Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Batteries Energy: Fossil Fuels Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

How plants are inspiring new ways to extract value from wastewater      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists are drawing inspiration from plants to develop new techniques to separate and extract valuable minerals, metals and nutrients from resource-rich wastewater.

Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Harnessing solar energy: New method improves readings of double-sided panels      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A laboratory in photonics and renewable energy has developed a new method for measuring the solar energy produced by bifacial solar panels, the double-sided solar technology which is expected to meet increased global energy demands moving forward.

Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Hydrogen's place in an increasingly connected energy web shows need for regulatory change      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Capturing the potential profits and jobs offered by a growing hydrogen industry may need as much innovation in regulatory agencies as it does in the research laboratories, according to new research.

Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Geoscience: Severe Weather Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published

When migrating birds go astray, disturbances in magnetic field may be partly to blame      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Disturbances to Earth's magnetic field can lead birds astray -- a phenomenon scientists call 'vagrancy' -- even in perfect weather, and especially during fall migration. While other factors such as weather likely play bigger roles in causing vagrancy, researchers found a strong correlation between birds that were captured far outside of their expected range and the geomagnetic disturbances that occurred during both fall and spring migrations.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Engineering: Nanotechnology Space: Astrophysics Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

The world in grains of interstellar dust      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Understanding how dust grains form in interstellar gas could offer significant insights to astronomers and help materials scientists develop useful nanoparticles.

Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Interfacial interactions of the lead-free perovskite for efficient hydrogen production      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The conversion of solar energy into hydrogen energy represents a promising and green technique for addressing the energy shortage and reducing fossil fuel emissions. A research team recently developed a lead-free perovskite photocatalyst that delivers highly efficient solar energy-to-hydrogen conversion.

Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Theoretical computations identify a solid-state hydrogen storage material's key bottleneck      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Magnesium hydride has long been touted for its potential to store large amounts of hydrogen, something essential if hydrogen is to play a role in powering a sustainable future. Yet, sluggish dehydrogenation kinetics and the high temperature required to decompose and produce hydrogen from the material have stymied its use. Now, researchers have identified why this is so, paving the way for future design guidelines and widespread commercial use.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Improving perovskite solar cell resistance to degradation      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Despite their huge potential, the way perovskite solar cells respond to external stimuli -- such as heat or moisture -- has a considerable impact on their stability. Researchers have identified the cause of degradation and developed a technique to improve stability, bringing us closer to widespread adoption of these cost-effective and efficient solar cells.

Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

A new tool helps map out where to develop clean energy infrastructure      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An update to the Energy Zones Mapping Tool, the Geospatial Energy Mapper is an online tool with an extensive catalog of mapping data for energy planning. It can help identify areas that are suitable for clean energy infrastructure projects.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Solar-powered system converts plastic and greenhouse gases into sustainable fuels      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a system that can transform plastic waste and greenhouse gases into sustainable fuels and other valuable products -- using just the energy from the Sun.

Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

More links aren't necessarily better for hybrid nanomaterials      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Chemists have discovered more isn't always better when it comes to packing charge-acceptor molecules on the surface of semiconducting nanocrystals.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels
Published

Cheap, sustainable hydrogen through solar power      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new kind of solar panel has achieved 9% efficiency in converting water into hydrogen and oxygen--mimicking a crucial step in natural photosynthesis. Outdoors, it represents a major leap in the technology, nearly 10 times more efficient than solar water-splitting experiments of its kind.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels
Published

A step towards solar fuels out of thin air      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Chemical engineers have invented a solar-powered artificial leaf, built on a novel electrode which is transparent and porous, capable of harvesting water from the air for conversion into hydrogen fuel. The semiconductor-based technology is scalable and easy to prepare.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Space: Exploration
Published

Space solar power technology demo launched into orbit      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The launch represents the first in-situ test of the technology to harvest solar energy in space and transmit it to Earth.

Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Improving the operational stability of perovskite solar cells      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have found a way to improve the operational stability of perovskite solar cells, a crucial step towards their commercialization.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Space: The Solar System
Published

The world's largest turbulence simulation unmasks the flow of energy in astrophysical plasmas      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers uncover the long-hidden process that helps explain why the Sun's corona can be vastly hotter than the solar surface that emits it.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

New study models the transmission of foreshock waves towards Earth      (via sciencedaily.com) 

As the supersonic solar wind surges towards Earth, its interaction with our planet's magnetic field creates a shock to deflect its flow, and a foreshock filled with electromagnetic waves. How these waves can propagate to the other side of the shock has long remained a mystery.

Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Scientists discover a novel photophysical mechanism that has achieved record-breaking efficiency for organic photovoltaics      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are a promising, economical, next-generation solar cell technology for scalable clean energy and wearable electronics. But the energy conversion loss due to the recombination of photogenerated charge carriers in OPVs has hindered further enhancement of their power conversion efficiency (PCE). Recently, researchers from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) overcame this obstacle by inventing a novel device-engineering strategy to successfully suppress the energy conversion loss, resulting in record-breaking efficiency.

Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Ammonium is the secret ingredient in stable, efficient, scalable perovskite solar cells      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new pathway to creating durable, efficient perovskite photovoltaics at industrial scale has been demonstrated through the first effective use of lead acetate as a precursor in making formamidinium-caesium perovskite solar cells.

Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Tandem solar cell achieves 32.5 percent efficiency      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers report a new world record for tandem solar cells consisting of a silicon bottom cell and a perovskite top cell. The new tandem solar cell converts 32.5 percent of the incident solar radiation into electrical energy.