Engineering the Future

Two Brigham Young University professors are working on a “sugar-run fuel cell” that can harvest electricity from glucose and other sugars.

Gerald Watt and Dean Wheeler, UT B ’96, are combining glucose and a common herbicide to move the energy to the electrode.

The technology still needs to be improved, but visions of a “large-scale unit that could turn yard clippings into a power source” with environmental benefit have potential. Read news article

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A recent article in Scientific American details an Idaho-based company’s efforts to build “Solar Road Panels” that can be driven on.

Solar Roadways is working on a prototype of glass that can be driven on and also allow roads to use solar technology to generate solar power.

The trick is balancing the utility of the glass, as a surface for driving, with the ability to deliver electricity. Read the full article to learn more

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Realizing the potential of new “efficient power” or alternative energy sources might be the key to the next “U.S. economy boom.”

Both public and private investments continue to support companies of the alternative energy variety. An article from the Associated Press coins the idea that “cleantech” could lead the U.S. out of its economic woes.

Cleantech incorporates “alternative energy, more efficient power distribution, and new ways to store electricity.” The article points to Massachusetts based company GreatPoint Energy as an example of the potential of cleantech.

GreatPoint has developed a technique for turning coal into natural gas at a much cheaper and more efficient rate. Many large companies are investing in GreatPoint, which plans a new power plant in Houston, Texas, next year.

The new plant would create several thousand jobs and offer a cleaner energy source option. The coal gasification process managed by, CTO of GreenPoint, Donald B. Anthony (OH Z ’70), could be a model for future cleantech industry. Read article

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