Cleantech and Environmental News – Latest Headlines

Carbon dioxide - our salvation from a future ice age?

Mankind's emissions of fossil carbon and the resulting increase in temperature could prove to be our salvation from the next ice age. According to a new research article by researchers from the University of Gothenburg, the current increase in the extent of peatland is having the opposite effect, cooling down the climate.

November 7, 2012 Read more

Designing solar arrays for a climate benefit

A study to determine whether energy production can simultaneously be used to positively affect regional climates, including modifying rainfall patterns, has begun in CSIRO?s weather and energy research unit.

November 6, 2012 Read more

Intersolar Award 2012 for solar projects in India

The Intersolar AWARD for the category Solar Projects in India was presented for the first time at Intersolar India, India's largest exhibition and conference for the solar industry. The international solar industry prize pays tribute to companies for particularly outstanding solar projects.

November 6, 2012 Read more

Going live with a smarter electric grid

Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project begins two-year data collection period

November 6, 2012 Read more

Fuel economy in the U.S. at all-time high

Fuel economy of all new vehicles sold in the United States is at its highest level ever, according to UMTRI researchers.

November 6, 2012 Read more

High-tech tools tackle wind farm performance

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are learning how to better understand these issues and are working toward effective solutions for the wind industry. Their goal is to maximize turbine performance and minimize structural loads, which will ultimately result in lower-cost wind energy. Toward that goal, NREL researchers are leveraging the lab's supercomputing resources and have developed high-tech modeling and simulation capabilities.

November 6, 2012 Read more

The limitations of climate models

How accurate is the latest generation of climate models? Climate physicist Reto Knutti from ETH Zurich has compared them with old models and draws a differentiated conclusion: while climate modelling has made substantial progress in recent years, we also need to be aware of its limitations.

November 5, 2012 Read more

Carbon buried in the soil rises again

A research team that includes a University of California, Davis, plant scientist has identified a source of carbon emissions that could play a role in understanding past and future global change.

November 5, 2012 Read more

University of British Columbia files patent on battery type solar/light conversion cell

The University of British Columbia (UBC) announces the international patent filing for a Battery type Solar/Light conversion cell. This unique generator and storage approach allows both solar power generation and storage within a single cell. Based on photosynthesis, it can be implemented using abundant and readily replenished and renewable biomaterials.

November 2, 2012 Read more

From rocket fuel to clean cars

Austrian manufacturer MagnaSteyr has adapted technology developed for the Ariane rocket to build clean-burning cars that can use hydrogen instead of petrol for fuel.

November 2, 2012 Read more

Scientists harness the power of photosynthesis

A team of researchers at UMass Lowell are now able to replicate photosynthesis in the laboratory, with the goal of someday storing solar energy on a commercial scale.

November 1, 2012 Read more

Bulletin: German nuclear exit delivers economic, environmental benefits

A special issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, published by SAGE, ?The German Nuclear Exit,? shows that the nuclear shutdown and an accompanying move toward renewable energy are already yielding measurable economic and environmental benefits, with one top expert calling the German phase-out a probable game-changer for the nuclear industry worldwide.

November 1, 2012 Read more

Researchers propose new building guidelines to clean up city air

The huge energy needs of skyscrapers mean that these towers are not only office buildings, they're polluters with smokestacks billowing out toxins from the rooftop. Our cities are dirtier than we think. New research from Concordia University just might clean them up.

November 1, 2012 Read more

Biofuels from algae hold potential, but not ready for prime time

Scaling up the production of biofuels made from algae to meet at least 5 percent ? about 10 billion gallons ? of U.S. transportation fuel needs would place unsustainable demands on energy, water and nutrients, says a new report from the National Research Council.

November 1, 2012 Read more

Wind energy yields major environmental and public health benefits for Colorado

Wind energy in Colorado each year saves a billion gallons of water while avoiding emissions of air pollutants equivalent to that produced by half a million cars. Between 2000 and 2011, production of electricity from wind energy in Colorado grew from zero to 4.7 million megawatt-hours (MWh), and is now producing nearly 10 percent of the state's electricity.

November 1, 2012 Read more

Environmentally-friendly, quality products from rubber residues

Rubber residues can be downcycled to floor coverings and safety crashpads, and for the first time, also processed into high-quality plastics. A new kind of material makes it possible: the environmentally-friendly material mix is called EPMT.

October 31, 2012 Read more

The energy of stunt kites

It may seem as though the German plains are all but tapped out when it comes to wind energy production. To refute this theory researchers are sending stunt kites into the skies to harness the wind and convert the kinetic energy generated into electricity.

October 31, 2012 Read more

New study to examine ecological tipping points in hopes of preventing them

A new project of scientists at UCSB's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and partners aims to synthesize existing research on tipping points in marine ecosystems and conduct case studies to devise a set of early warning indicators and management tools that may help to predict, even prevent, threatened systems from falling off the precipice.

October 30, 2012 Read more