Using thousands of brain cells from laboratory rats, researchers at Missouri S&T hope to design a more intelligent power grid. They envision a more flexible system that is capable of responding to uncertainty and circumstances - much like the brain itself.
By 2015, drivers may be less concerned about gas mileage than about hydrogen storage. By 2030, the United States' dependency on foreign oil to power our cars and trucks could be a thing of the past.
Several glass containers filled with algae-stained water sit on a table in Paul Nam's laboratory. Next to the big green bottles are two much smaller vials. One of the vials, labeled "biodiesel," contains a mostly clear solution labeled "algae oil."
At first, the amount of potential fuel in these little vials doesn't seem too impressive. But Nam says algae could play a big role in the unfolding dramas associated with finding alternative sources of energy and reducing greenhouse gases.
Imagine thousands of Plexiglass tubes stored underground much like wine in a temperature-controlled cellar. While grapes are the prime ingredient in a bottle of Chardonnay, these tubes are full of odorous algae. And the long tubes of green slime are stored vertically, with carbon dioxide bubbling up from the bottom. Timed pulses of water push overflow algae - engineered to replicate four times daily - out the top of the tube and into a collection system, where the overflow is squeezed to yield, get this, crude oil.
Two energy researchers at Missouri S&T are revved up about the future of plug-in hybrid vehicles, what they see as the next generation of electrically driven automobiles.
