PennState

Salt water as fuel? Not exactly, but kinda. John Kanzius discovered that by focusing certain radio-frequencies on a test tube of salt water, he could ignite the contents, which would them become hot enough to melt the test tube. The process has been independently verified by Rustum Roy, a Penn ...

Penn State University has really been on a green roll these last few days, getting three stories featured on our site. One had to do with a novel way to extract hydrogen from water using nanotechnology and sunlight and the second had to do with using coal and papermaking waste to make a liquid ...

Sometimes, people just need to make the best with what they have got to work with. This is what paper mills are trying to do by burning the "black liquor" waste which is a leftover remnant of chemicals and the lignin. As part of the Kraft process (.pdf link), the leftovers are burned to create ...

The idea of using solar power to split hydrogen from water is one that many propose will make the hydrogen economy a reality. Naysayers point out that the solar power might be better spent just charging up electric cars or providing power to homes. But, what if there was a better way to use ...

Cellulose is everywhere in the plant world and contains tremendous amounts of untapped energy. The problem is the long chains of sugars that make up cellulose is tough to break apart, something well known to ethanol researchers. Fuel cells are able to harness chemical reactions to release electrons ...