Energy technology

Four Things That Are Different About Electricity Infrastructure

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Infrastructure investing has been a hot business sector for several years against a background of swift economic development in the emerging world and efforts by developed-world governments to limit the impacts of a grinding recession, energy infrastructure investment has continued to lag needs.

While investing in water or transportation infrastructure has links to energy both in the way deals are structured and in how the actual assets impact each other, energy infrastructure has some key differences, highlighted by the American Society of Civil Engineers in its recent report on Investment Trends in Electricity Infrastructure. Keep reading →

 /  Published May 10, 2012 at 8:00 AM

Education, Immigration Said Keys To US Manufacturing

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A man works on the factory floor at Quadrant, a high end plastic processor on October 19, 2011 in Reading, Pennsylvania. Quadrant, a 70 year old company, employs more than 2000 people in 20 countries and is one of the few remaining manufacturers in the area to still provide stable jobs in an uncertain economy.

Modern manufacturing is not your grandfather’s factory, and the same traditional education and immigration policies are forming barriers to keeping manufacturing in the US. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 6, 2012 at 9:00 AM

Time To Give Electric Storage Proper Credit?

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View of the Torresol Energy Gemasolar thermasolar plant in Fuentes de Andalucia near Sevilla, southern Spain, taken on October 4, 2011. Gemasolar is the first commercial-scale plant to apply central tower receiver and molten salt heat storage technology.

Electricity is a hoarder’s worst nightmare. It is difficult to capture and store on a large scale and within seconds of being created it disappears. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 5, 2012 at 2:30 PM

Solar Energy Flower Power Tower

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Like your typical garden flower, this tulip captures heat from the sun for energy. But unlike most flowers, this one is 115 feet tall and uses a combination of gas and mirrored heliostats to spin a gas turbine that creates electricity.

AORA‘s concentrated solar power (CSP) systems – designed in southern Israel where sunlight is abundant and water is scarce – uses pressurized air, rather than water, to spin a conventional gas turbine. If the air momentarily cools, from cloud cover for example, the tower automatically reroutes the air through a combustion chamber that can use anything from biogas and methane to natural gas and diesel to heat the air and spin the turbine. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 5, 2012 at 11:00 AM

US Leads In Energy Innovation, Loses In Manufacturing

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Former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta moderates as Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and US Energy Secretary Steven Chu deliver remarks on the state of energy, February 28, 2012 during the US Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Energy Innovation Summit at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, near Washington, DC.

We can dream it – so why can’t we make it? Keep reading →

 /  Published March 5, 2012 at 9:00 AM

Fuel Cell Technology Improves, Costs Fall For Power Sector

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Fuel cells’ prospects of becoming a significant energy source are growing as costs decline and technology advances, helping the two leading players in the US industry, FuelCell Energy, and Bloom Energy.

In a signal of growing confidence in the full cell business, Bloom Energy is the subject of speculation that it will go public this year, said Sam Jaffe, research manager at IDC Energy Insights. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 2, 2012 at 2:00 PM

Fuel Cells Poised To Grow Role In Energy

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A technology that can provide reliable power with low emissions in congested areas without the need for costly transmission sounds like the wave of the future, and it will be if FuelCell Energy gets its way.

For now, neither the company nor the technology are profitable or widespread enough to be a major part of the US energy mix. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 29, 2012 at 1:30 PM

Energy Technology Could Go Viral If Prices Fall

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Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates delivers remarks on the state of energy February 28, 2012 during the US Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Energy Innovation Summit at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland near Washington, DC. Gates was joined by US Energy Secretary Steven Chu and former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu sees energy following cell phones and “going viral” worldwide if the costs of advanced batteries teamed with efficient solar panels can be reduced enough. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 29, 2012 at 11:30 AM

Government Energy Innovation Summit Seeks Lower Cost, Higher Performance Technology

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We’re from the government and we’re here to listen.

That was the opening message from top Department of Energy officials at the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy Innovation Summit in Washington, DC. The conference, being headlined Feb. 28-29 by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and former president Bill Clinton, is drawing more than 2,400 participants from the worlds of science, engineering, energy and venture capital. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 27, 2012 at 5:00 PM

Who will be America’s Next Top Energy Innovator? You choose: http://go.usa.gov/nBb

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Who will be America’s Next Top Energy Innovator? You choose: http://go.usa.gov/nBb ENERGY

 /  Published January 26, 2012 at 1:00 PM
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