Cleantech and Environmental News – Latest Headlines

How to reduce the high cost of hydrogen pipelines

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has put firm numbers on the high costs of installing pipelines to transport hydrogen fuel - and also found a way to reduce those costs.

July 20, 2015 Read more

New family of chemical structures can effectively remove CO2 from gas mixtures

A newly discovered family of chemical structures could increase the value of biogas and natural gas that contains carbon dioxide.

July 16, 2015 Read more

Variable solar power from North Africa provides the basis for a sustainable business model

Transferring power from Africa to Europe via a high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line could be a sustainable business model with added value for both regions. This is the conclusion reached by researchers in the EU-sponsored BETTER project.

July 16, 2015 Read more

Molecular fuel cell catalysts hold promise for efficient energy storage

A metal-free alternative catalyst for fuel cells may be at hand. A team of chemists introduces a new approach that uses a molecular catalyst system instead of solid catalysts. Although molecular catalysts have been explored before, earlier examples were much less efficient than the traditional platinum catalyst.

July 15, 2015 Read more

Are fuel cells environmentally friendly? Not always!

Are fuel cells always more environmentally friendly? An international team of scientists performed a series of calculations and reached a conclusion: It depends on the fuel.

July 15, 2015 Read more

From power grids to heartbeat: Using mathematics to restore rhythm

A new approach could one day help to stabilize the flow of electricity in power grids challenged by the variable input from renewable energy sources.

July 15, 2015 Read more

Is the energy system really ready for sustainable energy?

New research into sustainable energy systems focuses on integrating renewable and nuclear power plants into the electrical grid - a topic high on the agenda for scholars, industry and policy makers.

July 14, 2015 Read more

Why not build houses the environmentally friendly way?

Better for nature, better for business: How a green building influences the health of its occupants.

July 9, 2015 Read more

Assessing quality of flowing waters with DNA analyses

The quality of waters can be assessed using of the organisms occurring therein. This approach often results in errors, because many species look alike. Therefore, new methods focus on DNA analyses instead.

July 9, 2015 Read more

E-waste: What we throw away doesn't go away

Consumer desire for the best and latest technology is creating a new environmental challenge for the world.

July 8, 2015 Read more

Five properties of physics that affect your gas mileage

Exploring some of the forces at work in your engine when it's on the road.

July 7, 2015 Read more

A bridge to better batteries

New Berkeley Lab energy storage website aims to expand collaborations with industry.

July 7, 2015 Read more

Producing biodegradable plastic just got cheaper and greener

Biodegradable drinking cups or vegetable wrapping foil: the bioplastic known as polylactic acid (PLA) is already a part of our everyday lives. And yet, PLA is not yet considered a full alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastics, as it is costly to produce. Researchers now present a way to make the PLA production process more simple and waste-free.

July 6, 2015 Read more

Researchers develop new storage cell for solar energy storage, nighttime conversion

A materials science and engineering team has developed a new energy cell that can store large-scale solar energy even when it's dark.

July 1, 2015 Read more

Carbon Capture and Storage safety investigated

A significant step has been made for potential Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) deployment, with the publication of the results from the world's first experiment into the realistic simulation of potential environmental impact of a submarine CO2 leakage.

July 1, 2015 Read more

Fuel and chemicals from steel plant exhaust gases

Carbon monoxide-rich exhaust gases from steel plants are only being reclaimed to a minor extent as power or heat. Researchers have developed a new recycling process for this materially unused carbon resource: They successfully produced fuel and specialty chemicals from these exhaust gases on a laboratory scale.

July 1, 2015 Read more

Sodium-ion batteries offer surprising stability over cycles

3D measurements of microstructures reveal that sodium's larger ion size does not degrade battery materials as much as previously thought.

June 29, 2015 Read more

'Sharc25' aims at 25% efficiency with thin-film solar cells

Sharc25, a European research project launched in May, is setting out to develop extremely efficient thin-film solar cells for the next generation of more cost-effective solar modules.

June 26, 2015 Read more