Cleantech and Environmental News – Latest Headlines

Europe: 50% renewable energies by 2030 possible with greater integration

By 2030 around half of all electricity in Europe should come from renewable energies in order to reach EU climate targets. This applies to Germany, France, the Benelux countries, Austria and Switzerland. Varying volumes of national wind and solar supply can be balanced out through the cross-border integration of power systems.

June 25, 2015 Read more

Five seismic shifts to shake global electricity over next 25 years

Global power generation will experience five dominant trends over the next 25 years, putting unprecedented pressure on energy companies, utilities and policy-makers, according to the New Energy Outlook 2015, published today.

June 24, 2015 Read more

Distributed technique for power 'scheduling' advances smart grid concept

Researchers have developed a new technique for 'scheduling' energy in electric grids that moves away from centralized management by tapping into the distributed computing power of energy devices. The approach advances the smart grid concept by coordinating the energy being produced and stored by both conventional and renewable sources.

June 24, 2015 Read more

Solar fuels: how planes and cars could be powered by the sun

Research in solar-derived liquid fuels, or solar fuels, aims to make a range of products that are compatible with our energy infrastructure today, such as gasoline, jet fuel and hydrogen. The goal is to store sunlight in liquid form, conveniently overcoming the transient nature of sunlight.

June 23, 2015 Read more

New manufacturing approach slices lithium-ion battery cost in half

An advanced manufacturing approach for lithium-ion batteries promises to significantly slash the cost of the most widely used type of rechargeable batteries while also improving their performance and making them easier to recycle.

June 23, 2015 Read more

New formula expected to spur advances in clean energy generation

Researchers have devised a new formula for calculating the maximum efficiency of thermoelectric materials, the first new formula in more than a half-century, designed to speed up the development of new materials suitable for practical use.

June 22, 2015 Read more

UN report: Clean energy creates more jobs than fossil fuels

Last week, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) released a report demonstrating that increases in clean energy investments create more job opportunities.

June 22, 2015 Read more

Solar desalination

Making water safe to drink for rural, off-grid Indian villages.

June 22, 2015 Read more

Silent flights: How owls could help make wind turbines and planes quieter

An investigation into how owls fly and hunt in silence has enabled researchers to develop a prototype coating for wind turbine blades that could significantly reduce the amount of noise they make.

June 22, 2015 Read more

New research simplifies recycling of rare-earth magnets

Researchers have now pioneered a process that could enable the efficient recycling of two rare-earth metals, neodymium and dysprosium. These elements comprise the small, powerful magnets that are found in many high-tech devices. In contrast to the massive and energy-intensive industrial process currently used to separate rare earths, the method works nearly instantaneously at room temperature and uses standard laboratory equipment.

June 18, 2015 Read more

Better switchgrass, better biofuel

Switchgrass is an excellent candidate for biofuel production. However, growing and processing switchgrass is barely profitable. It lacks qualities, such as high biomass yield, needed to maximize biofuel production. To breed switchgrass that has the optimal combination of traits, the researchers tried evaluating plants using the Smith-Hazel Selection Index.

June 18, 2015 Read more

Mould unlocks new route to biofuels

Scientists have made an important discovery that forms the basis for the development of new applications in biofuels and the sustainable manufacturing of chemicals.

June 18, 2015 Read more

Using solar energy to melt aluminium

Researchers and industry are cooperating within the SOLAM (solar melting of aluminium in a directly radiated rotary kiln) project to develop a method by which aluminium foundries could use solar energy to melt this metal. The method would allow the companies to reduce their electricity consumption to a great extent and substantially lower their carbon dioxide emissions.

June 17, 2015 Read more

Novel battery uses light to produce power (w/video)

Researchers have come up with a brand-new way to use light - solar or artificial - to drive battery power safely.

June 17, 2015 Read more

Adding chemicals could make future battery technology safer

In a study that could improve the safety of next-generation batteries, researchers discovered that adding two chemicals to the electrolyte of a lithium metal battery prevents the formation of dendrites-'fingers' of lithium that pierce the barrier between the battery's halves, causing it to short out, overheat and sometimes burst into flame.

June 17, 2015 Read more

Key to quick battery charging time

Researchers have discovered the structure and transport properties of the 'intermediate state' in lithium-ion batteries - key to understanding the mechanisms of charge and discharge in rechargeable batteries. These findings may help accelerate battery reaction speed and significantly shorten battery charging time.

June 16, 2015 Read more

Identifying best practices for evaluating sustainability in the process industry

The SAMT project of the European Union will work together with leading industrial actors from the cement, oil, metal, water, waste and chemical industries and review the latest scientific developments within the field of sustainability assessment.

June 16, 2015 Read more

Benchmarking electrocatalysts for solar water-splitting devices

Objective comparison of catalyst performance may enable the development of systems for artificial photosynthesis.

June 16, 2015 Read more