One study that does address the peak-oil scenario directly is a 2005 report conducted for the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) entitled “Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation, and Risk Management” (Hirsch, et al., 2005). This study acknowledged the risk of the peaking of world oil production and investigated strategies to mitigate the impacts. Because NETL is the government’s primary fossil energy research lab, it is not surprising that the report concludes that the way to solve our looming liquid fossil fuel problem is . . . with more fossil fuels. (more…)

ITMA Foundation, a group of researchers formed by Javier Belzunce, José Manuel Artimez, Ana Moran and Ruben Coto, has developed the first quality steel with a potential application as structural material in future nuclear fusion reactor (ITER ), whose design is an ambitious project that could facilitate future production of energy from hydrogen. (more…)

Thermo chemical processing of biomass yields gaseous, liquid, and solid products and offers a means of producing useful gaseous and/or liquid fuels. Biomass gasification is a total degradation process consisting of a sequence of thermal and thermo chemical processes that converts practically all the carbon in the biomass to gaseous form, leaving an inert residue. The gas produced consists of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrogen (N2) (if air is used as the oxidizing agent) and contains impurities, such as small char particles, ash, tars, and oils. The solid residue will consist of ash (composed principally of the oxides of Ca, K, Na, Mg, and Si) and possibly carbon or char. (more…)

Active solar hot water systems water are usable with air, liquid, vapor or liquid collector fluid or gas to liquid process. Hot water production with an air-heating collector’s distribution for heating is usually performed in the large space heating panel systems. The losses in the process of heat transfer are high. Air systems work not as well as units of the liquid to heat the water. Air systems are generally only capable of hot water 70 to 95F. (more…)

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Fuel cells are direct energy conversion devices that combine two reactants to produce electrical power. The reactants are typically a fuel such as hydrogen fuel cells, or methanol, and oxygen from the air. Fuel cells require an electrolyte capable of passing an ionic charge carrier across an electronic conduction barrier where the ions are driven by a concentration gradient. Fuel cells also need a catalytic-based anode and cathode for reactant preparation. For mesoscale/ microscale systems, fuel cells are best fabricated in thin film form. Depending on the desired power output of the system, the ‘‘footprint’’ may well be relatively large to supply the required power. (more…)

Nuclear fission and fusion Research and Development continues to account for nearly half of the total spending by IEA countries, although the proportion of total Research and Development devoted to this area has declined over the years, (more…)

Nuclear power plants have many different designs and shapes. Early technology restrictions in nuclear power plants make huge plants with the capability to produce the greatest amount of power possible. But with more recent technology, nuclear plants size are smaller , making them less costly and easier to build. But despite their many technical and engineering differences, nuclear reactors come in two basic types: pressurized water reactor systems and boiling water reactor systems. (more…)

In the United States, Department of Energy has determined that nuclear power accounts for about 21% of the total electricity generated in the United States, an amount comparable to all the electricity used in California, Texas, and New York. In 2002, there were 65 nuclear power plants throughout the United States, located mostly on the East Coast and in the Midwest. (more…)