The seesaw variability of global temperatures often engenders debate over how seriously we should take climate change. But within 35 years, even the lowest monthly dips in temperatures will be hotter than we've experienced in the past 150 years, according to a new and massive analysis of all climate models. The tropics will be the first to exceed the limits of historical extremes and experience an unabated heat wave that threatens biodiversity and heavily populated countries with the fewest resources to adapt.
Oct 9th, 2013
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Credible and consistent carbon pricing must be the cornerstone of government actions to tackle climate change, according to a new OECD report.
Oct 9th, 2013
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Scientists have engineered yeast to consume acetic acid, a previously unwanted byproduct of the process of converting plant leaves, stems and other tissues into biofuels. The innovation increases ethanol yield from lignocellulosic sources by about 10 percent.
Oct 8th, 2013
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Bacterial cells use an impressive range of strategies to grow, develop and sustain themselves. Despite their tiny size, these specialized machines interact with one another in intricate ways.
Oct 8th, 2013
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A*STAR's Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences inked a Memorandum of Understanding with the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, to promote joint research and collaboration in the field of sustainable chemicals - specifically in biomass-to-chemicals research.
Oct 7th, 2013
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The anaerobic digestion process can be optimized to produce either biogas or volatile fatty acids that are even more valuable products than biogas.
Oct 7th, 2013
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The mitigation of climate change can be framed as a problem of risk management on a global scale. Avoiding dangerous interference with ecosystems and human society calls for a global climate policy, which will translate a selected climatic target into economic incentives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Oct 7th, 2013
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An EU-funded research project, 'European carbon dioxide capture and storage laboratory infrastructure' (ECCSEL), joined leading research institutes from across Europe to prepare the research infrastructure needed to promote widespread CCS adoption.
Oct 4th, 2013
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With EU funding of the project 'Thermochemical energy storage for concentrated solar power plants' (TCSPOWER), scientists are developing ways to store the Sun's thermal energy for electricity production during the night.
Oct 4th, 2013
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Researchers are developing a multidimensional mapping tool to identify areas of similar climate, building practices, technologies and economics. This will aid efforts to improve the energy and resource efficiency of the built environment.
Oct 4th, 2013
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University of Tuebingen microbiologists show soil microbe communities can be influenced to decrease nitrous oxide emissions.
Oct 4th, 2013
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The aim of the project is to establish and implement replicable, off-grid electricity generation, based on a solar photovoltaic storage system, which promotes development in sub-Saharan Africa.
Oct 4th, 2013
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New research shows that making stuff on a 3D printer uses less energy - and therefore releases less carbon dioxide - than producing it en masse in a factory and shipping it to a warehouse.
Oct 3rd, 2013
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U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced a proposed $100 million in FY2014 funding for Energy Frontier Research Centers to accelerate the scientific breakthroughs needed to build a new 21st-century energy economy. Research supported by this initiative will enable fundamental advances in energy production and use.
Oct 2nd, 2013
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The term 'carbon capture and storage' seems only to appear when shortly followed by 'not commercially proven' or 'in development'. But construction has now begun on what will be the world's first commercial carbon dioxide mineralisation plant, in which carbon dioxide greenhouse gas is transformed into baking soda.
Oct 2nd, 2013
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To meet a goal set by the US Environmental Protection Agency's Renewable Fuels Standard to use 36 billion gallons of biofuels each year - mostly ethanol - the nation must expand its infrastructure for transporting and storing ethanol. Ethanol, however, is known for triggering stress corrosion cracking of steel. Researchers investigated the mechanism of how ethanol triggers stress corrosion cracking along with ways to circumvent this issue to prevent ethanol-related corrosion issues.
Oct 1st, 2013
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The National Renewable Energy Laboratory recently issued a new report, 'Non-Hardware ('Soft') Cost-Reduction Roadmap for Residential and Small Commercial Solar Photovoltaics, 2013'. The report builds off NREL's ongoing soft-cost benchmarking analysis and charts a path to achieve SunShot soft-cost targets of $0.65/W for residential systems and $0.44/W for commercial systems by 2020.
Oct 1st, 2013
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Solar modules are exposed to many environmental influences that cause material to fatigue over the years. Researchers have developed a procedure to calculate effects of these influences over the long term. This allows reliable lifespan predictions.
Oct 1st, 2013
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