Electron microscope view of platinum nanowires with beads (left) and without beads (right). Credit: University of Rochester. Click to enlarge. Researchers at the University of Rochester (New York) have developed an electrospinning method to produce the longest platinum nanowires with minimal bead fo...

IBM has joined the EDISON research consortium, a Denmark-based collaborative aimed at developing an intelligent infrastructure that will make possible the large scale adoption of electric vehicles powered by sustainable energy. The EDISON effort (Electric Vehicles in a Distributed and Integrated Mar...

To help carry the higher torque of the EcoBoost V-6 engine, the ring gear on the 6F-55 transmission (left) is a beefier 41.5 mm versus 31.5 mm on the 6F-50. Click to enlarge. Ford’s 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 engine (earlier post) debuts this spring coupled with a six-speed SelectShift automatic trans...

Bubble chart of plausible mainstream PHEV buyers’ battery requirements (light and dark gray circles) and experts’s requirements overlaid on a Ragone plot of NiMH and Li-ion batteries. Source: Ken Kurani. Click to enlarge. A series of presentations at the SAE 2009 Hybrid Vehicle Technolog...

The City of Los Angeles, California is launching a citywide program to distribute free compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) to every household in Los Angeles as part of ongoing efforts to reduce the City’s carbon footprint. The free light bulb program is projected to save up to 240 GWh of energy...

by Jack Rosebro Land surface temperature anomaly across Australia between 25 January and 1 February, 2009, during the first of two heatwaves in the Southeast as well as flooding in the North. The darkest reds and the darkest blues show a 10ºC temperature differential from baseline (white). Source: ...

Yields of bio-based chemicals from a variety of feedstocks, including untreated corn stover. Conditions are optimized for the conversion of carbohydrates into HMF (1 step) and DMF (2 steps). Credit: ACS. Click to enlarge. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a two-step, ...

Overview of the Bioliq process. Source: Henrich et al. Click to enlarge. The Bioliq biosyncrude gasification process (earlier post) used in a large plant with a capacity of > 1 Mt/a can produce biosynfuel for about €1.04 per kg or €0.8 per liter (US$3.08/gallon US), according to an analysis b...

Poole, UK-based Continental Landscapes has contracted for four battery-electric Ford Transit-based light commercial vehicles from Carillon Fleet Management: two 4.6-tonne Ford Transit beaver tail and two 3.5-tonne tippers. Carillion Fleet Management is one of only a few companies willing to underwri...

Better Place, in conjunction with DONG Energy, has closed approximately €103 million (US$135 million) in equity and convertible debt for the initial deployment of their electric car charging network in Denmark. (Earlier post.) Under the terms of the agreement, DONG Energy will assist in the Better...