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MIT/UC Davis professors challenge claims that ethanol production decreased gasoline prices in 2010 and 2011

Green Car Congress

Two professors from MIT and UC Davis have released a paper challenging the recent claims by the Renewable Fuel Association (RFA) and US Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack that ethanol production decreased gasoline prices by $0.89 Christopher Knittel at MIT and Assoc. Results from Du/Hayes are indicated by the large square.

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MIT researchers develop angle-selective solar thermophotovoltaic system for power generation without using mirrors to concentrate sun’s heat

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Researchers at MIT have found a way to use thermophotovoltaic devices—solid-state devices that use the sun’s heat, usually concentrated with mirrors, to generate electricity directly—without mirrors to concentrate sunlight, potentially making the system much simpler and less expensive. similar to the greenhouse effect).

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UC Davis Researchers Suggest the Battery Problem Seen to Be Slowing Electric Drive Commercialization Is Perceptual as Well as Technological

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Distribution of battery requirements for consumer-selected PHEV designs (shaded circles) compared to USABC, MIT and EPRI performance requirements. MIT proposes a B-30 mid-size car, with a more aggressive driving cycle simulation. Units USABC MIT EPRI. Source: Axsen et al. Click to enlarge. CD operation.

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UMD collaborative study finds that fuel efficiency of one car in household may be cancelled out by next car purchase

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Published in The RAND Journal of Economics and funded by the California Air Resources Board, Archsmith collaborated with Kenneth Gillingham of Yale University, Christopher Knittel of MIT, and David Rapson of the UC Davis Department of Economics to examine vehicle purchasing behaviors using California-based data.

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More Insight Into Cobalt as Catalyst for Water Splitting

Green Car Congress

Researchers from UC Davis and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have uncovered more detail about the functioning of cobalt as a water-splitting catalyst. In 2008, MIT chemists, led by Professor Dan Nocera, reported that a simple cobalt catalyst could split water at neutral pH to produce oxygen, protons and electrons.

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Researchers find consumers compensate for fuel-efficient car by buying bigger second vehicle; losing 60% of fuel economy savings

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An analysis by a team from the University of California, Davis, MIT and Yale suggests that households that buy a fuel-efficient vehicle tend to compensate for that purchase by buying a bigger, more powerful second vehicle. —author David Rapson, UC Davis.

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Ames Lab team to head new $120M Critical Materials Institute; addressing shortages in rare earth metals and other materials

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University and research partners include Brown University, the Colorado School of Mines, Purdue University, Rutgers University, University of California-Davis, Iowa State University, and Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute. SpinTek Filtration, Inc.; Advanced Recovery; Cytec, Inc.; Molycorp, Inc.; and Simbol Materials.

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