Renewable Energy

A new project in the Australian Outback will trial an innovative technique for converting solar energy into hydrogen by capturing moisture from the air and splitting it via hydrolysis, making it possible for hot, arid areas to become energy exporters.

Now is the time, says a new report commissioned by the US Dept of Energy, for "urgent" government and private sector investment in a pilot fusion power plant on US soil by 2040. The report also lays out the key technical challenges that need solving.

BP and Chevron have led a US$40 million investment round for a Canadian startup that claims to have developed a unique way to extract energy from geothermal heat on demand, using an unpowered looping fluid design that's already prototyped in Alberta.

Denmark's Vestas is looking to become an industry leader in offshore wind, and has introduced the V236-15.0 MW turbine to take the fight to GE. The new design's blades offer the largest swept area in the world.

A 200-kilowatt demonstration version of Wave Swell Energy's fascinating "blowhole" power generator has been deployed at Grassy Harbour on King Island, off the Australian island state of Tasmania, and will be connected to the grid in the coming months.

We’ve been tracking the progress of the world’s largest offshore wind turbine since GE Renewable Energy first revealed its plans for the enormous machine in 2018, and the company has now revealed an even more powerful version.

UK gas distributor SGN has been given approval to supply hydrogen produced using renewables to around 300 Scottish homes. Participating households should be able to start heating their homes and cooking their meals with the gas from the end of 2022.

Perovskite solar cells are rapidly catching up to silicon in efficiency, but continue to lag behind in production speed. Now Stanford has developed a new method of making perovskite solar cells at up to 40 ft per minute – even faster than silicon.

A simple home test for breast cancer and a UV energy-harvesting window made of recycled materials are the big winners of this year’s James Dyson Awards. The annual competition encourages university students to develop innovative solutions to problems.

The British government has commissioned a new study into building an orbital solar power station by 2050. It will look into space-based systems that use giant solar arrays to generate electricity and beam it to Earth in the form of microwaves.

Perovskite solar is gaining much attention in solar cell research, but there are greener alternatives in the works. Scientists have just uncovered a new use for these materials, learning they can harvest energy from indoor lighting with high efficiency.

As renewable energy grows in popularity around the world, efforts to cut costs and increase its appeal in every way possible continue, and a bug-inspired six-legged robot may have an important part to play in this.