Other DOE-sponsored technologies on display today included energy efficient technologies that were developed at Berkeley Lab and are currently available for sale in stores as well as research on energy supply technologies by the DOE s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Consumers who do not have access to a computer or who would like to receive energy efficiency information, pamphlets, etc. Below is information on each technology or research area that was included in the display. Cool roofs can save money on air conditioning bills in the summer. Conventional roof materials absorb heat and raise the temperature in houses.
Some appliances continue to use power even when they appear off to the owner.
A low-power watt meter can calculate the energy use of certain home appliances when they seem to be turned off. Using LLNL designs, flywheels are being manufactured and sold by industry. Flywheels can maintain consistent power quality for sensitive electronic equipment. If the power grid fails, they also bridge the gap before emergency generators come up to speed. Fuel cells, which convert the chemical energy of a fuel directly to usable energy without combustion, are widely viewed as the technology of the future to replace internal combustion engines in vehicles and to generate stationary power.