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Data Barns in a Farm Town, Gobbling Power and Flexing Muscle

Data centers require a large amount of energy and space. In 2006, Microsoft bought 75 acres of bean fields in Washington State to build…

Industry and Business

data center room

Power, Pollution and the Internet

Data centers have become increasingly important as more information is shared and put online. Yet, a recent study found that data…

Industry and Business

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New Material Could Make Thermoelectric Power Practical

Thermoelectric materials can be used to generate electrical current from waste heat. Researchers have made a new thermoelectric material…

Research

umesh mishra

Umesh Mishra Receives Welker Award for Achievements in Energy Efficient Semiconductor Research

Institute Faculty Member, Umesh Mishra, was awarded the Heinrich Welker Award for “sustained leadership in the development of gallium…

Awards and Accolades

John Bowers

Onward California: John Bowers

Director of the Institute for Energy Efficiency, John Bowers, is Onward California's first featured story. John discusses our many areas…

Alumni, Graduate, Undergraduate

Shuji Nakamura

Next Generation of LEDs

Shuji Nakamura, the 2006 Millennium Prize winner, along with his colleagues James Speck and Steven DenBaars have created the "first LED…

Awards and Accolades

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Sensors Are Key to Better EV Batteries

Two coalitions of companies are now making tiny, lightweight sensors that could make lithium-ion batteries smaller, cheaper, and safer.…

Industry and Business

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China Widens Renewables Lead Over U.S. in Ernst & Young Ranking

China widened its lead over the U.S. in a renewable energy ranking compiled by consultant Ernst & Young that gauges the…

Industry and Business

solar panels

SunPower’s C7 Tracker System in 6 MW Solar Farm at Tucson Electric Power

This past January, SunPower unveiled the first commercial deployment of its C7 low-concentration photovoltaic tracker. The concentrator…

New York energy data graph

New York is First City to Publish Energy Data for Private Buildings

New York City has publicly posted 2011 energy benchmarking results for over 2,000 large commercial properties. This is the first time…

Industry and Business

1GW logo

California’s 1-Gigawatt Solar Milestone: What Does It Mean?

California surpassed one gigawatt of solar power production last month. One gigawatt can meet the instantaneous demand of at least 750,…

Industry and Business

germanium laser research

Built-In Germanium Lasers Could Make Computer Chips Faster

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute studied how to make the semiconductor germanium emit laser light. This could be the basis for…

Research

HP data center plans

NREL Taps HP, Intel for ‘World’s Most Efficient’ Data Center

The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has selected Hewlett Packard and Intel to provide what it says will…

Industry and Business

factory polluting

California Stages Successful Cap-and-Trade Trial

California officials have completed a successful trial of its much-anticipated carbon trading scheme. The cap-and-trade platform will be…

Industry and Business

air conditioning on an apartment building

Air Conditioning a Warming and Modernizing World

Air conditioners consume a large amount of energy. Nearly all of the world’s booming cities are in the tropics and will be home to an…

Industry and Business