Energy Policy News

January 26, 2025

Top Headlines

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 be generated from floating solar panel projects ...

Synthetic Chemicals and Chemical Products Require a New Regulatory and Legal Approach to Safeguard Children's Health

Jan. 8, 2025 — Nations must better safeguard health and reduce childhood diseases linked to exposures to toxic chemicals, according to researchers. Governments need to test and regulate chemicals and chemical ...

Travelers Weigh in on Weight-Based Airfares for Eco-Friendly Skies

Dec. 17, 2024 — The holidays are in full swing and people are shopping, wrapping and packing to visit loved ones. Along with the extra fees for checked baggage and seat upgrades, some airlines are also considering weight-based pricing. A recent study looked at how ...

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 ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:07pm EST

Team Makes Sustainable Aviation Fuel Additive from Recycled Polystyrene

Jan. 13, 2025 — A new study overcomes a key obstacle to switching commercial aircraft from their near-total reliance on fossil fuels to more sustainable aviation fuels. The study details a cost-effective method for ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Perovskite Research Boosts Solar Cell Efficiency and Product Life

Nov. 19, 2024 — An international team has identified a strategy to improve both the performance and stability for solar cells made out of the 'miracle material' perovskite by mitigating a previously hidden ...

Plastic Bag Bans Have Lingering Impacts, Even After Repeals

Nov. 18, 2024 — A new study found that policies to curtail the use of single-use plastic bags in grocery stores and other retail outlets in Austin and Dallas, Texas, resulted in people buying more plastic bags, a ...

Four Global Policies Could Eliminate More Than 90% of Plastic Waste and 30% of Linked Carbon Emissions by 2050

Nov. 14, 2024 — A new study determines that just four policies can reduce mismanaged plastic waste -- plastic that isn't recycled or properly disposed of and ends up ...

Fossil Fuel CO2 Emissions Increase Again in 2024

Nov. 12, 2024 — Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have reached a record high in 2024, according to new ...

Fighting Microplastics for a Cleaner Future

Nov. 11, 2024 — Creating sustainable chemicals and developing better waste management will contribute to better sustainability. This research is part of figuring out how to make green hydrogen available for waste ...

How to Improve and Accelerate Testing of Chemicals

Nov. 7, 2024 — Recommendations from DEFRA's Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee (HSAC) have set out steps that could make the UK a leader in more ethical, safer, and cost-effective chemical testing, ...

How Local Governments Can Lead the Way in Decarbonizing the U.S.

Oct. 30, 2024 — The success of the $1 trillion that was recently invested by the U.S. federal government to mitigate climate climate change through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law ...

Assessing the Real Climate Costs of Manufacturing

Oct. 24, 2024 — Producing materials such as steel, plastics and cement in the United States alone inflicts $79 billion a year in climate-related damage around the world, according to a new study by engineers and ...

Engineers Unveil Breakthrough in Ultra-Clean Biofuel Technology

Oct. 17, 2024 — Researchers have unveiled a pioneering method for the efficient combustion of biofuels, using a revolutionary Swirl Burst (SB) injector to burn glycerol/methanol blends with near-zero emissions. This ...

New Research Reveals How Large-Scale Adoption of Electric Vehicles Can Improve Air Quality and Human Health

Oct. 15, 2024 — A new study suggests that large-scale adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) could lead to significant population-level health benefits. The research team used computer simulations to show that ...

Despite Progress, China Remains Tethered to Coal as Climate Change Pressures Mount

Oct. 8, 2024 — A new paper details how China faces numerous political, economic and technological obstacles as it tries to transition away from coal while balancing the need to combat climate change with the need ...

Liquefied Natural Gas Carbon Footprint Is Worse Than Coal

Oct. 3, 2024 — Liquefied natural gas leaves a greenhouse gas footprint that is 33% worse than coal, when processing and shipping are taken into account, according to a new ...

High Costs Slow Widespread Use of Heat Pumps, Study Shows

Oct. 1, 2024 — The high cost of installing heat pumps for home heating could slow down people widely adopting the technology and leave government targets missed, research ...

Getting to Zero Emissions: A Call for Unified Energy Planning

Sep. 30, 2024 — To help speed decarbonization, state regulators should reconceive of gas and electric utilities as serving the same purpose, according to a new report. Without coordinated action, the energy ...

Climate Change Likely to Increase Diarrheal Disease Hospitalizations by 2100s in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Sep. 26, 2024 — By 2100, hospitalizations from diarrheal diseases are predicted to increase in the city of Dhaka in Bangladesh as a result of climate change, even if global warming stays under 2 degrees Celsius, ...

New Continuous Reaction Process Can Help Turn Plant Waste Into Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Sep. 26, 2024 — Scientists successfully tested a new way to produce sustainable jet fuel from lignin-based agricultural waste. The team's research demonstrated a continuous process that directly converts lignin ...

Over Two-Million Acres of Floodplain Development Occurred in U.S. in Last Two Decades, Study Finds

Sep. 13, 2024 — A nationwide analysis of community-level floodplain development found that over two-million acres of floodplain were developed over the past two decades across the United States, with roughly half of ...

Methane Emissions Are Rising Faster Than Ever

Sep. 10, 2024 — Methane concentrations in Earth's atmosphere increased at record speed over the past five years. At least two-thirds of annual methane emissions now come from human activities, including fossil ...

Traditional Infrastructure Design Often Makes Extreme Flooding Events Worse

Sep. 4, 2024 — Much of the nation's stormwater infrastructure, designed decades to a century ago to prevent floods, can exacerbate flooding during the severe weather events that are increasing around the ...

Scientists Propose Guidelines for Solar Geoengineering Research

Aug. 23, 2024 — To guide future research into solar geoengineering, an international group of scientists is making specific recommendations for evaluating proposals in order to identify the most feasible and ...

Sharing Risk to Avoid Power Outages in an Era of Extreme Weather

Aug. 20, 2024 — Heat waves, droughts, and fires place growing stress on the West's electric grid. New research suggests that more integrated management of electricity resources across the region could ...

Exploring Options for the Sustainable Management of Phosphorus

Aug. 16, 2024 — A new study assessed the feasibility of recovering phosphorus from municipal wastewater as an alternative sustainable source of this non-renewable ...

New Additive Process Can Make Better -- And Greener -- High-Value Chemicals

July 26, 2024 — Researchers have achieved a significant breakthrough that could lead to better -- and greener -- agricultural chemicals and everyday products. Using a process that combines natural enzymes and light, ...

Win-Win Potential of Grass-Powered Energy Production

July 26, 2024 — Researchers modeled the impact of using anaerobic digestion to produce renewable natural gas from grassy biomass in different settings and from varying perspectives, analysis that helps flesh out the ...

Energy Planning in Ghana as a Role Model for the World

July 25, 2024 — Researchers are investigating ways to better plan for climate-resilient energy systems in the Global South. Focusing on the case study of Accra, the capital of Ghana, the multidisciplinary team ...