Home > News > A Nano-Solution to Energy ‘Vampires’
October 28th, 2010
A Nano-Solution to Energy ‘Vampires’
Abstract:
Vampire power, the electricity consumed by devices that are plugged in but not in use, costs American homeowners some $4 billion every year and accounts for 5 to 10 percent of all residential energy use, according to estimates from the Department of Energy.
Like a leaky faucet, today's transistors may be in the "off" position but are never fully closed, allowing small amounts of energy to steadily escape. But with nanotechnology, a far tighter "seal" may be achieved, greatly increasing efficiency, said the project's coordinator, Adrian Ionescu of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland.
"It's old technology," Mr. Ionescu said of the current transistors, which are based on designs that date back decades. "What we want to use is nanoscience and nanowires, so when you want to close it, you do close it."
For consumer devices, success could mean cellphone batteries that last 10 times longer than today's models, and computers and other devices that use virtually no power when in stand-by mode.
Source:
nytimes.com
Bookmark:
News and information
Glowing Plant Releases Maker Kit, Enabling Anyone to Make a Glowing Plant at Home: Glowing Plant seeks funds via crowdfunding and raises almost $400,000 May 23rd, 2013
IDTechEx launches online Market Intelligence Portal May 23rd, 2013
UofL scientists uncover how grapefruits provide a secret weapon in medical drug delivery May 22nd, 2013
Atomic-Scale Investigations Solve Key Puzzle of LED Efficiency: MIT and Brookhaven Lab scientists use electron microscopy imaging techniques to settle a solid-state controversy and raise new experimental possibilities May 22nd, 2013
Possible Futures
Lifeboat publishes its first book: The Lifeboat Foundation has published its first book, "The Human Race to the Future: What Could Happen -- and What to Do" May 14th, 2013
UC Santa Barbara History Professor's Book Elucidates, Celebrates ‘Visioneers' May 14th, 2013
Conceptual Nanomedical Lipofuscin Removal Strategy April 29th, 2013
The Global Desalination Market 2013-2023 April 24th, 2013
Energy
IDTechEx launches online Market Intelligence Portal May 23rd, 2013
Innovation could bring flexible solar cells, transistors, displays May 22nd, 2013
Researchers Stitch Defects into the World’s Thinnest Semiconductor May 22nd, 2013
Atomic-Scale Investigations Solve Key Puzzle of LED Efficiency: MIT and Brookhaven Lab scientists use electron microscopy imaging techniques to settle a solid-state controversy and raise new experimental possibilities May 22nd, 2013
Battery Technology/Capacitors/Generators/Piezoelectrics
IDTechEx launches online Market Intelligence Portal May 23rd, 2013
Add boron for better batteries: Rice University theorists say graphene-boron mix shows promise for lithium-ion batteries May 17th, 2013
New Mechanism Converts Natural Gas to Energy Faster, Captures CO2 May 7th, 2013
Microwave oven cooks up solar cell material: Nanocrystal semiconductor for photovoltaics, medical sensors, heat reuse May 6th, 2013