Energy + Environment

A Michigan city’s ‘sustainable energy utility’ got the green light from voters. What now?

ECE Prof. Johanna Mathieu weighs in on Ann Arbor City’s proposal to create a “sustainable energy utility” separate from DTE power, in this article posted in Smart Cities Dive.

Extreme Weather Poses a Challenge for Heat Pumps

Prof. Johanna Mathieu weighs in on the value of home heat pumps to help balance the electric load on the grid.

University of Michigan Develops High-Efficiency Heat Batteries for Renewable Energy Storage

Thermophotovoltaic cells are described as a new frontier in energy storage. These cells are being pioneered here at Michigan by Prof. Stephen Forrest and Chemical Engineering professor Andrej Lenert.

Nuclear is getting a reaction in Michigan. Is it reaching critical mass?

Johanna Mathieu, ECE associate professor and associate director of the Institute for Energy Solutions, discusses the nuances of nuclear energy use as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels in this story by MLive.

Energy storage for grid reliability can increase carbon emissions

“Because electricity markets are complicated with multiple products being traded and changes in one market affecting the others, adding new technologies to the grid can have unintended consequences,” said Johanna Mathieu in this story by Utility Dive.

How EV batteries can power up your house during outage

Prof. Al-Thaddeus Avestruz describes using an electric vehicle to power their home in the advent of a power outage.

Can this city’s microgrid plan skirt the traditional utility model?

Ann Arbor has a goal of using 100% renewable energy by 2030. One way to do this may be through community microgrids that connect to existing utility infrastructure. It is a model that could be used across the nation. Prof. Johanna Mathieu supports this effort, and comments on how this could work.

Si/GaN Technology Unlocks New Potential for Hydrogen Fuel Production

Scientists from the University of Michigan made important discoveries regarding the semiconductive use of gallium nitrate (GaN) three years ago, focusing on the advantages it has to offer solar energy technology. ECE Prof Zetian Mi was one of the inventors of artificial photosynthesis devices using Si/GaN about ten years ago.

Eight research teams chosen for new Boost program

Prof. Aline Eid will be working on “Advancing Battery-less Sensing for Sustainable Living and Civil Infrastructures” for the first cycle of the University of Michigan’s newly launched Boost program as part of the Bold Challenges Initiative.

Dingell Announces $1 Million for Clean Hydrogen Project at University of Michigan

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-06) announces Prof. Zetian Mi’s clean hydrogen project funded by the Department of Energy.

Oxynitrides enabled photoelectrochemical water splitting with over 3,000 hrs stable operation in practical two-electrode configuration

Prof. Zetian Mi co-authors this new study published in Nature Communications on the practical application of photoelectrochemical devices and systems for clean energy.

Interfacing renewable energy infrastructure and human behavior to pursue energy security | Forum

Prof. Johanna Mathieu was a featured speaker at the Cell Press Sustainability Forum regarding the feasibility and major roadblocks of renewable energy as a vehicle to pursue energy security in residential and commercial sectors.

Thousands of customers remain without power across Michigan following ice storm

Ian Hiskens, Vennema Professor of Engineering, talks to Fox Weather about why thousands of customers are still waking up to no power following last week’s ice storm.

Swimming Robot Borrows from Nature (and more)

In this video, the National Science Foundation features the breakthrough research led by Prof. Zetian Mi on producing inexpensive, sustainable hydrogen through solar power.

New hydrogen production makes H2 by copying plants

Hydrogen Fuel News reports on Prof. Zetian Mi and his team’s breakthrough on producing inexpensive, sustainable hydrogen through solar power.

DTE to charge more for peak-time power in move to time-of-day rates

“It’s a commonly proposed tool to shift when they are consuming electricity to better manage the needs of the consumer. It’s making it your responsibility if you care about those prices and what you’re paying to the utility,” said Prof. Johanna Mathieu on the increasing use of time-of-day energy rates, which vary consumer costs during peak and off-peak hours.

Solar Powered Sustainable Hydrogen

The NSF Discovery Files features Prof. Zetian Mi’s renewable approach to producing hydrogen fuel using a novel semiconductor catalyst, concentrated natural sunlight and fresh or salt water.

U-M Developed Solar Panel Achieves Sustainable, High-efficiency Hydrogen Production

A new kind of solar panel that mimics a crucial step in natural photosynthesis by achieving 9 percent efficiency in converting water into hydrogen and oxygen has been developed by Prof. Zetian Mi and his team. The first author on the Nature paper is Dr. Peng Zhouho.

Sun-powered water splitter produces unprecedented levels of green energy

A new breakthrough by Prof. Zetian Mi’s group resulted in a device that triples the efficiency of previous setups.

Photosynthesis photodetector

Prof. Stephen Forrest talks about a new type of high-efficiency photodetector inspired by the photosynthetic complexes plants use to turn sunlight into energy, developed by his group.

Jeep Stops Production of Popular Vehicle, Closes Factory

Prof. Heath Hofmann mentions the costs involved in switching an auto plant from combustible to electric motor production.

Meet ZEUS, the highest-power laser in the U.S.

Dr. Anatoly Maksimchuk describes Zettawatt-Equivalent Ultrashort pulse laser System (ZEUS), the most powerful laser in the U.S., in a short recorded interview

Our Ailing Power Grid Isn’t Cut Out for Climate Change

CNET interviews Prof. Johanna Mathieu about how we improve the power grid and integrate more renewable energy to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Plant-Based Strategy for Harvesting Light

Physics features Prof. Stephen Forrest’s new photodetector design, which borrows its light-gathering architecture from plants and offers a potential path to more efficient solar cells.

University of Michigan designs photodetector inspired by photosynthesis

The new device, created by members of Prof. Stephen Forrest’s group, makes practical use of polaritons, pointing to a “goldmine of polariton applications.”

New photodetector design inspired by plant photosynthesis

Phys.org features Prof. Stephen Forrest’s research on a new type of high-efficiency photodetector inspired by the photosynthetic complexes plants use to turn sunlight into energy.

Why hasn’t Henry Ford’s ideal power grid become a reality?

Johanna Mathieu sees a cooperative approach to energy usage as one of the solutions to a more sustainable approach to powering homes and businesses.

Is DTE ready for the electric vehicle future in Michigan

DTE says it’s ready to handle 20% of the population having EVs right now. Others respond, including Prof. Ian Hiskens who describes a more nuanced reality

This 17-Year-Old Designed a Motor That Could Potentially Transform the Electric Car Industry

Prof. Heath Hofmann is quoted in this article by the Smithsonian about the sustainable manufacturing of electric vehicles that do not require rare-earth magnets.

Inside Clean Energy: What’s Hotter than Solar Panels? Solar Windows.

Inside Climate News features Prof. Stephen Forrest’s work developing a peel-off patterning technique that could enable more fragile organic semiconductors to be manufactured into semitransparent solar panels at scale.

Agency warns of power grid failures; DTE says it has ‘enough electricity’ in Michigan

Prof. Ian Hiskens comments on this story about potential energy grid disruptions this summer in Michigan during severe heat waves.

It won’t be easy for DTE Energy to retire huge, coal-fired Monroe power plant

Prof. Ian Hiskens is interviewed in this feature by the Detroit Free Press.

Extreme heat, weather may lead to blackouts for millions this summer

Prof. Johanna Mathieu comments in this story by The National News Desk about the risks of energy shortfalls this summer and potential new technologies that could help in the future.

Michigan universities might be developing the next big thing: transparent solar panels

Read about the efforts of Prof. Stephen Forrest’s group to use buildings to generate renewable solar power through the use of transparent solar panels in windows. Doctoral student Xinjing Huang also talks about the research in a video.

Dandelion-Inspired Sensors Float on the Wind

Prof. Hun-Seok Kim is quoted in this piece by Spectrum about sensors that could quickly set up large sensor networks for environmental and agricultural monitoring.

Novel transparent solar cells show promise for power-generating windows

The transparency-friendly solar cell, developed by Prof. Stephen Forrest’s group, pairs high efficiencies with 30-year estimated lifetimes.

VIDEO: Grid-interactive efficient buildings

Prof. Johanna Mathieu and Shunbo Lei organized and spoke on a panel examining how energy efficiency and demand response interplay with each other in grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs)

Snail Computers

Prof. David Blaauw talks with BYUradio about the Michigan Micro Mote and how it helped solve a snail mass extinction mystery.

Energy equity depends on data, and experts say there isn’t enough of it

Utility Dive interviews Prof. Johanna Mathieu about her work with energy testbed, Pecan Street, which is expanding its residential network into Detroit to gather more insights from communities of color regarding the clean energy transition.

Revamped OLED Electrodes Could Cut Power Consumption

Optics & Photonics News covers research by L. Jay Guo and his efficient organic LED (OLED) that emits more light with the same amount of power.

U-M President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality Submits Final Recommendations

The President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality, co-chaired by Prof. Stephen Forrest and charged with recommending scalable, transferrable, and financially responsible pathways for the University of Michigan to achieve net-zero emissions, has submitted its final report to President Mark Schlissel and university leadership.

Carbon neutrality commission releases draft recommendations

The President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality, co-chaired by Prof. Stephen Forrest and charged with recommending scalable and transferable strategies for U-M to achieve net-zero emissions, has released its preliminary draft recommendations for public comment.

U-M Researchers Create Solar Cells that Harness Heat to Store Electricity

DBusiness highlights the research led by Prof. Stephen Forrest on heat harnessing solar cells that store energy.

Tracking Monarch Butterfly Migration with the World’s Smallest Computer-Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh highlights the contribution of Inhee Lee, an ECE alum, in the project using Michigan Micro Motes to track monarch butterfly migration.

Tracking monarch butterfly migration with the world’s smallest computer

Phys.org re-publishes our piece on how researchers from ECE and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology are using the Michigan Micro Mote to track monarch migration in unprecedented ways.

U-M joins universities, nonprofits, governments at Midwest Climate Summit

Stephen Forrest, William Gould Dow Collegiate Professor in Electrical Engineering at the College of Engineering and co-chair of the President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality, who will discuss U-M’s climate commitments and the carbon commission on Oct. 9

These four tech teams just won $12 million in the ERA carbon Grand Challenge

Zetian Mi is a member of a team initiated at McGill University in Canada that will receive up to $3M by reaching the second round of the Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) Grand Challenge: Innovative Carbon Uses.