“Energy conversion” on The Daily Caller

“Now, clean energy breakthroughs will only translate into clean energy jobs if businesses know there will be a market for what they’re selling. So tonight, I challenge you to join me in setting a new goal: by 2035, 80% of America’s electricity will come from clean energy sources. Some folks want wind and solar. Others want nuclear, clean coal, and natural gas. To meet this goal, we will need them all — and I urge Democrats and Republicans to work together to make it happen.” — Barack Obama (more)

James Cameron doesn’t mince words when talking about people who are skeptical that humans are causing global warming. (more)

Walk onto a modern wind farm and you’ll feel like an ant in a field of sunflowers. Modern wind turbines stand 30-50 stories tall. Their blades swinging high above can be more than 130 feet long. Their steel towers are anchored in platforms of more than a thousand tons of cement and steel rebar, which are typically 30 to 50 feet across and anywhere from 6 to 30 feet deep. (more)

In February of this year, President Obama announced his support for billions of dollars in loan guarantees for two new nuclear reactors in Georgia. This is the first nuclear power plant project to break ground in nearly three decades. (more)

A millimeter-sized diamond bullet fired from a linear accelerator could produce nuclear fusion when it collides with a chunk of solid methane, according to a study by Chinese researchers. (more)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Abnormally high radiation levels were detected near the border between the two Koreas days after North Korea claimed to have mastered a complex technology key to manufacturing a hydrogen bomb, Seoul said Monday. (more)

In the quest for proven, clean, sustainable forms of energy, we have looked to the sky to harness wind; we have looked to the seas and the rivers to harness water; we even looked to space to harness the sun. Billions upon billions of collective dollars, yen, and euros have flowed into finding the next great source of renewable energy. The latest and greatest energy ideas scream at us from every television, bus, and magazine article, proclaiming dominance in a crowded field. One proven energy technology, however, has remained conspicuously missing, yet is essential to enable the proliferation of the better-known renewable technologies. It also happens to be one of the most simple, proven, and cost-saving technologies available. (more)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers recently released a concept aircraft design that could use 70 percent less fuel than current commercial airliners. The simple secret, they say: Optimize the aircraft for modern, efficient jet engines. (more)

The U.S. is fertile ground for small wind turbines, according to a report published this week. (more)

Solar Impulse, a prototype of an airplane designed to fly around the world using only solar power, made its first real flight today. As the sun shone down on the Swiss countryside an aircraft powered by 12,000 solar cells flew for 87 minutes to an altitude of nearly 4,000 feet. (more)

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Sharif Mobley is a New Jersey native arrested in early March in Yemen along with a number of other suspect members of al-Qaida as part of ongoing security operations in that nation. Prior to his departure for the Middle East in 2008 Sharif was also employed inside of at least five separate nuclear power plants in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland over a six-year period. (more)

For years, many of China’s best and brightest left for the United States, where high-tech industry was more cutting-edge. But Mark R. Pinto is moving in the opposite direction. (more)

Attention AT&T customers: The company wants you to give up monthly paper bills. Oh, and buy its new vampire-killing phone charger, too. (more)

WASHINGTON  - The Obama administration’s planned loan guarantee to build the first nuclear power plant in the United States in almost three decades is part of a broad shift in energy strategy to lessen dependence on foreign oil and reduce the use of other fossil fuels blamed for global warming. (more)

(AP) President Obama is endorsing nuclear energy like never before, trying to win over Republicans and moderate Democrats on climate and energy legislation. (more)

BEIJING (AP) — A U.S. solar power company said Saturday it will help build a series of solar thermal power plants in China, as the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases tries to decrease its heavy reliance on coal, imported gas and oil. (more)