Cleantech and Environmental News – Latest Headlines

Long-distance transport of green power: First successful testing of a 20 kA superconducting cable

The Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) together with CERN (European European Organization for Nuclear Research) reached an important milestone on February 20th with the successful testing of a prototype superconducting cable able to carry 20 kA of current.

March 11, 2014 Read more

MIT spinout XL Hybrids fits gas-guzzlers with electric powertrains, cutting gas consumption

MIT spinout XL Hybrids is upfitting (and retrofitting) gas and diesel commercial vans and trucks with fuel-saving 'add-on' electric powertrains whose batteries are charged through energy generated by braking.

March 10, 2014 Read more

European collaboration to develop highly efficient organic solar cells

The European FP7 project ArtESun aims to develop highly efficient organic solar cells with an increased lifetime and a decreased production cost. The ultimate goal of the ArtESun project is to bring organic photovoltaic technologies (OPV) towards introduction into the competitive thin-film PV market.

March 10, 2014 Read more

Promising news from the front on efforts to produce fuels through artificial photosynthesis

A new study shows that nearly 90-percent of the electrons generated by a hybrid material designed to store solar energy in hydrogen are being stored in the target hydrogen molecules.

March 7, 2014 Read more

Testing components for solar power plants in Morocco and South Africa

The German Aerospace Center is testing the performance and durability of reflectors and receivers for solar power plants in Ouarzazate, Morocco and in Bokpoort, South Africa. These quality controls are the first to permit an assessment of solar power plant component quality and longevity.

March 6, 2014 Read more

UK and China agree £20 million Low Carbon Innovation programme

A new GBP20 million three-year programme that will support research to develop new low carbon manufacturing processes and technologies, low carbon cities and offshore renewables in the UK and China was agreed yesterday.

March 6, 2014 Read more

New technique allows frequent water quality monitoring for suite of pollutants

Researchers have developed a new technique that uses existing technology to allow researchers and natural resource managers to collect significantly more information on water quality to better inform policy decisions.

March 5, 2014 Read more

New catalyst could lead to cleaner energy

Chemists devise a reaction that traps carbon dioxide and turns it into something useful.

March 5, 2014 Read more

Effective thermal insulation with wood foam

Insulation materials of tomorrow must be both efficient and environmentally friendly. Fraunhofer scientists are developing insulation foam made from wood that could re- place petrochemical plastics in the long term.

March 4, 2014 Read more

Smart grid for electric vehicle fleet

Being able to charge up to 30 electric cars at once requires some ingenious energy management. Researchers are incorporating a mix of renewables into the design of a smart grid for Germany's largest charging station.

March 4, 2014 Read more

LED lamps: less energy, more light

LEDs are durable and save energy. Now researchers have found a way to make LED lamps even more compact while supplying more light than commercially available models. The key to success: transistors made of the semiconductor material gallium nitride.

March 4, 2014 Read more

Manufacturing a solution to planet-clogging plastics

Researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute have developed a method to carry out large-scale manufacturing of everyday objects - from cell phones to food containers and toys - using a fully degradable bioplastic isolated from shrimp shells. The objects exhibit many of the same properties as those created with synthetic plastics, but without the environmental threat.

March 3, 2014 Read more

NREL examines solar policy pathways for states

The Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has published a report that aligns solar policy and market success with state demographics. By organizing the 48 contiguous states into four peer groups based on shared non-policy characteristics, the NREL research team was able to contextualize the impact of various solar policies on photovoltaic installations.

February 26, 2014 Read more

Advancing algae's viability as a biofuel

Lab success doesn't always translate to real-world success. A team of Michigan State University scientists, however, has invented a new technology that increases the odds of helping algae-based biofuels cross that gap and come closer to reality.

February 26, 2014 Read more

Global solar radiation map

A new service is making high-resolution data of direct sunlight publicly available for users such as planners of large solar power systems.

February 26, 2014 Read more

Producing electricity with concentrated sunlight

Constructing solar thermal power plants more efficiently and cheaply.

February 26, 2014 Read more

Can entrenched energy systems undergo rapid changes?

MIT Energy Conference explores recent dramatic developments in the energy landscape, and outlines the need for more.

February 26, 2014 Read more

Climate engineering: Minor potential, major side effects

Researchers at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel have studied with computer simulations the long-term global consequences of several 'climate engineering' methods. They show that all the proposed methods would either be unable to significantly reduce global warming if CO2 emissions remain high, or they could not be stopped without causing dangerous climate disruption.

February 25, 2014 Read more