Don’t Burn Coal – Use it in Semiconductors!

Brian McCowan, Zondits staff, 2/28/2024 Researchers at the University of Illinois are saying that coal may have a future as a component in semiconductors.  Their groundbreaking research is published in the technical journal Communications Engineering, with the somewhat daunting title of Ultrathin quasi-2D amorphous carbon dielectric prepared from solution precursor for nanoelectronics. In simpler terms, … Read more

Renewables Outrun Coal as Largest Global Energy Source in 2015

Renewables surged past coal in 2015 to become world’s biggest source of electricity: IEA CNBC, October 25, 2016 Renewable energy moved past coal in 2015 to become the biggest source of global electricity capacity, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday. Last year “marked a turning point for renewables” the body said, with clean … Read more

All Coal Power Stations to Close by 2025 in Britain

Britain’s last coal power plants to close by 2025 The Guardian, November 9, 2016 The last coal power station in Britain will be forced to close in 2025, the government said as it laid out its plan to phase-out the polluting fossil fuel. Ministers promised last year that the UK would close coal power within … Read more

Can Distributed Energy Solve the Energy Poverty Problem?

Gita Subramony, ERS, for Zondits The discussion on distributed and clean energy often focuses on societies or groups of people who have access to electricity but are hoping for cleaner alternatives. But what about the 1.2 billion people in the world who do not have reliable or consistent access to electricity? How do we address … Read more