Graphical abstract. Credit: Joule (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2024.01.025 Topics: Applied Physics, Chemistry, Energy, Green Tech, Materials Science, Photovoltaics The energy transition is progressing, and photovoltaics (PV) is playing a key role in this. Enormous capacities are to be added over the next few decades. Experts expect several tens of terawatts by the middle of the century. That’s 10Continue reading “PV Caveats…”
Category Archives: Energy
Black Silicon…
Fluorine gas etches the surface of silicon into a series of angular peaks that, when viewed with a powerful microscope, look much like the pyramid pattern in the sound-proofing foam shown above. Researchers at PPPL have now modeled how these peaks form in silicon, creating a material that is highly light absorbent. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 PublicContinue reading “Black Silicon…”
Cooling Circuitry…
Illustration of a UCLA-developed solid-state thermal transistor using an electric field to control heat movement. Credit: H-Lab/UCLA Topics: Applied Physics, Battery, Chemistry, Electrical Engineering, Energy, Thermodynamics A new thermal transistor can control heat as precisely as an electrical transistor can control electricity. From smartphones to supercomputers, electronics have a heat problem. Modern computer chips suffer from microscopicContinue reading “Cooling Circuitry…”
Fusion’s Holy Grail…
A view of the assembled experimental JT-60SA Tokamak nuclear fusion facility outside Tokyo, Japan. JT-60SA.ORG Topics: Applied Physics, Economics, Energy, Heliophysics, Nuclear Fusion, Quantum Mechanics Japan and the European Union have officially inaugurated testing at the world’s largest experimental nuclear fusion plant. Located roughly 85 miles north of Tokyo, the six-story JT-60SA “tokamak” facility heats plasmaContinue reading “Fusion’s Holy Grail…”
Everything, Everywhere, All at Once…
The Flood by Antonio Marziale Carracci Topics: Civilization, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Existentialism, Global Warming Another week, another catastrophic, record-setting, history-making flood, this time in Kentucky. Preliminary assessments indicate rainfall in Graves County last week likely set a new record for most precipitation in a 24-hour period, with 11.28 inches of rain. This would make it yetContinue reading “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once…”
Build Better Batteries…
Electric field- and pressure-assisted fast sintering to control graphene alignment in thick composite electrodes for boosting lithium storage performance. Credit: Hongtao Sun, Penn State Topics: Battery, Energy, Graphene, Green Tech, Lithium, Materials Science, Nanomaterials The demand for high-performance batteries, especially for use in electric vehicles, is surging as the world shifts its energy consumption to aContinue reading “Build Better Batteries…”
Thermodynamics…
Source: Climate.gov Topics: Climate Change, Energy, Existentialism, Global Warming, Green Tech Noun: the branch of physical science that deals with the relations between heat and other forms of energy (such as mechanical, electrical, or chemical energy) and, by extension, the relationships between all forms of energy. Heatstroke is a condition caused by your body overheating,Continue reading “Thermodynamics…”
Solar…
The LRESE parabolic dish: the solar reactor converts solar energy to hydrogen with an efficiency of more than 20%, producing around 0.5 kg of “green” hydrogen per day. (Courtesy: LRESE EPFL) Topics: Applied Physics, Energy, Environment, Research, Solar Power A new solar-radiation-concentrating device produces “green” hydrogen at a rate of more than 2 kilowatts whileContinue reading “Solar…”
TEG…
The new self-powered thermoelectric generator device uses an ultra-broadband solar absorber (UBSA) to capture sunlight, which heats the generator. Simultaneously, another component called a planar radiative cooling emitter (RCE) cools part of the device by releasing heat. Credit: Haoyuan Cai, Jimei University. Topics: Alternate Energy, Battery, Chemistry, Energy, Materials Science, Thermodynamics Researchers have developed aContinue reading “TEG…”
Serendipitous Quasicrystals…
Cross-section of a fulgurite sample showing fused sand and melted conductor metal from a downed powerline. Credit: Luca Bindi et al. Topics: Condensed Matter Physics, Energy, Materials Science A team of researchers from Università di Firenze, the University of South Florida, California Institute of Technology, and Princeton University has found an incidence of a quasicrystalContinue reading “Serendipitous Quasicrystals…”
Physics and Nano 