Energy & Green Tech news

Engineering

Volcanic rock formula cuts cement emissions by two-thirds

Researchers have developed a volcanic rock formula that cuts carbon emissions by 67%, potentially offering an affordable alternative to increasingly scarce cement additives.

Energy & Green Tech

Polymer electrolyte lets the ions flow for solid-state batteries

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have uncovered a path to design superionic polymer electrolytes for solid-state batteries and other energy applications that could help ensure a future ...

Engineering

Safer sodium battery eliminates thermal runaway with a heat-triggered polymer barrier

Some batteries have been known to catch fire or explode at high temperatures or when under stress. This safety concern has pushed researchers to experiment with different ways to design safer batteries that can ideally still ...

Hardware

Prototype chip could boost efficiency of power management in data centers

In an effort to meet the rising energy demands of data centers, engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new chip design that could improve how graphics processing units (GPUs) convert and manage ...

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

AI-based method can optimize photovoltaic-battery storage systems

Solar power generation largely depends on weather conditions. When generation deviates from the planned output, the electricity market imposes penalty fees called "imbalance penalties." Researchers at University of Tsukuba ...

Energy & Green Tech

High-performance supercapacitor made from upcycled water bottles

Lots of single-use water bottles made from poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) end up in landfills, but there's a growing interest in upcycling them instead. Researchers in Energy & Fuels report on new heat-based fabrication ...

Energy & Green Tech

How to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ammonia production

Ammonia is one of the most widely produced chemicals in the world, used mostly as fertilizer, but also for the production of some plastics, textiles, and other applications. Its production, through processes that require ...

Engineering

Climate-smart housing design helps cities beat the heat

Painting walls in light colors, insulating roofs, choosing medium-sized windows, and aligning buildings to the sun's path may seem like simple choices. But they could provide powerful defenses against climate change for millions ...