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DOE, partners test commercial geothermal technology in Nevada
Geothermal energy attracts more and more attention, and for good reason: One cubic kilometer of hot granite at 250 degrees centigrade has the stored energy equivalent of 40 million barrels of oil
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TSA lab's new concept in airport security: Tunnel of Truth
Futuristic vision of airport security would see passengers stand on a conveyor belt moving under an archway as different sensors scan them for weapons, bombs, and other prohibited items; no need to take the shoes off; by the time they step out of the tunnel, they have been thoroughly checked out
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Cleaner water through nanotechnology
As global warming causes more and more countries to have less and less fresh water for human consumption and irrigation, the purification and re-use of contaminated water becomes more urgent; Aussie researchers offer a nanotechnology-based method to purify water which is more effective and cheaper than conventional water purification methods
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Utility plans first U.S. coal-fired plant to capture CO2
Tenaska proposes a new 600-megawatt, coal-fired power plant in Texas which would be the first to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions underground
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Blinding flashlight developed as new law enforcement tool
California company, working with DHS funds, develops a blinding flash light which may well replace taser guns, pepper spray, and rubber bullets as law enforcement’s non-lethal weapon of choice
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U.K. energy company to demonstrate its oxyfuel technology
Oxyfuel combustion is the process of firing a fossil-fueled power plant with an oxygen-enriched gas mix instead of air; oxyfuel combustion produces a CO2-rich flue gas ready for sequestration
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Graduate student invents gravity lamp
Virginia Tech engineering student wins second place in a Greener Gadgets Conference competition for inventing a floor lamp powered by gravity; lamp can last 200 years
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Protecting against cosmic radiation effects on aviation microelectronics
Cosmic radiation has a deleterious effect on aviation microelectronics — the effect on circuitry is 300 times greater at high altitude than at ground level, creating a potential risk to civil and military aircraft; U.K. scientists accelerate the effects of cosmic radiation so they can replicate the effect of thousands of hours of flying time in just a few minutes
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King coal, III: DOE makes case for FutureGen restructuring
The Department of Energy restructures its approach to FutureGen — the ambitious plan to develop clean coal technology which produces hydrogen and electricity and mitigates greenhouse gas emissions
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Nano-bristle clothes to generate power from body motions
Yellow Jackets researcher develops energy-generating fiber: If clothes are made from this piezoelectric fabric, the wearer’s body motions would produce useful amounts of power
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Submersible car to be unveiled
James Bond-inspired underwater car to be unveiled at Geneva show 6 March; vehicle promises to be able to drive on land, float on the surface of the water, and also dive to a depth of 10 meters
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King coal, II: Administration restructures approach to clean coal funding
DOE restructures FutureGen approach; under the new plan, DOE’s investment would provide funding for no more than the carbon capture and storage (CCS) component of the power plant — not the entire plant construction; the original 2003 FutureGen concept called for the federal government to cover 74 percent of the cost of the entire project; DOE requests $648 million in FY2009 budget for coal research, development, and deployment
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Researchers develop "whiskered" robots with rat-like tactile sensitivity
Whiskered robots could be used in a variety of applications — search and rescue, mine-clearing, planetary rovers in space, and domestic applications such as vacuum cleaners
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Ahura Scientific shows handheld FTIR chemical identification device
First responders — but also those in charge of chemical clean-ups, quality control, product verification, raw material inspection, pharmaceutical manufacturing, food production, petrochemical processing, and composite analysis — would welcome this small, light chemical identifier
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King coal, I: U.S. ends FutureGen funding; clean coal future unclear
The Bush administration, as part of a new approach to producing clean cole, has ended government participation in the FutureGen project; government says that the private sector can now pick up the tab; the administration unfolds new clean cole initiatives
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The long view
China’s ‘Artificial Sun’: The Holy Grail of Energy
China has achieved a major milestone in its pursuit of commercial nuclear fusion, with two domestically developed superconducting magnets designed for a fusion reactor successfully passing technical acceptance and full-load testing.