Shale gas is one of the least sustainable ways to produce electricity, research finds
Shale gas is one of least sustainable options for producing electricity, according to new research.
Slow ‘hot electrons’ could improve solar cell efficiency
Photons with energy higher than the 'band gap' of the semiconductor absorbing them give rise to what are known as hot electrons. The extra...
Solar fuels: better efficiency using microwires
Researchers have made significant efficiency improvements to the technology used to generate solar fuels. This involves the direct conversion of energy from sunlight into...
Insulating bricks with microscopic bubbles
The calculation is simple: the better a building is insulated, the less heat is lost in winter - and the less energy is needed...
Unexpected environmental source of methane discovered
Roughly 10 percent of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms contain the genetic code for manufacturing a back-up enzyme, called iron iron-only nitrogenase, to do their job. New...
Nature has more than one way to make methane
Biochemists report a bacterial, iron-only nitrogenase pathway for methane formation.
Scientists home in on a potential Anthropocene ‘Golden Spike’
A new study suggests that key geological markers align towards a start for the Anthropocene somewhere between 1952 to 1955, based on signals from...
Robots aid better understanding of phytoplankton blooms
Phytoplankton blooms are one of the most important factors contributing to the efficiency of the carbon pump in the North Atlantic Ocean. To better...
New application for acoustics helps estimate marine life populations
Researchers have for the first time have used hydroacoustics as a method for comparing the abundance of fishes within and outside marine protected areas...
Sanchi oil spill contamination could take three months to reach mainland
Water contaminated by the oil currently leaking into the ocean from the Sanchi tanker collision is likely to take at least three months to...