Cleantech and Environmental News – Latest Headlines

Motley crew: Rust and light a possible answer to the conundrum of hydrogen fuel production

Scientists identify a new and efficient way of producing hydrogen from organic waste solution using a catalyst derived from - of all things - rust.

February 27, 2020 Read more

New machine learning method could supercharge battery development for electric vehicles

Using artificial intelligence, a research team has slashed battery testing times - a key barrier to longer-lasting, faster-charging batteries for electric vehicles - by nearly fifteenfold.

February 24, 2020 Read more

Improving innovation: Assessing the environmental impacts of emerging technology

A new special issue of Yale's Journal of Industrial Ecology addresses this gap with cutting edge research that advances methods, tests new approaches against emerging technologies, and assesses novel technologies for transportation, infrastructure, energy, and materials.

February 21, 2020 Read more

'Wood' you like to recycle concrete?

Researchers have developed a new procedure for recycling concrete with the addition of discarded wood. They found that the correct proportion of inputs can yield a new building material with a bending strength superior to that of the original concrete.

February 20, 2020 Read more

'Reverse fuel cell' converts waste carbon to valuable products at record rates

Researchers develop enhanced device to transform CO2 into valuable chemicals 10 times faster than previous versions.

February 10, 2020 Read more

For cheaper solar cells, thinner really is better

Solar panel costs have dropped lately, but slimming down silicon wafers could lead to even lower costs and faster industry expansion.

January 27, 2020 Read more

Principles for a green chemistry future

Scientists make the case for a future where the materials and chemicals that make up the basis of our society and our economy are healthful rather than toxic, renewable rather than depleting, and degradable rather than persistent.

January 27, 2020 Read more

Chemistry finding could make solar energy more efficient

Researchers have found a way to harness the entire spectrum of sunlight.

January 23, 2020 Read more

Photoelectrochemical water-splitting efficiency hits 4.5%

Scientists show for the first time, that copper thiocyanate can be used as a transparent and effective hole transport layer for Cu2O photocathodes with overall enhanced performance.

January 16, 2020 Read more

Solar power from 'the dark side' unlocked by a new formula

Most of today's solar panels capture sunlight and convert it to electricity only from the side facing the sky. If the dark underside of a solar panel could also convert sunlight reflected off the ground, even more electricity might be generated.

December 19, 2019 Read more

Fine-tuning thermoelectric materials for cheaper renewable energy

Researchers have developed new thermoelectric materials, which could provide a low-cost option for converting heat energy into electricity.

December 17, 2019 Read more

Punching holes in opaque solar cells turns them transparent

Researchers have found an effective and inexpensive strategy to transform solar cells from opaque to transparent.

December 14, 2019 Read more

Pathways toward post-petrochemistry

Electroreduction of carbon monoxide for the highly selective production of ethylene.

December 12, 2019 Read more

Green hydrogen: Research to enhance efficiency

Laboratory experiments and a parabolic flight campaign have enabled an international team of researchers to gain new insights into water electrolysis, in which hydrogen is obtained from water by applying electric energy.

December 9, 2019 Read more

Second act: Used electric vehicle batteries charge up the grid

Researchers have developed an innovative control system for repurposed electric vehicle battery packs to store electricity for home use and are scaling up the technology to a large, power grid-level project.

December 6, 2019 Read more

The five corrupt pillars of climate change denial

The latest estimate is that the world's five largest publicly-owned oil and gas companies spend about US$200 million a year on lobbying to control, delay or block binding climate policy.

November 28, 2019 Read more

Turning waste heat into hydrogen fuel

Hydrogen as an energy carrier can help us move away from fossil fuels, but only if it is created efficiently. One way to improve efficiency is to use waste heat that's left over from other industrial processes.

November 14, 2019 Read more

Superconducting wind turbine chalks up first test success

A superconducting rotor has been successfully tested on an active wind turbine for the first time. The EcoSwing consortium designed, developed, manufactured a full-size superconducting generator for a 3.6 megawatt wind turbine, and field-tested it in Denmark.

November 12, 2019 Read more