|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Special Ad Section
The Technology Review Custom Team takes a look at the technologies that are changing the ways in which we do business. This section takes a look at the advancements in the wind, biofuel, fuel cell, ocean, and solar sectors.     Clean Energy
“With reliable, long-term incentives now in place, we are confident that our manufacturers will see an increase in demand for their products,” says Robert Rose, executive director of the U.S. Fuel Cell Council. This is also encouraging to organizations like The University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center, which is a national leader in hydrogen and fuel cell research and development. Researchers there have more than 40 patents in hydrogen production, storage, cryogenics, detection and fuel cell applications. Looking to the sunThere are those who believe becoming independent of fossil fuels will require a portfolio approach, with much of that portfolio invested in solar energy — a market that’s estimated to grow to $74 billion by 2017. As of next year, Florida will host the world’s largest solar PV plant. The DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center, which will generate 42,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually, is under construction in DeSoto County. With 240 days of sunshine and 85 percent of the maximum solar resource available in the country, Florida has proven a hub for research centers and businesses exploring next-generation solar technologies. One such example is the University of South Florida’s Clean Energy Research Center, which studies thin and thick films, silicon carbide materials and processing, photovoltaic and hybrid systems, tandem solar cells using organic polymers and inorganic materials and rooftop systems. Researchers here were first in the world to exceed 15 percent efficiency for a thin film PV cell using cadmium telluride. A gust in wind energyWind power, whose new-installation capital costs were valued at $30.1 billion in 2007, is projected to expand to $83.4 billion by 2017. It’s an estimate upon which investors like oil and gas titan T. Boone Pickens are banking. He aims to build the world’s largest wind farm — up to 2,000 turbines — in Texas. Clean Energy Videos and PodcastsInnovation ProfilesFlorida is committed to building a world-class Clean Energy cluster. Learn more by watching these short videos profiling the innovative work being conducted at Florida universities. 
Harnessing the Power of the Gulf StreamThe Director of the Center for Excellence in Ocean Energy Technology talks to NPR about the Florida Atlantic University's project to generate energy from the ocean. 
The State of Clean Energy in the Sunshine StateThe Director of the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) tells us about Florida's advances in R&D and implementation of "green" technologies. Clean energy articles from technology review
A Clean Energy Generation by Hemant Taneja and David DanielsonIn a whirlwind legislative session ending last Thursday, July 31, 2008, Massachusetts legislative leaders have launched the most comprehensive and forward-thinking set of clean-energy policies in the nation. They will allow the state to move rapidly toward a low-cost, secure, environmentally ... 
Vinod Khosla: A veteran venture capitalist's new energy.For many years a partner at the blue-blooded venture capital firm of Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Vinod Khosla has been called the best venture capitalist in the world by both Forbes and RedHerring magazines. 
Bright Days for Solar: New investment fuels promising energy research at MIT.When Tonio Buonassisi finished his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2006, he wanted out of academia. He had a mission: to cover the world's roofs with solar panels that would provide clean, carbon-free electricity. |
|
|
 Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
