Learn about nonrenewable and renewable energy sources currently available in North Carolina, and then find out how scientists in the state are testing strategies for harvesting renewable energy from the Atlantic Ocean.
alternative energy
The future of fuel is ... microalgae?
The future of fuel is ... microalgae?
January 24, 2017
There are currently more than seven billion people living on Earth, and scientists expect that figure to surpass 11 billion by the year 2100. With that figure comes the reality of needing to feed and provide energy for all of those people, while preserving a clean planet for them to live on.
Future Fuels: Lesson Plan
Check out the biofuels reactor that scientists in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park are using to create gasoline-like hydrocarbon fuels from plant material, and learn the challenges of creating biofuels.
Pharma Quest: Lesson Plan
Learn about how biotechnology is used to affect living organisms, especially in the pharmaceutical, agricultural and alternative energy industries. Then explore how scientists in North Carolina are using biotechnology to develop new pharmaceutical drugs that will better treat diseases such as diabetes.
Biltmore Science: Lesson Plan
Learn about the sustainable energy that powers America's largest home, Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.
State of Emissions, State of Energy
North Carolina Has Big Decisions Coming in the Future of Emissions and Offshore Energy
October 26, 2015
Turning Wastewater Into Energy
Novozymes has developed a groundbreaking biogas plant that turns wastewater at its Franklinton plant into energy to help power the plant.
How Much Wind Does a Wind Turbine Need?
There are more than 2,300 wind turbines spinning away and creating energy off the coasts of 11 European countries. A large number of those turbines are located in the North and Irish seas. One reason for that is because the winds blowing across those bodies of water are not only strong but also sustained.
It’s the same reason wind energy companies are eyeing the North Carolina coast as a possible location for wind farms. But that begs the question: just how much wind does a wind farm, or at least a wind turbine, need?
Seeking Sea Power
The winds along North Carolina’s Outer Banks are some of the strongest and most sustainable on the East Coast. Scientists are working on ways to harvest that energy by constructing wind turbines far enough offshore so that beachgoers won’t see them, but near enough for the generated power to be brought to shore economically.