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Ethanol is usually produced through the fermentation of sugars from starchy raw materials such as corn, or from lignocellulosic biomass, such as wood or straw. It is an established fuel that decarbonizes the transportation sector and can be a building block to reduce emissions of CO2 over the long term. In collaboration with the Lappeenranta-Lahti …

A team co-led team by the University of Surrey has successfully increased the levels of energy absorbed by wafer-thin photovoltaic panels by 25%. Their solar panels, just one micrometre thick (1μm), convert light into electricity more efficiently than others as thin and pave the way to make it easier to general more clean, green energy. …

A nitrogen doped carbon-coated nickel anode can catalyze an essential reaction in hydrogen fuel cells at a fraction of the cost of the precious metals currently used, Cornell University researchers have found. The new discovery could accelerate the widespread use of hydrogen fuel cells, which hold great promise as efficient, clean energy sources for vehicles …

Wind energy relies on efficient wind turbine blades, which act as airfoils, structures akin to an airplane wing. Air flow control accessories similar to those found in aircraft improve the turbine blade’s aerodynamic performance. In the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, by AIP Publishing, scientists from China show a bionic approach combining features of …

Texas can be a model for the nation on how to effectively replace coal with wind and solar for the state’s energy needs while meeting environmental goals, according to new research by Rice University engineers. The new work led by environmental engineer Daniel Cohan and senior computer science major Richard Morse of Rice’s George R. …

Seismic and acoustic data recorded 50 meters away from a research nuclear reactor could predict whether the reactor was in an on or off state with 98% accuracy, according to a new study published in Seismological Research Letters. By applying several machine learning models to the data, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could also …

A group of researchers from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) and the Lithuanian Energy Institute proposed a method for wind turbine blades’ recycling. Using pyrolysis, they broke the composite materials into their constituent parts — i.e., phenol and fibre. According to scientists, the extracted materials can be reused, and the process is virtually waste-free. Wind …

Solar-powered adsorption cooling systems (SACS) have gained traction as a renewable energy technology that could provide clean power for air conditioning and refrigeration while significantly reducing the load on the electric grid. But these systems lack energy efficiency. In the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, by AIP Publishing, researchers from Anna University in India …

Solar power is expected to reach 10 percent of global power generation by the year 2030, and much of that is likely to be located in desert areas, where sunlight is abundant. But the accumulation of dust on solar panels or mirrors is already a significant issue — it can reduce the output of photovoltaic …

Have you ever gotten relief from summertime heat by draping a wet towel over your head? If so, you’ve benefited from a phase-change material (PCM): a substance that releases or absorbs energy when it transitions between two of the fundamental states of matter, such as the solid, liquid, or gas states. Your damp towel cools …

Researchers have made tiny ‘skyscrapers’ for communities of bacteria, helping them to generate electricity from just sunlight and water. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used 3D printing to create grids of high-rise ‘nano-housing’ where sun-loving bacteria can grow quickly. The researchers were then able to extract the bacteria’s waste electrons, left over from …

Mountain regions have a large potential for hydropower that cannot be harnessed effectively by conventional technologies. IIASA researcher Julian Hunt and an international team of researchers developed an innovative hydropower technology based on electric trucks that could provide a flexible and clean solution for electricity generation in mountainous regions. In our transition towards a more …

Renewable energy that feeds into the main power grid could destabilise the system and potentially cause power failures according to a new study. Mathematicians from the University of Nottingham used data from smart meters to track how grid composition changes over time and found resilience varies over the course of a day and that a …

Using a unique hydrogel, scientists in Saudi Arabia created a solar-driven system that successfully grows spinach by using water drawn from the air while producing electricity. The proof-of-concept design, described March 1 in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, offers a sustainable, low-cost strategy to improve food and water security for people living in dry-climate …

Researchers have developed an efficient concept to turn carbon dioxide into clean, sustainable fuels, without any unwanted by-products or waste. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, have previously shown that biological catalysts, or enzymes, can produce fuels cleanly using renewable energy sources, but at low efficiency. Their latest research has improved fuel production efficiency …

A chemical used in electric vehicle batteries could also give us carbon-free fuel for space flight, according to new UC Riverside research. In addition to emission reductions, this chemical also has several advantages over other types of rocket fuels: higher energy, lower costs, and no requirement for frozen storage. The chemical, ammonia borane, is currently …

A research team led by Lund University in Sweden has shown how solar power can convert carbon dioxide into fuel, by using advanced materials and ultra-fast laser spectroscopy. The breakthrough could be an important piece of the puzzle in reducing the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in the future. The study is published …

Although solar cells are typically designed to turn light into power, researchers have shown that they can also be used to achieve underwater wireless optical communication with high data rates. The new approach — which used an array of series-connected solar cells as detectors — could offer a cost-effective, low-energy way to transmit data underwater. …

A new sustainable and practical method for producing hydrogen from water has been discovered by a team of researchers at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan led by Ryuhei Nakamura. Unlike current methods, the new method does not require rare metals that are expensive or in short supply. Instead, hydrogen for …

Nuclear power generation can play a crucial role in helping the world reach a key goal of zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century, especially in countries with low wind resources, according to new work in Nature Energy from Lei Duan and Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie’s Department of Global Ecology. Human activity …

How can we reduce the carbon footprint of electricity consumption in Switzerland? The country relies on electricity imports from fossil fuel power plants, which are major emitters of greenhouse gases . A team of researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa) has studied various …

Hydrogen is considered a vital component of the energy transition: it can be produced from solar or wind power and therefore stores green energy in form of an environmentally friendly energy carrier, providing energy also at night and during periods of calm winds. Hydrogen also acts as a climate-neutral fuel for fuel-cell cars and trucks, …

With the federal government planning to hold the largest sale of offshore wind farm leases in the nation’s history, a new Cornell University study could help inform the development of offshore wind farms by providing detailed models characterizing the frequency, intensity and height of low-level jet streams over the U.S. Atlantic coastal zone. The research, …

A new high-temperature polymer fuel cell that operates at 80-160 degrees Celsius, with a higher-rated power density than state-of-the-art fuel cells, solves the longstanding problem of overheating, one of the most significant technical barriers to using medium-and heavy-duty fuel cells in transportation vehicles such as trucks and buses. Because current fuel cells operate at 60-80 …

A study led by the University of Southampton has found that expanding green energy production sites in the future won’t necessarily be a threat to protected areas of land. Researchers from Southampton studied if expanding land use requirements for wind and solar infrastructure would impact the ability to preserve biodiversity. They used global databases covering …