Brian Westenhaus

Latest articles from Brian

• Refining Wood: The Most Efficient Method for Producing Cellulosic Fuel

  Published 27 October 2012 | viewed 21,729 times

  The Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes (CBP) has a very different take on using wood.  Refine it into the main component parts similar to what…

• Using Thicker CO2 to Increase Oil Extraction Rates

  Published 18 October 2012 | viewed 9,593 times

  Oil extraction technology marches on. University of Pittsburgh engineers show crude oil extraction could be improved significantly and accessible domestic oil reserves could be expanded…

• Yet Another Huge Oil Find in the Anadarko Basin

  Published 11 October 2012 | viewed 19,559 times

  Continental Resources Inc. unveiled its newest oil field with a reservoir rock of an oil-rich portion of the Woodford Shale that lies beneath oil fields…

• Confidence in Nuclear Power is on the Rise Again

  Published 29 September 2012 | viewed 16,753 times

  The Nuclear Energy Institute announced a September telephone survey in a press release suggesting almost two thirds of U.S. adults favor the use of nuclear…

• What Does the Future Hold for Natural Gas Prices?

  Published 27 September 2012 | viewed 13,777 times

  Asian demand for natural gas has risen sharply in recent years.  Prices in dollars per million BTUs, are about $13.50 in Argentina and $13.80 in…

• Nuclear Power Plants at Risk from a Tsunami

  Published 26 September 2012 | viewed 5,809 times

  Researchers at the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium have completed and published their…

• Update: Cold Fusion Progress in 2012

  Published 05 September 2012 | viewed 20,183 times

  Sterling Allen interviewed Michael McKubre of SRI International, the international research lab in Menlo Park, CA in a one and a half hour talk covering…

• The Greatest Energy Deposit in the World - Arctic Methane Hydrates

  Published 01 September 2012 | viewed 11,627 times

  A new study out of the University of California Santa Cruz demonstrates that old organic matter in sedimentary basins located beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet…

• New Technology to Reduce Cost of Solar Energy by 75%?

  Published 29 August 2012 | viewed 31,683 times

  A new solar technology developed at RTI International (Research Triangle Institute) could make solar energy more affordable by as much as 75% and thus speed-up…

• New Retrofit Kit can Turn Any Car into a Plug-In Hybrid

  Published 19 August 2012 | viewed 28,098 times

  Dr. Charles Perry at Middle Tennessee State University continues driving toward success in the development of the plug-in hybrid retrofit kit for any car.  Dr.…

• New Microbial Fuel Cell can Produce Electricity from Waste Water

  Published 15 August 2012 | viewed 25,233 times

  Wastewater, more commonly thought of as sewage or gray water is estimated to use 3% of the electrical energy consumed in the United States and…

• Yet Another Successful LENR Device Enters the Race

  Published 08 August 2012 | viewed 18,455 times

  National Instruments, a major U.S. company that produces tools for engineers and scientists offers an annual ‘NI Week’ trade show, this year at the Austin…

• Using Microbes to Vastly Increase Recovery from Old Oil Wells

  Published 06 August 2012 | viewed 12,770 times

  The best source of oil would be to increase oil recovery from the existing reservoirs already in production.  That oil is the easy stuff as…

• Panasonic's New Process for Artificial Photosynthesis Looks Promising

  Published 04 August 2012 | viewed 12,960 times

  Tuesday the web started noticing that Panasonic has developed an artificial photosynthesis system, which converts carbon dioxide (CO2) to organic materials.  A quick review of…

• A New Way To Fracture Oil and Gas Wells

  Published 31 July 2012 | viewed 27,860 times

  GASFRAC of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has developed an innovative closed stimulation process and injection method, utilizing gelled LPG rather than water based conventional formation fracturing…

• Secret Fracking Ingredient Discovered

  Published 23 July 2012 | viewed 16,263 times

  The guar bean grown in the northern India state of Rajasthan is now a key element in the chemical cocktail used to frack wells, the…

• New Transparent Solar Cell to Revolutionize the Solar Sector?

  Published 23 July 2012 | viewed 14,286 times

  In the face of a string of intensely demoralizing federally backed alternative energy projects with Solyndra taking over a half billion dollars alone – solar…

• Cold Fusion: Progress Report

  Published 09 July 2012 | viewed 27,238 times

  Your humble writer has been watching for the news out of the International Low Energy Nuclear Reactions Symposium, ILENRS-12 held at The College of William…

• What Does the Future Hold for OPEC?

  Published 08 July 2012 | viewed 11,099 times

  We’re coming up on 40 years of OPEC trying to set the price of oil as high as they can manage.  The oil market is…

• Scientists Make a Big Breakthrough in Nuclear Research

  Published 04 July 2012 | viewed 9,041 times

  Dr. Stephen Liddle in the School of Chemistry at The University of Nottingham leads a team that seems to be first to create a stable…