Energy
Transitioning to a world powered by renewable energy is key to tackling climate change. Here you can find the latest good news related to our clean energy transition, covering wind, solar, green hydrogen, hydropower, and more.
Perovskite: paint that turns any surface into a solar panel
The sun shines everywhere. So how can we easily capture the energy the rays of sun bring wherever they hit the earth? The answer is perovskite. What? Perovskite is a mineral composed of calcium titanium oxide that scientists at the University of Sheffield have now turned into a “spray on solar Read More...
Solar sponge turns suns energy into steam
A sponge designed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology converts water into steam by using the sun’s rays. The sponge is made up of a layer of graphite flakes on top and porous carbon foam underneath that acts as an insulator. The sponge floats on top of water and when sun hits the graphite a Read More...
Wind cheaper than oil, coal or natural gas in Denmark in 2016
Investments in wind power that Denmark started making over 40 years ago are now starting to pay dividends—and large ones at that. Analysts at the Danish Energy Association predict that by 2016 wind power will overtake coal and natural gas as the country’s cheapest source of energy. Two new Read More...
California could be powered by 100% clean energy by 2050
There are plenty ambitious renewable energy projects and studies. But this new one by Stanford University is particularly interesting as it's about the 8th largest economy in the world—California—becoming totally clean energy based 35 years from now. The study, published in Energy, concludes Read More...
Self-cooling solar cells increase efficiency and lifespan
The biggest hurdle solar cells have to overcome is overheating because converting sunrays to electricity—unsurprisingly—is a very hot process. When solar panels get hot their efficiency dramatically decreases. Engineers from Stanford University have found a solution to this problem by adding a Read More...
New GE startup shows that the time of clean energy fuel cells has come
Fuel cells where invented over a century ago. But apart from the use in space shuttles and space labs, the clean energy technology still awaits a real breakthrough. But the age of the fuel cell may finally be dawning. On Tuesday General Electric launched a startup to bring clean, reliable, Read More...
American cars are finally becoming more fuel-efficient
American cars guzzle some 9 million barrels of oil per day. And the American car industry has been notoriously late with implementing fuel-efficiency standards. But faced with a US EPA and Department of Transportation mandate that cars must have an average fuel–efficiency of 54.5 MPG by 2025 the Read More...
Clean energy investments up 33% in second quarter
This line we want to see go up and up. And it has been doing exactly that even during the financial crisis showing that clean, renewable energy is the way of the future. Total clean energy investment in the second quarter topped at $63 billion, which makes it the strongest quarter in the past two Read More...
‘Energy Duck’ could provide solar and hydro power to Copenhagen
Contestants in the 2014 Land Art Generator Initiative in Copenhagen, Denmark have submitted a mock up of a giant duck that could power the European city with hydro and solar power. The giant duck would be fitted with solar panels to provide power during the daytime, and hydroelectric turbines on Read More...
Clay fridges can slash global food waste substantially
Annual global food waste weighs in at over 1 billion tons. In developing countries food is often thrown away because of inadequate refrigeration. The Mitticool fridge is made from clay and might be the answer to the food storage problem. The Mitticool doesn’t require electricity, can keep Read More...