Steam Power

Everyone knows that the application of heat is necessary to boil water, but thanks to new research, much less heat may soon be required. A novel surface treatment allows water to reach a boiling point more easily, thus requiring less energy to do so.

It's possible that someday in the future, sunlight-powered robots may be able to swim across marine oil spills, soaking up the oil as they go. A tiny prototype has already been created, and it was inspired by both the steam engine and an insect.

The CSIRO has claimed a world record for the highest temperatures ever recorded using solar energy to generate "supercritical" steam at its solar thermal test plant in Newcastle, Australia. This achievement is touted as a breakthrough for solar energy production.

Inventors Matt Bellue and Ben Cooper are working on a system in which a combustion engine could be run on nothing but water and solar-heated oil.

The Coalition for Sustainable Rail is aiming to convert a 1937 locomotive into the world’s first carbon-neutral higher-speed locomotive.

Researchers at the University of Stuttgart claim to have developed "the world's smallest steam engine," consisting of a single particle.

Raser Technologies has committed to two new geothermal projects, bringing its total project count to seven and representing 70-75 megawatts (MW) of power projects initiated since April 2007.

Researchers are developing an Energy Island concept that could deliver up to 250MW of clean power - equivalent to one quarter of an average fossil fuel power plant - using Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion.

The sunshine-rich state of Nevada is set to be home to a new, 130,000-square-foot, highly automated manufacturing and distribution center for solar thermal power systems.