Energy Technology – Page 6 – PossibleThreat Articles

New standard of reference for assessing solar forecast proposed

September 24, 2019 0 Comments Construction, Energy Policy, Energy Technology, Geomagnetic Storms, Renewable Energy, Severe Weather, Solar Energy, Weather

Being able to accurately forecast how much solar energy reaches the surface of the Earth is key to guiding decisions for running solar power plants and new work looks to provide a standard of reference to the field. A researcher proposes an improved way to assess day-ahead solar forecasting, which combines two popular reference methods for weather forecasting, namely persistence and climatology. His approach provides a new way to gauge the skill of a forecaster.

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Tidal barriers bring more benefits than producing clean energy

September 24, 2019 0 Comments Energy and Resources, Energy and the Environment, Energy Technology, Petroleum, Renewable Energy, Sustainability, Tsunamis, Wind Energy

When designed holistically, tidal barrage schemes can provide additional transport links for commuters, become tourism destinations, mitigate wildlife habitat loss, as well as provide opportunities to boost people's health and wellbeing with additional options for cycling and walking, say researchers.

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New technique to improve ductility of ceramic materials for missiles, engines

September 24, 2019 0 Comments Civil Engineering, Construction, Consumer Electronics, Electricity, Energy Technology, Engineering, Engineering and Construction, Materials Science

Researchers have developed a new process to help overcome the brittle nature of ceramics and make it more ductile and durable. The team calls the process 'flash sintering,' which adds an electric field to the conventional sintering process used to form bulk components from ceramics.

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New report deepens understanding of wind-wildlife interactions

September 23, 2019 0 Comments Ecology Research, Energy and the Environment, Energy Policy, Energy Technology, Environmental Science, Nature, Renewable Energy, Wild Animals, Wind Energy

An increase in the generation of wind energy is a key component of the U.S. strategy to reduce carbon emissions from the power sector. Approximately 97 gigawatts of wind energy production capacity are currently installed in the U.S., and in 2018, wind energy supplied about 6.5% of the nation's electricity. Scenarios developed by various groups, including U.S. Department of Energy, indicate that a four- to five-fold expansion over current levels of electricity produced by wind is needed by the year 2050 to help meet U.S. carbon emission reduction goals.

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Cracking the ethylene code

September 23, 2019 0 Comments Chemistry, Energy and Resources, Energy Technology, Inorganic Chemistry, Materials Science, Organic Chemistry, Petroleum, Physics

Separating pure ethylene from ethane is a difficult and costly process, but one that new research is poised to streamline. The technique would avoid liquefaction and distillation by designing a material that only binds ethylene molecules, thus separating them from ethane.

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A new way to turn heat into useful energy

September 23, 2019 0 Comments Energy and Resources, Energy and the Environment, Energy Technology, Environmental Science, Renewable Energy, Spintronics, Sustainability, Thermodynamics

An international team of scientists has figured out how to capture heat and turn it into electricity. The discovery could create more efficient energy generation from heat in things like car exhaust, interplanetary space probes and industrial processes.

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New framework for nanoantenna light absorption

September 23, 2019 0 Comments Chemistry, Energy and Resources, Energy Technology, Graphene, Inorganic Chemistry, Nanotechnology, Optics, Physics

Harnessing light's energy into nanoscale volumes requires novel engineering approaches to overcome a fundamental barrier known as the 'diffraction limit.' However, researchers have breached this barrier by developing nanoantennas that pack the energy captured from light sources.

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How to predict crucial plasma pressure in future fusion facilities

September 23, 2019 0 Comments Chemistry, Energy and Resources, Energy Technology, Nature of Water, Nuclear Energy, Physics, Quantum Physics, Thermodynamics

Feature describes improved model for forecasting the crucial balance of pressure at the edge of a fusion plasma.

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Lighting the path to renewable energy

September 19, 2019 0 Comments Electricity, Energy and Resources, Energy and the Environment, Energy Technology, Environmental Science, Geomagnetic Storms, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy

Scientists have developed a novel, standardized way of quantifying and comparing these variations in solar power. The new study may help guide the development and performance of solar photovoltaic farms — systems that harness the sun's energy and convert it to electricity.

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Engineers create tunable, nanoscale, incandescent light source

September 19, 2019 0 Comments Chemistry, Energy Technology, Graphene, Inorganic Chemistry, Materials Science, Optics, Physics, Thermodynamics

Engineers have created what may be viewed as the world's smallest incandescent lightbulbs, collections of near-nanoscale materials called 'selective thermal emitters' that absorb heat and emit light. Their research could have applications in sensing, photonics and perhaps in computing platforms beyond the limitations of silicon.