Tag: renewable energy
Capitalist utopias and financial futures of the US oil and gas industry
Drawing on long-term fieldwork involving almost a decade of interviews and observations, Dr Mette High, Director of the University of St Andrews’ Centre for Energy Ethics, UK, investigates what happens when oil industry entrepreneurs with utopic projects and private equity firms looking to invest come together. In this study centring on Weld County, Colorado – with more than 22,000 active […]
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The hydrogen rainbow
Hydrogen power is an exciting technology that is likely to be vital for us to achieve a low-carbon or net-zero society. Hydrogen energy is stored in fuel cells, providing us with a clean source of power which is already being used in some vehicles. The production of hydrogen itself, however, can be done using energy from different sources – including […]
Climate justice: International Open Access Week 2022
#OAWeek…is now open! Open access to knowledge is essential for tackling the climate emergency. ‘Openness can create pathways to more equitable knowledge sharing and serve as a means to address the inequities that shape the impacts of climate change and our response to them’, says SPARC, the organisers of International Open Access Week 2022. Opening on the 24th of October […]
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Food Waste-to-Energy: A project-based school learning experience
One of the challenges facing the uptake in renewable energy and waste-reduction methods is sufficiently changing peoples’ perceptions to ensure a cultural shift needed for momentum. A possible model for achieving this sits in the small village of Potsdam in the US state of New York. Professors Jan DeWaters and Stefan J Grimberg at Clarkson University have established an ongoing […]
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Combating corrosion in geothermal wells
Geothermal energy holds the potential to harvest vast amounts of energy from within the Earth’s crust. So far, however, exploitation of geothermal energy can be limited by corrosion – which damages the metal pipes required to carry high-temperature steam generated deep underground. In a new experiment, Andri Thorhallsson and Sigrun Karlsdottir at the University of Iceland show how the problem […]
Understanding and responding to climate change: our favourite climate research from 2021
Climate change solutions must reach across education, agriculture, energy production, politics and policymaking, manufacturing, travel, transport – almost every aspect of life. The six articles highlighted below demonstrate the breadth of research being undertaken by scientists globally as they work to understand the complex impacts of climate change, design new technologies and processes for a greener future, assess the financial […]
Inspiration from surfactants gives Li-S cells longer life
The renewable-fuelled future is reliant on improvements in battery energy density to smooth the grid and power electric vehicles for longer journeys. Lithium-ion cells – the industry standard – are almost at their capacity. Lithium-sulfur cells could be the answer, current technology degrades quickly due to an effect called redox shuttling. Dr Gao Liu, a staff scientist and his team […]
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Renewable energy concepts for addressing climate change
Climate change is real, is here, and it will not go away unless we do something. Based on current scientific advancements on energy systems, energy storage, renewable energy options, and understanding of the Earth’s feedback mechanism, there is hope that global efforts could help avoid an environmental catastrophe. However, the action plan needs to be global, based on collective approaches, […]
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Developing the Geneva Solar Cadaster: A decision support tool for sustainable energy management in urban areas
Gilles Desthieux, Associate Professor at the Geneva Institute of Landscape, Engineering and Architecture and a Consultant in Urban Energy Planning with Amstein+Walthert Geneva, leads a team of researchers who have developed the Geneva Solar Cadaster, a tool for modelling solar radiation and energy production from building rooftops and facades. Recent urban studies have shown that our cities play a significant role in […]
Technological leapfrogging the global energy crisis: How can changing the role of science in developing countries help with an oncoming climate catastrophe?
In 1975, the Brazilian government launched the National Alcohol Program (NAP) with the sole aim of relieving the country’s crushing dependence on fossil fuels with a move to cleaner ethyl-alcohol based fuels – and, thanks to researchers like Professor José Goldemberg, of the University of São Paulo, the program was an overwhelming success. Combining the country’s own natural resources with technological leapfrogging – […]