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A Battery That Eats Carbon Dioxide
Fossil fuel-based power plants are increasingly considering the use of carbon capture technologies as a way to reduce emissions. The biggest challenge to the wide-spread adoption of such technology is its energy cost, which of course equates to economic cost. Present-day power plants equipped with carbon capture systems can use up to 30% of the electricity they generate just to power the capture, release, and storage of carbon dioxide.
Bacteria-Powered Solar Cell
Commercially-available solar panels are composed of solar cells that are most often made from various forms of silicon. Some panels use thin-film cells made from other semiconductor materials. Solar cells utilize a property of semiconductors that allows them to convert light energy into electrical energy.
The Future Of Energy
A new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance takes a long-term look at the world’s energy production. According to the report, renewable energy, mostly in the form of solar and wind power, is set to provide close to 50% of the world’s energy by the year 2050.
Greenhouses Adapt To Climate Change
The Telangana region of India has struggled with extreme weather patterns attributed to climate change. Extended periods of drought, heatwaves, and unpredictable heavy rainfalls have led to crop failures, mounting debt, and a heavy human toll. More than 3,000 farmers committed suicide in Telangana during a three-year drought.
An App For Infection Testing
Researchers at Washington State University have developed a low-cost, portable device that works with a smartphone to detect common viral and bacterial infections nearly as well as clinical laboratories. Such a system could lead to faster and lower-cost lab results for fast-moving epidemics, especially in rural or lower-resource regions where laboratory equipment and medical personnel are not readily available.
Mandatory Solar In California
In May, California became the first state in the U.S. to require solar panels on almost all new homes. Under new standards adopted by the California Energy Commission, most new homes, condos and apartment buildings built after January 1, 2020 will be required to include solar systems.
Investing In Solar Power
The total amount of solar power capacity installed in the world reached 100 gigawatts in 2012. Getting to that amount took decades. But things have changed in dramatic fashion in recent years.
Greener Biofuel
Engineers from the National University of Singapore have recently discovered that a naturally occurring bacterium is capable of directly converting cellulose to biobutanol, a promising biofuel.
The High Cost Of The Cloud
More and more often we make use of “the cloud” – that mysterious place where we store, move, process and analyze data. We keep our photos there. We stream music and videos from there. We do our work there. Perhaps we have a mental image of all of this digital information floating above our heads in some ethereal way: like in a cloud.
Farming In Solar Farms
Utility-scale solar installations have been expanding rapidly. The amount of land used for solar projects is becoming quite substantial. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) predicts that 3 million acres will be devoted to solar farms by 2030, and 6 million by 2050. These numbers pale in comparison with the land used for corn, soybeans, and wheat, but are more than used for such familiar crops as oats, barley and rice.
U.S. Offshore Wind Powering Up
After many years of false starts and delays, the offshore wind industry in the U.S. finally seems to be gaining momentum. According to the Department of Energy, more than 25 offshore wind projects with a generating capacity of 24 gigawatts are now being planned. Most of these are off of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coasts.
Major Investments In Solar Power
There is big money going into renewable energy and energy-smart technologies and half of that is going into solar power. In 2017, global investments in green energy reached $334 billion and $161 billion of that was in solar.
Climate Change Threatens the U.S. Military
According to a new study from the Pentagon, nearly half of United States military sites are threatened by wild weather linked to climate change. The U.S. Department of Defense states that drought, wind, and flooding that occur due to reasons other than storms topped the list of natural disasters that endanger 1,700 military sites around the world – everything from outposts to large bases.
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