https://techxplore.com/rss-feed/energy-green-tech-news/ en-us The latest news on energy sciences and green technology, energy technology, energy renovation, alternative energy, and green energy. Portable handheld fans are now often stacked beside chewing gum and vapes at supermarket checkouts and discount stores, available for less than £10. Once mainly sold online, they're convenient, affordable and increasingly popular. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-handheld-fans-cool-planet.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:40:04 EDT news703772638 An aircraft powered by a megawatt-class hybrid-electric engine developed in collaboration with NASA and built by GE Aerospace, demonstrated flight of an innovation that can inform new generations of fuel-saving aircraft power systems. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-hybrid-electric-aircraft-feet-flights.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:00:09 EDT news703784641 It is common for solar panels to be shaded by trees, clouds, birds or buildings. For thin-film solar technologies, however, such shading can cause shaded areas to develop reverse-bias stress (negative voltage), which can reduce power-generation efficiency and even damage solar cell modules. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-resistant-solar-cells-efficiency-2000hour.html Engineering Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:40:05 EDT news703780586 As populations grow and economies develop, the world will need more roads, railroads and other mobility infrastructure, especially in rapidly urbanizing regions. The challenge is to provide that infrastructure while minimizing resource use and carbon emissions—a goal new research suggests is well within reach. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-smarter-mobility-infrastructure-carbon-future.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:20:07 EDT news703779541 Green hydrogen is expected to play a major role in cutting emissions from industries such as shipping, steelmaking and aviation. But producing it efficiently remains a major hurdle. RMIT researchers and international collaborators have demonstrated a new way to significantly increase green hydrogen production using low-cost materials, offering a potential pathway to cheaper clean fuel. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-boosts-green-hydrogen-production.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:40:01 EDT news703776721 An international team of researchers has built the first high-performance, commercial-size tandem solar cell that doesn't rely on the scarce and expensive metal indium. The breakthrough, published in Science, replaces indium-based oxide with abundant tin oxide, a material that costs 1% as much, without sacrificing performance. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-tin-oxide-scarce-indium-solar.html Energy & Green Tech Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:00:06 EDT news703496983 Concrete is the most widely used building material on Earth, and producing it is one of the largest single sources of carbon emissions. One promising way to reduce its environmental footprint is to 3D-print concrete, laying it down bead by bead like a giant icing-piping robot. This process eliminates the labor-intensive formwork of pouring it into molds and places the material only where a structure needs it. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-3d-bridge-greener.html Engineering Sat, 18 Jul 2026 08:00:01 EDT news703403011 Seoul National University College of Engineering announced that a joint research team led by Professor Tae-Woo Lee of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at SNU and Professor Samuel D. Stranks of the University of Cambridge has developed a vapor-deposited perovskite light-emitting diode (PeLED) with world-leading efficiency. The team achieved this by discovering a new X-type perovskite emitter capable of thermodynamically stabilizing a luminescence-favorable phase during the vacuum deposition process. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-perovskite-emitter-boosts-vapor-deposited.html Energy & Green Tech Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:00:01 EDT news703512015 Solar cells' efficiency and lifespan are often determined by what happens at interfaces—the microscopic boundaries where different materials meet. Researchers from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have contributed to two recently published studies that show molecular interface engineering can unlock major gains in the efficiency and durability of next-generation perovskite tandem solar cells. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-tiny-molecular-layers-perovskite-solar.html Energy & Green Tech Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:40:02 EDT news703512373 Developing thermoelectric materials that efficiently convert waste heat into electricity remains challenging because high electrical performance and low thermal conductivity are difficult to achieve simultaneously. Researchers at Science Tokyo developed a layered crystal, TlFe1.6Se2, that embeds atomically thin iron selenide (FeSe) layers within a bulk material. The crystal combines a high thermoelectric power factor with exceptionally low thermal conductivity, demonstrating a promising strategy for designing next-generation materials for waste heat energy recovery. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-layered-crystal-embeds-atom-thin.html Energy & Green Tech Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:20:01 EDT news703498452 The success of a promising class of next-generation batteries may hinge on something almost impossibly thin: a coating just a nanometer thick—roughly 100,000 times thinner than a human hair. In new research, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory combined computation and experiment to find candidate protective coatings for sulfide-based solid electrolytes and uncover what makes those coatings work. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-magnesium-oxide-emerges-coating-sulfide.html Energy & Green Tech Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:20:13 EDT news703496854 Georgia's $41 billion forest products industry needs a transformation, and a Georgia Tech research team is reimagining how pulp mills use energy and what they can make from their byproduct streams. For nearly a decade, Sankar Nair, professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and a longtime researcher with the Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI), has led a collaborative effort to develop technologies that can radically improve the efficiency and profitability of kraft pulp mills. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-pulp-mills-generation-biorefineries.html Engineering Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:00:13 EDT news703496845 From the top of a wind turbine nearly 100 meters (330 feet) above the ground, Grzegorz Witek, a coal miner, gazes at the horizon. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-coal-pits-turbines-miners-occasion.html Energy & Green Tech Fri, 17 Jul 2026 07:40:04 EDT news703491752 Solar panels, wind turbines and other renewable energy technologies are becoming increasingly widespread worldwide. Most of these technologies generate electricity from natural sources, such as sunlight and wind, which are more abundant on some days, months and seasons. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-zinc-slurry-battery-energy-longer.html Energy & Green Tech Fri, 17 Jul 2026 07:20:05 EDT news703406663 India rolled out its first domestically built, hydrogen-powered train on Friday, a move aimed at expanding the use of clean energy in its vast rail network. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-india-hydrogen-powered-built-country.html Energy & Green Tech Fri, 17 Jul 2026 05:20:01 EDT news703483662 Small-scale plants could produce ammonia directly where it is needed. A global analysis involving the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) shows where and under what conditions such mini-plants could operate in a low-carbon and economical manner. Ammonia is indispensable for fertilizer and could, in the future, also serve as fuel for ships. The study is published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-fertilizer-neighborhood-local-ammonia-economic.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 16 Jul 2026 20:00:01 EDT news703420284 A newly developed material for the electron contact improves the efficiency of single perovskite solar cells and perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells. The new material is based on a carborane molecule. It offers several advantages over the standard material C60, as shown by the study led by Steve Albrecht's team. The new material has since been patented and is already commercially available. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-contact-material-efficiency-stability-perovskite.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:40:01 EDT news703427730 Vehicles with plug-in hybrid drives are intended to facilitate the transition to electric mobility. They can cover shorter distances purely on electric power and offer a combustion engine as a backup for longer trips. According to Empa studies funded by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the actual proportion of purely electric driving depends heavily on usage—and, in particular, charging behavior. "If someone owns a plug-in hybrid and does not charge the vehicle regularly, that person is effectively driving a heavier vehicle with a combustion engine. Due to the additional weight of the battery and electric motor, consumption can even be higher than with a comparable conventional gasoline engine," explains study author Miriam Elser. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-actual-fuel-consumption-hybrids-higher.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:20:13 EDT news703418489 As energy storage technologies continue to evolve, applications—from portable electronics to wearable devices and electric vehicles—require systems that can charge rapidly, deliver bursts of power on demand and withstand millions of charge–discharge cycles. Supercapacitors have emerged as an attractive complement to conventional energy storage devices because they recharge faster, deliver high power density and offer long cycle life. Their performance, however, depends largely on the electrode materials that store and release electric charge. Driven by growing demand for high-performance, sustainable energy storage, researchers are increasingly turning to biomass-derived carbon materials as renewable alternatives to conventional electrodes. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-bacterial-cellulose-sustainable-path-high.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:00:08 EDT news703418010 A nationwide study by researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities reveals that adherence to posted speed limits could dramatically curb U.S. fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, saving Americans billions of dollars annually while adding less than a minute to the average daily commute. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-limit-millions-fuel.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:00:01 EDT news703402727 Researchers led by Armin Buchroithner from the Institute of Electrical Measurement and Sensor Systems at TU Graz have developed an innovative photovoltaic system that combines significantly higher output with protection from storms, hail and snow. The system, known as FLAPTrack (Face-to-Face Lay-Down Anti-Degradation Protection), continuously aligns the PV modules with the sun's position both horizontally and vertically. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-sun-tracking-solar-panels-hail.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 16 Jul 2026 08:40:06 EDT news703407412 Will a warming climate and changing weather patterns lead to more grid blackouts and other energy disruptions? Answering that question requires studying both regional climate forecasts and local energy systems, including emerging renewable generation, storage, transmission lines and demand forecasts. The lack of such studies is one reason energy developers and grid operators rarely consider climate change when deciding where to build their next project. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-energy-power-reliable-grid-blackouts.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 16 Jul 2026 05:00:04 EDT news703325681 For grid-scale energy storage and national energy resilience, the U.S. needs better batteries. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are tackling that challenge in many ways, but one approach is making a significant impact: physics-informed machine learning. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-machine-embrace-atomic-scale-complexity.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:30:01 EDT news703346410 An international research collaboration has developed a new molecular strategy for controlling one of the most critical interfaces in perovskite solar cells. The resulting solar cells reached a power conversion efficiency of 26.19% in the n-i-p architecture, together with strong operational stability under prolonged illumination and elevated temperature. The results have been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-precision-interface-chemistry-perovskite-solar.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 15 Jul 2026 13:20:08 EDT news703340336 Australia is a world leader when it comes to adopting rooftop solar systems. But our solar transition is leaving renters and apartment dwellers behind. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-balcony-solar-plugin-energy.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 15 Jul 2026 10:20:05 EDT news703326205 Lithium metal has long been considered the ideal material for next-generation rechargeable batteries because it can store far more energy than the graphite anodes used in today's batteries. However, bringing lithium metal batteries into widespread use has proven difficult because lithium tends to grow into needle-like structures called dendrites during charging, reducing battery life and creating potential safety hazards. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-sweet-safer-longer-lithium-metal.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 15 Jul 2026 09:20:03 EDT news703325880 A spray-based immersion cooling technology capable of effectively cooling lithium-ion battery packs and reducing fire risks using a small amount of dielectric liquid has been developed. The technology demonstrated stable cooling performance under fast charging and discharging conditions in a lithium-ion battery pack while reducing liquid consumption by approximately 85% compared with conventional full-immersion cooling systems. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-battery-safety-fast-conditions-spray.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 14 Jul 2026 20:00:02 EDT news703233179 From portable battery banks and generators to whole-house systems, there are many backup power choices to consider as extreme weather ramps up and outages happen more often and last longer. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-battery-bank-generator-backup-power.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:40:03 EDT news703255644 No large data centers can be built in New York for up to a year as the state creates rules to protect the environment and its energy grid from the power-hungry facilities fueling artificial intelligence. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-york-wont-big-centers-year.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 14 Jul 2026 12:40:07 EDT news703250754 Molten salt nuclear reactors may generate energy more efficiently than conventional water-cooled reactors while producing less waste, but the reactors must safely contain the salt's hazardous byproducts. Experiments on a commercially available shaft seal under molten salt reactor conditions at University of Michigan Engineering showed that, after a 10-day wear-in period, the seal operated successfully for 2,300 hours with minimal corrosion or degradation. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-molten-salt-reactors-facility-shaft.html Engineering Tue, 14 Jul 2026 12:20:07 EDT news703249681