Exhibition covers entire photovoltaics value chain from materials to power generation systems TOKYO, Japan — October 23, 2012 — PVJapan 2012, the leading photovoltaic exhibition in Japan, will take place at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on December 5-7. With Japan’s photovoltaic power generation industry receiving unprecedented attention at home and abroad since the implementation of […]
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SEMICON Japan 2012: Focus on Next-Generation Technology Challenges — with Keynotes from Toshiba, Intel, Xilinx and TSMC
New technology emphasis at exhibition, pavilions, sessions to drive the industry forward — SEMICON Japan 2012, one of the largest exhibitions in the world for semiconductor manufacturing and related processing technology, will take place at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on December 5-7. Today, SEMI announced an exceptional lineup of keynotes speakers including: Shozo Saito, […]
Poll finds large majority of Germans favor phasing out nuclear power despite rising costs
BERLIN (AP) — A new poll finds that a large majority of Germans back the government’s decision to phase out nuclear power and switch to renewable energies within a decade, despite rising electricity bills. The poll for German news magazine Focus published Sunday found that 72 percent continue to support the country’s energy switchover. Only […]
How to Double the Power of Solar Panels
In an attempt to further drop the cost of solar power, Bandgap Engineering, a startup in Woburn, Mass., is developing a nanowire-based solar cell that could eventually generate twice as much power as conventional solar cells. That’s a long-term project, but meanwhile the company is about to start selling a simpler version of the technology, […]
Food vs. fuel: Is there surplus land for bioenergy?
Braunschweig/ Leipzig. An interdisciplinary team of 11 scientists from seven European countries and the USA have discussed the concept to utilize so called surplus land for the production of feedstock for bioenergy. They identified environmental, economic and social constraints but also options for efficient use of surplus land for bioenergy. The study provides a scientific […]
Fault underneath Oi Nuclear Plant to be checked
TOKYO – Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said Wednesday that it will conduct an on-site inspection on Nov. 2 to confirm whether there is an active fault underneath the sole nuclear power plant operating in the quake-prone country. The outcome of the inspection at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture could affect […]
Pitt engineers to design affordable CO2 thickener to augment oil extraction
PITTSBURGH—Crude oil extraction could be improved significantly and accessible domestic oil reserves could be expanded with an economical CO2 thickener being developed by University of Pittsburgh engineers, thanks to a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Current oil-extraction methods across the United States involve oil being “pushed” from underground layers of porous […]
Evolving microbes help Iowa State engineers turn bio-oil into advanced biofuels
AMES, Iowa – Microbes are working away in an Iowa State University laboratory to ferment biofuels from the sugar and acetate produced by rapidly heating biomass such as corn stalks and sawdust. But it’s not an easy job for E. coli and C. reinhardtii. The bacteria and microalgae, respectively, don’t like something in the bio-oil […]
Falling prices to dampen record PV inverter shipments
Following a decline in the third quarter of 2012, global photovoltaic (PV) inverter shipments are forecast to reach a record of 8.6 gigawatts (GW), according to the latest report from IMS Research. An 18 percent year-on-year rise in global shipments will make the fourth quarter of 2012 the largest final quarter ever recorded. However, the […]
Researchers create ‘nanoflowers’ for energy storage, solar cells
The GeS “nanoflowers” have petals only 20-30 nanometers thick, and provide a large surface area in a small amount of space. Researchers from North Carolina State University have created flower-like structures out of germanium sulfide (GeS) – a semiconductor material – that has extremely thin petals with an enormous surface area. The GeS flower holds […]