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Energy now lost as heat during the production of electricity could be harnessed through the use of silicon nanowires synthesized via a technique developed by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) at Berkeley. The far-ranging potential applications of this technology include DOE's hydrogen... Read more

A team of researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has found evidence that the prevalence of building-related symptoms (BRS) increases with increasing outdoor concentrations of the pollutant ozone. They have also discovered that the type of air filter that some buildings use in their ventilation systems may also play a role in the... Read more

November/December 2007, Volume 65, Number 6 Power requirements on the electric grid are in constant flux, based on the demand of the devices connected to it. Demand varies, based on time of day, weather and other factors. Traditionally, supply is varied to meet the demand by increasing or decreasing electric generation capacity. Given the strain on the nation's electric grid, though, supply cannot... Read more

Employees of The New York Times Company (The Times) began occupying their new headquarters on the west side of Manhattan in mid-2007. Three years before this milestone, The Times's facility team had approached building scientists at Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division (EETD), looking for help. They were searching for reliable and affordable technologies, not yet available in... Read more

In recent years battery failures in laptops and cell phones — many overheating, some bursting into flame — have drawn attention to one of the biggest problems posed by lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries: overcharging can lead to battery failure and chemical leakages from the battery pack, and sometimes fire and personal injury. "Electrolyte material in these batteries is highly energetic," says... Read more

Scientists at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory were important contributors to the research on global climate change that has won this year's Nobel Peace Prize.... Read more

The better transportation battery — a battery for hybrid-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles — needs to be lighter than today's battery, store more charge, and last through more charge-discharge cycles. Also, it needs to be safe, affordable, and compact enough to fit under the hood.... Read more

An experimental gas turbine simulator equipped with an ultralow-emissions combustion technology called LSI has been tested successfully using pure hydrogen as a fuel — a milestone that indicates a potential to help eliminate millions of tons of carbon dioxide and thousands of tons of NOx from power plants each year.... Read more

Three of R&D Magazine's prestigious R&D 100 Awards for 2007, which recognize the 100 most significant proven technological advances of the year, have gone to researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and their colleagues.... Read more

At major retail stores like Ikea, there's an unusual collaboration going on between PG&E, Lawrence Berkeley Labs, system control firms, and energy consultants. Produced by: Tech Closeupwww.techcloseup.com(408) 807-5119... Read more

The Department of Energy has released its annual report on "U.S. Wind Power Installation, Cost, and Performance Trends 2006." The primary authors are Ryan Wiser and Mark Bolinger of Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division, with contributions from EETD's Galen Barbose and Andrew Mills. The report describes the rapid growth in U.S. wind power installations. In 2006, U.S. wind power... Read more

A pair of studies to be published in the journal Indoor Air have quantified the considerable public health risks and economic consequences in the United States from building dampness and mold.... Read more

The House of Representatives of the United States Congress has decided to set an example by reducing its carbon footprint, an announcement which came from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and colleagues on April 19. Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) provided technical assistance to House staff as they developed their plans.... Read more

To play its part in reducing the consequences of global warming, the state of California has embarked on a trailblazing effort to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Assembly Bill 32, recently passed by the California legislature and signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, requires the state to substantially reduce GHG emissions by the year 2030 — and, by the summer of... Read more

If all goes well, when the Summer Olympics opens in Beijing in 2008 visitors will see a new, green Olympic athletes' center built expressly for this international event. The state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly building is being planned now with technical consultation from a group of U.S. energy-efficient building experts led by Joe Huang, of Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies... Read more

Scientists are working at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) are working with industry to develop technologies to make electronic networks — whether they are used for the Internet, consumer electronics, or both — more energy-efficient. They are also developing specifications and information programs to speed the adoption of energy-efficient... Read more

Juniors in the SEA-DISC (Studies of the Environment Academy - Drake Integrated Studies Curricula) program of San Francis Drake High School (San Rafael) have been visiting the Environmental Energy Technologies Division annually since the late 1990s to learn about energy-efficient technology development. This year, 28 juniors and two teachers came on February 28th. In the morning, they performed a... Read more

The next generation of batteries in your car is coming from laboratories—and from computer models. Advanced battery development is no longer just a question of trial and error engineering; scientists increasingly use computer models to design the best possible battery.... Read more

Lithium ion batteries are already among the most popular for portable electronics, having a superior energy-to-weight ratio and a slow loss of charge when not in use. To be commercially viable for transportation, however, Li-ion batteries will need to last 10 to 15 years; their cost will have to be significantly reduced and their safety improved.... Read more

On January 4, staff members of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division (EETD) of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), and other Lab staff, journeyed to Sacramento to participate in the pre-inaugural festivities marking the second term of California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. An all-day fair held on the lawn in front of the state capital was an opportunity for the... Read more

Scientists use computer models to estimate how pollutants distribute themselves in the environment. How far can we trust these models? How much can they tell us about health risks, and what are their limits? EETD's Thomas McKone talks about these issues, and his work on National Academy of Science panels that address risk assessment.... Read more

WiLight is a new wireless lighting control system that dims or switches overhead lighting according to the occupants' preferences, or in response to building-wide demand. Developed by two EETD researchers, Francis Rubinstein and Dennis DiBartolomeo, WiLight was designed to be low cost, to encourage building owners to retrofit facilities for energy efficiency.... Read more

To help EC windows realize their potential to save energy in California and throughout the U.S., DOE and the California Energy Commission funded Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division to conduct a three-year field test of EC windows in a realistic office-building setting. This test, along with other tests and computer simulations, was intended to allow the Berkeley Lab... Read more

A recently launched Global Giving web page describes a plan to reduce hardship in the Sudan. EETD Researchers developed, in cooperation with local inhabitants and aid organizations, the Berkeley-Darfur Stove, a low-cost technology that will help minimize violence against women, increase disposable incomes, and reduce environmental degradation (https://cookstoves.lbl.gov/). The stoves require 75%... Read more

Alex Lekov of LBNL's EES Group (together with Bill Golove) was a recipient of the 2006 Presidential Award for Leadership in Federal Energy Management as part of a larger team representing the U.S. Postal Service Pacific Area Energy Program Committee. The USPS received this award for completing over $100 million of clean energy retrofits in their facilities during FY 2004 and 2005. Berkeley Lab... Read more