Energy

Researchers find that some 'green' hot water systems fail to deliver on promises

Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Marc Edwards and Randi Brazeau, two researchers affiliated with the Virginia Tech College of Engineering, have published a paper which reports that hot water recirculating systems touted as "green" use more energy and water than their standard electric counterparts.

Virginia Tech researchers unveil large robotic jellyfish that one day could patrol oceans

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Virginia Tech College of Engineering researchers have unveiled a life-like, autonomous robotic jellyfish the size and weight of a grown man, 5 foot 7 inches in length and weighing 170 pounds, as part of a U.S. Navy-funded project.

New portable biomass power plant draws visitors to campus

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

The Department of Sustainable Biomaterials' biomass power system, capable of generating enough energy to power 100 100-watt light bulbs, will be used for research and teaching efforts.

Future cruise control to have environmental, safety features

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

The use of an eco-cruise control system being developed by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute researchers could save billions of gallons of fuel and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Virginia Tech hosts roundtable in partnership with Capital IIT to address energy challenges in U.S. and India

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

About 50 entrepreneurs, academics, and business leaders are expected to attend the event in Arlington to network and explore ways to spawn scalable, sustainable, and profitable projects in the both the United States and India.

Virginia Tech teams with CONSOL Energy on identifying coal seam carbon storage alternatives

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

The Virginia Tech College of Engineering's Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research is teaming with CONSOL Energy Inc. on exploring new carbon storage alternatives in Buchanan County, Va.

Virginia Issues & Answers explores rising sea levels, spiraling debt, Medicaid expansion, smart grids, and uranium mining

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

The winter 2012-13 issue of Virginia Issues & Answers, a public policy forum published by Virginia Tech's Office of University Relations, examines rising sea levels, spiraling debt, Medicaid expansion, smart grids, and uranium mining.

Resolving mountaintop mining will depend upon people who value their jobs and the natural world

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

In a recent article, three Virginia Tech researchers note that recent efforts by federal and state governments and the mining industry to increase the community's voice in decision making hasn't succeeded in incorporating stakeholders' values and concerns.

Department of Energy's Office of Science director to discuss science for sustainable energy at first-ever visit to Virginia Tech

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0400

William F. Brinkman, one of America's leading physicists and director of Department of Energy's Office of Science, will talk about challenges related to energy use and global warming during his first-ever visit to Virginia Tech on Wednesday, Oct. 17.

Motorcycle team races to next level of worldwide competition

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 00:00:00 -0400

A team of Virginia Tech College of Engineering undergraduate students this week will take its self-built electric-powered motorcycle to the third-round race of the North American TTXGP eGrandPrIx competition.

Amanda Morris receives Powe junior faculty award in support of her solar energy research

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0400

The unrestricted grant is for faculty members in the first two years of their tenure track.

University Honors students invited to Paris to compete as finalists in an international energy solutions case competition

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Two University Honors students are finalists for the Go Green in the City 2012 competition. They are one of 25 teams selected for the third and final round in Paris. Approximately 600 teams from nine countries vied for a spot in the energy management case competition.

Robotic jellyfish could one day patrol oceans, clean oil spills, and detect pollutants

Tue, 29 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Virginia Tech College of Engineering researchers are working on a multi-university, nationwide project for the U.S. Navy that one day will put life-like autonomous robot jellyfish in waters around the world. The robotic creatures are called RoboJelly are being designed to operate on their own energy versus, say, sea crabs or mollusks.

Shashank Priya to host world energy harvesting conference at Virginia Tech

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Virginia Tech Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Shashank Priya will host a two-day conference Aug. 7 and 8 on campus, bringing together a group of international experts on energy-harvesting and its applications.

Photos: Solar panel installation on parking deck

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 10:15:49 -0400

See photos of the installation of solar panels on a parking deck

Joint WVU-Virginia Tech symposium to explore energy issues

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

The April 25 symposium draws presidents of both universities and key researchers.

Virginia Tech research magazine reports on saving wildlife, recovering coal from slurry ponds, treating brain tumors, who is running the country

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Articles in the winter 2012 Virginia Tech research magazine look at the human-wildlife interface, inventions to treat tumors and to remove coal from slurry ponds, and the role of appointees in the federal government.

Institute for Society, Culture and Environment announces senior fellow

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Sonia Hirt, the Institute for Society, Culture and Environment's first senior fellow, will focus her time on advancing debates on urban land-use policy reform in the U.S. and work with a team on energy sustainability at the urban scale.

Virginia Tech to host energy harvesting summit with goal of spurring job growth

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Virginia Tech's College of Engineering will host a Virginia Energy Summit Jan. 31, 2012, bringing together Virginia-based energy companies and related government agencies to identify industry opportunities. The meeting will pave the way for partnerships that could spur high-paying jobs in the burgeoning energy harvesting sector.

Virginia Tech unveils HokieSpeed, a powerful new supercomputer for the masses

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Wu Feng of Virginia Tech's College of Engineering is unveiling HokieSpeed, a supercomputer that boasts enough computational capability to place it at No. 96 among the world's fastest supercomputers.

Parent of new Southwest Virginia clean energy company wins French, international CleanTech competitions

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500

The French company that will use Virginia Tech technology as the basis of a clean energy business in Abingdon, Va., has won an award for using plant-based biotechnolgy to create sustainable, clean fuels and other chemicals.

Virginia Tech's well-traveled solar home returns to campus for a special engagement

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The award-winning solar house, Virginia Tech's Lumenhaus has returned to the Blacksburg campus in time for the University Open House on Nov. 12. Visitors to the open house have a chance to participate in a tour of the energy-saving home with the guides being members of the faculty and students who designed and built it.

ACC schools selected to co-lead Department of Energy's first ever nationwide business plan competition

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The University of Maryland and its Atlantic Coast Conference partners, including Virginia Tech's College of Engineering, will lead a new, conference-hosted Clean Energy Business Challenge launching in the fall of 2011.

Research offers means to detoxify mycotoxin-contaminated grain intended for ethanol, animal feed

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Virginia Tech and U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers have shown that a new transgenic yeast used during fermentation of barley will help modify mycotoxin in the animal feed that is a byproduct of ethanol production.

Janaki Alavalapati named Senior Fellow in U.S. State Department program

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0400

As a Senior Fellow, Alavalapati will promote the Americas program, which will address issues including clean energy, sustainable landscapes, and climate-change adaptations

Wu Feng awarded AMD Research Faculty Fellowship for work in heterogeneous computing

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Wu Feng, associate professor of computer science and electrical and computer engineering, has been awarded an AMD Research Faculty Fellowship by Advanced Micro Devices Inc., based in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Center for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems to host international conference in Roanoke

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0400

An international group of experts on energy harvesting and piezoelectric materials and applications will visit Roanoke from Aug. 7-11 for the International Workshop on Piezoelectric Materials and Applications.

Coal and Energy Center at Virginia Tech selected for study on injection of carbon dioxide into storage reservoirs

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0400

In a test project, researchers plan to inject some 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide into a coalbed methane field in southwest Virginia, at a site that is not suitable for underground mining purposes.

Virginia Tech professor's cellulose-for-biofuels and carbon cycling research featured in July 14 issue of Science journal

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The July 14 issue of Science features the findings of a global team of cellulose researchers, including Professor Barry Goodell.

Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team heads to final rounds of EcoCAR competition

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team of Virginia Tech is in the final rounds of the international EcoCAR Challenge, a three-year design competition that seeks to inspire students to build more energy-efficient "green" automobiles.

Seven universities form Appalachian energy, environment research initiative

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0400

A consortium of major research universities has formed a new initiative to address the environmental impacts of the discovery, development, production, and use of energy resources in Appalachia.

Forest researcher awarded NSF early career grant

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Jason Holliday is using a $1.5 million Faculty Early Career Development Program grant to gain insight into how tree populations adapt at the genomic scale as a result of climate change.

Virginia Tech names director of energy initiatives

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Satish V. Kulkarni, a Virginia Tech alumnus who has led international and national collaborations related to energy, security, and the environment for more than three decades, has been named the director of energy initiatives for the university.

Enzyme cocktail could eliminate a step in biofuel process

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Conversion of biomass to fuel requires several steps. Virginia Tech researchers have discovered an enzyme mixture that makes the detoxification step unnecessary, reducing the cost of producing biofuels and increasing biofuel yields by avoiding the production of by-products and synthesis of cell mass.

Virginia Tech launches transatlantic partnership to advance city-university collaboration for urban sustainability

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Virginia Tech has launched a partnership to advance proximity-based city-university collaboration for urban sustainability.

Commercial-scale test of new technology to recover coal from sludge successful

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0400

A new technology for removing water from ultrafine coal slurry has been successfully tested at the commercial scale at an operating coal cleaning plant. The technology offers the possibility of reducing the coal slurry impoundment problem from the source. A peer-reviewed paper on this new technology was presented Sept. 15 at the 13th Australian Coal Preparation Society Conference, Cairns, Queensland.

Virginia Tech-YMCA wind and solar project dedication ceremony kicks off Sustainability Week

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0400

The Virginia Tech-YMCA wind and solar project has demonstrated significant power generation over the summer, and the team expects an even better showing this fall when the winds return. To acknowledge the hard work and contributions of the volunteer team and sponsors who erected a 28-foot high vertical axis wind turbine and an array of solar panels at the YMCA at 1000 North Main Street in Blacksburg, there will be a ribbon cutting on Monday, Sept. 20, at 6 p.m.

Virginia Tech, YMCA wind and solar project gets off the ground in time for Earth Day

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400

By now, Blacksburg residents and commuters who travel Main Street will have noted an egg beater-like apparatus on a pole in front of the YMCA. The raising of the pole for the mini wind-turbine on April 19 was a major milestone in what has turned out to be a year-long effort by Virginia Tech students, faculty members, and staff, and community volunteers to build a wind and solar demonstration site and education center at the YMCA center at 1000 North Main Street.

Space still available in energy harvesting workshop

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

A few slots are still open for Virginia Tech's 5th annual energy harvesting workshop March 3 and 4 in Roanoke. Energy harvesting, also known as energy scavenging or power harvesting, refers to the capture of energy from sources such as sun and wind.

Conservation Management Institute encouraging farmers to plant switchgrass for fuels

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0400

Over 50 experts on renewable electricity generation and related topics met Monday at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research to discuss the possibility of starting a renewable energy initiative in Virginia that would pay farmers for switchgrass that would be used to co-fire with coal to produce electricity.