Energy and the Environment News

May 8, 2024

Top Headlines

From Fossils to Fuel: Mozambique's Maniamba Basin's Energy Potential

May 7, 2024 — In the ever-expanding search for energy resources, a new study has emerged from Mozambique's Maniamba Basin. Mozambique's Maniamba Basin could be a big source of natural ...

Efficacy of Solar Panels Boosted

May 7, 2024 — Solar energy is a crucial asset in the fight against climate change, and researchers have now devised a smart approach to optimize its effectiveness. Their innovative method includes incorporating artificial ground reflectors, a simple yet powerful ...

Low-Energy Process for High-Performance Solar Cells

May 7, 2024 — Finding reliable, eco-friendly power sources is crucial as our world grapples with increasing energy needs and the urgent call to combat climate change. Solar energy offers one solution, with scientists devising ever more efficient materials for ...

Robots Invited to Help Make Wind Turbine Blades

May 2, 2024 — Researchers have successfully leveraged robotic assistance in the manufacture of wind turbine blades, allowing for the elimination of difficult working conditions for humans and the potential to improve the consistency of the ...

Latest Headlines

updated 5:28pm EDT

Path to Easier Recycling of Solar Modules

May 2, 2024 — The use of femtosecond lasers to form glass-to-glass welds for solar modules would make the panels easier to recycle, according to a proof-of-concept ...

Roadmap to Close the Carbon Cycle

May 1, 2024 — Reaching net-zero carbon emissions goals requires finding transformative paths to manage carbon in difficult-to-electrify economic ...

Methane Emissions from Landfill Could Be Turned Into Sustainable Jet Fuel in Plasma Chemistry Leap

Apr. 30, 2024 — Researchers have developed a chemical process using plasma that could create sustainable jet fuel from methane gas emitted from landfills, ...

New Offshore Wind Turbines Can Take Away Energy from Existing Ones

Apr. 25, 2024 — Interactions between wind turbines could reduce power output by 30% in proposed offshore wind farm areas along the East Coast, new research has found. In all, the farms could still meet 60% of the ...

Energy Trades Could Help Resolve Nile Conflict

Apr. 26, 2024 — Scientists have shed light on a new, transformative approach that could help resolve a dispute over the Nile river's water ...

Securing Competitiveness of Energy-Intensive Industries Through Relocation: The Pulling Power of Renewables

Apr. 24, 2024 — Countries with limited potential for renewables could save up to 20 percent of costs for green steel and up to 40 percent for green chemicals from ...

Key to Efficient and Stable Organic Solar Cells

Apr. 25, 2024 — A team of researchers has made a significant breakthrough in the field of organic ...

Human Activities Have an Intense Impact on Earth's Deep Subsurface Fluid Flow

Apr. 24, 2024 — Hydrologists predict human-induced underground fluid fluxes to rise with climate change mitigation strategies like carbon ...

Positive Perceptions of Solar Projects

Apr. 24, 2024 — A new survey has found that for residents living within three miles of a large-scale solar development, positive attitudes outnumbered negative attitudes by almost a 3-to-1 margin. Researchers ...

This Salt Battery Harvests Osmotic Energy Where the River Meets the Sea

Apr. 24, 2024 — Estuaries -- where freshwater rivers meet the salty sea -- are great locations for birdwatching and kayaking. In these areas, waters containing different salt concentrations mix and may be sources of ...

Climate Change Will Increase Value of Residential Rooftop Solar Panels Across US, Study Shows

Apr. 19, 2024 — Climate change will increase the future value of residential rooftop solar panels across the United States by up to 19% by the end of the century, according to a new ...

Clearing the Air: Wind Farms More Land Efficient Than Previously Thought

Apr. 17, 2024 — Wind power is a source of energy that is both affordable and renewable. However, decision-makers have been reluctant to invest in wind energy due to a perception that wind farms require a lot of land ...

Trash to Treasure -- Researchers Turn Metal Waste Into Catalyst for Hydrogen

Apr. 16, 2024 — Scientists have found a way to transform metal waste into a highly efficient catalyst to make hydrogen from water, a discovery that could make hydrogen production more ...

Global North Energy Outsourcing Demands More Attention

Apr. 15, 2024 — Manufacturing nations in the Global North are stockpiling energy and emission problems by outsourcing energy-intensive industrial processes to countries in the Global ...

Pyrite, Also Known as Fool's Gold, May Contain Valuable Lithium, a Key Element for Green Energy

Apr. 15, 2024 — The technology revolution and development of new renewable energy resources is driving demand for lithium to new heights, but it is not a common mineral. Scientists say they have found lithium in an ...

Rock Permeability, Microquakes Link May Be a Boon for Geothermal Energy

Apr. 11, 2024 — Using machine learning, researchers have tied low-magnitude microearthquakes to the permeability of subsurface rocks beneath the Earth, a discovery that could have implications for improving ...

Nanoscale Movies Shed Light on One Barrier to a Clean Energy Future

Apr. 11, 2024 — New research is shedding light on one barrier to a clean energy future: corrosion. Using nanoscale imaging techniques, researchers have captured high-resolution videos of tiny crystals of ruthenium ...

New Device Gathers, Stores Electricity in Remote Settings

Apr. 9, 2024 — Wirelessly connected devices perform an expanding array of applications, such as monitoring the condition of machinery and remote sensing in agricultural settings. These applications hold much ...

Subterranean Storage of Hydrogen

Apr. 9, 2024 — Scientists are using computer simulations and laboratory experiments to see if depleted oil and natural gas reservoirs can be used for storing carbon-free hydrogen fuel. Hydrogen is an important ...

New Four-Terminal Tandem Organic Solar Cell Achieves 16.94% Power Conversion Efficiency

Apr. 8, 2024 — Researchers have fabricated a new four-terminal organic solar cell with a tandem configuration with a 16.94% power conversion efficiency (PCE). The new device is composed by a highly transparent ...

Using Pulp and Paper Waste to Scrub Carbon from Emissions

Apr. 8, 2024 — Researchers have come up with an innovative approach to improve the energy efficiency of carbon conversion, using waste material from pulp and paper production. The technique they've pioneered ...

'Tug of War' Tactic Enhances Chemical Separations for Critical Materials

Apr. 3, 2024 — Lanthanide elements are important for clean energy and other applications. To use them, industry must separate mixed lanthanide sources into individual elements using costly, time-consuming, and ...

Machine Learning Enables Viability of Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines

Apr. 3, 2024 — Researchers have used a genetic learning algorithm to identify optimal pitch profiles for the blades of vertical-axis wind turbines, which despite their high energy potential, have until now been ...

Unleashing Disordered Rocksalt Oxides as Cathodes for Rechargeable Magnesium Batteries

Apr. 3, 2024 — Researchers have made a groundbreaking advancement in battery technology, developing a novel cathode material for rechargeable magnesium batteries that enables efficient charging and discharging even ...

Magnetic Fields Boost Clean Energy

Apr. 3, 2024 — Researchers show that using magnetic fields can boost electrocatalysis for sustainable fuel production by enhancing the movement of the reactants, which improves the efficiency of energy-related ...

A Simple Way to Harvest More 'Blue Energy' from Waves

Apr. 3, 2024 — As any surfer will tell you, waves pack a powerful punch. Now, we are one step closer to capturing the energy behind the ocean's constant ebb and flow with an improved 'blue energy' ...

Building Blocks for Greener Energy: Reconfigurable Elastic Metasurface

Apr. 2, 2024 — Energy harvesting, an eco-friendly technology, extends beyond solar and wind power in generating electricity from unused or discarded energy in daily life, including vibrations generated by passing ...

Chemistry Researchers Modify Solar Technology to Produce a Less Harmful Greenhouse Gas

Apr. 2, 2024 — Researchers are using semiconductors to harvest and convert the sun's energy into high-energy compounds that have the potential to produce environmentally-friendly ...

Engineers 'Symphonize' Cleaner Ammonia Production

Apr. 1, 2024 — Among the many chemicals we use every day, ammonia is one of the worst for the atmosphere. The nitrogen-based chemical used in fertilizer, dyes, explosives and many other products ranks second only ...

Study Unlocks the Power of Visible Light for Sustainable Chemistry

Mar. 28, 2024 — A breakthrough in sustainable molecular transformations has been announced. Chemists have developed an important way to harness the power of visible light to drive chemical processes with greater ...