Most ethanol research over the past 25 years has been on the topic of energy returned on energy invested (EROEI). Public discussion has been dominated by the American Petroleum Institute’s aggressive distribution of the work of Cornell professor David Pimentel and his numerous, deeply flawed studies. Pimentel stands virtually alone in portraying alcohol as having a negative EROEI—producing less energy than is used in its production.

In fact, it’s oil that has a negative EROEI.

Johnny Cash can’t have known about carbon nanotubes when he sang about rings of fire, but MIT scientists have shown how they can create electrical current—about 100 times as much energy per unit of weight as lithium-ion batteries.

Bloom Energy, a Silicon Valley start up, introduced the “Bloom Box”, a solid oxide fuel cell server that can generate electricity at a cost of 8 to 10 cents per kilowatt hour using natural gas.

University of Central Florida professor Henry Daniell has developed a groundbreaking way to produce ethanol from waste products such as orange peels and newspapers. His approach is greener and less expensive than the current methods available to run vehicles on cleaner fuel – and his goal is to relegate gasoline to a secondary fuel.

UT Dallas researchers have laid the groundwork for attaching virtually any organic molecule to silicon, a technological feat that promises to greatly improve semiconductor devices’ performance in health care and solar power applications in particular.

Wood gasification is a proces whereby organic material is converted into a combustible gas under the influence of heat – the process reaches a temperature of 1,400 °C (2,550 °F). The first use of wood gasification dates back to 1870s, when it was used as a forerunner of natural gas for street lighting and cooking.

How wind turbines work can be explained as a conversion of kinetic energy (wind) to mechanic energy (turbine). Small wind turbines such as those used at residences usually have the blades connected to a DC generator, power inverter, AC generator and bank of batteries… ** Hayden’s Note Attached **

On any bright, cloud-free day, the sun projects some 1,000 watts of energy on a square meter basis onto the earth’s surface. Although converting sunlight into electricity sounds like a simple concept, solar panels work in a specific and rather complex way.

California’s Mojave Desert, some of the most coveted land for companies looking to build solar arrays capable of powering thousands if not millions of homes, may now be off-limits if Senator Dianne Feinstein has her way.

Our first step was to get a used hot water heater from the Thrift store. They were all outside and kind of beat up looking, but he swore that they all worked and that none of them had any leaks.