Greenhouse Gas Emissions

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.

Ammonia has enormous potential as a fuel of the future, but most current production methods make it a dirty source of energy. Yet a new method from MIT that would derive the compound using the Earth's rocks and natural heat cleans it up considerably.

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.

Three Danish energy tech firms have flung open the doors to the first ever green ammonia plant in the world, which is said to be capable of producing 5,000 tons of green ammonia per year, entirely from solar and wind energy.

A new solution from Cambridge University could recycle both concrete and steel at the same time, by throwing old concrete into steel-recycling furnaces. If done using renewable energy, the process could make for completely carbon-zero cement.

Researchers have harvested hydrogen from waste plastics using a low-emissions method. They say it not only solves environmental problems, but the value of the graphene by-product could offset the costs of producing hydrogen.

You'll be hearing a lot more about ammonia as a clean fuel option in the race to zero carbon by 2050. In particular, it looks like a strong option for long-haul ships and trucks. So what is it, how is it made, and how does it shape up as green fuel?

Scientists at University of California, Berkeley have leveraged 3D printing to produce a polymer lattice structure that can act as the backbone for low-carbon concrete that also boasts great strength and durability.

Reaction Engines and Britain's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) have completed a concept study into the practicality of using ammonia as a sustainable, low-emission jet aviation fuel.

Scientists are continually searching for greener ways of producing cement, which is an energy-intensive process. Now an MIT team has found that pulverizing volcanic ash and adding it to the mix not only makes the process more environmentally friendly, but the resulting structures stronger as well. ​

Sure, hybrids use less fuel when strapped to a government test rig, but do they create fewer CO2 emissions throughout their entire manufacture-to-recycle life? Mercedes handed an E350e to the German Technical Inspection Authority (TÜV Süd) to prove hybrid power is cleaner than gas.

Scientists from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory claim to have produced one of the most usable of all chemicals - ethanol - in a process conducted at room temperature that effectively reverses the combustion process