Energy & Green Tech news

Engineering

Plastic waste yields jet fuel through new process costing as little as $1 per kilogram

Aviation is one of the sectors that contributes most to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change on Earth. One proposed strategy for mitigating or counterbalancing the effects of these emissions is to substitute existing ...

Energy & Green Tech

Why the electric SUV boom is a problem for climate, health and equity

Governments and car manufacturers sell electric cars as the future of green transport. But a less visible trend is challenging this story: many electric cars are getting bigger.

Engineering

Innovative welding filler metals extend the service life of offshore wind turbine towers

Offshore wind turbines consist of numerous welded components and are exposed to extreme loads from wind and waves at sea. These lead to cyclic stresses that particularly affect the weld seams. Until now, these have been considered ...

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.

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 ...

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 ...

Energy & Green Tech

When disasters strike, home batteries could be a lifeline

Extreme weather is placing greater strain on Australia's power grids. In 2022, the record-breaking Northern Rivers floods blacked out almost 70,000 households. A powerful storm in 2024 cut electricity to more than half a ...

Energy & Green Tech

Sustainable production of high-quality perovskite solar cells

Perovskite solar modules provide numerous benefits. They are lightweight, highly efficient, easily scalable, and at the same time inexpensive and facile to produce. However, their commercial use still faces challenges. During ...

Energy & Green Tech

New analog computing method slashes AI training energy use

Artificial intelligence is getting more powerful—but it's also racking up a massive energy bill. Some estimate that one maximum-length ChatGPT query can use about twice as much power as an average U.S. home does in one minute. ...