Greenhouse emissions

The membrane-based electrolyzer, key to where the conversion to gaseous ammonia happens

Energy

Human-made lightning harnessed to produce clean ammonia from air

Chemical engineers at the University of Sydney are using human-made lightning to produce ammonia – a key ingredient in fertilizers – from thin air and without the need for high temperatures or pressures.

Concrete is the most-used man-made product on Earth

Materials

Circular cement makes for strong and green concrete

Researchers have found a way to take waste concrete from demolition sites and turn it into fresh new concrete that has a strength not seen before from such a product. The breakthrough could lead to significant emissions reductions in the building sector.

Without additional heat, pressure, or electricity, this contraption is quietly producing ammonia from thin air at the Stanford University campus

Energy

Portable device produces ammonia from thin air at room temperature

In the latest bid to greenify ammonia production, researchers have built a portable device to cheaply produce ammonia wherever it's needed by simply using air at room temperature and standard atmospheric pressure.

Scientists use a blueprint of photosynthesis to produce greener, renewable products

Energy

Sunlight turns CO2 and methane into valuable gases for fuel and industry

Taking a leaf out of the plant book, scientists have used a method not unlike photosynthesis to harness the power of sunlight and turn two destructive greenhouse gases into useful, prized chemicals for renewable fuel and greener manufacturing.

Savor uses chemistry to make 'butter' that tastes just like the real thing

Technology

Fats from thin air: Startup makes butter using CO2 and water

Bill Gates has thrown his weight – and his money – behind a startup making a rich, fatty spread akin to butter, using just carbon dioxide and hydrogen. And this is just the start, with milk, ice-cream, cheese, meat and plant oils also in development.

Catalysis expert Richard Blair, left, and nanotechnologist Laurene Tetard, both from UCF, have teamed up on some exciting new photocatalysis discoveries

Energy

Solar catalyst captures methane to create pure hydrogen and carbon

Methane has a greenhouse effect 80 times worse than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, and emissions are skyrocketing even as we start reducing CO2. That makes UCF's new hydrocarbon-capturing, sunlight-powered catalyst a very compelling idea.

Samples of LionGlass, a new material that's at least 10 times more crack resistant than regular glass, and far more environmentally friendly to produce

Materials

LionGlass boasts 10x the strength of regular glass, greener production

Despite its many advantages, glass has one major Achilles' heel – it’s brittle. Now, engineers at Penn State have developed LionGlass, a new form that's not only 10 times more damage resistant, but requires significantly less energy to manufacture.

An experiment illustrates the electrolysis process using dye: pink represents the acid created at one electrode and purple the base at the other end

Materials

Electrolysis technique makes cement CO2 emission-free

Making cement is one of the biggest contributors of carbon emissions. Now MIT researchers have developed a new method that can clean up the process.

TAM Airlines, working together with Airbus, has successfully conducted the first Jatropha-based biofuel flight in Latin America

Aircraft

Biofuel Airbus A320 completes first successful test flight

Brazil’s largest airline, TAM Airlines, working together with Airbus has successfully conducted the first Jatropha-based biofuel flight in Latin America.