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Tidal stream power has the potential to deliver 11% of the UK’s current annual electricity and play a significant role in the government’s drive for net-zero, according to new research. Scientists from across the UK say that harnessing the power of the ocean’s tidal streams can provide a predictable and reliable means of helping to …

Scientists at ETH Zurich have built a plant that can produce carbon-neutral liquid fuels from sunlight and air. The next goal will be to take this technology to industrial scale and achieve competitiveness. In a paper published in the journal Nature, researchers from Zurich and Potsdam describe how this novel solar reactor functions and outline …

More than 300 million tons of plastic waste are produced annually, which causes serious environmental issues because of plastic’s life cycle and the difficulty of eliminating it. Consequently, most plastic waste ends up in either a landfill or the ocean. A significant number of plastics break down into microplastics, which are ingested by fish and …

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered a new way to train microbes to make a readily usable biofuel. A team of biologists and engineers modified a microbe called Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1 (TIE-1) so that it can produce a biofuel using only three renewable and naturally abundant source ingredients: carbon dioxide, solar panel-generated …

Incorporating energy efficiency measures can reduce the amount of storage needed to power the nation’s buildings entirely with renewable energy, according to analysis conducted by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). As more communities plan to eventually rely on 100% renewable energy, the researchers offer a strategy that …

CO2 emissions from electricity in the UK fell by two thirds in the last decade due to several factors working together, rather than a single panacea. This decline, faster than in any other large country, was driven by a complex interplay of policies and events, according to research from Imperial College London published today in …

Limiting climate change to the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Climate Agreement will likely require coal and gas power use to decline at rates that are unprecedented for any large country, an analysis of decadal episodes of fossil fuel decline in 105 countries between 1960 and 2018 shows. Furthermore, the findings, published October 22 …

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Colorado School of Mines are applying a new technique to identify defects in silicon solar cells that cause a drop in efficiency. The lessons learned at the atomic level could lead to improvements in the way manufacturers strengthen their products against what …

Ocean waves can be powerful, containing enough energy to push around sand, pebbles and even boulders during storms. These waves, as well as smaller, more gentle ones, could be tapped as a source of renewable energy. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Nano have developed flexible power generators that mimic the way seaweed sways to efficiently …

The variety of humble algae that cover the surface of ponds and seas could hold the key to boosting the efficiency of artificial photosynthesis, allowing scientists to produce more energy and lower waste in the process. A study by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists showed how encasing algae protein in liquid droplets can …

At the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, much attention will be focused on China. As the world’s largest CO2 emitter, China’s efforts to decarbonize its energy system will be critical to the goal of limiting the rise in global average surface temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius. China has already made major commitments …

With each passing day, the dark side of our addiction to fossil fuels becomes more apparent. In addition to slashing emissions of carbon dioxide, society must find sustainable alternatives to power the modern world. In a new study, Gary Moore and his research group explore different approaches to catalysis, a chemical process that plays an …

Hydropower is the dominant source of energy in the Amazon region, the world’s largest river basin and a hotspot for future hydropower development. However, a new Global Environmental Change study warns that in the coming decades, climate change-driven reductions in precipitation and river discharge will diminish the Amazon’s hydropower capacity. The study’s authors examined 351 …

The production of renewable energy is increasing every year. But after analysing the growth rates of wind and solar power in 60 countries, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology and Lund University in Sweden and Central European University in Vienna, Austria, conclude that virtually no country is moving sufficiently fast to avoid global warming of …

The development of wind energy, a renewable, emissions-free energy source, is widely acknowledged as an imperative to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and the impacts of climate change. In recent years, much progress in this realm has been made as the cost of developing wind energy has declined significantly with emerging technologies and incentive policies. Nevertheless, …

The summer of 2021 in Western Canada was one of the hottest on record. In BC alone, 59 weather stations registered their hottest temperatures ever on June 27. For those lucky enough to have air conditioners, keeping their homes cool during the heat dome was relatively easy. However, the comfort lasted only until the utility …

Scientists using satellite technologies have discovered for the first time that large scale solar parks have a cooling effect on the land surrounding them. As more countries pledge to achieve net zero carbon emissions there will be a greater reliance on renewable energy sources, such as wind turbines and solar energy. However, there is very …

For the past 150 years, humans have pumped extraordinary amounts of greenhouse gasses, such as CO2, into the atmosphere and warmed the planet at an alarming rate. To slow down climate change, societies tend to focus on two solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: improving energy efficiency and developing and using renewable energy sources. United …

Engineers at the University of Cincinnati are developing new ways to convert greenhouse gases to fuel to address climate change and get astronauts home from Mars. UC College of Engineering and Applied Science assistant professor Jingjie Wu and his students used a carbon catalyst in a reactor to convert carbon dioxide into methane. Known as …

Engineers at Lancaster University have led research that discovers a way to generate renewable biofuel additives, using radiation that could be derived from nuclear waste. The renewable proportion of petrol is set to increase to 20 per cent over the coming years, meaning the discovery of a new production pathway for these additives could help …

Implementing advance wind energy scenarios could achieve a reduction in global warming atmospheric average temperatures of 0.3 to 0.8 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, according to new research from Cornell University. “Early action will reap dividends,” said Rebecca Barthelmie, professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. “In terms of …

A new transparency-friendly solar cell design could marry high efficiencies with 30-year estimated lifetimes, research led by the University of Michigan has shown. It may pave the way for windows that also provide solar power. “Solar energy is about the cheapest form of energy that humankind has ever produced since the industrial revolution,” said Stephen …

A team of researchers led by Professor Yabing Qi in the Energy Materials and Surface Sciences Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) in Japan have imaged the atoms at the surface of the light-absorbing layer in a new type of next-generation solar cells, made from a crystal material called …

Electrolytic hydrogen production powered by renewable energy is seen as an environmentally friendly means to ameliorate global climate and energy problems. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a research team has now introduced a novel and inexpensive material for electrodes that may provide for highly efficient, energy-saving hydrogen production: porous, phosphorized CoNi2S4 yolk-shell nanospheres. Both half …

Scientists have found a new chemical process to turn a stinky, toxic gas into a clean-burning fuel. The process, detailed recently in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Sustainable Chemical Engineering, turns hydrogen sulfide — more commonly called “sewer gas” — into hydrogen fuel. Hydrogen sulfide is emitted from manure piles and sewer pipes and …

There were blank faces when we announced Fully Charged LIVE in the UK at the end of 2017, and again when we announced Fully Charged LIVE in the US a year later, but the results were the same. Enthusiastic crowds, and ecstatic exhibitors. Wherever it goes Robert Llewellyn’s ‘little’ YouTube channel is a BIG attraction, …