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energy source

U.S. Energy System Depicted in New Mapping Tool From Federal Agency

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently launched a mapping system that allows users to explore the landscape of energy sources and power plant distribution across the nation.

Among the most striking visualizations is this map showing the widespread distribution of natural gas power plants, marking the fossil fuel’s growing use as an energy source.

Locations of large natural gas power plants in the U.S

The U.S. had 1,714 natural gas power plants in 2012, accounting for 30 percent of the country’s electricity generation, Vox reports. Natural gas plants are easier to build and emit fewer pollutants and roughly half as much carbon dioxide as coal-fired power plants.

The EIA maps depict numerous aspects of the U.S. power system, including the distribution of wind turbines, large solar installations, nuclear power plants, coal-fired power plants, hydropower stations, and pipelines. More energy maps are available at Vox, or users can create their own with the EIA’s tool.

06/16/2014 2 comments

Renewable Energy

New Hopes for Getting the Lead Out of Solar

written by Environmental News Network

Solar energy is arguably our most viable low cost energy source. It is forever sustainable and easily captured and converted. But now the technology may have taken yet another leap forward. To date the foundational technology behind photovoltaics was a structure called perovskite, which has been made with lead. Using tin instead of lead perovskite as the harvester of light, a team of Northwestern University researchers has created a new solar cell with “good efficiency”. This good efficiency solar cell is low-cost, environmentally friendly and can be easily made using “bench” chemistry — no fancy equipment or hazardous materials.

“This is a breakthrough in taking the lead out of a very promising type of solar cell, called a perovskite,” said Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, an inorganic chemist and tin expert. “Tin is a very viable material, and we have shown the material does work as an efficient solar cell.”

Solar cells have typically used a structure called a perovskite made with lead as the light-absorbing material. The new solar cell is made with tin instead. Lead perovskite has achieved 15 percent efficiency. It is expected that tin perovskite will reenergize the field by matching and possibly surpassing that efficiency making them the “next big thing in photovoltaics”.

Kanatzidis developed, synthesized and analyzed the material and then turned to Northwestern collaborator and nanoscientist Robert P. H. Chang for help in engineering a solar cell that worked well.

“Our tin-based perovskite layer acts as an efficient sunlight absorber that is sandwiched between two electric charge transport layers for conducting electricity to the outside world,” said Chang. Details of the lead-free solar cell will be published May 4 by the journal Nature Photonics.

Kanatzidis touts their solid-state tin solar cell efficiency rating of just below 6 percent as a very good starting point. Two things make the material special: it can absorb most of the visible light spectrum, and the perovskite salt can be dissolved reforming upon solvent removal without heating.

“Other scientists will see what we have done and improve on our methods,” Kanatzidis said. “There is no reason this new material can’t reach an efficiency better than 15 percent, which is what the lead perovskite solar cell offers. Tin and lead are in the same group in the periodic table, so we expect similar results.”

Perovskite solar cells have only been around — and only in the lab — since 2008. In 2012, Kanatzidis and Chang reported the new tin perovskite solar cell with promises of higher efficiency and lower fabrication costs while being environmentally safe.

Coal May Rival Oil As World’s Top Energy Source by 2017, IEA Says

written by Yale Environment 360

Coal could rival oil as the world’s largest energy source within five years as consumption continues to climb in most regions of the world, a trend that could have profound effects on the climate, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says.

While coal consumption is expected to decline in the

12/19/2012 1 comment

Renewable Energy

Geothermal Heat Pumps Face Strange Barriers to Adoption

written by Walter Wang

Geothermal (Ground-Source) Heat Pumps (GHPs) make use of a completely different set of principles than the kind of geothermal we commonly discuss. Where the latter relies on the transfer of thermal energy from one fluid to another, like an egg placed in boiling water, the former relies on the principles of

11/09/2011 2 comments

Clean Transportation

Has the United States Hit Peak Cars?

written by Walter Wang

We are in the midst of reviewing our plug-in electric vehicle forecasts, which means scouring data and news sources to get an understanding of how issues are playing out in the court of public opinion. It’s always the fun part of the job to learn what is “news” and what the public is talking about on forums and the

07/29/2011 0 comment

Energy Efficiency

Liquefied Coal May Become an Economically Viable Fuel Option

written by Walter Wang

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock that has become the world’s most used energy source. Because it is so abundant and therefore cheap, much research has been done to see what other kinds of uses it can have other than direct burning for electricity production. The liquefaction of coal

06/22/2011 4 comments

Renewable Energy

Winds of Good News: Cost of Wind Energy Falls

written by Justmeans

While global wind energy capacity continues to increase around the world and demand for wind power grows, the price of generating electricity from the wind is falling—making this renewable energy option even more attractive. On Monday Bloomberg New Energy Finance reported the price of wind energy has fallen to its

02/09/2011 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Cactus Could Boost Bio-Energy Industry

written by Crisp Green

When most people look out on the hot, dry desert, they see the potential for a serious sunburn and probably a mirage or two. When Chilean entrepreneur Mario Llanis looks out on the cactus-riddled desert of his native country, he sees the possibility for a bio-energy source that could change the industry forever.

08/16/2010 1 comment

Renewable Energy

UK Approves Construction of 10 New Nuclear Power Stations

written by Yale Environment 360

The British government has approved 10 new sites for nuclear power stations in England and Wales, calling nuclear power a “proven and reliable” energy source that will help the UK reduce its carbon emissions and become more energy-independent.

Just a year after the government lifted a moratorium on new nuclear power generation, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband called nuclear — along with renewables and clean coal — one of the “trinity” of future fuel options.

11/10/2009 0 comment