Samples of near-term small modular nuclear reactor designs. Credit: DOE SMR report. The concept of using small modular nuclear reactors is something we’ve written on several times in the past,…
Read MoreCredit: DOE As Eileen notes in her post, the DOE has updated its assessment of factors affecting the availability of critical materials for energy applications, particularly in regard to rare…
Read MoreThe Department of Energy recently released its second “Critical Materials Strategy” report. Credit: DOE. In late December 2011, the Department of Energy released its 2011 update (pdf) to its report,…
Read MoreLow-temperature SOFCs: (A) Functionally graded bismuth oxide (Electrolyte 1) / ceria (Electrolyte 2) can allow use of hydrocarbon fuels at the anode at reduced temperatures. (B) Estimation of power output…
Read MoreCredit: Wachsman et al.; Energy & Environmental Science. No. Will it anyway? Unfortunately, it looks that way, based on the DOE’s 2012 budget request (pdf), which hacks off 41 percent…
Read MoreKristin Persson is one of the experts behind the Materials Project, the new computational tool aimed at taking the guesswork out of new materials discoveries. Credit: Roy Kaltschmidt, LBL. Right…
Read MoreThe details on this are a little skimpy at this point, however the DOE caught my attention this afternoon when it announced that a “first-of-its-kind” online search tool for materials…
Read MoreHere’s what we’re hearing (some info from news releases): Kyocera Supplies 2MW of modules for solar power plant in France Kyocera announced that is has supplied 8 solar modules for a…
Read MoreEnergy-storing membrane may ‘perform better than batteries’ Researchers from the National University of Singapore’s Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative have developed a soft, foldable membrane using a polystyrene-based polymer. When sandwiched…
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