Excess heat from air conditioners raises outdoor temperatures at night by nearly 2 degrees F (1 degree C), worsening the urban heat island effect and increasing cooling demands, according to research from Arizona State University. Studying the Phoenix metropolitan area, Read more…
Alphabet Energy (Alphabet) is a Hayward, California, company that develops thermoelectric materials and products that convert waste heat to electric power. Alphabet’s web site provides this overview of the concept of thermoelectrics: Thermoelectrics are solid-state semiconductors that
Capturing excess heat to convert it into electricity can help the world become more energy-efficient, but currently technologies are expensive and not efficient enough. Panasonic is hoping to change that in the coming years with a tubular thermoelectric technology it Read more…
Heat generated in major metropolitan areas is altering the character of the jet stream and other atmospheric systems, at times affecting the weather thousands of miles away, a new study says. Writing in the journal Nature Climate Change, a team Read more…
According to a recent study carried out by Euroheat & Power (EHP), the international association of district heating and cooling, the value of energy wasted each year in the European Union amounts to a whopping 1.000 euros per citizen. This amounts to up to Read more…
I hesitate to start this blog with the words “combined heat and power.” You might stop reading. Okay, so it’s not the Brad and Jen of energy. (That would be solar and wind.) But what it lacks in glamour, it Read more…
This summer, The National Gallery in London is engaging public audiences with an 8,000 plant rendering of Van Gogh’s A Wheatfield with Cypresses (1889). Over 25 varieties of flora are offering museum-goers sweeter, cleaner air and a setting ripe for Read more…
U.S. researchers say they have created a material that can generate electricity from waste heat with greater efficiency than other technologies. Scientists at Northwestern University placed nanocrystals of rock salt into lead telluride to create a material with the potential Read more…