Coal

RMIT researchers have developed a new type of "green concrete" that incorporates twice as much recycled coal ash as existing low-carbon concretes, halves the amount of cement required, and lasts even longer than regular Portland cement concrete.

Chinese scientists have developed a cost-effective method of converting coal into protein, which they say could feed livestock much more efficiently than natural plants, while using a tiny fraction of the land.

Coal is not thought of as clean fuel, but it might yet have a role to play in the push for greener energy. Researchers say that it could be great for storing hydrogen gas, one of the most promising clean fuel sources currently being explored.

Though the lockdowns brought on by the coronavirus pandemic led to some extreme dips in global carbon emissions, new analysis form the International Energy Agency (IEA) has shown how insignificant they may be in the grand scheme of things.

The burning of coal may be falling out of favor as a means of generating heat and electricity, but that doesn't mean the material no longer has any valuable uses. According to a new study, it could be utilized in the desalination of seawater.

A surprisingly simple new energy storage system is built on blocks that store thermal energy like melted chocolate chips in a muffin. The team says they’re efficient, scalable, safe, inexpensive, and can be used in existing coal-fired power plants.

Concrete is made of a combination of cement, an aggregate such as gravel, and water. If that mixture dries too fast, then cracks can form within it as it cures. Now, however, scientists have determined that the use of coal-ash spheres can help keep that from happening.

Capturing carbon from the air and sequestering it is emerging as a viable strategy, and now scientists have developed a new method to turn CO2 gas back into solid coal, that can then be buried, or even used for electronic components.

In the near future, fluorescent graphene quantum dots could crop up in clothes, cosmetics, consumer electronics and even cancer treatments. New Atlas spoke to Moti Gross, the CEO of Dotz Nano, a company that's developing new ways for these tiny, glowing, one-atom-thick dots to be made and used.​

Worldwide changes have prompted a big drop in the development of coal-fired power plants, a new study has found. Shifts in policy and economic conditions in China and India are central to the decline, says the report, which describes a 48 percent drop in overall pre-construction activity. ​

Renewables have now overtaken coal as the world's largest source of installed power capacity, and the agency's projections over the next five or so years paint a pretty promising picture for the industry indeed. ​

Scientists from MIT have created a thin-film nanomaterial version of coal that may challenge graphene and silicon. Easy to process, and cheap to make, it makes use of a material that is usually simply burned for its heating value.