Articles for "Question of the week"

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Transport | 18. January 2010 | posted by Jan Oliver Löfken

Car exhaust gases as a source of electricity?

In cars with internal combustion engines, a large part of the energy stored in diesel or petrol is simply dissipated as lost heat. It is precisely these hot exhaust gases that an increasing number of scientists worldwide want to use for more efficient electricity generation. They are developing and testing thermoelectric generators that can generate electricity from temperature differences of several hundred degrees. But does electricity from hot car exhaust gases really save fuel? read more

Energy | 12. January 2010 | posted by Jan Oliver Löfken

Question of the week: How much energy does the Sun send us every day?

Our Sun is a gigantic fusion reactor with an expected lifetime of about ten billion years. Although this period of time is unimaginably long from a human perspective, half of it has already elapsed. That means that our star, a very ordinary one in astronomical terms, will still be radiating the same amount of energy as it now does long after our resources of uranium, coal, gas or crude oil have been used up. How much energy from the Sun reaches us here on Earth? read more

Energy | 12. January 2010 | posted by Dorothee Bürkle

Which energy source will we use in the future? Energy questions for ‘Energy’ Science Year 2010

Can we refuel in the future simply using the Sun? How long will the Earth’s oil reserves last? Which energy source will our grandchildren use? Many people are asking scientific researchers about the future of our energy supply. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung; BMBF) has chosen the slogan ‘The Future of Energy’ for Science Year 2010. In the DLR Energy Blog, science journalist Jan Oliver Löfken will answer a question about energy each week during the year. read more