Energy & Green Tech news

Energy & Green Tech

Standalone 'leaf' produces liquid fuel from sun, water and CO₂ with record efficiency

A Yale-led research team has developed the first standalone device that produces the liquid fuel methanol using only sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide as the ingredients. The artificial "leaf," like its namesake in nature, ...

Energy & Green Tech

Carbon capture gets more flexible: New electrochemical method could lower energy use

Carbon capture is an important climate change mitigation strategy, but it faces technological barriers and can be energy-intensive and expensive. To help make necessary advances in this area, a team of MIT researchers, with ...

Energy & Green Tech

Stronger security measures are needed as the energy retail sector faces escalating cyber threats

A doctoral dissertation by Mikko Suorsa, to be defended at the University of Vaasa, Finland, reveals that the energy retail sector is an essential yet vulnerable part of the energy industry's value chain and of critical infrastructure. ...

Engineering

Dust-prone desert of the Southwest may be ideal for solar energy

Solar energy developers eyeing parts of southern New Mexico may have less to worry about than expected when it comes to dust. A new study led by University of Texas at El Paso researchers concludes that photovoltaic panels ...

Business

Offshore wind could potentially cover 11% of North Sea by 2050

New research has mapped a plausible scenario for how offshore wind could reshape the North Sea by 2050, showing that if all current political commitments were built, around 11% of the basin would fall within wind farm boundaries.

Energy & Green Tech

An AI-driven roadmap for future permanent magnet design

Researchers at Ames National Laboratory are advancing the discovery of materials for rare-earth-free permanent magnets by combining fundamental physics with artificial intelligence. The work contributes to the U.S. Department ...

Engineering

Supercharging the grid: How to free up 20% more power

Implementing effective monitoring measures could yield much more energy from the cable network—all without digging a single new trench. Just a dream scenario? No, it is entirely possible, say researchers.

Engineering

Carbon ratios in concrete can improve carbon accounting

For the first time, researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, have found out how to determine how much carbon dioxide (CO2) from either natural or anthropogenic sources can be absorbed by special concrete ...

Engineering

Why your building is often too hot, or cold—and the simple fix

In many cases, heating can be significantly improved simply by adjusting existing controls to account for sunlight, ventilation and how many people are inside, according to researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Reusable cups made easy: What consumers really want

A new study from Taiwan combines consumer behavior research and life cycle assessment to design reusable cup systems that people are more willing to use. The findings show that convenience and incentives strongly shape participation, ...

Energy & Green Tech

Turbo-charging battery research with AI: An ambitious vision

Scientists envision batteries will play a central role in improving the security and cost-effectiveness of America's energy systems. But achieving this requires solving numerous technical challenges, such as designing high-performance ...

Business

Faster renewable shift could save EU billions, analysis shows

Recurring geopolitical tensions and energy import limitations have raised energy prices across the European Union (EU), exposing a gap in energy supplies and vulnerabilities in energy security. With energy prices showing ...

Engineering

Solar-powered device disinfects drinking water in under an hour

For many people living in developed nations, towns and cities take care of ensuring that residents' water is clean and safe. Municipalities have advanced filters and UV light disinfection technologies at their disposal. Some ...

Energy & Green Tech

How electric cars could help tropical cities run on solar

In tropical cities, afternoon thunderstorms can plunge entire neighborhoods into brief moments of darkness. When civil engineer Markus Schläpfer moved to Singapore a decade ago, he recognized these thunderstorms as an emerging ...

Business

Researchers expose fossil fuel companies' communications facade

Fossil fuel companies say that they want to be on the front lines of renewable energy, with advertisements, social media, and even their own shareholder corporate reports espousing their commitment to green energy and combating ...

Energy & Green Tech

How electric vehicles could back up the power system

Electric vehicles (EVs) could do more for our environment than simply replace gasoline. Published in Joule, a new assessment of EV charging strategies suggests that EVs could serve as a vast network of mobile batteries, storing ...

Energy & Green Tech

Researchers measure traffic emissions, to the block, in real-time

In a study focused on New York City, MIT researchers have shown that existing sensors and mobile data can be used to generate a near real-time, high-resolution picture of auto emissions, which could be used to develop local ...

Energy & Green Tech

Photothermal fabric panels could cut heating energy up to 23%

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have unveiled a tool to combat climate change, fossil-fuel dependency, skyrocketing home-heating bills, and gentrification all at once—a simple fabric treated with a ...