Feature Channels: Green Tech

Filters close
Released: 21-Nov-2019 12:30 PM EST
Breaking Down Biodegradable: UF Scientist Creates Guide to Bioplastics
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

“Bioplastics—a better option for the environment?” is a compilation of information about bioplastics. These alternative plastics have become more popular, and as it turns out, they’re effectively still the same as petroleum-based plastic, according to Dr. McGuire’s document.

Released: 19-Nov-2019 8:00 AM EST
Breakthrough tool launched at Greenbuild empowers users to radically reduce embodied carbon in buildings and infrastructure
University of Washington

The Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (“EC3”) tool delivers the first digitized EPDs for construction materials in a free platform designed to accelerate early adoption across the entire construction industry.

Released: 7-Nov-2019 11:00 AM EST
Go With the Flow: Scientists Design New Grid Batteries for Renewable Energy
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Scientists at Berkeley Lab have designed an affordable ‘flow battery’ membrane that could accelerate renewable energy for the electrical grid.

4-Nov-2019 8:05 AM EST
Switching to solar and wind will reduce groundwater use
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

Researchers explored optimal pathways for managing groundwater and hydropower trade-offs for different water availability conditions as solar and wind energy start to play a more prominent role in California.

Released: 4-Nov-2019 12:05 PM EST
Tethered Chem Combos Could Revolutionize Artificial Photosynthesis
Brookhaven National Laboratory

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have doubled the efficiency of a chemical combo that captures light and splits water molecules so the building blocks can be used to produce hydrogen fuel. Their study, selected as an American Chemical Society “Editors’ Choice” that will be featured on the cover* of the Journal of Physical Chemistry C

Released: 4-Nov-2019 9:00 AM EST
Protein Data Bank at Rutgers Awarded $34.5 Million Grant
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

The RCSB Protein Data Bank headquartered at Rutgers University–New Brunswick has been awarded $34.5 million in grants over five years from three U.S. government agencies. The funding – an approximately 5 percent increase over the previous five-year period – covers ongoing operations and will expand the reach of the world’s only open-access, digital data resource for the 3D biomolecular structures of life.

Released: 29-Oct-2019 2:05 AM EDT
Argonne lends a hand toward climate and weather understanding
Argonne National Laboratory

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) User Facility, supported by the DOE Office of Science, has been providing researchers the data to understand the complex global climate picture for 27 years. The first ARM facility, the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site, was opened in 1992, and is operated by Argonne. Today, there are six stationary and mobile ARM facilities located or transported globally and managed and operated by nine DOE National Laboratories.

Released: 28-Oct-2019 4:45 PM EDT
To rid electric grid of carbon, shore up green energy support
Cornell University

Cornell and Northwestern University engineers, along with a federal economist, have created an energy model that helps to remove carbon-generated power from the U.S. electric grid – replacing it with a greener, financially feasible wind, solar and hydro energy system.

Released: 23-Oct-2019 2:10 PM EDT
Study Provides Framework For One Billion Years Of Green Plant Evolution
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Gene sequences for more than 1100 plant species have been released by an international consortium of nearly 200 plant scientists who were involved in a nine-year research project, One Thousand Plant Transcriptomes Initiative (1KP).

Released: 21-Oct-2019 10:20 AM EDT
Ceramic Industry Should Bring Carbon Reducing Cold Sintering Process Out of Labs and Into Manufacturing Says New Research
University of Warwick

A new techno-economic analysis, by a team led by a researcher from WMG at the University of Warwick, shows that the energy intensive ceramic industry would gain both financial and environmental benefits if it moved to free the cold sintering process from languishing in labs to actual use in manufacturing everything from high tech to domestic ceramics.

   
Released: 18-Oct-2019 12:05 PM EDT
Using 'green' approach to manage stormwater runoff
South Dakota State University

Soil and plants, strategically placed, can help reduce stormwater runoff—and, in the long run, help relieve pressure on the city drainage system. However, engaging city officials and community members is integral to implementing these techniques.

Released: 18-Oct-2019 11:05 AM EDT
Croissant making inspires renewable energy solution
Queen Mary University of London

The art of croissant making has inspired researchers from Queen Mary University of London to find a solution to a sustainable energy problem.

Released: 18-Oct-2019 3:50 AM EDT
Assessing the benefits and risks of land-based greenhouse gas removal
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

A new study shows that afforestation and other forms of climate-friendly land use not only helps to remove CO2 from the atmosphere to reduce global warming, but they can also contribute to achieving the SDGs.

Released: 17-Oct-2019 2:45 PM EDT
Johns Hopkins APL’s Breakthrough Flexible, Cuttable Lithium-Ion Battery Now Won’t Catch Fire
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

A team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, has realized another landmark achievement with their breakthrough lithium-ion battery technology. The flexible Li-ion battery that can operate under extreme conditions — including cutting, submersion and simulated ballistic impact — can now also add incombustible to its resume.

Released: 15-Oct-2019 11:05 AM EDT
Materials’ increased capacity, efficiency could lower the bar for hydrogen technology
Sandia National Laboratories

The Hydrogen Materials Advanced Research Consortium (HyMARC), a multilab collaboration, is developing two types of hydrogen storage materials to meet federal targets. Now, the newly expanded collaboration is using the most promising strategies to optimize the materials for future use in vehicles, potentially offering more compact onboard storage systems, reduced operating pressures and significant cost savings.

Released: 15-Oct-2019 10:05 AM EDT
US green economy worth $1.3 trillion per year, but new policies needed to maintain growth
University College London

The US green economy is estimated to generate over $1.3 trillion in revenue per year, representing 16.5% of the global green economy, according to a new study by UCL.

Released: 14-Oct-2019 10:05 AM EDT
Researchers urge Midwestern states to recycle solar panels efficiently
Missouri University of Science and Technology

By 2050, up to six million tons of solar panel waste will need recycling. But few states have started processes for handling the waste even as they require more energy produced by renewable sources.

Released: 9-Oct-2019 5:05 PM EDT
New Electrolyte Stops Rapid Performance Decline of Next-Generation Lithium Battery
Argonne National Laboratory

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory have designed and tested a new electrolyte composition that could greatly accelerate the adoption of the next generation of lithium-ion batteries.

Released: 9-Oct-2019 5:05 PM EDT
ECS President Congratulates 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Winners
The Electrochemical Society

Christina Bock, ECS Board president, congratulated John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino on receiving the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the development of lithium-ion batteries.” The long term Society members published important research papers in the ECS Journal. Goodenough and Whittingham are ECS Fellows.

Released: 7-Oct-2019 2:05 PM EDT
Modified quantum dots capture more energy from light and lose less to heat
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists have synthesized magnetically-doped quantum dots that capture the kinetic energy of electrons created by ultraviolet light before it’s wasted as heat.

4-Oct-2019 10:05 AM EDT
Agronomists detail the benefits of updating agricultural drainage infrastructure in new study
Iowa State University

The massive underground infrastructure that allows farmers to cultivate crops on much of the world’s most productive land has outlived its design life and should be updated, according to a new study. Installing higher-capacity pipes and conservation practices would yield a wide range of production and environmental benefits.

Released: 7-Oct-2019 12:00 AM EDT
New Photovoltaic Research Partnership Spans Countries, Disciplines
Arizona State University (ASU)

Arizona State University is partnering with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dublin City University, the Tyndall National Institute and Ulster University to improve solar technology.

Released: 1-Oct-2019 6:05 AM EDT
Wind power from the Sky
Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology

To harvest wind energy, you don't necessarily need rotors on steel masts – light kites on thin ropes can do the same. The Empa spin-off TwingTec has been researching this technology for some time now. Last autumn, it was possible for the first time to start, generate electrical energy while flying and then land again, all in the specified level of automation.

Released: 30-Sep-2019 4:05 PM EDT
Marion Bradford revolutionized biochemical research with a simple discovery
University of Georgia

Bradford developed the protein assay, a process that is still being used in laboratories around the world to detect proteins in tissue samples

Released: 25-Sep-2019 11:05 PM EDT
First Fully Rechargeable Carbon Dioxide Battery with Carbon Neutrality
University of Illinois Chicago

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are the first to show that lithium-carbon dioxide batteries can be designed to operate in a fully rechargeable manner, and they have successfully tested a lithium-carbon dioxide battery prototype running up to 500 consecutive cycles of charge/recharge processes.

23-Sep-2019 10:25 AM EDT
New Standard of Reference for Assessing Solar Forecast Proposed
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Being able to accurately forecast how much solar energy reaches the surface of the Earth is key to guiding decisions for running solar power plants and new work in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy looks to provide a standard of reference to the field. Dazhi Yang proposes an improved way to assess day-ahead solar forecasting, which combines two popular reference methods for weather forecasting, namely persistence and climatology. His approach provides a new way to gauge the skill of a forecaster.

Released: 24-Sep-2019 10:05 AM EDT
Engineers study icing/de-icing of wind turbine blades to improve winter power production
Iowa State University

A research group led by Iowa State's Hui Hu will use the university's Icing Research Tunnel to study icing of wind turbine blades. Studies have shown that ice accumulation on turbine blades can reduce power production by up to 50%. The team will also study ways to prevent or delay ice formation on the blades.

Released: 23-Sep-2019 2:05 PM EDT
New $100M Innovation Hub to Accelerate R&D for a Secure Water Future
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The National Alliance for Water Innovation, which is led by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), has been awarded a five-year, $100-million Energy-Water Desalination Hub by DOE (pending appropriations) to address water security issues in the United States. The Hub will focus on early-stage research and development for energy-efficient and cost-competitive desalination technologies and for treating nontraditional water sources for various end uses.

Released: 20-Sep-2019 12:05 PM EDT
Water May Be Scarce for New Power Plants in Asia
Ohio State University

Climate change and over-tapped waterways could leave developing parts of Asia without enough water to cool power plants in the near future, new research indicates. The study found that existing and planned power plants that burn coal for energy could be vulnerable. The work was published today in the journal Energy and Environment Science.

Released: 20-Sep-2019 11:05 AM EDT
Untapped resource, or greenhouse gas threat, found below rifting axis off Okinawa coast
Kyushu University

Analyzing reflections of seismic pressure waves by the subseafloor geology off southwestern Japan, researchers at Kyushu University have found the first evidence of a massive gas reservoir where the Earth's crust is being separated. Depending on its nature

Released: 19-Sep-2019 1:05 PM EDT
AI helps reduce Amazon hydropower dams’ carbon footprint
Cornell University

A team of scientists has developed a computational model that uses artificial intelligence to find sites for hydropower dams in order to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Released: 18-Sep-2019 11:45 AM EDT
Supercomputer Simulations Help Optimize Floating Wind Farms
University of California San Diego

The Comet supercomputer at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) and the Stampede2 supercomputer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) were used to perform simulations that showed how floating turbine wakes are very similar those of fixed-bottom turbines, except that floating turbine wakes are deflected upward and have slightly stronger turbulence at the edge of their wakes.

Released: 17-Sep-2019 12:40 PM EDT
Western Illinois University Announces $10 Million Bio-Fuel Federal Research Grant
Western Illinois University

The Western Illinois University School of Agriculture announced today that Agriculture Professor Win Phippen is the recipient of a $10 million federal grant to investigate the use of the alternative crop, Pennycress, as a new cash cover crop in the Midwest.

13-Sep-2019 8:45 AM EDT
To Address Hunger, Many Countries May Have to Increase Carbon Footprint
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Achieving an adequate, healthy diet in most low- and middle-income countries will require a substantial increase in greenhouse gas emissions and water use due to food production, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Released: 13-Sep-2019 1:05 PM EDT
Fuel of the Future
American Technion Society

Researchers at Israel's Technion have developed a clean, inexpensive, and safe technology for producing hydrogen. The technology significantly improves the efficiency of hydrogen production, from ~75% using current methods to an unprecedented 98.7% energy efficiency.

10-Sep-2019 9:00 AM EDT
Numerical Simulations Probe Mechanisms Behind Sand Dune Formation
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

After noticing how the construction of dams significantly alter the hydrodynamics of natural rivers and the resulting downstream riverbed evolution, researchers decided to apply numerical simulations to help determine what’s at play in the relationship of sediment motion and flow conditions.

Released: 9-Sep-2019 9:00 AM EDT
U.S. Department of Energy Taps Danforth Plant Science Center for Research To Improve Sorghum as a Bioenergy Crop
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Danforth Center Principal Investigator, Andrea Eveland, Ph.D., will lead a multi-institutional project under to deepen the understanding of sorghum, a versatile bioenergy crop, and its response to drought.

Released: 30-Aug-2019 11:05 AM EDT
Innovators in Argonne’s entrepreneurship program amass millions in investments to aid their energy startups
Argonne National Laboratory

The Chain Reaction Innovations (CRI) program is demonstrating impact in moving energy innovation tech to market as its first cohort leaves Argonne. CRI innovators have raised more than $12.5 million in funding since the program began.

   
Released: 27-Aug-2019 10:05 AM EDT
Geothermal system exceeds goals to reduce water, energy use and carbon footprint at five-year mark
Missouri University of Science and Technology

After five years of operation, Missouri University of Science and Technology’s geothermal energy system continues to exceed its projected campus impact and efficiency.

Released: 26-Aug-2019 12:20 PM EDT
A New Way to Make Valuable Chemicals
University of Delaware

A new discovery has advanced the field of carbon capture and utilization. Researchers have formed carbon-nitrogen bonds in an electrochemical carbon monoxide reduction reaction

Released: 26-Aug-2019 12:00 AM EDT
Physicists' Study Demonstrates Silicon's Energy-Harvesting Power
University of Texas at Dallas

A University of Texas at Dallas physicist has teamed with Texas Instruments to design a better way for electronics to convert waste heat into reusable energy. Silicon in the form of nanoblades can harvest thermoelectric energy at a greatly increased rate while remaining mass-producible when combined with integrated circuits.

Released: 23-Aug-2019 12:05 PM EDT
Path to 2060: UVA Darden Report Explores Low-Carbon Technologies to Sustainably Feed the World
University of Virginia Darden School of Business

A new report from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business explores best practices and new technologies that hold promise for decarbonizing global agriculture.

   
Released: 22-Aug-2019 1:05 PM EDT
UT Dallas Engineer Earns Young Investigator Award for Water-Harvesting Work
University of Texas at Dallas

Dr. Simon Dai, assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas, has been awarded a three-year grant to advance technology he has developed to harvest clean water from the air without using external energy.

Released: 21-Aug-2019 12:25 PM EDT
A new way to generate solar steam for cleaning water and reducing waste
Argonne National Laboratory

At the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, researchers are exploring affordable materials that could absorb the sunlight necessary to evaporate water and recapture it, leaving contaminants behind.

Released: 16-Aug-2019 2:30 PM EDT
Bioenergy startup licenses ORNL food-waste-to-fuel system
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Electro-Active Technologies, Inc., of Knoxville, Tenn., has exclusively licensed two biorefinery technologies invented and patented by the startup’s co-founders while working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The technologies work as a system that converts organic waste into renewable hydrogen gas for use as a biofuel.

   


close
1.10387