Renewable energy generation is expected to increase somewhere between 30 to 76%, with between 81-95% of new electric capacity

 Energy Information Administration projects that electric vehicles will “account for between 29% and 54% of global new vehicle sales by 2050” with China and Western Europe leading the market for these vehicles 

 

Photosystem II molecule, which plays a central role in photosynthesis |

Using ultrafast imaging of moving energy in photosynthesis, scientists have determined the speed of crucial processes for the first time. This will help scientists understand how nature has perfected the process of photosynthesis, and how this might be imitated to produce fuels by artificial photosynthesis.     Read More |

 FUEL FOR LIFE

There is intense interest in creating artificial photosynthesis as an alternative energy source |

Identification of a gene needed to expand light harvesting in photosynthesis into the far-red-light spectrum provides clues to the development of oxygen-producing photosynthesis, an evolutionary advance that changed the history of life on Earth. “Knowledge of how photosynthesis evolved could empower scientists to design better ways to use light energy for the benefit of humankind,” said Donald A. Bryant, the Ernest C. Pollard Professor of Biotechnology and professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State University and the leader of the research team that made the discovery.
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Energy, Climate And Society |

Many technical fixes for this problem have been explored, but these studies often rely on stylized assumptions about the ways individuals, communities, countries and companies behave. An integrated approach that engages the social sciences alongside the physical and natural sciences and engineering will be necessary if society is to clean up energy production, cut consumption and ensure that humans interact with energy systems in a sustainable way.

Sunlight Striking Earth’s Surface in One Hour Delivers Enough Energy to Power World Economy for the Entire Year

In April 1954, top scientists gathered in Washington, D.C., to hear something new: voice and music broadcast by a solar-powered radio transmitter. Scientists at Bell Labs in New Jersey were demonstrating their invention, the first practical solar cell, which was made of silicon. This breakthrough paved the way for the solar revolution taking place today on rooftops and in massive ground-mounted solar farms around the world. Read More |

As solar power installations spread, it is worth remembering a point often made in the energy literature to convey the sheer scale of the solar resource: The sunlight striking the Earth’s surface in just one hour delivers enough energy to power the world economy for one year.

SolaRoad cycle path electricity yield exceeds expectations |

Looking to the future, TNO project manager Wim ven der Poel said, "Using this energy to charge electric cars while they are driving over the road is a beautiful dream, which might become reality. SolaRoad acts as a step towards a closed ecosystem. From mobility through energy back to mobility – which makes the circle complete." Read More |

Plant-e Generates Energy from Living Plants |

Living plants generate electricity; more specifically, energy can come in the form of a byproduct of photosynthesis in plants. All that is needed is light, carbon dioxide and water. Plant-e is a company that builds on that potential source of energy, aiming to do business with products that can generate electricity from plants. Read More |

Physics - The science of matter, energy and their interactions; is it in need of a revolution?

True physics of relativity and quantum mechanics don't get along well.  The two ideas are also incredibly constraining, and they make it challenging for physicists to think outside the box and develop new ideas and theories, Arkani-Hamed said.
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Using solar energy to turn raw materials into ingredients for everyday life |

Just about everything we touch in the course of a day - car, phone, computer, fridge, detergent - even medicines, rely on the chemical industry to turn raw materials such as petroleum by-products, minerals and farm products into valuable chemicals that are the ingredients of life's essential objects.

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Solar fuels as generated by nature

"Synthetic solar fuels open up wide-ranging possibilities for renewable energy technologies, in particular for the transport and infrastructure sectors, which are still reliant on fossil fuels," says Professor Wolfgang Lubitz, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion. "An efficient light-driven, water splitting catalyst based on common metals such as manganese would represent huge progress here. The insight gained into nature's water splitting enzyme through this research has laid the foundations for such developments."
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Hybrid energy transfer system mimics process responsible for photosynthesis

May 27, 2014
Source:
University of Southampton
Summary:
Scientists have developed a new hybrid energy transfer system, which mimics the processes responsible for photosynthesis. From photosynthesis to respiration, the processes of light absorption and its transfer into energy represent elementary and essential reactions that occur in any biological living system.

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Studying crops from space

Source: Carnegie Institution Summary: Plants convert energy from sunlight into chemical energy during a process called photosynthesis. This energy is passed on to humans and animals that eat the plants, and thus photosynthesis is the primary source of energy for all life on Earth. But the photosynthetic activity of various regions is changing due to human interaction with the environment, including climate change, which makes large-scale studies of photosynthetic activity of interest. New research from a team including Carnegie's Joe Berry reveals a fundamentally new approach for measuring photosynthetic activity as it occurs around the planet. It is published this week by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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50 State Plan For Renewable Energy

Stanford University scientist Mark Jacobson has developed a 50-state roadmap for transforming the United States from dependence on fossil fuels to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. He unveiled the plan at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago. “Drastic problems require drastic and immediate solutions,” said Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Our new roadmap is designed to provide each state a first step toward a renewable future.” Hover over each state to see projected energy mix * CLICK HERE FOR THE INTERACTIVE MAP * Read More:

Bike Share with a fresh design and energy |

~New York City

The bike helmet on her head said "Nutcase," and though this was merely the name of the Oregon company that made it, there was something wry and self-aware about Janette Sadik-Khan choosing to wear one on the streets of New York. You had to be a little unhinged and adventurous to have the big vision that Sadik-Khan, New York City's transportation commissioner, brought to this unruly madhouse of a city. Sadik-Khan expected resistance, but the tenor of anger surprised her, especially at its peak a couple of winters ago. She was grateful to the mayor for having her back. She was now philosophical about it. "I think most of the animosity was about fighting change," she said. "Challenge the status quo, and it will push right back."
 Since then Polls now showed strong public support for bike lanes and bike share—in Citi Bike's case, a 73% approval rating after four months of operation. Politicians who had once howled about bike lanes were now using the blue bikes as campaign vehicles. A city was evolving.
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Report Reveals Missed Opportunities to Save Water and Energy

Water and wastewater managers are missing substantial opportunities to save energy and money, according to a report published Wednesday (Sept. 4) by Water in the West, a research center at Stanford University. Story Continues:

Clean energy is a selling point

"This is the beginning of a new chapter in the industrial life of Iceland," Foreign Minister Ossur Skarphedinsson said. "The greatest advantage in the future will be green, renewable energy with no carbon."

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Energy Future lacks staying power:

If we do not aggressively change direction by 2020, it will be too late and we will be taken, by default, down the fossil fuel path. Sure, we have lots and lots of fossil fuel, enough to cover our needs for the next 500 years. Or do we? We geologists know that the concept of peak oil and peak gas referred only to conventional fossil fuel with standard methods of extraction. Peak is now irrelevant in the face of huge reservoirs of the so-called “unconventionals”, i.e., tar sands, gas shales and heavy oils, with the concomitant new methods of extraction to recover them including dangerous solvent injection and hydrofracking. We cannot ignore the horrendous environmental and health costs of a fossil fuel-dominated future because these costs are real and someone has to pay them. These very dirty “unconventionals” will not peak until far into the future, well past the next major global demographic and environmental tipping points that will alter our future beyond recognition.

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Switzerland Nuclear Power Phaseout Approved By Lawmakers

BERN, Switzerland -- Swiss lawmakers approved a proposal Wednesday to phase out the use of nuclear power, a move spurred by election-year politics and growing skepticism over the use of atomic energy.
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Germany to phase out nuclear power..

In their White House press conference Tuesday, President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel stood together on topics ranging from the global economy to Libya.

Yet last week, Chancellor Merkel parted ways with the US on what had been a shared vision of how to maintain thriving economies while reducing greenhouse gases. For both nations, part of that plan had been nuclear power. For Germany, it is no longer.
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Why nuclear power may never supply the world’s energy needs:

The 440 commercial nuclear reactors in use worldwide are currently helping to minimize our consumption of fossil fuels, but how much bigger can nuclear power get? In an analysis to be published in a future issue of the Proceedings of the IEEE, Derek Abbott, Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Adelaide in Australia, has concluded that nuclear power cannot be globally scaled to supply the world’s energy needs for numerous reasons. The results suggest that we’re likely better off investing in other energy solutions that are truly scalable.
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