World’s tallest vanity heights in skyscrapers as of May 2024. Credit: Adapted from Helal et al. (2024), using data from the CTBUH Skyscraper Center, CC BY Since ancient times, people have built structures that reach for the skies—from the steep spires of medieval towers to the grand domes of ancient cathedrals and mosques. Today the […]
Energy & Green Tech
Accelerating the practical application of next-gen batteries that are fire-resistant through dual-layer coating
Graphical abstract. Credit: Chemical Engineering Journal (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2024.149881 Professor Hongkyung Lee of DGIST’s Energy Science and Engineering collaborated with Dr. Chanhoon Kim’s Clean Energy Conversion Group at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) to introduce a stabilization technology for unstable battery systems through the adoption of a dual-layer coating method. The work is […]
Using artificial ground reflectors to boost the efficacy of solar panels
(A) Photo of NREL’s bifacial experimental single-axis tracking (BEST) field with reflecting material installed (100% coverage case) and (B) measured spectral reflectivity of high-albedo material with photo of sample (inset). Credit: Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications (2024). DOI: 10.1002/pip.3811 Solar energy is a crucial asset in the fight against climate change, and researchers at […]
Additive manufacturing could turn the tides for marine energy technologies
The 3D-printed stainless steel tidal turbine spar undergoes testing at NREL. Credit: Joe DelNero, NREL Milk and cookies. Peanut butter and jelly. Macaroni and cheese. All delightfully perfect pairs. Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) discovered another promising pair: marine energy and additive manufacturing. Since February 2022, researchers at NREL and the Pacific […]
Australia’s building sector must look at its carbon budget, say experts
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain For decades, the construction industry has been largely driven by financial feasibility—focusing on cost optimization and return on investment. But a paradigm shift is under way, as the world’s environmental crisis intensifies and regulations become stringent. Financial viability alone is no longer enough. Projects are facing increasing scrutiny, based on their […]
Light, flexible, efficient: Perovskite-based tandem solar cells
The potential benefits of projects like SuPerTandem are significant, because the higher the efficiency, the less expensive solar power will be at the end of the day. Credit: Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology Roof tiles are becoming a thing of the past: Today, more and more Swiss roofs boast large black and […]
How green cities could remove CO₂ from the atmosphere
Factors affecting urban albedo. Credit: Nature Cities (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s44284-024-00069-x More than a thousand cities around the world now have “net zero” pledges: they want to emit only as much CO2 into the atmosphere as they can simultaneously recapture. An elaborate meta-study has now summarized the state of knowledge on which methods might be useful […]
Researchers find use of olivine in cement production could result in carbon negative concrete
Photographs showing (a) raw as-received olivine, (d) dissolution of the olivine using H2SO4, (b) separation of silica gel from magnesium/iron sulfate using IPA, (c) APS and (e) HMC nesquehonite. Credit: Royal Society Open Science (2024). DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231645 A small team of materials scientists and environmental engineers at Imperial College London has found that using olivine […]
New model estimates cultivable space at photovoltaic plants for combining agricultural and photovoltaic production
Permissible vegetation envelope for the reference collector in the case of “El Molino” photovoltaic installation. Credit: Applied Energy (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.122952 A team at the University of Cordoba has developed a methodology that defines the cultivable space between two-axis photovoltaic modules, with the aim of promoting the conversion of existing plants over to agrivoltaic production. […]
Team develops new testing system for carbon capture in fight against global warming
In a new carbon capture testing apparatus, synthetic air flows through a column. The sorbent traps and captures the carbon molecules. The device measures how fast the sorbent becomes saturated with CO2. Credit: N. Hanacek/NIST More than 100 facilities designed to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere are in various stages of development around […]
Engineers uncover key to efficient and stable organic solar cells
a, b Lorentz-corrected thickness-normalized resonant soft X-ray scattering (R-SoXS) profiles of neat (a) and blended (b) films, acquired at 284 eV. Fluorescence signals at high q were subtracted. Here, q values are corresponding to the long periods (L) with a relation of L = 2π/q, and the integrated area underneath the profiles (total scattering intensity) reflects the domain […]
Mask-inspired perovskite smart windows enhance weather resistance and energy efficiency
Schematic diagram of the mask-inspired structure of the thermochromic perovskite smart window. (Source: Liu, S., Li, Y., Wang, Y. et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45047-y ) Thermochromic perovskite is a new color switch material used in energy-saving smart windows. Despite its potential for energy savings, thermochromic perovskite suffers from poor weather resistance, susceptibility to water damage, and high […]
Study shows potential of super grids when hurricanes overshadow solar panels
ORNL researchers modeled how hurricane cloud cover would affect solar energy generation as a storm followed 10 possible trajectories over the Caribbean and Southern U.S. Credit: Andy Sproles/ ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy When hurricanes threaten tropical shores, “super grids” could come to the rescue. Caribbean islands are starting to shift away from importing expensive […]
Using liquid metal to develop energy storage systems with 100 times better heat transfer
Heat storage system on a laboratory scale: The ceramic beads store the heat. Credit: KALLA, KIT The industrial production of steel, concrete, or glass requires more than 20% of Germany’s total energy consumption. Up to now, 90% of the fuels used for these processes have been of fossil nature. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology […]
Single-walled carbon nanotubes doped with ‘nitrogen’ enhance the performance of secondary battery anode
Schematic diagram of SiA/nanocarbon (NC) composite powder preparation process. Credit: Advanced Functional Materials (2023). DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202311353 Researchers have developed a new manufacturing technique for “silicon/nitrogen-doped carbon composite anode materials.” These materials aim to enhance the capacity and stability of lithium-ion battery anodes. Silicon, despite offering significantly higher energy density compared to graphite (a common anode […]
Going with the flow: Research dives into electrodes on energy storage batteries
Graphical abstract. Credit: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c17049 As a grid-scale energy storage system, flow batteries have gained increasing attention as a means to address the challenges associated with fluctuations and intermittency in renewable energy sources. Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) have emerged as promising solutions for stationary grid energy storage due […]
How potatoes, corn and beans led to breakthrough in smart windows technology
The chromaticity coordinates of the EC devices with different host materials under the voltage of +1.9 V in the chromaticity diagram. Inset: the photos of colored states of devices with the different host materials used herein. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2401060121 Smart windows are an exciting technology, capable of […]
Extracting high-purity gold from electrical and electronic waste
Preparation and physicochemical characteristics of the aminated polyacrylonitrile fibers (PANFs). Representative illustrations of PANF (a) before and after coupling reaction of various alkylamine molecules. Different colors of PANF and amine-laden polymeric fiber (ALPF) represent different functional groups of nitrile and alkylamines. (b) FT-IR spectra of PANF before and after coupling reaction of different alkylamines using […]
Energy-smart bricks keep waste out of landfill
The team can make energy-smart bricks in a range of colours. Credit: Seamus Daniel, RMIT University Engineers have invented energy-efficient bricks with scrap materials, including glass, that are normally destined for landfill. RMIT University engineers collaborated with Visy—Australia’s largest recycling company—to make bricks with a minimum of 15% waste glass and 20% combusted solid waste […]
Researchers propose a new method for wind turbine blade recycling
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain While wind energy is becoming one of the fastest-growing energy sources in the world, wind turbine blade waste emerges as a critical issue. Addressing this urgent environmental concern, Lithuanian researchers have developed an innovative solution, claiming that the benefits of pyrolysis can help reduce pollution. Wind turbine blades play a crucial […]