Cleantech and Environmental News – Latest Headlines

Organic photovoltaics on steel

Research alliance to investigate the incorporation of organic photovoltaics into flat steel products for use in the construction industry.

November 29, 2012 Read more

Weaving an advanced wind blade could make wind energy as economical as fossil fuels

In a move that could put wind energy on equal economic footing with traditional fossil fuels, GE, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), will begin work on a project that could fundamentally change the way wind blades are designed, manufactured and installed.

November 29, 2012 Read more

ARPA-E awards $130 million for 66 transformational energy technology projects

ARPA-E seeks out transformational, breakthrough technologies that show fundamental technical promise but are too early for private-sector investment. These projects have the potential to produce game-changing breakthroughs in energy technology, form the foundation for entirely new industries, and have large commercial impacts

November 28, 2012 Read more

How climate change can affect forest ecosystems

New study links clouds to microbial processes in soil for first time - and shows ways that climate change could affect entire forest ecosystems.

November 28, 2012 Read more

Revolutionary membrane technology could reduce U.S. energy consumption by as much as 3 percent

The University of Minnesota has been awarded a $1.8 million grant over three years from the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to develop revolutionary membrane technology that will enable energy-efficient separations in the chemical, petrochemical, water, fossil fuel, and renewable energy industries.

November 28, 2012 Read more

54.5 MPG and beyond: Fueling energy-efficient vehicles

The new national fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles will improve vehicle efficiency and save Americans money at the pump, all while reducing our dependence on foreign oil and growing the U.S. economy.

November 28, 2012 Read more

Synthetic fuels could eliminate entire U.S. need for crude oil, create 'new economy'

The United States could eliminate the need for crude oil by using a combination of coal, natural gas and non-food crops to make synthetic fuel, a team of Princeton researchers has found.

November 28, 2012 Read more

Projected sea-level rise may be underestimated

The rate of sea-level rise in the past decades is greater than projected by the latest assessments of the IPCC, while global temperature increases in good agreement with its best estimates. This is shown by a new study.

November 28, 2012 Read more

A milestone along the way to CO2 free power plants

The 'carbonate-looping' method for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2), which has been researched at TU Darmstadt could reduce power-plant CO2 emissions by more than 90 %, while utilizing less energy and incurring less expense than former approaches.

November 28, 2012 Read more

4-degrees briefing for the World Bank: The risks of a future without climate policy

Humankind's emissions of greenhouse gases are breaking new records every year. Hence we're on a path towards 4-degree global warming probably as soon as by the end of this century. This would mean a world of risks beyond the experience of our civilization - including heat waves, especially in the tropics, a sea-level rise affecting hundreds of millions of people, and regional yield failures impacting global food security.

November 27, 2012 Read more

Energy savings - easy as dirt, heat, pressure

By using common materials found pretty much anywhere there is dirt, a team of Michigan State University researchers have developed a new thermoelectric material.

November 27, 2012 Read more

The Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in the U.S. continues to decline at a rapid pace

The installed price of solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2011 and through the first half of 2012, according to the latest edition of Tracking the Sun, an annual PV cost-tracking report produced by Berkeley Lab.

November 27, 2012 Read more

An energy conscious workforce: new research looks at how to encourage staff to go green

A new project, being led by researchers at The University of Nottingham, is to look at people's attitudes to energy consumption in the workplace and how to encourage colleagues to work together in reducing their organisation's carbon footprint.

November 27, 2012 Read more

Paralysis by analysis should not delay decisions on climate change

Uncertainty about how much the climate is changing is not a reason to delay preparing for the harmful impacts of climate change says Professor Robert Nicholls of the University of Southampton and colleagues at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.

November 27, 2012 Read more

Oerlikon completes the sale of its solar segment to Tokyo Electron

Oerlikon announces the closing of the sale of its Solar business to Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL). The transaction was structured as a cash deal in which TEL acquires 100 % of the shares of Oerlikon Solar, resulting in cash proceeds for Oerlikon amounting to CHF 250 million.

November 27, 2012 Read more

OECD releases report on low-carbon investment strategies

The OECD has released a new report which identifies barriers to private investment in low-carbon infrastructure and exploring the actions that governments can take to address these barriers.

November 27, 2012 Read more

Synthetic molecule stores solar energy

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology and UC Berkeley have developed a system which can store solar energy in chemical bonds. The system is based on a synthetic molecule that is changed by sunlight. The molecule can be transported and stored for several years and then used to generate heat on demand.

November 27, 2012 Read more

Evidence of climate change all over Europe

The latest report on the effects of climate change across Europe has just been published by the European Environment Agency (EEA), with some startling conclusions.

November 26, 2012 Read more