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New Oil-Repelling Material from MIT - Many Applications

MIT engineers have designed the first simple process for manufacturing materials that strongly repel oils. The material, which can be applied as a flexible surface coating, could have applications in aviation, space travel and hazardous waste cleanup.

6 Dec 2007

Concentrated Solar Energy Reverses Combustion

Using concentrated solar energy to reverse combustion, a research team from Sandia National Laboratories is building a prototype device intended to chemically “reenergize” carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide using concentrated solar power. The carbon monoxide could then be used to make hydrogen or serve as a building block to synthesize a liquid combustible fuel, such as methanol or even gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

6 Dec 2007

Greenhouse Gas-Gobbling Bacteria From Hell's Gate Could Aid Climate Change Battle

A new species of bacteria discovered living in one of the most extreme environments on Earth could yield a tool in the fight against global warming.

6 Dec 2007

50 Gigawatts of Electrical Power Could be Released by Damming Red Sea

Damming the Red Sea could solve the growing energy demands of millions of people in the Middle East and alleviate some of the region's tensions pertaining to oil supplies through hydroelectric power.

6 Dec 2007

Disguising Environmental Harm Eases Only Our Conscience

We can disguise environmentally harmful practices and dress them up in words to help ease our consciences, argues Albert Bandura of the Department of Psychology at Stanford University, but such practices will have a negative impact on the planet and the quality of life of future generations, no matter how we label them.

4 Dec 2007

Crop and Pasture Response to Climate Change

Global agriculture, already predicted to be stressed by climate change in coming decades, could go into steep, unanticipated declines in some regions due to complications that scientists have so far inadequately considered, say three new scientific reports.

3 Dec 2007

New Data Analysis Conclusive About Release Of CO2 From Peatland When Natural Swamp Forest Is Converted To Oil Palm Plantation

A new data analysis undertaken by Dr. Susan Page of the University of Leicester Department of Geography and colleagues involved in the EU-funded CARBOPEAT and RESTORPEAT projects shows conclusively that large amounts of carbon dioxide are released from peatland in Southeast Asia when it is converted from natural swamp forest to plantations of oil palm or pulpwood trees.

3 Dec 2007

Understanding How and Why Fuel Cells Fail Key to Reducing Cost and Improving Durability

Researchers in the Georgia Tech Research Institute’s (GTRI) Center for Innovative Fuel Cell and Battery Technologies believe that understanding how and why fuel cells fail is the key to both reducing cost and improving durability.

28 Nov 2007

U.S. Program Aims to Develop Technology to Economically and Sustainably Produce Ethanol from Biomass

The United States has embarked on an ambitious program to develop technology and infrastructure to economically and sustainably produce ethanol from biomass.

28 Nov 2007

New Research Center Focused on Cutting Edge Hydrogen Fuel Cell Science

The University of Massachusetts Amherst will create a new research center focused on the cutting edge of hydrogen fuel cell science, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced, awarding a three-year, $1.5 million grant to the Fueling the Future Chemical Bonding Center.

28 Nov 2007