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Abstract: The sun may soon power many more homes and appliances, thanks to chemists at Idaho National Laboratory and Idaho State University. They have invented a way to manufacture highly precise, uniform nanoparticles to order. The technology, which won an R&D 100 Award this year, has the potential to vastly improve photovoltaic cells and further spur the growing nanotech revolution. Nanoparticle breakthrough could improve solar cells Idaho Falls, ID | Posted on October 29th, 2009 INL chemist Bob Fox and his ISU colleagues were looking for a better way to make semiconducting nanoparticles for solar cells. When the researchers introduced "supercritical" carbon dioxide - CO2 that behaves like both a gas and a liquid - to their reactions, they generated high-quality nanoparticles at low, energy-saving temperatures. And, surprisingly, the nanoparticles were incredibly uniform. With subsequent tweaking, the team figured out how to make nanoparticles of prescribed sizes - anywhere from 1 to 100 nanometers - with unprecedented precision. Because the properties of nanoparticles are so strongly size-dependent, the implications of this breakthrough are vast.

Abstract: The sun may soon power many more homes and appliances, thanks to chemists at Idaho National Laboratory and Idaho State University. They have invented a way to manufacture highly precise, uniform nanoparticles to order. The technology, which won an R&D 100 Award this year, has the potential to vastly improve photovoltaic cells and further spur the growing nanotech revolution. Nanoparticle breakthrough could improve solar cells Idaho Falls, ID | Posted on October 29th, 2009 INL chemist Bob Fox and his ISU colleagues were looking for a better way to make semiconducting nanoparticles for solar cells. When the researchers introduced "supercritical" carbon dioxide - CO2 that behaves like both a gas and a liquid - to their reactions, they generated high-quality nanoparticles at low, energy-saving temperatures. And, surprisingly, the nanoparticles were incredibly uniform. With subsequent tweaking, the team figured out how to make nanoparticles of prescribed sizes - anywhere from 1 to 100 nanometers - with unprecedented precision. Because the properties of nanoparticles are so strongly size-dependent, the implications of this breakthrough are vast.

It was a day when the shift from the past to the future was almost palpable. It started Thursday morning in Berkeley where Green Wombat was moderating a panel of tech luminaries gathered at the University of California's Global Technology Leaders Conference. As Shai Agassi, founder of electric car infrastructure company Better Place, makes the case for harnessing Silicon Valley's technological innovation to Detroit's manufacturing might to create a sustainable car industry, dispatches from the automotive apocalypse roll down my BlackBerry: Ford (F) shares sink to $1.01…GM's (GM) stock falls to its lowest level since World War II…U.S. automakers beg for a bailout…California Congressman Henry Waxman ousts Michigan's John Dingell - the Duke of Detroit - from his 28-year chairmanship of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. Agassi slips out of the conference and an hour later I catch up with him across the Bay at San Francisco City Hall where he and representatives of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the mayors of San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland announce a $1 billion project to build a regional network of electric car charging stations. Better Place has signed similar deals with governments in Israel, Denmark and Australia, but California is the company's first foray into the U.S. market. Planning for the Bay Area network begins in 2009 with construction scheduled to start in 2010 and commercial rollout set for 2012.

Australian mining firms, hit by high fuel costs and falling commodity prices, could soon swap their diesel generators for 24-hour, solar-power systems, the head of a private renewable power firm said on Thursday. Mining firms are also worried about an emissions trading scheme set to begin in Australia in 2010, Steve Hollis, CEO of Sydney-based Lloyd Energy Storage, told Reuters in an interview.

New satellite measurements show that crucial sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has plummeted to its second-lowest level on record. Arctic ice always melts in summer and refreezes in winter. But more and more ice is being lost and not recovered. The National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, announced Wednesday that the extent of sea ice in the Arctic is down to 2.03 million square miles. The lowest point on record is 1.65 million square miles set last September. With about three weeks left in the melt season, the record may fall, scientists say.

While the arguments rage on both sides, the experts say that time is running out For the workers at Oldbury-on-Severn nuclear power plant, the next new year celebrations could be rather poignant. Just as Britain is planning the rebirth of nuclear power generation, their ageing plant will be closing down, probably on December 31. Oldbury, in Gloucestershire, has been pouring power into the national grid since 1967 and is the latest in a series of closures that has seen Britain's nuclear generating capacity fall from nearly 40% of the nation's needs in the 1980s to just 15% now. Most of the slack has been taken up by new gas-fired stations.

Chemists claim that by mimicking photosynthesis in the lab, they could revolutionize fuel production within five years. Katharine Sanderson reports. Dan Nocera, a chemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, made a bold statement at the American Chemical Society's fall meeting in Philadelphia last month. He claimed that within five years he could build a device capable of producing locally sourced hydrogen gas, which could power all the world's houses, fill people's car batteries and revolutionize energy supply in the developing world. "I guarantee, in under five years, you'll see this," he said.

# Responsible people see the very urgent need to do something to help our Global environment recover from our excesses. # Do we want our children to be able to breathe clean air and be able to enjoy Nature at its finest? # How can we immediately affect the Environment in a good way and in the shortest possible time? # Most experts agree that the destruction of fossil fuels [ coal, oil, gas etc ] creates massive amounts of harmful materials and that Alternative Energy sources must be found. They suggest alternatives to destroying the Planets Fossil Fuels would be one of the biggest steps we could take on the path back to a cleaner and healthier Planet. # Recent research has forced huge strides forward in Alternative Energy sources such as Wind and Solar Power technology, and in particular making that technology available to the average person for home use. After the initial costs of installation, annual bills could fall to less than 10% of a normal fuel bill!

Renewable Energy World has an article on the state of play in the ocean energy market - Harnessing the Tides: Marine Power Update 2009 One hundred and forty-one years ago, the relentless sea off Scotland's coast inspired the following observation from native son and author George MacDonald. "I climbed the heights above the village, and looked abroad over the Atlantic. What a waste of aimless tossing to and fro! Gray mist above, full of falling rain; gray, wrathful waters underneath, foaming and bursting as billow broke upon billow…they burst on the rocks at the end of it, and rushed in shattered spouts and clouds of spray far into the air over their heads. "Will the time ever come," I thought, when man shall be able to store up even this force for his own ends? Who can tell?"

When oil prices fall, they lose money. Yet Canada is at the forefront of trying to get off of having an economy based on oil production.

Buy Etsy Accounts Introduction Online stores can sell handmade, antique, and one-of-a-kind things on Etsy. It is a well-liked platform for artisans, crafters, and creators of one-of-a-kind gifts. Having an Etsy account might help you market and sell your goods. Why You Should Buy Etsy Accounts ? Online stores can sell handmade, antique, and one-of-a-kind things on Etsy. It is a well-liked platform for artisans, crafters, and creators of one-of-a-kind gifts. Having an Etsy account might help you market and sell your goods. Here are various justifications for purchasing Etsy accounts: Buy Etsy Accounts You receive a free Etsy account when you launch an Etsy shop. This is a fantastic approach to begin advertising and selling your goods on Etsy. You can set up your shop, list your products, and start taking orders using your free Etsy account. How does Etsy Accounts work? The e-commerce site Etsy specializes in distinctive factory-made products as well as handcrafted or vintage goods and supplies. You may manage your shop and transactions on the Etsy website using an Etsy account. You may build up your shop, post things for sale, and handle orders using your account. Through your account, you can also communicate with Etsy's administrators and purchasers. Buy Etsy Accounts You must provide your email address and generate a password when creating an Etsy account. The username you select will serve as your online persona on Etsy. Your username, which will be used to generate your Etsy store website, can be your real name, a nickname, or the name of your company. For instance, if "knitwit" is your username and Your store's URL would be www.etsy.com/shop/theknittingwitch if you decide to start a store called "The Knitting Witch." Buy Etsy Accounts What are the benefits of using Etsy Accounts? Many people are looking for strategies to maximize their Etsy accounts because the marketplace has grown to be one of the most well-liked locations to buy and sell han

The machines are coming - better look busy. There's no arguing the fact that these days we depend on technology for much of our everyday lives. From the moment our phone alarm wakes us up in the morning to the moment we fall asleep watching a film on our iPad, we are connected to our technology in a wide variety of ways.

More than 90% of the UK's oil production occurs offshore within the central and northern sections of the North Sea, regions which could soon fall under Scottish control if the country votes yes to Independance. Offshore-technology.com profiles the ten biggest oil producing fields in the UK sector of the North Sea based on production during the year ending in October 2013.

The US Office of Personnel Management falls victim to massive data breach - but what can be learnt from this latest cyberattack? The US Office of Personnel Management has confirmed reports of a massive data breach hitting its systems, with the personal information of over 4 million government employees compromised.

ABOUT THE PANEL DISCUSSION: Companies sometimes regard sustainability as "metaphoric low-hanging fruit," says moderator Peter Senge, and reach for a few easy targets to achieve cosmetic improvements. His three panelists describe how their corporations are attempting to embrace sustainability as more than just another high-profile, low-impact initiative that "goes right into an overloaded bucket."

We can't afford to think of business as the enemy. Businesses in many cases are realizing the importance of sustainability more quickly than the public sector which too often defines its view by outdated political philosophies. This video provides a great deal to think about.

Solar energy will cost the same as power produced by coal, natural gas and nuclear plants in about a decade, a report released today suggests. By then, the price parity could propel solar adoption so that it accounts for 10 percent of U.S. electricity generation by 2025.