How Battery-Based Storage Systems Are Leading More Germans to Opt for Solar Power
The budding popularity of solar panel and battery systems, driven by a drop in lithium-ion battery prices, has thrown a lifeline to Germany's moribund solar sector.
Electricity
D.C. Considers a Bill Committing to 100 Percent Renewable Energy
The proposed act would require Washington, D.C., to source 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2032.
Letter From Kathmandu, Nepal: The Omnipresence of Dust
Each time the electricity powers off in Kathmandu, thousands of diesel generators rumble to life, spewing noxious particulate matter, or PM2.5.
A Low-Tech Solution to a Hi-Tech Problem: Trains That Generate Electricity
While others work on improving batteries and turning air compression into an energy-storage solution, the ARES team is re-purposing the simple ideas behind water towers to address a gap in our solar-power infrastructure.
Approaching Peak Capacity
Requests for consumers to shift their electrical usage when the power grid is strained can have "perverse effects."
With Fewer Electronics, This Is How a City Sleeps
In the age of smartphones and televisions, have Americans lost the ability to properly power down?
Stimulating Your Brain, Wirelessly
A novel approach to deep brain stimulation could lead to a better understanding of the technique and perhaps new treatments as well.
Brain Stimulation and Me
In reporting about electrical brain stimulation, Emma Young of course had to try it for herself. Would it change her?
The New Bronze Age: We're Entering the Era of Tough Ore
Worries about oil and gas hog the airwaves. But copper is also essential to keep the world running: It threads through your house, your computer, your eco-correct hybrid car. And it's getting just as difficult, expensive, and environmentally menacing as oil to extract. We have entered the era of tough ore.
Nikola Tesla Would Not Approve of Your Online Viewing Habits
Collectively, we've spent more than 50 years watching the Tesla vs. Thomas Edison rap smackdown that went viral on YouTube.
Germany Unplugs Nuclear Power, Doesn't Plug in Anything Else
Two years after deciding to phase out nuclear power, Germany's government just reported that it is still producing more energy than it needs.
Could the Smart Grid Finally Do Some Good for Consumers?
One small but important study shows that we could save money — and our behavior could change — if we were just given the right information.
Electric Forecast Calls for Increasing Blackouts
From falling investment to falling deer, America's power grid is falling down. A lack of political will and willingness to rely on Band-Aids may doom efforts to improve the nation's power infrastructure.
Making Electricity From Dirt
By harnessing power from soil microbes, one engineer is trying to charge cell phones across rural Africa.
Who’s Saving Electricity in Your Neighborhood?
Software company Opower thinks it can get consumers to use less electricity by instigating some friendly neighborhood competition.
Vehicle-to-Grid: A New Spin on Car Payments
Buried in the high hopes for electric cars is the very real possibility that they can make money by powering and regulating the grid.
Rooftop Solar Power to the People?
Some environmental advocates say the federal government is ignoring the real future of solar energy: photovoltaic cells on almost every roof. But even supporters acknowledge rooftop solar isn't the complete answer to the energy question — yet.
A Little Shock Can Help in Name Recall
Little bits of electricity have been shown to help people remember names, a finding that might have implications for restoring memories and making new ones.
Laboratory Looks at California’s Energy Future
John Lennon said imagining world peace is easy if you try. Imagining the energy makeup of a country four decades from now may be a little more difficult.
Q&A: Learning About the Smart Grid
The manager of the energy portfolio for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory discusses the benefits of evening out our day’s use of electricity and how future appliances will decide when they can spark up most cheaply.
Cogeneration Needs to Return to its Birthplace
An old American idea to capture and use waste heat from electricity generation, adopted by Europe, needs to come back home for a visit.
Debunking Theories of a Terrorist Power Grab
A Penn State power-system expert cites laws of physics to pull the plug on worries that a terrorist attack on a minor substation could bring down the entire U.S. electric grid.
Electric Cars Get a Jump-Start From Feds
Gas stations are plentiful in the United States, but what if your ride needs a different kind of juice? A public-private partnership plans to jump-start electrics in six cities.