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Improving solar hydrogen production

Using a simple solar cell and a photo anode made of a metal oxide, scientists have successfully stored nearly five percent of solar energy chemically in the form of hydrogen. This is a major feat as the design of the solar cell is much simpler than that of the high-efficiency triple-junction cells based on amorphous silicon or expensive III-V semiconductors that are traditionally used for this purpose.

Jul 29th, 2013

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A melting Arctic could cost us $60 trillion

Arctic sea ice is retreating, with projections suggesting that the summer months will be substantially ice-free within the next few years. Nations are waking up to the possibilities for shipping and resource exploration this brings. But for all the potential economic benefits they glimpse, none have taken on board the hidden costs of an Arctic thaw.

Jul 26th, 2013

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Harnessing innovation for smart transport networks

EU funding is helping countries use the best research and innovations to create a safer, less polluting and smarter European transport network. For example, MARKET-UP ('Transport Research Market Uptake') focused on understanding how to boost market take-up of new research breakthroughs and technologies.

Jul 25th, 2013

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Energy-saving light-control film automatically controls sunlight transmission

This light-control film is based on the fact that there is a change in the incident angle of sunlight between summer and winter. The film blocks sunlight in summer by using total reflection but transmits it in winter. Unlike other light-control films, the film can control the transmission of direct sunlight while always allowing people inside to see the view outside the window.

Jul 25th, 2013

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Inexpensive technology could bring high-end solar to the masses

Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed an inexpensive new way to grow thin films of a material prized in the semiconductor and photovoltaic industries, an achievement that could bring high-end solar cells within reach of consumer pocketbooks.

Jul 25th, 2013

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Clean, green high performance biofuels from carbon dioxide

Could there come a time in which the carbon dioxide emitted from natural gas or coal-burning power plants that warms the atmosphere and exacerbates global climate change is harvested and used to produce clean, green and renewable liquid transportation fuels? A pathway to that possibility has been opened by a team of researchers who have engineered a microbe now being used to produce biodegradable plastic into a strain that can produce a high-performance advanced biofuel.

Jul 24th, 2013

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Australian algae fuel green oil hope

Newly trialled native algae species provide real hope for the development of commercially viable fuels from algae, a University of Queensland scientist has found.

Jul 24th, 2013

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