Energy and the Environment News

April 19, 2024

Top Headlines

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 geothermal energy ...

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 ...

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 potential for improving the efficiency, but how do you ...

Latest Headlines

updated 3:53pm EDT

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 not ...

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 ...

'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 ...

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 ...

Heat, Cold Extremes Hold Untapped Potential for Solar and Wind Energy

Mar. 27, 2024 — Conditions that usually accompany the kind of intense hot and cold weather that strains power grids may also provide greater opportunities to capture solar and wind energy. A study found that ...

A Solar Cell You Can Bend and Soak in Water

Mar. 27, 2024 — Researchers have developed an organic photovoltaic film that is both waterproof and flexible, allowing a solar cell to be put onto clothes and still function correctly after being rained on or even ...

Research Lights Up Process for Turning CO2 Into Sustainable Fuel

Mar. 25, 2024 — Researchers have successfully transformed CO2 into methanol by shining sunlight on single atoms of copper deposited on a light-activated material, a discovery that paves the way for creating new ...

Pairing Crypto Mining With Green Hydrogen Offers Clean Energy Boost

Mar. 25, 2024 — Pairing cryptocurrency mining -- notable for its outsize consumption of carbon-based fuel -- with green hydrogen could provide the foundation for wider deployment of renewable energy, such as solar ...

Researchers Take Major Step Toward Developing Next-Generation Solar Cells

Mar. 22, 2024 — Engineers have discovered a new way to manufacture solar cells using perovskite semiconductors. It could lead to lower-cost, more efficient systems for powering homes, cars, boats and ...

Recyclable Reagent and Sunlight Convert Carbon Monoxide Into Methanol

Mar. 20, 2024 — Scientists have demonstrated the selective conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into methanol using a cascade reaction strategy. The two-part process is powered by sunlight, occurs at room temperature ...

Harnessing Hydrogen at Life's Origin

Mar. 18, 2024 — A new report uncovers how hydrogen gas, the energy of the future, provided energy in the past, at the origin of life 4 billion years ago. Hydrogen gas is clean fuel. It burns with oxygen in the air ...

Reimagining the Future of Solar Energy

Mar. 18, 2024 — New research suggests that there might be other ways to generate solar energy than just trying to make individual solar cells ...

Fast-Charging Lithium-Sulphur Batteries on the Horizon

Mar. 18, 2024 — New research shows that the next generation of lithium-sulphur (Li||S) batteries may be capable of being charged in less than five minutes, instead of several hours as is currently the ...

The Atlas of Unburnable Oil in the World

Mar. 15, 2024 — In order to limit the increase in global average temperature to 1.5 C, it is essential to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere. This would mean not exploiting most of the ...

'Find Pearls in the Soil' Unveiling the Magic of Hydrogen Production from Municipal Sewage

Mar. 13, 2024 — Scientists have developed a catalyst for the urea oxidation reaction, enhancing hydrogen generation ...

New High-Performance Solar Cell Material

Mar. 13, 2024 — A new study reports the discovery of an entirely new stable, earth-abundant, high-performance material for solar absorbers -- the central part of a solar cell that turns light into electricity. While ...

Mapping the Future's Sweet Spot for Clean Energy and Biodiversity

Mar. 8, 2024 — A new study of Joshua trees, kit foxes and solar energy developments highlights the need to consider climate-induced range shifts for species as we expand clean ...

Breakthrough Research Enables High-Density Hydrogen Storage for Future Energy Systems

Mar. 6, 2024 — A research team has reported a groundbreaking development in efficient hydrogen ...

Nanodevices Can Produce Energy from Evaporating Tap or Seawater

Mar. 6, 2024 — Researchers have discovered that nanoscale devices harnessing the hydroelectric effect can harvest electricity from the evaporation of fluids with higher ion concentrations than purified water, ...