Energy & Green Tech

Solar minigrid brings light and hope to a Goma neighborhood, offering blueprint for rest of Congo

Street lights erase the shadows where attackers once hid. Noisy, polluting diesel generators have gone silent. New businesses are taking root.

01/07/2025 12:20

Flexible zinc–ion batteries maintain stable voltage after bending with new hydrogel electrolyte

A research team led by Prof. Hu Linhua from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a highly durable hydrogel electrolyte for aqueous zinc–ion batteries (AZIBs) by using urea as a zincophilic solubilizer and zinc acetate (Zn(Ac)₂) salt—an affordable and environmentally friendly material.

30/06/2025 19:46

Climate, conflict and energy security—how the EU's industrial policy must change to face this polycrisis

Industrial policy is back—it's currently central to the agendas of both the EU and the UK. This resurgence comes amid a polycrisis marked by climate breakdown, social inequality, energy insecurity and geopolitical instability. And it reflects a wider shift. Governments across G20 countries are stepping in more actively to shape their economies, moving away from the idea that markets should be left to run themselves.

30/06/2025 19:42

Battery swapping stations powered by solar and wind: How this could work for electric vehicles

Petrol and diesel vehicles are being phased out globally and replaced with electric vehicles so that countries can meet their commitments to zero human-caused carbon emissions by 2050. But electric vehicles' batteries run down quickly and take a long time to recharge. One solution is battery swapping systems, where depleted batteries can be swapped for fully charged batteries, putting electric vehicle drivers back on the road faster than it would have taken them to fill up with petrol. Lumbumba Taty-Etienne Nyamayoka is a researcher and Ph.D. candidate with the Future Electrical Energy Technology Research Group at the University of the Witwatersrand. His research looked at the best way to set up battery swapping systems powered by solar and wind energy.

30/06/2025 17:53

Reinforcement learning for nuclear microreactor control

A machine learning approach leverages nuclear microreactor symmetry to reduce training time when modeling power output adjustments, according to a study led by University of Michigan researchers, published in the journal Energy Conversion and Management: X.

30/06/2025 14:57

Invasive lake weed turned to clean energy in Ethiopia

For years, Fentie Wabi worked as a fisherman on Ethiopia's Lake Tana, until an aggressive green invader changed everything.

27/06/2025 21:21

High-performance memory devices can dissolve in water to address e-waste problem

The use of electronics in various forms is on the rise, from wearable devices like smartwatches to implantable devices like body-implanted sensors, skin-worn smart patches, and disposable monitoring devices. These devices, which are inevitably discarded after use, contribute to the growing problem of electronic waste (e-waste), a significant environmental concern.

27/06/2025 18:28

From waste to walls: How your morning coffee can supercharge sustainable construction

Bricks made from used coffee grounds could soon reshape Australia's construction industry, and its carbon footprint, thanks to researchers at Swinburne University of Technology.

27/06/2025 18:25

Artificial photosynthesis system surpasses key efficiency benchmark for direct solar-to-hydrogen conversion

A research team affiliated with UNIST has introduced a cutting-edge modular artificial leaf that simultaneously meets high efficiency, long-term stability, and scalability requirements—marking a major step forward in green hydrogen production technology essential for achieving carbon neutrality.

27/06/2025 16:42

New method stores high-density methane in graphene-coated nanoporous carbon

Methane (CH4), one of the most abundant natural gases on Earth, is still widely used to power several buildings and to fuel some types of vehicles. Despite its widespread use, storing and transporting this gas safely remains challenging, as it is highly flammable and requires compression at high pressures of around 25 megapascals (MPa).

27/06/2025 14:40

Bangladesh pushes solar to tackle energy woes

Bangladesh's caretaker leader has ordered all government institutions including ministry buildings and schools to install solar panels to ease chronic power problems in a country regularly hit by deadly heat waves.

27/06/2025 11:49

Why your holiday flight is still not being powered by sustainable aviation fuel

As you wait in the departure lounge for your flight this summer, you may notice your airplane being pumped full of fuel ahead of takeoff. And then you may start to wonder why flying is still so dependent on fossil fuels, and whether you should have booked a holiday destination that's accessible by a more environmentally friendly form of transport.

26/06/2025 20:20

Experts propose public solar energy service to accelerate green transition

What do we need to achieve the energy transition? The technologies for producing and storing renewable energies are available and are constantly improving. The challenge lies in implementation. How do we bring business, politics, and the public, with their sometimes conflicting interests, under one (solar) roof?

26/06/2025 19:49

New component reduces cost, supply chain constraints for fast-charging EV batteries

Strengthening the competitiveness of the American transportation industry relies on developing domestically produced electric vehicle batteries that enable rapid charging and long-range performance. The energy density needed to extend driving distance can, however, come at the expense of charging rates and battery life.

26/06/2025 18:55

Yes, Victoria's efforts to wean households off gas have been dialed back. But it's still real progress

On the question of gas, Victoria's government faces pressure from many directions.

26/06/2025 17:53

Researchers achieve record-setting perovskite tandem solar cell with novel NIR-harvesting molecule

Scientists at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have demonstrated a perovskite–organic tandem solar cell with a certified world-record power conversion efficiency of 26.4% over a 1 cm2 active area—making it the highest-performing device of its kind to date. This milestone is driven by a newly designed narrow-bandgap organic absorber that significantly enhances near-infrared (NIR) photon harvesting, a long-standing bottleneck in thin-film tandem solar cells.

26/06/2025 16:17

Turning tap water into hydrogen: New strategy lets PEM electrolyzers use impure water

In recent years, energy engineers have been working on a wide range of technologies that could help to generate and store electrical power more sustainably. These include electrolyzers, devices that could use electricity sourced via photovoltaics, wind turbines or other energy technologies to split water (H2O) into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2), via a process known as electrolysis.

26/06/2025 14:10

New passivation strategy improves scalability and efficiency of perovskite solar cells

Solar cells, devices that can convert sunlight into electrical energy, are becoming increasingly widespread, with many households and industries worldwide now relying on them as a source of electricity. While crystalline silicon-based photovoltaics and other widely available solar cells perform relatively well, manufacturing them can be expensive, and they do not perform well in low-light or other unfavorable conditions.

26/06/2025 13:30

Judge orders Trump admin to release billions in EV charging funds

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to release billions of dollars allocated for the construction of electric vehicle charging stations in over a dozen US states.

26/06/2025 12:21

Gold from e-waste opens a rich vein for miners and the environment

An interdisciplinary team of experts in green chemistry, engineering and physics at Flinders University in Australia has developed a safer and more sustainable approach to extract and recover gold from ore and electronic waste.

26/06/2025 12:00

Shipboard system that uses limestone and seawater could cut CO₂ emissions by half

Scientists at USC and Caltech, in collaboration with startup company Calcarea, have developed a promising shipboard system that could remove up to half of carbon dioxide emitted from shipping vessels by converting it into an ocean-safe solution.

25/06/2025 21:22

Working to reduce the amount of briny waste left over from water desalination

Industries that need ultra-pure water—including semiconductor, battery, pharmaceutical, food and beverage companies—are expanding in Arizona. One of the most overlooked challenges for these businesses is what gets left behind in the pursuit of clean water: brine, the salty byproduct of processes like reverse osmosis.

25/06/2025 18:37

Noninvasive ultrasound technique can spot bad batteries before they malfunction

A recent uptick in battery-related fires has drawn attention to the challenge of identifying defects that can cause these catastrophic malfunctions, but are rarely obvious to the naked eye. In hopes of preventing the dangerous glitches that can cause batteries to overheat and catch fire, researchers from Drexel University have developed a standard testing process to give manufacturers a better look at the internal workings of batteries.

25/06/2025 17:50

UK carbon emissions cut by half since 1990: experts

The UK has cut its carbon emissions by 50.4% since 1990 levels, a group of experts tasked with advising the government said on Wednesday.

25/06/2025 11:18

New storage platform delivers predictable renewable power regardless of weather conditions

Europe's largest vanadium redox flow battery—located at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology—has achieved an important research milestone: In a controlled test, it was possible to successfully demonstrate for the first time how renewable energies such as wind and solar power can be fed into the power grid in a targeted and predictable manner, regardless of current weather conditions.

24/06/2025 23:30

Turning captured carbon into natural gas could provide cost-competitive energy storage

Solar and wind energy are highly variable, dependent on the day, weather and location of the facilities. At times, they can generate more electricity than is needed, but they can also fall short when demand is at its peak. Unfortunately, any extra energy created by these sources is often wasted, as there are few methods that adequately store it long-term. To improve energy security in the United States, the nation requires both sources of energy and novel ways to store and distribute it.

24/06/2025 22:56

Sustainable cooling film could slash building energy use by 20% amid rising global temperatures

An international team of scientists has developed a biodegradable material that could slash global energy consumption without using any electricity, according to a new study published today.

24/06/2025 18:40

Modified perovskite solar cells harvest energy from indoor fluorescent lighting

When you think of solar panels, you usually picture giant cells mounted to face the sun. But what if "solar" cells could be charged using fluorescent lights?

24/06/2025 18:00

Triazatruxene hole transport layers enhance the performance of Sb₂(S,Se)₃ solar cells

Antimony selenosulfide (Sb2(S,Se)3) solar cells are emerging as a strong candidate for next-generation thin-film photovoltaics due to their tunable bandgap, strong optical absorption and composition from Earth-abundant, nontoxic elements.

24/06/2025 17:20

AI model shortens the development time of new materials

Time-consuming testing and computer simulations are bottlenecks in the design of new materials. A thesis from the University of Gothenburg aims to develop an AI model that can efficiently determine the durability and strength of woven composite materials.

24/06/2025 16:43