Energy and the Environment News

January 29, 2025

Top Headlines

Plant-Based Substitute for Fossil Fuels Developed for Plastic Foams

Jan. 28, 2025 — An environmentally-friendly preparation of plant material from pine could serve as a substitute for petroleum-based chemicals in polyurethane foams. The innovation could lead to more environmentally friendly versions of foams used ubiquitously in ...

Floating Solar Increases Greenhouse Gas Emissions on Small Ponds

Jan. 27, 2025 — While floating solar -- the emerging practice of putting solar panels on bodies of water -- is promising in its efficiency and its potential to spare agricultural and conservation lands, a new experiment finds environmental ...

Researchers Discover New Way to Store Hydrogen Using Lignin Jet Fuel

Jan. 27, 2025 — An international team of scientists has discovered a way to store and release volatile hydrogen using lignin-based jet fuel that could open new pathways for sustainable energy production. In a new study scientists demonstrated that a type of ...

Clean Hydrogen in Minutes: Microwaves Deliver Clean Energy Faster

Jan. 21, 2025 — An interdisciplinary team has developed a groundbreaking technology that addresses key limitations in clean hydrogen production using microwaves. They have also successfully elucidated the underlying mechanism of this innovative ...

Latest Headlines

updated 7:21pm EST

Finding Better Photovoltaic Materials Faster With AI

Jan. 23, 2025 — Perovskite solar cells are a flexible and sustainable alternative to conventional silicon-based solar cells. Researchers were able to find -- within only a few weeks -- new organic molecules that ...

Biodegradable Nylon Precursor Produced Through Artificial Photosynthesis

Jan. 22, 2025 — Scientists have developed an artificial photosynthesis technology that produces precursors of biodegradable nylon from biomass-derived compounds and ...

Researchers Unlock New Insights Into Tin-Based Catalysts for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction

Jan. 22, 2025 — A group of researchers have analyzed thousands of reports from the past decade, identifying a tin-based catalyst that aids the production of formic ...

We Can Make Fertilizer More Efficiently Under the Surface of the Earth

Jan. 21, 2025 — Instead of relying on energy-hungry reactors to generate high temperatures and pressure, researchers are looking underground at Earth's natural heat and forces to cook up ammonia for fertilizer. In a ...

Bioinspired Weather-Responsive Adaptive Shading

Jan. 14, 2025 — Pine cones as a model: Researchers have developed a new, energy-autonomous facade system that adapts passively to the ...

New Research Helps Eliminate Dead Zones in Desalination Technology and Beyond

Jan. 15, 2025 — Engineers have found a way to eliminate the fluid flow 'dead zones' that plague the types of electrodes used for battery-based seawater desalination. ...

How Households Can Cut Energy Costs

Jan. 13, 2025 — Giving people better data about their energy use, plus some coaching, can help them substantially reduce their consumption and costs, according to a new ...

Floating Solar Panels Could Support US Energy Goals

Jan. 14, 2025 — Federal reservoirs could help meet the country's solar energy needs, according to a new study. Geospatial scientists and senior legal and regulatory analyst quantified exactly how much energy could ...

Direct Discharge Electrical Pulses for Carbon Fiber Recycling

Jan. 14, 2025 — Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) are used in the aerospace, automotive, and sports equipment industries. However, their recycling remains a major problem. In a recent study, researchers ...

Wind Turbines Impair the Access of Bats to Water Bodies in Agricultural Landscapes

Jan. 13, 2025 — Bats depend on open bodies of water such as small ponds and lakes for foraging and drinking. Access to water is particularly important for survival ...

Harnessing Microwave Flow Reaction to Convert Biomass Into Useful Sugars

Jan. 10, 2025 — Researchers have developed a new process that uses microwave flow reaction and recyclable solid catalysts to efficiently hydrolyze polysaccharides into simple sugars. The developed device utilizes a ...

Electric Fungi: The Biobattery That Needs to Be Fed

Jan. 9, 2025 — A battery that needs feeding instead of charging? This is exactly what researchers have achieved with their 3D-printed, biodegradable fungal battery. The living battery could supply power to sensors ...

Trash to Treasure: Leveraging Industrial Waste to Store Energy

Jan. 7, 2025 — As more products begin to depend on battery-based energy storage systems, shifting away from metal-based solutions will be critical to facilitating the green energy transition. Now, a team has ...

Taking a Cue from Lightning, Eco-Friendly Reactor Converts Air and Water Into Ammonia

Dec. 24, 2024 — Taking inspiration from how nature --including lightning -- produces ammonia, a team has developed a reactor that produces the chemical commodity from nitrogen in the air and water, without any ...

Breakthrough New Material Brings Affordable, Sustainable Future Within Grasp

Dec. 20, 2024 — Researchers have developed a new material for sodium-ion batteries, sodium vanadium phosphate, that delivers higher voltage and greater energy capacity than previous sodium-based materials. This ...

Geothermal Aquifers Offer Green Potential but Quality Checks Required

Dec. 20, 2024 — A research team has revealed that to use the aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system safely over the long term it is crucial to investigate the groundwater quality before operating the system ...

Scientists Solving Meteorological Mysteries on Mars

Dec. 19, 2024 — Scientists are changing our understanding of climate and weather on Mars and providing critical insights into Earth's atmospheric processes as ...

Breakthrough in Photochemical Water Oxidation: Paving the Way for Sustainable Energy

Dec. 18, 2024 — Water oxidation offers a promising path to achieve sustainable energy by efficiently generating oxygen. This study investigates how optimizing Ru(II) photosensitizers, metal oxide catalysts, and pH ...

Step Forward in Generating Solar-Powered Hydrogen

Dec. 17, 2024 — Another advance has been made by experts in nano-scale chemistry to propel further development of sustainable and efficient generation of hydrogen from water using solar power. Experts have now ...

Significant Advancement Made in Engineering Biology and Clean Energy

Dec. 17, 2024 — Engineers have reported a significant advancement in engineering biology and clean energy. A team of researchers has developed an innovative light-driven hybrid nanoreactor that merges natural ...

Training Solar Panels to Dance With the Wind

Dec. 17, 2024 — Researchers propose a unique numerical decision-making framework for solar panel protection against extreme weather conditions. The framework combines advanced wind simulations with machine learning ...

Electric Vehicle Transition Could Create Unwanted Air Pollution Hotspots in China and India

Dec. 16, 2024 — New research has uncovered a potential unintended consequence of the electric vehicle transition in India and China, finding that sulfur dioxide emissions could actually increase over current levels ...

It's Worth Mixing It Up: What Combination of Policies Will Lead to a Clean Energy Future?

Dec. 16, 2024 — How can we ensure that as many households as possible adopt not only solar panels, but also their own battery to store solar energy, a heat pump, and an electric car? Researchers have looked into ...

New Device Produces Critical Fertilizer Ingredient from Thin Air, Cutting Carbon Emissions

Dec. 13, 2024 — A new prototype device demonstrates an innovative approach to producing ammonia -- a key component of fertilizer -- that could transform an industry responsible for about one-third of global ...

Study Urges Canada to Build Solar Power Mega-Projects

Dec. 11, 2024 — Canada should focus on building mass utility-scale solar mega-projects to kickstart its green energy transition, according to a new report. The recommendation comes from a new article which looks at ...

A New, More Economical and Sustainable Material Is Designed That Uses Sunlight to Decontaminate the Air

Dec. 11, 2024 — Researchers have designed a new compound to remove nitrogen oxides, which constitutes a step towards the development of a system to purify the air under real ...

Breakthrough in Zinc-Based Rechargeable Batteries: A Safer, Sustainable Alternative

Dec. 11, 2024 — Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries power everything from electric vehicles to wearable devices. But new research suggests that a more sustainable and cost-effective alternative may lie in zinc-based ...

New Concept for Sustainable Fuel Cell Polymer Electrolytes Overcomes Barriers in High-Temperature, Low-Humidity Use, Advancing Net-Zero Carbon Goals

Dec. 10, 2024 — A research group has developed a new design for the electrolytes used in fuel cells. The material complies with environmental regulations and demonstrates moderate conductivity in harsh conditions, ...

From Chip Shop to Pit Stop -- Scientists Make Old Cooking Oil Biofuel as Efficient as Diesel

Dec. 6, 2024 — A new way to produce fuels made from leftover fat can create biofuel as effective as diesel and 1000-times more efficiently than current methods a new study has ...

So You Want to Build a Solar or Wind Farm? Here's How to Decide Where

Dec. 6, 2024 — A new study shows the benefits of coordinating the siting of solar farms, wind farms, and storage systems, taking into account local and temporal variations in wind, sunlight, and energy demand. This ...