New photosynthesis-mimicking technology could enable round-the-clock solar power without batteries
Developed by chemists at UCLA, a new photosynthesis-like technology is capable of storing solar energy for up to several weeks…
Major advance in artificial photosynthesis uses sunshine to create fossil fuel analogs
A major breakthrough in artificial photosynthesis has been achieved with the development of a system that can capture carbon dioxide…
Next-generation solar cell can also emit light
Scientists from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have developed a photovoltaic material which, as well converting light to electricity, can…
Rhubarb battery could finally free solar households from the electricity grid
Harvard scientists have developed a metal-free flow battery based on the electrochemistry of the naturally abundant, inexpensive, organic molecules that…
Electrosmog harvested to produce electricity
Using inexpensive materials configured and tuned to capture ambient signals from the electromagnetic spectrum, Duke University researchers have designed a…
Pop music boosts solar cell efficiency
The acoustic vibrations from pop and rock music can improve the performance of solar cells by as much as 40…
Panda poop could be biofuel bonanza
While ethanol made from corn is the most common alternative fuel in the U.S., concern continues to grow that the…
Ionic thrusters challenge jet engines for efficiency
Largely regarded as a scientific curiosity, a new investigation into electrohydrodynamic thrust has found that it may actually be more…
Biofuels could be made directly from excess CO2 in the atmosphere, say scientists
Researchers at the University of Georgia have found a way to transform carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into a variety…
Nano-rod solar cell generates hydrogen
A new type of solar collector that uses gold nano-rods could convert sunlight into energy without many of the problems…
“Green” biofuels anything but
A detailed new study on greenhouse gas emissions from oil palm plantations has calculated a more than 50 percent increase…
Solar power’s dirty secret: skyrocketing lead pollution
Solar power has a dark side. In developing countries with less robust electrical grids, solar power is heavily reliant on…
Experimental wind-farm produces tenfold power increase
Caltech researchers say the power output of wind-farms can be increased by an order of magnitude – at least tenfold…
Much simpler catalyst could fast-track hydrogen economy
The black mineral stain commonly found on rocks turns out to be a very simple and effective catalyst for replicating…
Biofuels’ “green” credentials questioned
Biofuels might not be so “green” after all, say researchers at MIT, who have been doing some calculations based on…
Virus improves solar cell efficiency
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a way to make significant improvements to the power-conversion efficiency…
Novel solar cells utilize light’s magnetic properties
Light has electric and magnetic components but scientists had always believed the effects of the magnetic field to be insignificant.…
Win-win for sugarcane biofuel crops
Agricultural cropping typically has a significant warming effect on local climates, but a report in Nature Climate Change indicates that…
Salinity differential turns river mouths into power plants
Alternately using seawater and freshwater as the electrolyte, Stanford researchers have developed a battery that takes advantage of the difference…
Electrical “wand” extinguishes fires
A 200-year-old observation that electricity can affect the shape of flames is being revisited with an experimental device that uses…
Novel CO2 turbine promises leap in generator efficiency
Turbines that utilize supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO2) for the generation of electricity could deliver a huge 50 percent improvement in…