In the quest for better, less expensive ways to store and use energy, platinum and other precious metals play an important role. They serve as catalysts to propel the most efficient fuel cells, but they are costly and rare.
University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers have created a nanoscale device that can emit light as powerfully as an object 10,000 times its size. It's an advance that could have huge implications for everything from photography to solar power.
Like many local governments around the country, the City of Madison is trying to reduce its emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases (GHG) such as carbon dioxide.
Platinum is a highly reactive and in-demand catalyst across the chemical and energy industries, but a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison and Georgia Institute of Technology scientists could reduce the world’s dependence on this scarce and expensive metal.
A group of researchers, professors and students gathered in the Wisconsin Energy Institute June 17 to hear energy policy expert Gary Radloff describe how a commitment to technology innovation can drive a stronger, cleaner energy system.
The debate over energy consumption and its consequences is constantly evolving, whether the subject is fossil fuels or renewables. The Massive Open Online Course “Energy and the Earth” will give thousands of people an online forum in which to explore these topics.
“How air quality and energy affect each other is the single biggest story no one is hearing about,” says Tracey Holloway, University of Wisconsin–Madison professor of environmental studies and chair of this year’s Energy Summit, which will take place on Tuesday, October 13, 2015.