Political Ecology

In this article description of various technology applications for passive and active utilization of solar radiation is presented, as well as some results of short-term and long-term experiments, including evaluation of 1-year operation of the greenhouse from the energy and interior temperature viewpoints. A comparison of the calculated energy flows in the greenhouse to real [...]

One of the best places to put a solar panel is in the desert, where it’s sunny. But deserts are also dusty, which means the panels have to be washed frequently so the dust doesn’t stop them from capturing sunlight. New technology could provide a solution–by letting solar panels clean themselves.The technology was developed for [...]

Using imaging polarimetry, we measured the reflection–polarization characteristics of different solar panels and in multiple-choice experiments in the field we tested their attractiveness to mayflies, caddis flies, dolichopodids, and tabanids. At the Brewster angle, solar panels polarized reflected light almost completely (degree of polarization d ≈ 100%) and substantially exceeded typical polarization values for water [...]

The result of these trends: “In the past year, the lines have crossed in North Carolina,” say study authors John Blackburn and Sam Cunningham. “Electricity from new solar installations is now cheaper than electricity from proposed new nuclear plants.”If the data analysis is correct, the pricing would represent the “Historic Crossover” claimed in the study’s [...]

We use an extremely slow feeding rate of the chemical precursor, resulting in well controlled formation of thin, uniform CNT films,’ explains Cao. The thinner the film, the higher the transparency – a property essential for its effective use as an electrode in solar cells. By tuning the transparency, Cao ensures that most of the [...]

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have successfully demonstrated a prototype machine that uses the sun’s energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into the molecular building blocks that make up transportation fuels. The “Sunshine to Petrol” system could ultimately prove a practical way to recycle CO₂ from power and industrial plants into gasoline, diesel, and [...]

In this study, anodized TiO2 electrodes are prepared and used as the photoanodes in a photoelectrochemical (PEC) system designed to convert natural seawater into hydrogen with the assistance of an external bias, and their electrochemical and morphological properties were characterized, and correlated with the hydrogen evolution rate and photocurrent.In order to prepare light sensitized TiO2electrodes, [...]