Cleantech and Environmental News – Latest Headlines

Powering up next-generation energy storage

International research team reveals more comprehensive understanding of beyond-lithium-ion batteries.

November 17, 2021 Read more

New polymer detection method to turn the (pep)tide in the fight against water pollution

Scientists have developed a peptide sensor to detect water-soluble polymers in wastewater, a major contributor to pollution on par with microplastics. The new technique takes advantage of the bonding that occurs between peptides and different polymers to train a machine learning algorithm that can identify a large number of pollutants in a single solution.

November 16, 2021 Read more

Make carbonate not carbon dioxide

Scientists have developed a technique to avoid CO2 in energy conversion processes with carbon-containing fuels.

November 15, 2021 Read more

Electric vehicles could fully recharge in under 5 minutes with new charging station cable design

Using an alternative cooling method, engineers designed a charging cable that can deliver a current 4.6 times that of the fastest available EV chargers on the market today by removing up to 24.22 kilowatts of heat.

November 12, 2021 Read more

Developing an efficient and cost-effective wind energy technology (w/video)

An international consortium has completed the design of a single-point mooring system platform for floating wind turbines.

November 12, 2021 Read more

Time series study first to suggest that increased consumption of ultra-processed foods has environmental implications

A new study of 30-year changes in the Brazilian diet finds that increased consumption of ultra-processed foods is linked to worsened impacts on the environment, and echoes dietary changes in the UK.

November 12, 2021 Read more

Life cycle assessment of carbon capture

Life cycle assessment of carbon capture at incineration plants shows that despite some drawbacks, the net result is a clear advantage for the climate.

November 9, 2021 Read more

Using microbes to make carbon-neutral fuel

Scientists have discovered a new way to train microbes to make a readily usable biofuel.

November 3, 2021 Read more

Electric vehicles could be powered by hydrogen harvested from sewage

Wastewater treatment is vital to remove pathogens, but is incredibly energy intensive. The ability to treat it more sustainably is a challenge researchers have been able to achieve, using recycled carbon fibre mats to produce hydrogen from waste water.

November 2, 2021 Read more

Smart farming: AI technologies for sustainable agriculture

Changing climatic conditions, the shortage of skilled workers, the use of pesticides - a wide range of factors have an impact on the quality and flow of agricultural processes. Researchers are aiming to make this more efficient and sustainable by means of cloud and AI technologies.

November 2, 2021 Read more

A fast, automated way of evaluating battery data and making it available to AI processes

Researchers are using modular software packages to automate capturing, documentation and evaluation processes for battery and fuel cell test data. Material manufacturers, cell developers and research departments can use the visualizations of the results as an effective means of targeting developments and improvements in their products.

November 2, 2021 Read more

The science everyone needs to know about climate change, in 6 charts

With the United Nations' climate conference in Scotland turning a spotlight on climate change policies and the impact of global warming, it's useful to understand what the science shows.

November 2, 2021 Read more

Plant from plastics: Bio-based polymers can be transformed into fertilizers

Bioplastics can be chemically recycled into nitrogen-rich fertilizers in a facile and environmentally friendly way. These findings pave the way towards sustainable circular systems that simultaneously address issues such as plastic pollution, petrochemical resource depletion, and world hunger.

November 1, 2021 Read more

Filtering a tonne of CO2 from the air burns a thousand kilowatt-hours of energy

New research shows for the first time the resource consumption over the entire life cycle of such filter systems. The study also looks at the chemicals needed to operate the filters, as well as the removal and storage of the extracted CO2.

October 29, 2021 Read more

Microalgae help purify water and synthesize biofuels

Scientists showed that green microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana can be used for cleaning wastewater from a toxic pyrene. Algae absorb pyrene and at the same time change their metabolism to adapt to stressful conditions. As a result, more lipids are formed in algae, from which safe biofuels can be efficiently synthesized.

October 27, 2021 Read more

Expansion of wind and solar power too slow to stop climate change

The production of renewable energy is increasing every year. But after analysing the growth rates of wind and solar power in 60 countries, researchers conclude that virtually no country is moving sufficiently fast to avoid global warming of 1.5 C or even 2 C.

October 25, 2021 Read more

Imprisoning algae in liquid droplets can boost its electrical energy generation

A new study shows how encasing algae protein in liquid droplets can dramatically enhance the algae's light-harvesting and energy-conversion properties by up to three times.

October 19, 2021 Read more

Expansion of wind and solar power too slow to stop climate change

The production of renewable energy is increasing every year. But after analysing the growth rates of wind and solar power in 60 countries, researchers conclude that virtually no country is moving sufficiently fast to avoid global warming of 1.5 C or even 2 C.

October 15, 2021 Read more