Energy & Green Tech news

Energy & Green Tech

Consumer camera modification offers low-cost way to assess solar cell performance

Commercial cameras can be powerful, producing images with exquisite detail that mimic real life. In the lab, specially designed cameras can photograph objects in the infrared region, invisible to the naked eye.

Energy & Green Tech

Scientists develop real-time AI monitoring for an advanced nuclear reactor component

Just as a clogged kitchen sink can bring household routines to a halt, a blockage in a nuclear reactor's heat exchanger can slow operations and require urgent attention. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) ...

Energy & Green Tech

Real-world EV data reveal how uneven cell aging shortens battery lifespan

Electric vehicles (EVs), including cars, buses and trains, could significantly reduce the substantial greenhouse gas emissions produced by the transportation sector. These vehicles' performance and reliability over time, ...

Engineering

Carbon imperfections could replace scarce metals in future clean-hydrogen production

The global transition toward carbon-free, clean and sustainable energy has accelerated the search for new hydrogen-producing technologies. However, making clean hydrogen by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen is expensive ...

Energy & Green Tech

Bike-sharing can make big dent in tailpipe emissions

Five heavily used bikes could take the emissions from one fossil fuel-powered car off Vancouver's roads, according to Simon Fraser University researchers, who say expanding bike-share networks can play a big role in curbing ...

Energy & Green Tech

Renewables hit record in 2025, but world must move faster: Report

Global renewable power capacity grew by record levels last year, a report showed Monday, hailed by the U.N. climate chief as a sign that the "brute power of market forces" is making the transition to clean energy irreversible.

Energy & Green Tech

EU proposes energy rating for data centers

Data centers in Europe will be rated on energy and water consumption under an EU proposal put forward Monday to pre-empt possible public discontent as the bloc pushes to boost its computing capacity.

Electronics & Semiconductors

Harvesting hot electrons could break solar panel barrier

Physics predicts that no more than 33% of the solar energy that falls on a solar panel can be converted into electricity. However, experiments and simulations by scientists at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands ...

Energy & Green Tech

Using light to track critical currents in the power grid

The increasingly complex network of electricity generators and consumers poses major challenges for Austria's energy transmission infrastructure. For example, the use of increasingly powerful inverters and rectifiers in the ...

Energy & Green Tech

Doubts as Italy eyes electric future for steel plant

Italy's government says the country's largest steelworks must be converted to electric furnaces after a court-ordered shutdown of polluting furnaces but, as Rome seeks a buyer, critics say its plan is woefully unsubstantiated.

Energy & Green Tech

Mapping trade-offs to help build better EV batteries

Working with car companies, battery developers and policymakers, University of Michigan researchers have developed a framework to help stakeholders navigate toward a future with better, more affordable and more sustainable ...

Energy & Green Tech

When new nuclear power plants are worth it in Switzerland

In order for new nuclear power plants to be competitive in the future, the government would have to support nuclear energy—alongside renewables—and bear a portion of the financial risks. In return, new nuclear power plants ...

Engineering

A simple way to tune wave energy devices for higher efficiency

Wave energy has long been seen as a promising source of clean electricity. The ocean is always moving, and that motion carries a huge amount of energy. But many wave energy devices have one important limitation: They do not ...

Energy & Green Tech

Swiss nuclear plant shut down due to heat wave

The reactors at Europe's oldest nuclear plant were shut down Friday, its Swiss operator said, after the heat wave roasting Europe sent temperatures soaring in the river used for cooling.

Energy & Green Tech

AI and physics draw a blueprint for better hydrogen storage materials

Hydrogen can become a clever way to store renewable energy and power fuel cells—but this introduces the problem of what can store this hydrogen, in turn. Metal hydrides—solids that absorb hydrogen into their crystal structures—are ...