Electricity

We've already heard about hoses that get wrapped around existing hot water pipes, using heat radiated from the pipe to heat water inside the hose. A new wrap-around device, however, uses that same pipe-heat to generate electricity.

As useful as renewable energy sources are, they need to be backed up by storage systems. Ocean Battery is a new design for an energy storage system that functions a bit like a hydroelectric dam at the bottom of the sea.

Wireless power transmission has potential, but range is a major hurdle. In a new proof-of-concept, Ericsson and PowerLight Technologies demonstrated a technique called optical beaming, using a laser to transmit power to a portable 5G base station.

With the world shifting to electric vehicles, figuring out the best way to get a car charger for an electric vehicle installed is going to become common challenge for many of us. Here's a look at what’s involved, and what factors to consider, when it comes to installing an EV charger in your home.

Microbial fuel cells are a promising new way to generate electricity, but so far they’re plagued by inefficiency. Researchers at UCLA have now found a way to wring more energy out of them, by feeding the bacteria silver to make them more conductive.

Scientists in China have demonstrated a creative approach to flexible energy storage, designing a novel supercapacitor that maintains high capacity when stretched and twisted thanks to accordion-style wrinkles.

The idea of using human movement to generate electricity is something we've seen applied to many areas, and scientists have now developed a highly efficient form of wooden flooring that leverages this technology to power a lamp with footsteps.

Widespread wireless charging could one day keep our devices juiced up indefinitely. A new breakthrough has been made in that direction, as researchers in Japan have developed a system that can turn a whole room into a wireless charger.

A new thermoelectric material may be the most efficient one yet. The new and improved polycrystalline form of purified tin selenide has all the right properties to make it a practical material for converting waste heat into electricity.

Thermoelectric generators produce an electric current through a temperature gradient. Now, engineers have created a new device that absorbs heat from the Sun on one surface and emits it from another, allowing it to generate electricity day and night.

MIT has developed a device that generates electricity using a completely new mechanism. “Particles” made of carbon nanotubes are dunked in an organic solvent, which induces a current to potentially power small robots or drive chemical reactions.

California is set to be home to two new compressed-air energy storage facilities – each claiming the crown for world’s largest non-hydro energy storage system. Developed by Hydrostor, the facilities will have an output of 500 MW and capacity of 4 GWh.