News Roundup
News Roundup for August 8
BETTER BULB
Prize light
After 18 months of intensive testing, the U.S. Department of Energy has announced the winner of its Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prize competition. Philips Lighting North America’s 10-watt, light-emitting diode system was subjected to both short-term and long-term testing by independent laboratories and field assessments by utilities and other partners. It produces the equivalent lighting of a 60-watt incandescent light, and should have a lifetime of more than 25,000 hours. Philips officials said the first prize-winning LED bulbs should appear on store shelves in early 2012.
WATERED WHEAT
Sunshine over the Sahara Desert is providing a new source of energy for irrigating wheat crops as part of a project undertaken by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems. The Munich, Germany-based researchers are using concentrated photovoltaic modules to produce electricity to pump well water. The panels also provide power for air conditioning and other irrigation components. Researchers say the system is designed to reduce the need for energy storage because power is immediately directed to components where it is needed most.
VERMONT VALUES
A new study indicates that Vermonters could save more than $800 million during the next 20 years by investing in energy-efficiency and conservation. The not-for-profit High Meadows Fund commissioned a series of studies examining the potential value of pursuing home energy audit recommendations. The results indicate that a typical homeowner could cut energy costs by 30 to 50 percent, but many don’t follow through, said Gaye Symington, executive director of High Meadows. “We need to make energy efficiency easier to see and do,” said Symington.
ENERGY TRANSFER
Researchers are learning more about so-called antenna proteins which jump-start production of sugars in plants during photosynthesis. The findings of a new study could lead to breakthroughs on the use of sunlight-to-fuel conversion research. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley used two different frequencies of laser light on plant proteins. When they introduced a third laser pulse to release energy, they found the material emitted different frequencies than those it had received. The findings are published in the American Institute of Physics’ Journal of Chemical Physics.
—Based on news and wire reports
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