August 5, 2014
Life on the Grid is Getting Smarter
UW Clean Energy Institute Research Update For nearly a century, the electrical grid remained essentially the same. Yet, as electricity consumers we keep asking it to do more for us. Chill or heat our homes. Help keep our drinks cold, freeze our food and dry our laundry. Charge our phones, computers and cars. Deliver us […]

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July 24, 2014
Energy from biofuels can match crude oil levels
By Andy Tully, originally published by Oilprice.com The beauty of biofuels is that they don’t pollute. After that things can get ugly. First, biofuel, an oil made from plant tissues, doesn’t generate as much energy as an equal amount of crude oil. And the oil is difficult to refine because it contains too much water […]

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July 8, 2014
Silicon sponge improves lithium-ion battery performance
By Frances White, PNNL RICHLAND, Wash. – The lithium-ion batteries that power our laptops and electric vehicles could store more energy and run longer on a single charge with the help of a sponge-like silicon material. Researchers developed the porous material to replace the graphite traditionally used in one of the battery’s electrodes, as silicon has […]

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July 3, 2014
UW Breaks Last Year’s Record With 18 New Companies Formed
By Benjamin Romano, Xconomy Seattle The University of Washington spun out 18 startup companies in the fiscal year just ended, a record level that serves as a powerful counterpoint to recent criticism that its commercialization practices have over-emphasized revenue generation at the expense of other priorities. This year’s class of startups follows 17 spun out […]

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June 19, 2014
DOE to renew Energy Frontier Research Center at PNNL
By Mary Beckman, PNNL RICHLAND, Wash. – The Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory welcomed one of the 32 multi-million dollar Energy Frontier Research Centers announced by DOE this week. The centers are charged with pursuing the scientific underpinnings of various aspects of energy production, storage and use. As a renewal of an EFRC established in 2009, […]

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June 27, 2012
WCTA Annual Meeting
Premier Sponsor: Washington State’s Cleantech Leadership at the Inaugural WCTA Annual Meeting Michael K. Young, UW Elson S. Floyd, WSU WCTA’s Inaugural Annual Meeting hosted several hundred attendees from diverse industries and companies invested in clean technology. UW President Michael Young, and WSU President Elson Floyd participated in a discussion on innovation and commercialization in […]

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May 31, 2012
Battery Technology: PNNL Develops Small Oxide Fuel Cell System
Battelle / Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has announced publication of a study in the Journal of Power Sources demonstrating significantly higher efficiency in a new small-scale oxide fuel cell system.  The PNNL-developed system is up to 57% efficient as compared to 30-50% efficiencies of similar cells.  The system uses methane, the primary component of natural […]

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May 25, 2012
Battery Technology: WSU Patents Tin and Lithium Battery Design
Washington State University engineering professor Grant Norton is developing technology that may allow more use of tin in lithim ion batteries.  Tin would replace carbon and might extend the life of lithium batteries by a factor of three.  Lithium ion batteries are commonly used laptops, cell phones, and electric cars.  According to Dr. Norton, “If […]

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May 21, 2012
Global Warming: Pollution Warms Through Thunderclouds
New research led by Jiwen Fan of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory suggests that pollution is warming the atmosphere through summer thunderstorm clouds.  The computational study was published May 10 in Geophysical Research Letters. Pollution strengthens thunderstorm clouds, which causes the tops of the clouds to spread out high in the atmosphere and capture heat, […]

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March 14, 2012
PNNL: Silicon-Carbon Electrodes May Lead to Better Vehicle Batteries
Source:  PNNL press release, March 14, 2012. A Pacific Northwest National Laboratory study has examined a new type of silicon-carbon nanocomposite electrode.  The research shows how they function and how they wear down.  The research suggests why this material performs better than silicon alone.  With a capacity five times higher than conventional lithium battery electrodes, […]

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