Energy & Green Tech news

Energy & Green Tech

New continuous reaction process can help turn plant waste into sustainable aviation fuel

Washington State University scientists successfully tested a new way to produce sustainable jet fuel from lignin-based agricultural waste. Published in the journal Fuel Processing Technology, the team's research demonstrated ...

Energy & Green Tech

New tandem solar cells break efficiency record—they could eventually supercharge how we get energy from the sun

The sight of solar panels installed on rooftops and large energy farms has become commonplace in many regions around the world. Even in gray and rainy UK, solar power is becoming a major player in electricity generation.

Energy & Green Tech

Scientists simplify design and servicing of vanadium flow batteries to balance power grid

Skoltech scientists have presented a model that facilitates the design and operation of vanadium redox flow batteries. These are large-scale storage units for electrical power that promise to play a major part in the energy ...

Business

Big lithium plans for Imperial Valley, one of California's poorest regions, raise a bigger question: Who should benefit?

Imperial County consistently ranks among the most economically distressed places in California. The Salton Sea, the state's biggest and most toxic lake, is an environmental disaster. And the region's politics have been dominated ...

Energy & Green Tech

Study shows US can cut greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2035

Dramatically expanding climate-action policies across all levels of government, sectors of society and the economy could slash U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2035 compared to 2005 levels, according to a new report ...

Business

Can cryptocurrencies ever be green?

Cryptocurrencies have been condemned over their environmental record at a time when traditional investments have been rapidly moving towards greener environmental, social and governance (ESG) values. So how long will it be ...

Engineering

Innovative electrolytes could transform steelmaking and beyond

The lifeblood of any battery is the electrolyte. It is the medium through which positively charged elements (cations) migrate en masse between the positive and negative electrodes. By this means, batteries discharge to provide ...

Energy & Green Tech

Higher blends of biodiesel fuel could cut transportation emissions

Barriers that are currently preventing the use of greater percentages of biomass-based diesel fuel blended into petroleum diesel have been identified, along with strategies to overcome them, according to researchers at the ...

Engineering

Expanding wind energy while preserving scenery

Wind energy is of outstanding importance to the energy transition in Germany. According to the Federal Statistical Office, its share in total gross electricity production of about 24% is far higher than those of all other ...

Energy & Green Tech

The Indus basin: Untapped potential for long-term energy storage

Hydropower has massive potential as a source of clean electricity, and the Indus basin can be a key player in fulfilling long-term energy storage demands across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. IIASA researchers ...

Energy & Green Tech

Renewable energy OK, but not too close to home

When it comes to transitioning from carbon-based to renewable source energy systems, Americans are on board. They're less keen, however, having these new energy infrastructures—wind turbines or solar farms—built close ...

Energy & Green Tech

Electric car lithium demand powers mining revival in UK

As the global auto sector accelerates production of electric cars, one British company is hoping to cash in from mining lithium needed to make rechargeable batteries that power the vehicles.

Energy & Green Tech

Chemists develop novel electrolyser for hydrogen production

In a recent Nature Communications paper, a group of researchers led by Dr. Ning Yan of the Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences at the University of Amsterdam showcases a practical membrane-free approach to water ...

Energy & Green Tech

Removing the lead hazard from perovskite solar cells

Although they offer a very promising solution for capturing solar energy, perovskite solar cells contain lead, which is toxic to the environment and a serious health hazard. EPFL scientists have now found a very elegant and ...

Energy & Green Tech

The hidden culprit killing lithium-metal batteries from the inside

For decades, scientists have tried to make reliable lithium-metal batteries. These high-performance storage cells hold 50% more energy than their prolific, lithium-ion cousins, but higher failure rates and safety problems ...

Energy & Green Tech

Study puts charge into drive for sustainable lithium production

An important new study by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has yielded critical fresh insights into the lithium production process and how it relates to long-term environmental ...

Energy & Green Tech

What electric vehicle batteries will look like in the future

"Gigafactories" could one day be churning out millions of electric vehicle batteries in the UK. The government has already committed the country to a ban on selling new petrol- and diesel-engined cars by 2030, so it seems ...

Energy & Green Tech

Ammonia may be the key to making long-haul shipping green

SINTEF research scientist Andrea Gruber crunches numbers, albeit with the help of the supercomputer "Betzy." A seemingly infinite string of calculations is now answering open scientific questions about how a widespread and ...