Efficiency
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A new high-tech US embassy was recently completed in London. The billion dollar project takes the form of a glazed cube. It's efficient too: the building features rainwater recycling and solar panels, and is slated for LEED Platinum and BREEM Outstanding green building certifications.
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Concentrating solar power (CSP) plants can be a key part of a renewable energy strategy, but progress is often focused on larger facilities. Now, engineers from Sandia National Laboratories are improving the efficiency of smaller plants, designing a new receiver that can absorb much more sunlight.
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Electronics don't work well in heat, which is a problem because heat is a byproduct of electricity. Researchers have developed a thermal diode that runs on heat instead of electricity. This could lead to heat-resistant computers that function in hot places like on Venus or deep inside the Earth.
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Singapore's Housing & Development Board recently called for proposals to automate the painting of its high-rise buildings. In response, ELID Technology International and Nanyang Technological University teamed up to create a robotic system that does the job.
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Considering taxpayers are footing the bill, it pays to improve the efficiency of the more than 300 million streetlights around the globe. A team in Germany has now developed an array of low-power LEDs that are more efficient, safer, cooler, and easier on the eyes.
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As emissions regulations tighten and congestion gets worse, manufacturers are being forced to delve deep into their engineering kitbag for clever ways to save fuel. The latest brand to unveil a smart new eco-friendly engine is Toyota, which has released a new 1.5-liter for the Yaris.
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A new study from MIT has examined modern technology through the lens of a 150-year-old economic theory of efficiency and resource consumption – and in almost all cases, the benefits of reducing required resources is cancelled out by the increase in consumer demand for them.
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Car and aircraft engine makers are all chasing engine weight savings, but boat makers too are getting in on the act. Yamaha has unveiled a new F25 motor, which is just as powerful as the engine it replaces, but significantly lighter.
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This refreshingly simple forced induction system for motorcycles won't give you the huge power output of a turbo system - but it can give you a boost of up to 0.6 bar and some 15-25 percent more power, torque and efficiency at "about a tenth" the price of a turbo setup.
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Perovskite solar cell technology has made great strides over the past few years. Now researchers have developed a new manufacturing technique that could increase the output of a perovskite solar cell by up to 25 percent.
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Swiss startup Insolight has developed a thin plastic overlayer that sits atop a solar panel and directs the sun's rays to a small area of very high performance solar cells to achieve a solar conversion efficiency of 36.4 percent.
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Imagine if you were in charge of putting cars into shipping containers. Given all the shapes and sizes you might be working with, how would you know which ones to put together, and in what configurations? Well, that's where new racking software developed at the University of Warwick comes in.
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