Energy

Can the world change course on climate change?

10/15/18 — In an episode of the Knowledge‌‌@‌Wharton podcast, Berkeley professor of energy Daniel Kammen and Wharton's Brian Berkey discusses a new United Nations report warning that severe impacts of global warming are likely to occur by 2040.

Eight Berkeley engineers honored as Siebel Scholars

09/14/18 — Eight Berkeley engineers - representing bioengineering, computer science and energy science - have been named to the Siebel Scholars Foundation's 2019 class, recognized for their academic achievements and demonstrated leadership.

UC Berkeley to co-lead DOE center to study corrosion in nuclear reactors

08/06/18 — Berkeley engineers are co-leading a new DOE-funded Energy Frontier Research Center to study how extreme conditions such as radiation exposure and corrosion affect nuclear reactor materials. The new center, led by the Los Alamos National Laboratory, is called the Fundamental Understanding of Transport Under Reactor Extremes, or FUTURE.

Diagram of the parts of the new efficient wind turbine: Tower, blades, concentrator and camouflage

Redesigning wind power

06/01/18 — Berkeley Engineering students have designed a wind turbine that is quiet, efficient and protects birds.

Diagram of how thin film device converts waste heat into energy

Thin film converts heat from electronics into energy

04/16/18 — Nearly 70 percent of the energy produced in the United States is wasted as heat - from exhaust pipes, high-speed electronics and other sources. Now Berkeley engineers have developed a thin-film system that can produce energy from these waste sources at unprecedented levels.

New technology could wean battery world off cobalt

04/11/18 — A research team led by Gerbrand Ceder, professor of materials science and engineering, has devised a way to build lithium battery cathodes using materials that have greater capacity, and a far lower price, than the traditional cobalt.

Chirp Microsystems acquired

03/23/18 — Chirp Microsystems, a startup enabled with technology developed at UC Davis and UC Berkeley, has been acquired by Japanese electronics giant TDK Corporation. Based in Berkeley, Chirp Microsystems makes tiny, ultra-low power sensors that function like sonar or echolocation. The micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology enables extremely precise sensing and has applications in drones, robots, vehicles, smart home products, augmented reality and virtual reality systems.

Slide containing cesium-doped perovskite that is transparent at room temperature but turns dark at high temperatures

Study shows solar power potential for smart window material

01/22/18 — Smart windows that automatically adjust their transparency in response to light conditions could potentially generate power as well, according to a new study led by Berkeley researcher Peidong Yang, who holds a joint appointment in materials science and engineering. The new study shows that perovskite can switch back and forth between transparency and non-transparency while retaining its electronic properties.

Ravi Prasher, with Berkeley and the San Francisco Bay in the background

Batteries to provide renewable energy anytime, anywhere

01/16/18 — Ravi Prasher, adjunct professor of mechanical engineering, and his Berkeley colleagues are searching for new battery materials to help store renewable energy so we can use it when we need it.

Radical new battery technology for a $130,000 electric sedan

01/12/18 LA Times — Solid-state automotive batteries, like those being designed for Fisker Inc.'s all-electric EMotion supercar, will eventually exist, says materials science and engineering professor Gerbrand Ceder, but “it's not going to happen as fast as people think.”

Ultrafast magnetic reversal points the way toward speedy, low-power computer memory

11/03/17 — Researchers at UC Berkeley and UC Riverside have developed a new, ultrafast method for electrically controlling magnetism in certain metals, a breakthrough that could lead to speedier, more energy-efficient computer memory.

Major progress in realizing new type of lithium cathode

11/02/17 Berkeley Lab — A team of Berkeley Lab scientists led by Gerbrand Ceder, professor of materials science and engineering, have reported major progress toward making lithium battery cathodes with so-called “disordered” materials.

Inventing the future

11/01/17 — In a Q&A with Berkeley Engineer, Dean Shankar Sastry outlines his vision for the future of the college and beyond.

Comparing potential solar fuel materials

Materials genome to solar fuels

11/01/17 — Berkeley Lab's Materials Project was deployed with great success in an effort to find new materials that hold promise for capturing more of the sun's energy.

Berkeley student descending a staircase outside the RISE house

Berkeley-Denver team comes in third in Solar Decathlon

10/18/17 Denver Post — A collaboration between UC Berkeley and the University of Denver took third place in the Solar Decathlon 2017, a challenge for student teams to build and operate highly energy-efficient and innovative solar houses. The team's RISE house was designed specifically for the city of Richmond, Calif.

Brains for buildings, packaged in a smart briefcase

10/02/17 — Building-in-Briefcase is a new toolkit consisting of wireless sensors that monitor and communicate overall building health and function. The system, which can be used to retrofit intelligence into existing buildings, is designed to increase energy efficiency.

Boot camp participants at California Memorial Stadium.

Fresh ideas for nuclear power

08/24/17 — Two dozen students from all over the world gathered at Berkeley for two weeks over the summer to discuss, plan and help start building a new nuclear energy sector. The students, along with professional mentors and speakers, were part of the 2017 Nuclear Innovation Boot Camp.

Victorious CalSol team members surround their car, Zephyr, at the track in Austin, Texas.

CalSol finishes 1st at Formula Sun Grand Prix

08/17/17 Daily Californian — The CalSol student team has won the Formula Sun Grand Prix, an annual solar vehicle track race for college teams from around the nation. CalSol's four-year-old Zephyr took first place in the July race in Austin, TX, completing 228 laps with zero penalties.

Imagining a post-combustion world

06/19/17 — After teaching a climate change mitigation course for more than a decade, civil and environmental engineering professor William Nazaroff has drawn a few conclusions. One is that it's time to develop and deploy technologies that move beyond combustion.

The fight to rethink (and reinvent) nuclear power

05/19/17 Vox — The latest in a series of Climate Lab videos produced by Vox Media and the University of California features the work of nuclear engineering professor and associate dean Per Peterson.