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. European energy operators are braced for next week's solar eclipse, which is expected to cause a temporary dip in power generation, and have taken steps to keep electricity flowing to businesses and consumers, an industry body said Friday. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-europe-readies-solar-eclipse-dip.html Energy & Green Tech Sat, 08 Aug 2026 08:40:03 EDT news705380978 Keele scientists have developed a new kind of electrolyzer that produces both hydrogen and the base materials for sustainable plastic production, opening avenues for a range of applications in green technology and sustainable development. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-electrolyzer-enables-hydrogen-sustainable-plastics.html Energy & Green Tech Sat, 08 Aug 2026 07:40:04 EDT news705309924 Amazon confirmed Friday that it is financing a massive private gas power plant in Texas that could become the single-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-amazon-massive-private-gas-centers.html Energy & Green Tech Sat, 08 Aug 2026 07:00:05 EDT news705380546 On paper, a megawatt-hour is just a megawatt-hour; it will charge your phone or run your dishwasher the same way, regardless of the source. However, its value to, or impact on, the environment is not fixed. It depends almost entirely on what power plant it replaces. A new wind turbine only helps the climate and local air quality to the extent that it pushes a more polluting plant offline. If instead it is just competing with another clean energy source, the environmental benefit effectively disappears. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-power-emissions-equally-impact.html Energy & Green Tech Fri, 07 Aug 2026 09:00:01 EDT news705311041 Researchers have developed a process for converting carbon dioxide and industrial waste into green hydrogen, reporting in a new study that turning trash into valuable mineral products could usher in a more efficient way to produce clean fuel. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-chemists-industrial-renewable-resource.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 06 Aug 2026 15:40:03 EDT news705249181 Doyeon Kim, an undergraduate researcher in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, has published a paper in an academic journal. The research focuses on implementing drone artificial intelligence (AI) identification technology through low-power semiconductors. This study could dramatically improve the battery efficiency of systems that monitor unauthorized drones in real time in military and industrial environments. The research is published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-power-ai-chip-drone-identification.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 06 Aug 2026 14:03:41 EDT news705243805 Imperial and Arup pioneer a new approach to designing tall buildings that uses the building's own weight to reduce movement in high winds and earthquakes. Inspired by traditional Japanese pagodas, it makes towers safer while cutting carbon and construction costs. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-pagoda-floors-tower-sway-material.html Engineering Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:20:01 EDT news705241142 Improving the efficiency of solar cells is key to reducing the cost of solar power. Now, scientists have developed a new synergistic metallization strategy for tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cells. The approach achieved a certified power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 26.31%, among the highest reported for this technology. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-laser-strategy-topcon-solar-cells.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 06 Aug 2026 11:00:08 EDT news705159302 Fusion power plants of the future will not only require extremely hot plasmas and strong magnetic fields but also a fuel cycle in which the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium can be recovered, separated and reused. Together with partners, a team from HZDR has now demonstrated a highly efficient method for separating hydrogen isotopes using a silver-containing zeolite. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-silver-zeolite-route-fusion-fuel.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 06 Aug 2026 10:20:03 EDT news705228481 A renewable energy future will rely on cheap and scalable battery technologies. A promising option is an all-iron redox flow battery, which uses iron—an abundant, low-cost, and safe material. Battery performance depends on how iron ends up on the negative electrode during battery use. Uniform iron deposits are best, but this doesn't always take place. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-neutron-imaging-peers-iron-redox.html Engineering Wed, 05 Aug 2026 13:40:01 EDT news705154321 The explosive growth of AI data centers has brought the commercialization of "giant batteries" one step closer. A KAIST research team has developed a process that cuts the production time for a core material used in large-capacity batteries by 67%, resolving the largest production bottleneck standing in the way of commercialization. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-giant-batteries-closer-commercialization-ai.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 05 Aug 2026 13:20:03 EDT news705153961 When you think of advanced futuristic clothing, what comes to mind? https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-smart-sale-mountain.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 05 Aug 2026 12:20:03 EDT news705150242 A research team led by Jung Kyu Kim, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) (co-first authors: Ph.D. candidates Dong Zhang and Jong Hun Kim), in collaboration with Min-Cheol Kim, a professor at Sookmyung Women's University, announced the development of a novel electrode material that overcomes the chronic limitation of low operating voltage in aqueous electrolyte-based supercapacitors and significantly improves their energy density. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-atom-based-electrode-significantly-voltage.html Electronics & Semiconductors Wed, 05 Aug 2026 09:40:01 EDT news705140343 A next-generation heat pump system that can provide cooling using low-temperature waste heat of approximately 40°C (104°F) from factories and data centers has been developed. Unlike conventional air conditioning systems, which use electricity to compress refrigerant, the newly developed system uses waste heat as its energy source. It has also achieved world-leading adsorption-bed performance, paving the way for lower electricity consumption and greater energy efficiency. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-cooling-energy-team-generation.html Engineering Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:40:03 EDT news705136958 As demand for electricity surges from artificial intelligence, data centers and other new technologies, companies are increasingly pledging to procure carbon-free electricity to mitigate emissions associated with their electricity use. While quantifying systemwide emissions is relatively straightforward, the complex nature of power grid operations makes it more challenging to ascertain the emissions impacts of a single consumer that also procures its own clean energy. This challenge is further compounded by clean energy sources like solar and wind, whose hour-to-hour generation can vary drastically depending on weather patterns. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-highlights-weather-driven-power.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 05 Aug 2026 07:20:02 EDT news705131642 Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting captures water vapor from the air using specialized materials, or sorbents, and thermal energy to produce freshwater. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-harnessed-capture-atmospheric-freshwater.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 05 Aug 2026 03:10:03 EDT news705047076 Glinting in the night, halfway up a hill in Japan, the greenhouse-like "Ku-An" test lab is lit by electricity harnessed from 1,500 wooden boxes of soil and compost. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-tiny-big-harvesting-power-soil.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 05 Aug 2026 02:43:06 EDT news705116571 Lithium-ion batteries are the leading choice in today's electric vehicle and battery energy storage system industries, but they contain a number of critical minerals—including lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite—that are considered essential for economic and national security reasons and therefore vulnerable to supply chain disruptions. As renewable energy, electrified infrastructure and high-power digital technologies continue to grow, there is an increasing need for energy storage systems that are low-cost, resource-abundant and capable of fast charging and discharging. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-solvent-problem-sodium-metal-batteries.html Engineering Tue, 04 Aug 2026 16:20:08 EDT news705078121 An electric vehicle that never needs recharging on a cross-country trip. Drones that fly for hours without landing. These scenarios demand energy storage far beyond what lithium-ion batteries can deliver—and lithium–oxygen batteries (LOBs) have long promised to bridge this gap. With a theoretical energy density up to 10 times higher than lithium-ion technology, LOBs could revolutionize electric mobility. Yet one fundamental obstacle has prevented their commercial adoption: the notoriously slow and inefficient electrochemical oxygen reactions that cause significant energy losses during charging and discharging. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-composite-catalyst-oxygen-reactions-generation.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 04 Aug 2026 15:40:08 EDT news705075842 In light of rising temperatures and more frequent heat waves, the Institute of Architecture and Media at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) is presenting an energy-efficient solution to urban heat islands: 3D-printed cubes made from highly porous ceramics that combine centuries-old knowledge of passive cooling with state-of-the-art additive manufacturing. The ceramic cubes are suitable for cooling both indoor spaces and outdoor air. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-cooling-ceramic-wall-combat-urban.html Engineering Tue, 04 Aug 2026 14:40:10 EDT news705072723 Researchers at Kyushu University have shown that microwave (MW) radiation can dramatically speed the conversion of biomass into useful gases by creating localized high-temperature regions on nickel nanoparticles. Using advanced X-ray techniques to observe the catalyst during conversion reactions, the team found that these microscopic hot spots form on the catalyst even when the surrounding material remains much cooler, helping explain why MW-assisted catalytic reactions can outperform conventional heating. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-microwave-bamboo-hydrogen-fuel-conversion.html Engineering Tue, 04 Aug 2026 13:00:01 EDT news705066421 Michael Sweeney roasts coffee beans using energy from the sun at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility at Sandia National Laboratories. Sweeney has been collaborating with Sandia as part of a program to use solar energy to heat his coffee roasters. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-solar-bed-powers-coffee-roaster.html Engineering Tue, 04 Aug 2026 11:20:05 EDT news705059600 The emerging technology of advanced nuclear microreactors offers solutions to many modern energy challenges. The ZiaCore design, a low-enriched uranium dioxide-fueled microreactor developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory, now joins several developing concepts for fission-based nuclear power microreactors that have achieved initial criticality. The ZiaCore design reached this milestone through a proof-of-principle experiment—a high-temperature, zero-power criticality demonstration at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) in Nevada. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-ziacore-microreactor-successfully-criticality.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 04 Aug 2026 11:00:01 EDT news705059042 A joint research team led by Dr. Dae-Gyu Hwang and Dr. Dae-Hwan Kim from the Division of Energy & Environmental Technology at DGIST has significantly enhanced the power generation performance of bifacial thin-film solar cells that absorb light from both front and rear surfaces, achieving a record-high bifacial power density using an advanced next-generation solar cell architecture. The study is published in the journal Carbon Energy. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-team-high-efficiency-bifacial-tandem.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 04 Aug 2026 10:20:05 EDT news705056506 Lignocellulolytic enzymes are a primary cost constraint in second-generation ethanol biorefineries, accounting for up to 30% of operating expenses. Because it requires limited inputs and can achieve industrially viable ethanol titers and yields with an inexpensive nitrogen source, the hydrothermal pretreatment approach is a leading biorefinery technique. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-optimized-enzyme-biorefinery-sustaining-ethanol.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 04 Aug 2026 07:00:04 EDT news705042001 A team of international researchers has found a way to turn carbon dioxide from industrial emissions directly into a key fuel ingredient without first cleaning or purifying the gas. The study, published in Nature Communications, overcomes one of the biggest challenges facing carbon capture technologies: the complex mix of gases found in industrial flue gas, a major source of global CO₂ emissions. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-liquid-dirty-factory-exhaust-key.html Engineering Mon, 03 Aug 2026 16:40:05 EDT news704993221 Researchers from Skoltech—a VEB.RF group institution—and Khalifa University of Science and Technology, together with their Venezuelan colleagues in the oil industry, have built a verified numerical model that will refine predictions of how effective enhanced-oil-recovery methods can be at Venezuela's extra-heavy oil fields. Reliable forecasts will enable companies to make sound decisions when developing these fields. The study was published in the journal Fuel. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-oil-field-recovery-potential-venezuela.html Engineering Mon, 03 Aug 2026 15:00:03 EDT news704987447 A new artificial intelligence tool developed by researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and Florida State University's Center for Advanced Power Systems could help make electric grids more reliable and reduce operating costs. The system improves forecasts of electricity demand and renewable energy generation, giving grid operators better information to balance supply and demand. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-grid-ai-blackout-precise-power.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 03 Aug 2026 13:00:08 EDT news704980681 The rapid progress in electric vehicles and high-power electronics has increased the demand for ultra-fast-charging lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. However, during fast charging, current Li-ion rechargeable batteries suffer from severe degradation in power and potential catastrophic failure, increasing safety risks. This is mainly due to electrochemical instability at the anode–electrolyte interface, causing hazardous Li metal plating on their surface and poor thermal stability. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-strategy-ultra-fast-batteries-hazardous.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 03 Aug 2026 12:20:05 EDT news704978267 A model developed by Washington State University researchers can help utilities better prepare and plan for extreme weather to limit power outages. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-tool-extreme-weather.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 03 Aug 2026 12:20:03 EDT news704978161