyst makes the reaction more efficient.
    Prof Stahl and scientist Gerken took...

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