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With coastal areas bracing for rising sea levels, new research indicates that cutting emissions of certain pollutants can greatly slow down sea level rise this century. The research team found that reductions in four pollutants that cycle comparatively quickly through the atmosphere could temporarily forestall the rate of sea level rise by roughly 25 to 50 percent.
Apr 14th, 2013
Read moreA new chemical process can transform waste sulfur into a lightweight plastic that may improve batteries for electric cars, reports a University of Arizona-led team. The new plastic has other potential uses, including optical uses.
Apr 14th, 2013
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Stepping into unexplored territory in efforts to use corn stalks, grass and other non-food plants to make biofuels, scientists today described the discovery of a potential treasure-trove of candidate enzymes in fungi thriving in the feces and intestinal tracts of horses.
Apr 12th, 2013
Read moreResearchers at Columbia Engineering and Boston University have developed the first method to map evaporation globally using weather stations, which will help scientists evaluate water resource management, assess recent trends of evaporation throughout the globe, and validate surface hydrologic models in various conditions.
Apr 12th, 2013
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Directly removing CO2 from the air has the potential to alter the costs of climate change mitigation. It could allow prolonging greenhouse-gas emissions from sectors like transport that are difficult, thus expensive, to turn away from using fossil fuels. And it may help to constrain the financial burden on future generations, a study now published by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research shows.
Apr 12th, 2013
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PNNL's concentrating solar power system reduces greenhouse emissions - at a price that's competitive with fossil fuel power.
Apr 11th, 2013
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Sandia National Laboratories is developing a suite of complementary technologies to help the emerging algae industry detect and quickly recover from algal pond crashes, an obstacle to large-scale algae cultivation for future biofuels.
Apr 11th, 2013
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Australian research shows public debate has missed the point on making cloud services more energy efficient.
Apr 11th, 2013
Read moreResearchers at the UPNA/NUP-Public University of Navarre have produced a prototype of a self-cooling thermoelectric device that achieves 'free' cooling of over 30ºC in devices that give off heat. It is a piece of equipment that acts as a traditional cooler but which consumes no electricity because it obtains the energy it needs to function from the very heat that has to be dissipated.
Apr 11th, 2013
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Imagine a car coated with a surface that can simultaneously capture and store energy from the sun's rays. It would solve one of the main problems associated with solar cells - they don't work at night or in foul weather.
Apr 10th, 2013
Read moreScientists today answered a question that worries millions of owners and potential owners of electric and hybrid vehicles using lithium-ion batteries: How long before the battery pack dies, leaving a sticker-shock bill for a fresh pack or a car ready for the junk heap?
Apr 10th, 2013
Read moreNew research presented by IIASA researcher Hannes Bottcher at the EGU General Assembly this week estimates future land use emissions for the European Union, showing that Europe could potentially reduce greenhouse gas emissions from land use by more than 60 percent by 2050.
Apr 10th, 2013
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Scientists have found unexpectedly high concentrations of opal, a mineral containing silicate, in marine sediments during the transition periods from ice ages to warm phases. The explanation as to what caused these high concentrations can also clarify how oceans release sequestered carbon dioxide. The underlying mechanism is still unexplained today.
Apr 10th, 2013
Read moreThe U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has launched an initiative to build an open-source database of real-world performance from solar facilities across the country.
Apr 9th, 2013
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Is this what the cities of the future will look like? Towering skyscrapers fitted with softly rotating panelled windows that harness wind energy and convert it into electricity?
Apr 9th, 2013
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Another innovative feature has been added to the world's first practical 'artificial leaf', making the device even more suitable for providing people in developing countries and remote areas with electricity, scientists reported here today. It gives the leaf the ability to self-heal damage that occurs during production of energy.
Apr 9th, 2013
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