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.

Electronics & Semiconductors

Nanoengineered wood sets new record for transformer insulation

The world's power grid is straining under the surge in electricity demand from data centers, electric vehicles and renewable energy. And a century-old technology, the power transformer, must support this dramatic increase. ...

Engineering

Going up against the heat: Vertical greenery keeps cities cool

Climate change and urbanization have intensified the urban heat island (UHI) effect, where urban areas are significantly warmer than rural areas. This has, in turn, increased the frequency of extreme heat events, such as ...

Energy & Green Tech

New strategy enhances oxygen reduction in zinc-air batteries

Batteries are undergoing rapid advances. For example, modern zinc-air batteries have the remarkable ability to use oxygen as energy—but that oxygen isn't stored in the battery itself. Zinc-air batteries take in surrounding ...

Energy & Green Tech

'Battery on wheels': Sweden powers homes with EVs

When they get home, the residents of a small housing association on the outskirts of Hudiksvall, Sweden, plug in their electric vehicles to charge them or, intriguingly, power their homes.

Energy & Green Tech

This specially-designed jacket pulls drinking water from thin air

Engineers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a jacket that harvests drinking water directly from the air. The technology could benefit anyone who spends a lot of time in areas without easy access to drinking ...

Energy & Green Tech

Food waste beads could boost direct air capture by 10% to 50%

In order to stabilize global warming at less than 1.5°C in the long term, there is a need not only for a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions but also for technologies to remove and store hundreds of billions of ...

Energy & Green Tech

Fuel costs alone won't spark Australia's EV transition

As Australian motorists continue to grapple with rising fuel prices and electric vehicle (EV) sales steadily increase across the country, new research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has found that petrol costs alone are ...

Energy & Green Tech

Fast-tracking efficiency in light water reactor fuels

Coupling a power uprate with burnup extension—or how long fuel can produce power before being replaced—allows fuel to operate at a higher power for longer periods. Fuels with accident-tolerant and higher-burnup capabilities ...