Tree-Power? Scientists Test Battery Made Of Wood

Beth Buczynski for Earthtechling Get ready to throw all of your assumptions about how to make a battery right out the window. Scientists at the University of Maryland are working on a powerful new battery that could help reduce hazardous waste usually associated with power storage. The main ingredient? Wood. A thousand times thinner than a piece of paper, the battery is made of a sliver of wood coated with tin. Researchers say the low cost of these relatively abundant materials would make the new battery ideal for storing huge amounts of energy at once – such as solar energy harvested at a power plant. Image via Nano Letters According to researchers Liangbing Hu, Teng Li and their team, the inspiration for the wood battery came from the trees themselves. “Wood fibers that make up a tree once held mineral-rich water, and so are ideal for storing liquid electrolytes, making them not only the base but an active part of the battery,” said Hu, an assistant professor of m…
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Making Affordable Multifamily Housing Greener A Good Thing

Center for American Progress President Barack Obama’s Climate Action Plan, announced at Georgetown University in June, outlined an ambitious agenda to address the increasing dangers of climate change. Although the proposed regulatory standards on existing and new power plants have taken center stage in public discussion, the president’s agenda also included several noteworthy proposals to support the important aim of increasing access to energy efficiency and clean energy technologies in affordable multifamily housing. To reduce the deadly threat of climate disruption, it is essential to rein in polluting energy use, especially the wasteful conventional consumption of electricity in buildings. Currently, large multifamily residential buildings represent a huge source of energy inefficiency, but they also hold the promise of being smart and cost-effective places to make deep savings. Low-income affordable housing in particular can help open this market, improving financial…
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$23 Million Energy Storage Research Center Launched In New York State

New York State is making an aggressive push to expand smart grid and renewable energy, and now a public-private project could combine the two through energy storage innovations. New York’s Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium (NY-BEST) and Dutch company DNV Kema have announced a $23 million joint investment to build the Battery and Energy Storage Technology (BEST) testing and commercialization center in Rochester, New York. Construction has already begun on the BEST center in an abandoned section of the former Eastman Kodak business park, and when complete, it will boast 17,000 square feet of world-class testing and commercialization facilities designed to accelerate commercial deployment of energy storage technologies.   Public-Private Partnership Potential BEST will represent a unique opportunity for the energy storage industry. Testing facilities will be offered from single cells to megawatt-scale systems and services will include project developm…
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EV Review: A Game-Changing Electric Small Car

TopSpeed, Kirby Garlitos published on Greentechmedia The Chevrolet Spark EV appears to be a game-changer in the all-electric small car market. At least that might be the case if you’re living in Oregon or California, the only states that Chevrolet will be selling the Spark EV in for now. No mention of any expansion has been made, and we probably shouldn’t expect a decision to be made anytime soon. For one, there still aren’t a lot of these models around and it can be argued that sales of the Spark EV will be on a limited basis. If the model proves to be a hit, like Chevrolet is banking on, then we might see more states get their hands on the all-electric Spark. For now, it’s Oregon and California, two states that look to be perfect markets for the Spark EV. One of these places is a blessing to drive, with gorgeous scenic routes everywhere you look, while the other is -- well, let’s just say if you want to make the most out of an EV, California’s the place to be. …
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900hp Ferrari Hybrid Sounds Like a Prius…Being Eaten by a LeMans-ster

This article originally published on Gas2

When the 900 hp “LaFerrari” Ferrari Hybrid first broke cover back in March, everyone who could read a spec. sheet knew that the car would be a monster. One thing automotive enthusiasts didn’t know, however, was what the LaFerrari would sound like – which is a pretty big deal for Ferrari’s fans and corporate culture! Would the new LaFerrari make the same kind of V12 that made the classic Daytona, 512 BB, and Testarossa into legends? Would the new Ferrari hybrid have the same high-pitched wail of the iconic Ferrari F40?

Would the new Ferrari Hybrid – horror of horrors! – sound like a Prius?

Wonder no more, Ferrari fans. Plug your headphones in, turn up the volume, and listen to the decidedly LeMans-ready wail of Ferrari’s latest: the 900+ hp LaFerrari!

Enjoy!
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Charge your Mobile Battery with your own Body Heat

These shorts and sleeping bag charge your mobile devices Smart materials in the Power Shorts use kinetic energy created by the wearer's movements to charge mobile phones Modules attached to the fabric of the Recharge Sleeping Bag capture thermal energy from a sleeper's body to create an electric charge Products have been developed by Vodafone and Southampton University By Victoria Woollaston Festival goers need never run out of phone battery again thanks to a new range of denim shorts and sleeping bags that use body heat and movement to generate electricity. The Power Shorts and Recharge Sleeping Bag can charge a phone's battery by harvesting energy from the human body using kinetic and thermoelectric technology. The wearable phone chargers have been designed by mobile phone company Vodafone with help from the University of Southampton. Vodafone has teamed up with the University of Southampton to create wearable phone chargers for festival goers. Th…
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