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Cilantro, that favorite salsa ingredient, purifies drinking water

Reporting on research done by undergraduate students at a community college, Douglas Schauer, Ph.D., said that cilantro - also known as coriander and Thai parsley - shows promise as a much-needed new 'biosorbent' for removing lead and other potentially toxic heavy metals from contaminated water.

Sep 12th, 2013

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Delaying climate policy would triple short-term mitigation costs

Further delay in the implementation of comprehensive international climate policies could substantially increase the short-term costs of climate change mitigation. Global economic growth would be cut back by up to 7 percent within the first decade after climate policy implementation if the current international stalemate is continued until 2030 - compared to 2 percent if a climate agreement is reached by 2015 already, a study to be published next Tuesday by scientists of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) shows.

Sep 12th, 2013

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Development banks finance record amount in clean energy

Clean energy financing by the world's development banks increased 19% last year to break through the $100bn-a-year barrier for the first time. The top three banks were Germany's KfW, China Development Bank and the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES).

Sep 11th, 2013

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Most powerful blade in wind industry finished

Vestas has produced the first prototype 80 meter blade for the V164-8.0 MW - the world's most powerful offshore wind turbine - at the R+D centre on the Isle of Wight, UK. The blade will now undergo an extensive testing regime to ensure total reliability.

Sep 10th, 2013

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Gas flaring and household stoves speed Arctic thaw

Gas flaring by the oil industry and smoke from residential burning contributes more black carbon pollution to Arctic than previously thought - potentially speeding the melting of Arctic sea ice and contributing to the fast rate of warming in the region.

Sep 10th, 2013

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The new allure of electric cars: Blazing-fast speeds

Already noted for saving gasoline and having zero emissions, electric cars have quietly taken on an unlikely new dimension - the ability to reach blazing speeds that rival the 0-to-60 performance of a typical Porsche or BMW, and compete on some race courses with the world's best gasoline-powered cars, an authority said here today at a major scientific conference.

Sep 9th, 2013

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Scientists calculate the energy required to store wind and solar power on the grid

Renewable energy holds the promise of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. But there are times when solar and wind farms generate more electricity than is needed by consumers. Storing that surplus energy in batteries for later use seems like an obvious solution. But a new Stanford University study finds that when you factor in the energetic costs, grid-scale batteries make sense for storing surplus solar energy, but not for wind.

Sep 9th, 2013

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A new research factory for lithium-ion batteries

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is starting up a research factory for small series production of lithium-ion cells. The batteries that will be manufactured based on the new methods developed there will meet the enormous demands on product quality and efficiency.

Sep 9th, 2013

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Climate change will upset vital ocean chemical cycles

New research from the University of East Anglia shows that rising ocean temperatures will upset natural cycles of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and phosphorous. Plankton plays an important role in the ocean's carbon cycle by removing half of all CO2 from the atmosphere during photosynthesis and storing it deep under the sea. Findings published today in Nature Climate Change reveal that water temperature has a direct impact on maintaining the delicate plankton ecosystem of our oceans.

Sep 8th, 2013

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Energy to power tomorrow's electric vehicles

The EU-funded MERGE project ('Mobile Energy Resources in Grids of Electricity') was aimed at addressing the issue of electric vehicle deployment without major changes to existing power network infrastructure.

Sep 6th, 2013

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