http://www.energy-daily.com/index.html Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST en-us A team of Duke University engineers has created a master "ingredient list" describing the properties of more than 2,000 compounds that might be combined to create the next generation of quantum electronics devices. The goal is topological insulators (TI), man-made crystals that are able to conduct electrical current on their surfaces, while acting as insulators throughout the interior of t]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST Imagine charging your phone as you walk, thanks to a paper-thin generator embedded in the sole of your shoe. This futuristic scenario is now a little closer to reality. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a way to generate power using harmless viruses that convert mechanical energy into electricity. The scienti]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST There's nothing worse than a shonky pool table with an unseen groove or bump that sends your shot off course: a new study has found that the same goes at the nano-scale, where the "billiard balls" are tiny electrons moving across a "table" made of the semiconductor gallium arsenide. These tiny billiard tables are of interest towards the development of future computing technologies. In a re]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST Southern Maine Community College in South Portland partnered with a team of energy professionals to design and install an innovative ocean-based geothermal - or "sea-o-thermal" HVAC system in an oceanfront building. The energy efficient system either absorbs or rejects heat from nearby seawater to bring a closed-loop glycol-heating coil to temperature. The system is completely environmenta]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST A South Korean businessman has been jailed for three years for supplying potentially defective parts to the country's oldest atomic power plant, a court spokesman said Wednesday. The man, identified only as Hwang, was sentenced last Friday for selling recycled turbine valve parts to the Gori nuclear plant near Busan, the Busan District Court spokesman said. Hwang, 54, cleaned and painted]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST Japan's government and several major firms are to buy a 10.0 percent stake in an Australian natural gas field as the country seeks alternatives to atomic power, a spokeswoman for one of the companies said Wednesday. The consortium, including the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant Tokyo Electric Power and state-backed Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. (JOGMEC), is to inve]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST The head of France's Total says the energy giant wants to expand in Australia's booming resources sector, but warns that a lack of manpower and lively competition could contain its ambitions. On his first visit to Australia, Christophe de Margerie said the nation had enjoyed "unbelievable success" in developing its Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) industry which the government hopes will soon riv]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST China and Japan hold high-level maritime talks on Wednesday expected to focus on a group of uninhabited islands that are at the heart of an ongoing territorial row between the two countries. China and Japan have long had strained relations, often triggered by rival sovereign claims in the East China Sea over gas fields and the disputed islands - known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu ]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST When the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded April 20, 2010, residents feared that their Gulf of Mexico shores would be inundated with oil. And while many wetland habitats and wildlife were oiled during the three-month leak, the environmental damage to coastal Louisiana was less than many expected, in part because much of the crude never made it to the coast. Research by a trio of geos]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST Silicon Energy has announced that it has selected Motech Americas, a solar company with a 20-year heritage of manufacturing the highest quality solar panels, as its exclusive supplier of standard photovoltaic solar modules for its expanding sales and systems business in select markets. Modules have been manufactured at Motech's Newark site for over 20 years. Under the terms of the agreemen]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST Homeowners are increasingly turning to renewable energy options in the face of the upward trend in energy prices. The interest in solar PV, energy efficient lighting, heat pumps and other forms of renewable technology coincides with the latest warning from Centrica - the owner of British Gas - that rising wholesale gas costs will make supplying energy to UK households more expensive this year. ]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST The US Department of the Interior has approved construction of a 315-megawatt wind energy facility on more than 10,000 acres of public lands near Ocotillo, Calif. The project is expected to provide enough electricity to power 94,500 homes and create up to 350 jobs at peak construction. The project is expected offset approximately 288,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year. ]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST With no sign that the oversupply of solar polysilicon is ending, buyers are shifting their purchasing activity to the bargain-basement spot market, contributing to a sharp 11 percent drop in overall pricing in April, according to an IHS iSuppli PV Perspective Market Brief and the IHS iSuppli Polysilicon Price Index from information and analytics provider IHS. The weighted average selling p]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST At the 2012 LIGHTFAIR International tradeshow in Las Vegas, Nevada, Carmanah Technologies is launching the EG145 solar outdoor street lighting system: the company's latest addition to its most cost-effective solar-powered outdoor lighting system series to-date. With the addition of this next-generation EG-series system, which provides freeway-level light output from a compact form designed]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST A growing number of businesses are investing in renewable energy technology in order to help them become more energy efficient and reduce costs. Businesses of all sizes are taking advantage of the change in planning regulations which means commercial Solar PV installations under 50kWp electricity no longer require planning permission. This paves the way for them to be treated in the same w]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:48 AEST