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Categories: Energy: Alternative Fuels, Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms

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Sunlight can be used to produce green hydrogen directly from water in photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells. So far, most systems based on this 'direct approach' have not been energetically competitive. However, the balance changes as soon as some of the hydrogen in such PEC cells is used in-situ for a catalytic hydrogenation reaction, resulting in the co-production of chemicals used in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The energy payback time of photoelectrochemical 'green' hydrogen production can be reduced dramatically, the study shows.

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Solar cells made from metal halide perovskites achieve high efficiencies and their production from liquid inks requires only a small amount of energy. Scientists are investigating the production process. At the X-ray source BESSY II, the group has analyzed the optimal composition of precursor inks for the production of high-quality FAPbI3 perovskite thin films by slot-die coating. The solar cells produced with these inks were tested under real life conditions in the field for a year and scaled up to mini-module size.

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Some projections show that widespread adoption of electric vehicles might require costly new power plants to meet peak loads in the evening. A new study shows that placing EV charging stations strategic ways and setting up systems to initiate charging at delayed times could lessen or eliminate the need for new power plants.

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Hydrogen is often heralded as the clean fuel of the future, but new research suggests that leaky hydrogen infrastructure could end up increasing atmospheric methane levels, which would cause decades-long climate consequences.

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Scientists report the safe synthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), an oxidizing agent used in multiple industries including semiconductors, using a new rhodium-based catalyst. The catalyst is based on natural enzymes found in extremophile microorganisms, and the reaction meets three chemical ideals for H2O2 production: safe, use of a single vessel, and direct synthesis.

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Ships are the main modes of transport for global trade as they are efficient and effective. Improving the aerodynamic performance of ship could reduce fuel consumption and improve speed, further improving the economics of shipping. Recently, researchers from have demonstrated that flat plate bow covers on ships can reduce overall wind drag in ships by nearly 40%, which could lead to enormous fuel savings.

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Researchers have developed a dual-purpose catalyst that purifies herbicide-tainted water while also producing hydrogen.

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Researchers have discovered that channeling ions into defined pathways in perovskite materials improves the stability and operational performance of perovskite solar cells. The finding paves the way for a new generation of lighter, more flexible, and more efficient solar cell technologies suitable for practical use.

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A common ingredient -- salt -- could have a big role to play in the energy transition to lower carbon energy sources. A study describes how large underground salt deposits could serve as hydrogen holding tanks, conduct heat to geothermal plants, and influence CO2 storage. It also highlights how industries with existing salt expertise, such as solution mining, salt mining, and oil and gas exploration, could help.

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Researchers design a solar harvester with enhanced energy conversion capabilities. The device employs a quasiperiodic nanoscale pattern, meaning most of it is an alternating and consistent pattern, while the remaining portion contains random defects that do not affect its performance. The fabrication process makes use of self-assembling nanoparticles, which form an organized material structure based on their interactions with nearby particles without any external instructions. Thermal energy harvested by the device can be transformed to electricity using thermoelectric materials.

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Researchers typically synthesize perovskites in a wet lab, and then apply the material as a film on a glass substrate and explore various applications. A team has instead proposes a novel, physics-based approach, using a substrate of either a layer of metal or alternating layers of metal and dielectric material -- rather than glass.

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Physicists jumped a major hurdle standing in the way of the commercialization of solar cells created with halide perovskites as a lower-cost, higher-efficiency replacement for silicon when generating electricity from the sun.

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Researchers have developed a cheaper and more energy-efficient way to make hydrogen directly from seawater, in a critical step towards a truly viable green hydrogen industry. The new method splits the seawater directly into hydrogen and oxygen -- skipping the need for desalination and its associated cost, energy consumption and carbon emissions.

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Researchers reveal the thermal instability that happens within the cells' interface layers, but also offers a path forward towards reliability and efficiency for halide perovskite solar technology.

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Hydrogen fuel could be a more viable alternative to traditional fossil fuels, according to University of Surrey researchers who have found that a type of metal-free catalysts could contribute to the development of cost-effective and sustainable hydrogen production technologies.

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Energy-efficient ways of cooling buildings and vehicles will be required in a changing climate. Researchers have now shown that electrical tuning of passive radiative cooling can be used to control temperatures of a material at ambient temperatures and air pressure.

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Researchers have successfully split seawater without pre-treatment to produce green hydrogen.

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An ultrathin protective coating proves sufficient to protect a perovskite solar cell from the harmful effects of space and harden it against environmental factors on Earth, according to newly published research.

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Perovskite semiconductors promise highly efficient and low-cost solar cells. However, the semi-organic material is very sensitive to temperature differences, which can quickly lead to fatigue damage in normal outdoor use. Adding a dipolar polymer compound to the precursor perovskite solution helps to counteract this. The solar cells produced in this way achieve efficiencies of well above 24 %, which hardly drop under rapid temperature fluctuations between -60 and +80 Celsius over one hundred cycles. That corresponds to about one year of outdoor use.

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By analyzing meteorites, researchers have uncovered the likely far-flung origin of Earth's volatile chemicals, some of which form the building blocks of life.