Cleantech and Environmental News – Latest Headlines

Suburban sprawl cancels carbon footprint savings of dense urban cores

According to a new study, population-dense cities contribute less greenhouse gas emissions per person than other areas of the country, but these cities' extensive suburbs essentially wipe out the climate benefits. Dominated by emissions from cars, trucks and other forms of transportation, suburbs account for about 50 percent of all household emissions in the United States.

January 6, 2014 Read more

Synthetic natural gas from excess electricity

'Power to gas' is a key concept when it comes to storing alternative energy. This process converts short-term excess electricity from photovoltaic systems and wind turbines into hydrogen. Combined with the greenhouse gas CO2, renewable hydrogen can be used to produce methane, which can be stored and distributed in the natural gas network. Empa researchers have now succeeded in further optimising this process.

January 6, 2014 Read more

Researchers find ways to minimize power grid disruptions from wind power

Researchers have found that an increase in the use of wind power generation can make the power grid more fragile and susceptible to disruptions. But the researchers didn't just identify the problem - they have also devised a technique for coordinating wind power generation and energy storage in order to minimize the potential for such power disruptions.

January 3, 2014 Read more

The complexity of catalytically 'cracking' cellulose

Molecule's carbon chain length affects oxygen's departure in key reaction for building biofuels

December 27, 2013 Read more

Researchers create a low cost thin film photovoltaic device with high energy efficiency

The solar cell developed by the researchers of the ICMol consists of a thin perovskite film sandwiched in between two very thin organic semiconductors. The total thickness of the device is less than half a micrometer.

December 26, 2013 Read more

Smart grid test as part of the energy transition

In the lab, researchers can simulate almost any smart grid because the facility is equipped with control cabinets full of batteries as well as with a cogeneration plant, an emergency power unit, an adjustable local grid transformer, various loads and converters, two refrigeration units, and a water purification plant.

December 22, 2013 Read more

Efforts to curb climate change require greater emphasis on livestock

While climate change negotiators struggle to agree on ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, they have paid inadequate attention to other greenhouse gases associated with livestock. One of the most effective ways to cut methane is to reduce global populations of ruminant livestock, especially cattle.

December 20, 2013 Read more

The future of staying cool

Scientists are working to make the inefficient method of refrigeration and air conditioning - which has been relied on for over a hundred years - a thing of the past.

December 19, 2013 Read more

European consortium to combat methane emissions

The Centre for Carbon Measurement at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is leading a European consortium to develop and test new methane measurement instruments for municipal shale gas extraction, waste water treatment plants and gas distribution.

December 19, 2013 Read more

Grass as the new biofuel

A new European research project seeks grass crops that could be grown and harvested on marginal lands, away from areas suitable for food crops.

December 17, 2013 Read more

Drexel University opens A.J. Drexel Institute for Energy and the Environment

Drexel University is opening a new research institute that will strive to answer some of the most challenging questions about energy and environmental sustainability facing the nation today. The A.J. Drexel Institute for Energy and the Environment will look at the science, economics and politics that influence decisions about energy and the environment; and serve as a resource for decision makers both in the region and around the world.

December 17, 2013 Read more

Study finds piece-by-piece approach to emissions policies can be effective

New analysis shows that policies addressing energy consumption and technology choices individually can play an important part in reducing emissions.

December 16, 2013 Read more

Recognizing the elephant in the room: Future climate impacts across sectors

A pioneering collaboration within the international scientific community has provided comprehensive projections of climate change effects, ranging from water scarcity to risks to crop yields. This interdisciplinary effort, employing extensive model inter-comparisons, allows research gaps to be identified, whilst producing the most robust possible findings. The results provide crucial insights for decision-making regarding mitigation efforts in the face of potential impact cascades.

December 16, 2013 Read more

World e-waste map reveals national volumes, international flows

The first 'E-Waste World Map' has been created by UN organizations, industry, governments, non-government and science organizations through their 'Solving the E-Waste Problem (StEP)' initiative. By 2017, world volumes of end-of-life e-products is expected to be 33 percent higher than 2012 and weigh the equivalent of eight Great Egyptian Pyramids. A complementary new EPA-funded StEP report by MIT and NCER characterizes US domestic and transboundary flows of used electronics.

December 15, 2013 Read more

Ethanol blends carry hidden risk

Blending more ethanol into fuel to cut air pollution carries a hidden risk that toxic or explosive gases may leach into buildings, according to researchers at Rice University.

December 14, 2013 Read more

Achieving sustainable development

The UN Earth Summit in Rio of 1992 did not achieve its potential. An EU project set out to discover why.

December 13, 2013 Read more

Novel organic solar cells

Future solar cells will be light and mechanically flexible. They will be produced at low costs with the help of printing processes. POPUP, the new BMBF-funded research project, aims at developing more efficient materials and new architectures for organic photovoltaic devices.

December 13, 2013 Read more

Can we turn unwanted carbon dioxide into electricity?

Researchers are developing a new kind of geothermal power plant that will lock away unwanted carbon dioxide underground - and use it as a tool to boost electric power generation by at least 10 times compared to existing geothermal energy approaches.

December 13, 2013 Read more