Today’s Solutions: May 18, 2024

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.

This paint made of glass bounc

This paint made of glass bounces sunlight off metal material to keep it cool

Whether it’s slides at playgrounds or roofs of houses, there are some things that you just don’t want to heat up in the sun. A scientist at Johns Hopkins University has developed a reflective paint made from glass, that keeps these surfaces cool. The paint is made from cheap and abundant Read More...

Not a pipe dream: Harvesting c

Not a pipe dream: Harvesting clean energy from cities’ water supply

If you’re prepared to harvest it, there’s energy everywhere. Here’s a source you may have never thought of: In cities’ drinking water pipes there’s near-constant running water that can be tapped for energy. That’s exactly what LucidEnergy in Portland, Oregon is doing. They put turbines Read More...

New technology could reduce wi

New technology could reduce wind energy costs

Engineers from the University of Sheffield have developed a novel technique to predict when bearings inside wind turbines will fail which could make wind energy cheaper. The method, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society A and developed by Mechanical Engineering research student Read More...

Solar energy is most popular e

Solar energy is most popular energy source among majority of Australians

While Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott insists coal is the future, the Australian people seem to have a different preference. Climate Institute's annual report on public attitudes on climate change and its solutions shows that of all energy sources solar is the most popular among Australians Read More...

Chile mines turn to renewable

Chile mines turn to renewable energy

The three industrial boilers at the state-owned Codelco mine high in the mountains here once consumed 67,000 barrels of diesel a year to turn out shiny copper sheets for export. Now, the job is powered by nearly 3,000 solar panels that take advantage of the Atacama Desert’s cloudless blue Read More...

The boom in wind energy couldn

The boom in wind energy couldn’t be coming at a better time

The Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, released last week, requires the country to use a lot more renewable energy by the year 2030 — and a lot less coal. And right on time, two new reports published Monday by the Department of Energy find that one key renewable Read More...

Malawi’s solar power rev

Malawi's solar power revolution starts by bringing schoolchildren out of the dark

Young Kennedy is astonished. His face lights up in the single room in the straw-thatched house. So does the book he is reading with his friend, Nellie. The two excited nine-year-olds from the village of Gumbi in western Malawi have just done what about 600 million others in sub-Saharan Africa have Read More...

Report shows price of wind ene

Report shows price of wind energy in US at all-time low, averaging under 2.5 cents/kWh

It's not so strange that large companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft recently turned to wind energy to power their enormous data centers. Rather, it's simple math: Wind energy is becoming surprisingly cheap. A new report released by the U.S. Department of Energy shows that the price of Read More...

Nano-sized ‘yolks’

Nano-sized 'yolks' should lead to longer-lasting batteries

Those eggs you might have had for breakfast? They're not just food -- they may be the key to longer-running batteries in your devices. Scientists at MIT and Tsinghua University have developed a nanoparticle battery electrode whose egg-like design is built to last. Their invention, which houses a Read More...

Out with the coal, in with the

Out with the coal, in with the geothermal: New Zealand shifts to clean energy

Historically, New Zealand has relied on coal as its main fuel for development. No more.The country's share of renewable electricity generation, already the fourth largest in the world, is now close to 80 percent. With the quick rise in geothermal generation, New Zeland is well on its way to Read More...