Energy and the Environment News

April 17, 2025

Top Headlines

A Step Toward Harnessing Clean Energy from Falling Rainwater

Apr. 16, 2025 — When two materials come into contact, charged entities on their surfaces get a little nudge. This is how rubbing a balloon on the skin creates static electricity. Likewise, water flowing over some surfaces can gain or lose charge. Now, researchers ...

Making Desalination More Eco-Friendly: New Membranes Could Help Eliminate Brine Waste

Apr. 15, 2025 — Desalination plants, a major and growing source of freshwater in dry regions, could produce less harmful waste using electricity and new ...

Corn Leads to Improved Performance in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Apr. 15, 2025 — Researchers have demonstrated a way to use corn protein to improve the performance of lithium-sulfur batteries, a finding that holds promise for expanding the use of the high-energy, lighter-weight batteries in electric vehicles, renewable energy ...

Global EV Adoption Fails to Cut CO2

Apr. 10, 2025 — The transition to electric vehicles won't reduce carbon emissions unless countries clean up their electricity ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:48pm EDT

Marine Shipping Emissions on Track to Meet 2030 Goals, but Expected to Miss 2050 Target

Apr. 11, 2025 — The United Nations organization responsible for international marine shipping today approved new emission reduction policies. A new paper highlights ...

Potable Water Happy Byproduct of Low-Cost Green Hydrogen Technology

Apr. 9, 2025 — Engineers have hit the trifecta of sustainability technology: A group has developed a low-cost method to produce carbon-free 'green' hydrogen via solar-powered electrolysis of seawater. A happy ...

Decarbonization Improves Energy Security for Most Countries

Apr. 9, 2025 — Researchers analyzed trade-related risks to energy security across 1,092 scenarios for cutting carbon emissions by 2060. They found that swapping out dependence on imported fossil fuels for increased ...

A Step Toward Cleaner Iron Extraction Using Electricity

Apr. 9, 2025 — Iron and its alloys, such as steel and cast iron, dominate the modern world, and there's growing demand for iron-derived products. Traditionally, blast furnaces transform iron ore into purified ...

Strain 'Trick' Improves Perovskite Solar Cells' Efficiency

Apr. 3, 2025 — Researchers have found a way to dramatically reducing energy loss and boosting efficiency perovskite solar cells by incorporating rubidium using lattice strain -- a slight deformation in the atomic ...

Climate and Health Litigation Mounting in Australia as Exposure to Heatwaves Grows

Apr. 7, 2025 — Australia has experienced a 37 per cent rise in dangerous heat exposure over the past two decades, while becoming the world's second-highest hotspot ...

Riding the AI Wave Toward Rapid, Precise Ocean Simulations

Apr. 3, 2025 — Scientists have developed an AI-powered fluid simulation model that significantly reduces computation time while maintaining accuracy. Their approach could aid offshore power generation, ship design ...

Carbon Capture Technology to Produce Clean Fuel from Air

Apr. 3, 2025 — A unique carbon capture technology could offer a more cost-effective way to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and turn it into clean, synthetic ...

Researchers Recycle Wind Turbine Blade Materials to Make Improved Plastics

Apr. 3, 2025 — A new method to recycle wind turbine blades without using harsh chemicals resulted in the recovery of high-strength glass fibers and resins that allowed researchers to re-purpose the materials to ...

Researchers Explore Using Soil for Heat Storage

Apr. 2, 2025 — When spring arrives and the heating season comes to an end, keeping warm becomes less of an issue. However, scientists remind us that it is not just a seasonal necessity -- heat is also a valuable ...

New Approach Makes One Type of Clean Fuel Production 66% More Efficient

Mar. 28, 2025 — Researchers have uncovered a more efficient way to turn carbon dioxide into methanol, a type of alcohol that can serve as a cleaner alternative ...

Human Urine, a Valuable Resource as Fertilizer for Sustainable Urban Agriculture, Study Concludes

Mar. 27, 2025 — The reuse of human urine would allow for the production of sustainable fertilizers for urban agriculture, with significant environmental benefits, a new study concludes. The research evaluates the ...

Study Documents Impacts of Large-Scale Entry of Rooftop Solar Panels on Competition

Mar. 25, 2025 — Fossil-fuel plants are increasingly being forced to stop and start production in response to changes in output from renewables. In a new study, researchers developed a dynamic competitive benchmark ...

Effect of Sulfur Composition on Tin Sulfide for Improving Solar Cell Performance

Mar. 25, 2025 — Researchers investigated different compositions of tin sulfides to find the ideal material for devices that harness solar ...

3D Nanotech Blankets Offer New Path to Clean Drinking Water

Mar. 24, 2025 — Researchers have developed a new material that, by harnessing the power of sunlight, can clear water of dangerous ...

Household Electricity Three Times More Expensive Than Upcoming 'Eco-Friendly' Aviation E-Fuels, Study Reveals

Mar. 23, 2025 — Existing tax policies during the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources will lead to major energy injustices and skewed priorities, new research ...

New Carbon-Negative Material Could Make Concrete and Cement More Sustainable

Mar. 19, 2025 — Researchers injected CO2 gas into seawater while applying an electrical current. The process transformed dissolved ions, minerals in seawater into clusters of solid particles. The clusters hold over ...

Nanocellulose Treated With Red Onion Dye Provides Effective UV Protection for Solar Cells

Mar. 19, 2025 — Researchers investigated how to use bio-based materials to produce effective UV protection films for solar cells. The study was the first to compare how the properties of different bio-based UV ...

EPA Regulations Cut Power Sector Emissions but Miss Opportunities for Deeper Reductions

Mar. 19, 2025 — Regulations finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2024 could cut emissions from the power sector by 51% over 2022 levels, compared to only 26% without the rules, according to a new ...

Reusing Old Oil and Gas Wells May Offer Green Energy Storage Solution

Mar. 18, 2025 — Moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources like wind and solar will require better ways to store energy for use when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing. A new study by ...

Top Locations for Ocean Energy Production Worldwide Revealed

Mar. 17, 2025 — Until now, a global evaluation of ocean current energy with actual data was lacking. Using 30 years of NOAA's Global Drifter Program data, a study shows that ocean currents off Florida's ...

'Microlightning' in Water Droplets May Have Sparked Life on Earth

Mar. 14, 2025 — A study shows that electrical charges in sprays of water can cause chemical reactions that form organic molecules from inorganic materials. The findings provide evidence that microlightning may have ...

Artificial Photosynthesis: Researchers Mimic Plants

Mar. 14, 2025 — With artificial photosynthesis, humankind could utilize solar energy to bind carbon dioxide and produce hydrogen. Chemists have taken this one step further: They have synthesized a stack of dyes that ...

How Industrial Waste Gases Could Replace Fossil Fuels in Everyday Consumer Products

Mar. 13, 2025 — Industrial waste gases, long seen as a major contributor to climate change, could soon be captured and repurposed into everyday household products such as shampoo, detergent, and even ...

Scientists Develop Solar-Powered Method to Convert Sewage Sludge Into Green Hydrogen and Animal Feed

Mar. 12, 2025 — Scientists have developed an innovative solar-powered method to transform sewage sludge -- a by-product of wastewater treatment -- into green hydrogen for clean energy and single-cell protein for ...

Amino Acid Assists in Recycling Rechargeable Batteries

Mar. 11, 2025 — A new strategy for recycling spent lithium-ion batteries is based on a hydrometallurgical process in neutral solution. This allows for the extraction of lithium and other valuable metals in an ...

Water Movement on Surfaces Makes More Electric Charge Than Expected

Mar. 11, 2025 — Researchers have discovered that water generates an electrical charge up to 10 times greater than previously understood when it moves across a surface. The team observed when a water droplet became ...

Researchers Unveil Comprehensive Zeolite Structures, Advancing Development of Catalysts for Petrochemical and Renewable Energy

Mar. 11, 2025 — Zeolites, crystalline materials widely used in the petrochemical industry, serve as pivotal catalysts in the production of fine chemicals, with aluminium being the source of active sites within ...

Self-Optimizing Catalysts Facilitate Water-Splitting for the Green Production of Hydrogen

Mar. 11, 2025 — Researchers have developed cost-effective and efficient water-splitting catalysts to be used in the eco-friendly production of hydrogen. Catalyst performance surprisingly increases over ...

Clothes Dryers and the Bottom Line: Switching to Air Drying Can Save Hundreds

Mar. 10, 2025 — By replacing clothes dyers with line drying, households in the U.S. could save upwards of $2,100 and avoid 3 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the lifetime of a dryer. The exact impacts, however, ...