Renewable Energy

If you've ever peeked below the surface of the ocean, you'll have seen seaweed waving back and forth in the current. Scientists from China's Dalian Maritime University have now utilized that same motion in an underwater energy-harvesting device.

Scientists have demonstrated how encasing algae in tiny liquid crystal droplets can boost its natural energy harvesting abilities by up to three times, marking another step toward commercial viability for artificial photosynthesis.

More than three years after revealing plans to build a monster offshore wind turbine called the Haliade-X, GE Renewable Energy has announced that the prototype of the latest member of the family has started operating at 14 MW in Rotterdam.

Startup SunDrive is developing alternative silicon solar cells that use more sustainable copper instead of silver, and it has now shown how the abundant metal can push the technology into new terrain by claiming a world record for efficiency.

China's MingYang Smart Energy has announced an offshore wind turbine even bigger than GE's monstrous Haliade-X. The MySE 16.0-242 is a 16-megawatt, 242-meter-tall behemoth capable of powering 20,000 homes per unit over a 25-year service life.

Scientists investigating the massive untapped potential of wave energy have come up with a novel design for a convertor they say operates with far greater efficiency than comparable solutions, and could open the door to widespread use of the technology.

Following the official launch of "the world's most powerful tidal turbine" in April, Orbital Marine Power has announced that the O2 has started grid-connected power generation at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney.

Carbon dioxide may finally get its chance to become a solution in the climate crisis. Italy's Energy Dome says its CO2 batteries will store energy at less than half the cost of lithium "big batteries," while also being very responsive to load demand.

Boston's Form Energy says its iron-air batteries store up to 100 hours' worth of energy at a tenth the cost of a lithium battery farm. They could make a huge contribution to long-term storage as the world makes its transition toward renewable energy.

Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have come up with a new design that addresses a number of shortcomings with current molten salt batteries, demonstrating one that can be constructed far more cheaply than currently available versions.

Looking to leverage all the motion in the ocean is UK startup Sustainable Marine, whose floating tidal turbine rotors just breezed through a testing regime that simulated 20 years of real-world conditions.

Many renewable energy technologies require metals that are mined through environmentally destructive processes. Now, Oxford scientists are investigating a new way to mine valuable metals trapped in hot brines beneath volcanoes.