Boosting solar power: reflectors under panels increase efficiency
Researchers at the University of Ottawa, in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), announced a ground-breaking innovation to improve solar panel efficiency. By incorporating reflective surfaces beneath solar panels, the researchers increased energy output by an impressive Read More...
Revolutionary window film reduces heat and energy consumption
What's a room without windows? Windows are undoubtedly an important feature in our homes, offices, cars, and public spaces. They provide views and natural light, but they also contribute to heat input, which increases energy usage for cooling, a problem in an era of rising temperatures. When Read More...
Sewage heat: Vancouver's steamy and sustainable energy source
Since 2010, an innovative energy program in Vancouver's False Creek has quietly transformed the city's energy landscape. This novel technology harnesses the latent heat in sewage effluent, converting it into a renewable heat source for nearly 6,000 apartments. Derek Pope, Vancouver's manager of Read More...
Cultivating climate resilience at COP28: 7 game-changing food and agriculture innovations
The convergence of global pressures, such as climate change and the mounting demands of a fast-growing population, has shone a bright light on agriculture's critical role in addressing these challenges. This important priority was highlighted at the recent United Nations climate conference, which Read More...
Tips to keep your heating costs low this winter despite rising prices
This winter, Americans are expected to pay the most for home heating in a decade. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association estimates that the average U.S. household will pay 17.2 percent more for heating costs—$177 more—than last year, which already saw record-breaking Read More...
Clever sustainable living tips for renters
When it comes to making the world a greener, more sustainable place, homeowners have a lot of power. In the US, 40 percent of total energy consumption per year comes from buildings. This means when property owners decide to make changes to their buildings to reduce how their property affects the Read More...
MIT team creates high-quality, paper-thin loudspeaker
We live in a time when concepts are turned on their heads. We’re starting to pull carbon out of the atmosphere, instead of emitting it. We’re adapting our cities to wildlife, instead of trying to kick animals out. And we’re making technology more efficient by making it smaller, instead of the Read More...
Researchers use new AI to advance solar cell manufacturing
Solar energy is becoming more affordable and easier to produce every day. As the market grows, so too is the field of research. Solar scientists have been working with perovskites, a family of mineral and ceramic materials that are a top contender to replace silicon as the next level up in Read More...
This sustainable solar panel can go on buildings or your clothes
When you see the new sunlight-absorbing material developed by Carvey Ehren Maigue, an engineering student from the Philippines, the colors might remind you of the Aurora Borealis. In fact, Auroras were what inspired Maigue when he named his new game-changing material, AuREUS. This is a new Read More...
Researchers make huge leap in fusion reactor technology
In a historic first, a fusion reactor has exceeded the energy efficiency of fossil fuels! The reaction yielded 1.3 megajoules of energy, a higher amount than the input of fuel it took to power the reactor. The group of physicists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory responsible for this Read More...