Are bioplastics better for the environment than conventional plastics?
by Anja Krieger @anjakrieger This article is republished from Ensia, a solutions-focused nonprofit media outlet reporting on our changing planet. Confusion among terms like [...]
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Materials
Carbon Nanotubes Channel Heat into Light for Solar
The ever-more-humble carbon nanotube may be just the device to make solar panels far more efficient – and anything else that loses energy through heat. Rice University [...]
Speeding Discovery of New Solar Cell Materials
A broad class of materials called perovskites is considered one of the most promising avenues for developing new, more efficient solar cells. But the virtually limitless [...]
Recycling biosolids to make sustainable bricks
How can you recycle the world’s stockpiles of treated sewage sludge and boost sustainability in the construction industry, all at the same time? Turn those biosolids into [...]
Wood-based membrane captures low grade heat for energy
It’s been a longtime goal of engineers to harvest the energy created by the human body. Researchers at the University of Maryland have created a heat-to-electricity [...]
Energy Harvesting Material Can Be 3D Printed
Pretty soon you could be harvesting energy from your shoe soles to your gloves, or the mat under your carpet. A team from Virginia Tech is able to 3D print piezoelectric [...]
Energy-Generating Bricks Use Thermal Differential
A recently developed thermal brick has the capability of providing affordable energy and shelter for developing countries or temporary communities. An international team of [...]
NREL IDs Markets for Flexible Solar
Thin film photovoltaic (PV) cells have been a target of some skepticism due to cost and scale-up issues for high-performance microcells. However, with new advances, [...]
NREL Bio-based Carbon Fiber: Renewable Feedstock
In plotting a course for the future, NREL researchers followed a road map from 1916. Their guide—a journal article penned by two chemistry professors from Johns Hopkins [...]
Will Your Car’s Body be Your Battery?
In the same way that the technology industry is looking at energy harvesting through advanced textiles for people, a research team in Sweden is believes it can store energy [...]
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