Global Energy News (news-and-events/news)

Researchers have developed a new method that can lead to significant energy savings in buildings. The team identified 28 major heat loss regions in a multi-unit residential building with the most severe ones being at wall intersections and around windows. A potential energy savings of 25 per cent is expected if 70 per cent of the discovered regions are fixed.

By studying how bubbles form in a drop of biodiesel, researchers can help future engines get the most energy out of the fuel.

Thirteen years after the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP), a breakthrough in analysis has permitted a world first: direct imaging of radioactive cesium (Cs) atoms in environmental samples.

New modelling reveals that low-carbon concrete can recycle double the amount of coal ash compared to current standards, halve the amount of cement required and perform exceptionally well over time.

Research could pave the way for a prosthetic hand and robot to be able to feel touch like a human hand. The technology could also be used to help restore lost functionality to patients after a stroke.

Researchers have leveraged deep learning techniques to enhance the image quality of a metalens camera. The new approach uses artificial intelligence to turn low-quality images into high-quality ones, which could make these cameras viable for a multitude of imaging tasks including intricate microscopy applications and mobile devices.

It's one thing to dream up a quantum internet that could send hacker-proof information around the world via photons superimposed in different quantum states. It's quite another to physically show it's possible. That's exactly what physicists have done, using existing Boston-area telecommunication fiber, in a demonstration of the world's longest fiber distance between two quantum memory nodes to date.

Semiconductors are the foundation of all modern electronics. Now, researchers have developed a new method where organic semiconductors can become more conductive with the help of air as a dopant. The study is a significant step towards future cheap and sustainable organic semiconductors.

A new type of recyclable resin, made from biosourced materials, has been designed for use in 3D printing applications.

Researchers who contributed to the development of record-breaking solar cells a few years ago, expanded their invention. The self-assembled monolayers can now be applied not only in inverted but also in regular structure perovskite solar cells.

Instead of burning fossil fuels to smelt steel and cook cement, researchers in Switzerland want to use heat from the sun. The proof-of-concept study uses synthetic quartz to trap solar energy at temperatures over 1,000 C (1,832 F), demonstrating the method's potential role in providing clean energy for carbon-intensive industries.

Even the most optimistic projections for the rapid build-out of solar, wind, and other low-carbon resources acknowledge that coal, natural gas, and other fossil fuels will dominate the world's energy mix for decades to come. If the vast greenhouse gas emissions from burning these fossil fuels continue to enter the planet's atmosphere, global warming will not be limited to sustainable levels. The capture and geologic sequestration of carbon emissions (CCS) offer a promising solution to the world's carbon conundrum.

Researchers present a novel framework that uses image-mining techniques and machine learning algorithms to identify flaws in counterfeit coins. The researchers' framework uses fuzzy association rules mining to find patterns that are similar but 'fuzzy,' i.e., not clear enough to be exact copies. However, the framework will eventually arrive at a certain range of results where positive matches be confidently identified.to extract frequent patterns from the images. These patterns capture relationships among the blobs' attributes, such as color, texture, shape and size. The patterns help researchers to better understand the images and tell whether a coin is real or fake.

A new system could enable simple, low-cost detectors for monitoring water for lead contamination, and potentially other heavy metals as well.

A new study shows that chlorine mixed with petroleum in water can potentially produce inadvertent byproducts harmful to human health.

Cinematography techniques can significantly increase user engagement with virtual environments and, in particular, the aesthetic appeal of what users see in virtual reality.

Engineers achieve a wide field-of-hearing acoustic metalens free from aberrations.

A team of scientists has developed a novel technique to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) from treated flue gas directly into high-value chemicals and fuels. This innovation sidesteps the conventional approach of using high-purity CO2 for electrochemical reduction processes, achieving significant cost savings of about 30%.

A research team assessed the impact of a train station's opening on health expenditures. The natural experiment study revealed that a new mass transit station is significantly associated with decreased average health expenditures per capita.

A battery made from zinc and lignin that can be used over 8000 times. This has been developed with a vision to provide a cheap and sustainable battery solution for countries where access to electricity is limited.