SubscribeTanja Cuk (pronounced “chook”), an assistant professor of chemistry, is testing how to optimize new devices for both power delivery and energy storage. Her focus is an alternative to conventional batteries called a “supercapacitor.”
Tag: energy
Bakar Fellows Program: Packing power
April 24, 2013:
Architecture student wins prestigious new sustainability fellowship
May 21, 2013:
By updating and expanding California’s utility-allowance calculator, Berkeley grad student Antony Kim hopes to make sustainable architecture more available to low-cost housing developers. He and his faculty mentor, Galen Cranz, are winners of the first-ever Schmidt-MacArthur Fellowship, which encourages the design of sustainable products and processes.
New report: California lags in fracking regs
April 12, 2013:
A new report on fracking in California warns of potentially irreversible contamination of surface and groundwater near oil drilling sites, unless the technique is carefully monitored and controlled. “Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing in California: A Wastewater and Water Quality Perspective” is an independent analysis produced by Berkeley Law scholars.
In Richmond, a hands-on approach to energy tech
March 13, 2013:
Just three miles from the site of the future Richmond Bay Campus, the Northern California Workshop for Energy Technologies underscored the need for partnerships, and featured a keynote address from former Michigan governor (and current Berkeley faculty member) Jennifer Granholm.
Physicist Art Rosenfeld to receive National Medal of Technology & Innovation
December 26, 2012:
On Dec. 21, President Barack Obama named UC Berkeley and LBNL physicist Arthur Rosenfeld one of this year’s 11 recipients of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. The annual award honors the nation’s top inventors. Rosenfeld is often called the “godfather of energy efficiency” because of his pioneering work on reducing the nation’s energy usage.
Checklist for holiday energy curtailment, Dec. 22-Jan. 1
December 11, 2012:
Before leaving for the holiday break, employees are asked to follow the 2012-13 energy curtailment checklist.
New Energy Biosciences Building, Birgeneau Energy Garden dedicated
December 11, 2012:
State legislators and city officials joined nearly 100 UC Berkeley researchers and administrators on Monday, Dec. 10, to dedicate the new Energy Biosciences Building and celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Energy Biosciences Institute, a partnership between the campus, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the energy company BP.
Q&A: Chris Somerville reflects on EBI’s first five years
December 11, 2012:
In a Q&A, Chris Somerville, director of the Energy Biosciences Institute, reflected on the institute’s first five years and the current biofuels landscape.
Clif Bar in Emeryville snags 2012 Livable Building Award
September 19, 2012:
The Center for the Built Environment announces its Livable Building Award for 2012.
Computer model finds best materials for capturing greenhouse gas emissions
August 24, 2012:
Berend Smit, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering in the College of Chemistry, has developed a computer model that predicts the best types of metal organic frameworks (MOF) for capturing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the smokestack emissions of power plants.
Poolla, Cairns awarded Bosch energy grants
July 17, 2012:
The Bosch Energy Research Network has awarded chemical engineering professor Elton Cairns and mechanical engineering professor Kameshwar Poolla up to $150,000 over two years for research to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact. The awards are among seven announced July 17 after BERN reviewed 121 applications from five U.S. research universities.
New research grants to spur advances in low-cost solar power
May 17, 2012:
UC Berkeley and Stanford today announced $7.5 million in new research awards as part of the Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium (BAPVC). The two universities received $25 million from the Department of Energy (DOE) in April 2011 to find ways to make solar power more affordable. The DOE’s Sunshot Initiative seeks to bring down the cost of solar power to $1 per watt, comparable in price to coal-powered electricity, by 2020.
Electricity-generating viruses could lead to pocket power plants
May 14, 2012:
Scientists at UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab have harnessed the electricity-generating capabilities of viruses, a development that could lead to pocket power plants for mobile devices. When researchers applied pressure to a generator made up of engineered M13 bacteria-eating viruses, they were able to produce enough current to equal a quarter the voltage of a triple A battery.
Let there be light! Solar cells that emit photons break efficiency record
April 26, 2012:
UC Berkeley engineers have demonstrated that when flatplate solar cells emit light particles, there is a big boost in voltage and efficiency. Their prototype cell was able to convert a record 28.6 percent of the Sun’s energy into electricity. The Berkeley team will present its findings at the Conference on Lasers and Electro Optics (CLEO: 2012), to be held May 6-11 in San Jose, Calif.
Advanced power-grid research finds low-cost, low-carbon future in West
February 9, 2012:
The least expensive way for the Western U.S. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to help prevent the worst consequences of global warming is to replace coal with renewable and other sources of energy that may include nuclear power, according to a new study by UC Berkeley researchers.
Chemists to develop new materials for hydrogen storage in vehicles
January 26, 2012:
The big challenge with hydrogen-powered fuel cells is how to safely and cheaply store enough hydrogen to power a vehicle for 300 miles. UC Berkeley and LBNL scientists led by chemists Jeffrey Long and Martin Head-Gordon recently received a three-year, $2.1 million grant from DOE to develop new hydrogen storage technologies for fuel cell electric vehicles.
Campus — and NewsCenter — going quiet for a week
December 22, 2011:
The annual holiday energy curtailment, when heating and ventilation are reduced campuswide, will run from Saturday, Dec. 24, through Sunday, Jan. 1. Faculty and staff are encouraged to plan to be away from campus. The NewsCenter will be largely quiet.
Dan Kammen, Jay Keasling in ‘Future of Energy’ on Discovery Channel tonight
December 22, 2011:
Two of UC Berkeley’s top energy experts – Dan Kammen of the Energy and Resources Group and Jay Keasling of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering – are interviewed extensively for one segment of a new Discovery Channel video, “Earth 2050: The Future of Energy,” which airs Thursday night, Dec. 22, at 7 p.m. PST.
Curtailment saves energy, costs
December 6, 2011:
The annual holiday energy curtailment, when heating and ventilation are reduced campuswide, will run from Saturday, Dec. 24, through Sunday, Jan. 1. Faculty and staff are encouraged to plan to be away from campus.
Big Ideas for Jobs Creation: A Q&A with Karen Chapple
November 7, 2011:
Thirteen big ideas for programs and policies to create badly needed jobs in the United States were unveiled Monday at a Washington, D.C., briefing.
BERC symposium energizes Cal students
October 24, 2011:
Record attendance at last week’s fifth-annual Energy Symposium at UC Berkeley demonstrated the swelling interest among students on campus and nationwide in bridging the gap between universities’ renewable energy research and the private sector.
Cal Energy Corps interns showcase research partnerships worldwide
September 26, 2011:
The very first cohort of Cal Energy Corps student interns showcased an wide array of sustainable-energy research and service they conducted around the world this summer, at a Sept. 22 campus symposium. Their projects ranged from a low-tech food dehydrator, with a community on Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast, to advanced science to improve the formulation of new biofuels.
Campuses target workplace practices to limit waste
August 29, 2011:
UC green-office programs, launched at Berkeley in 2009, are off and running
Cal Energy Corps interns report from the field
August 10, 2011:
Cal Energy Corps participants fanned out this summer to internship projects across the world, from India and Denmark to Washington, D.C. Many of these talented young people are sharing periodic, first-person updates on their transformative experiences in the field.
Borenstein explores U.S. airlines’ persistent profit losses
June 23, 2011:
Severin Borenstein of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and director of the UC Energy Institute, explores the key reasons for the nagging profit losses for U.S. airlines in the July issue of the National Bureau of Economic Research Digest and reports findings that counter much of the conventional wisdom.
Bosch grants $10 million for energy research
June 1, 2011:
UC Berkeley will be one of five leading universities to launch Bosch Group’s new $10 million energy initiative, designed to promote research and education in the United States.
Law school and energy group create concurrent degree
May 19, 2011:
Berkeley Law and UC Berkeley’s Energy and Resources Group (ERG) have created a concurrent degree program that enables students to earn both a J.D. and an M.S. or M.A. after four years of study. The new program reflects a growing interest in energy-related legal work and a spike in job opportunities within the field.
Energy efficiency programs save UC $21 million per year
May 10, 2011:
More than 400 energy efficiency projects — everything from fixing leaky steam pipes and swapping light bulbs to designing cutting-edge LEED-certified buildings — have saved the 10 University of California campuses more than $21 million in annual energy costs, and put the system on the path to meet its goal of cutting energy use, costs and emissions to year 2000 levels by 2014.
Sun-driven and Australia-bound
May 6, 2011:
A team of Berkeley students is burning lots of midnight oil to build a car powered completely by the sun. Their sleek solar vehicle, named Impulse, is on track to compete this October in the world’s premier solar car competition: an 1,800-mile road race across Australia.
When it comes to carbon footprints, location and lifestyle matter
April 13, 2011:
A UC Berkeley analysis of the carbon footprints of households around the country shows that consumers need different strategies in different cities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. An online “carbon calculator” helps consumers decide how to change their lifestyles for the maximum reduction in their footprints.
