7. Climate Change: NOAA report for 2004
US Department of Energy, Energy Connections Report ("2004 IS FOURTH WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD," January, 2005) reported that on a global scale, 2004 was the fourth warmest year on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In 2004, the average global temperature was 0.97 degrees Fahrenheit above the long-term average established since record keeping began in 1880. The mean temperature in the Northern Hemisphere was the second warmest on record, while the Southern Hemisphere experienced its sixth warmest mean temperature on record.
Read the full climate change 2004 review here for more information.
8. Solar Cell Technology
US Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy News ("PAINT ON SOLAR CELL CAPTURES INFRARED RADIATION," January 19, 2005) reported that new research at the University of Toronto (U of T) promises to yield new ways to capture the sun's infrared radiation, a part of the solar spectrum that's not captured by today's low-cost flexible thin-film solar cells. Using particles of semiconductor only 6 nanometers in size, the U of T team created a suspension of the particles in a solvent, much like paint, and then applied it to a surface to dry. According to one reviewer of the work, the finding has the potential of eventually allowing flexible solar devices to boost their efficiency significantly, capturing 30 percent of the sun's energy.
Read the U of T press release here or here.
Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology are working to boost the efficiency of a new type of flexible solar cell, the organic solar cell, in which the inexpensive, flexible material that forms the cell is also able to capture the sun's energy and convert it into electricity. In tests, the organic solar cells were able to convert 3.4 percent of the sun's energy into electricity.
See the Georgia Tech press release:
Read the Georgia Tech press release here or here.
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