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How our 2-billion-year-old microbial ancestors made energy
New research has redefined our understanding of how archaea – our 2-billion-year-old microbial ancestors – used hydrogen gas to produce energy. The discovery could also help humans devise new ways to...
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Baths beget better battery recycling
A team of Canadian researchers has found a more efficient and environmentally friendly way to recycle alkaline batteries. The method, which involves bathing spent batteries in water-based solutions,...
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Fast-charging, cheap, solid-state sodium battery bursts onto the scene
Sodium batteries are set to become an important component of energy systems, providing much of lithium’s power without the high price and environmental costs. US researchers have made a solid-state,...
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Lithium batteries made more durable with hotter crystals
Korean researchers have found a way to grow crystals that they say could end up in lithium-ion batteries capable of powering an electric vehicle for 1 million kilometres. The researchers have made a...
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Old solar panels can be recycled into lithium-ion batteries
Chinese researchers have found a way to make silicon from old solar panels into powerful anodes for lithium-ion batteries. They say their research, published in Nature Sustainability, paves the way...
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Speargun-inspired device may make offshore wind farms cheaper
Professor Majid Nazem and Junlin Rong with the device. Credit: Michael Quin, RMIT Australian engineers have built a speargun-inspired device that could cut the costs and time involved in planning...
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Stretchy batteries for flexible, wearable technology
Two teams of scientists have announced they’ve made stretchy, jelly-like batteries. Flexible electronics, for things like health monitors, need flexible power sources. At the moment, this mostly means...
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Dark oxygen in deep sea battery raises questions on mining
Scientists have discovered a source of “dark oxygen” on the abyssal seafloor, a place where no sunlight can penetrate. The oxygen, which appears to be made from metals forming a natural battery, might...
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Nuclear SMRs too immature for Australia now, says top body
Nuclear small modular reactors (SMRs) might be a feasible source of power for Australia in the mid- to late-2040s, but are unlikely to be of use before then, according to a new report. The analysis,...
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Lithium-ion batteries made from wastewater phosphorus
A wastewater treatment plant in Thailand. Credit: Prasit photo / Getty Images Engineers have found a way to turn phosphorus from city wastewater into parts for lithium-ion batteries. The Chinese...
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You might have missed: blowflies carry bird flu; twisted carbon nanotubes;...
Blowflies carry bird flu virus New research has identified a potential new transmission route for bird flu – blowflies of the genus Calliphora. Japanese scientists collected blowflies near a wild...
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Bronze Age technology makes renewable energy shift cheaper
A technology that dates back thousands of years could dramatically reduce the need for batteries and other renewable energy storage technologies, according to US researchers. Firebricks are...
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Device harvests energy from radio signals to power sensors
Scientists have built a device that can harness ambient radiofrequency signals, like Wi-fi and Bluetooth, for energy. The invention, say the researchers, could help to improve the energy efficiency of...
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Powerful lithium battery component made with cheap metal
An international team of researchers has made a manganese-based lithium-ion battery, which performs as well as conventional, costlier cobalt-nickel batteries in the lab. They’ve published their...
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The quest for cheaper flow batteries goes on
Flow batteries promise longer-lasting and safer grid energy storage than their lithium-ion counterparts. But, while they don’t need lithium, commercial examples still currently need metals to work,...
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A blueprint for phasing out coal power stations in Asia
Countries in the Asia-Pacific region account for 76% of the world’s thermal coal power generation, and many of these plants will need to retire early to meet global emissions targets. But according to...
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Device provides air conditioning without conditioning air
Researchers have made a cooling device that they say can chill environments with 50% of the energy used by conventional air conditioning. They are using the physics of radiative cooling. The...
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Imaging the inside of a flow battery
Researchers have developed an X-ray scan (of a sort) for flow batteries that will make them more efficient. The international team of scientists has published the technique in Nature Communications....
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Methane emissions at their highest yet, but not in Australia
Global methane emissions are rising at record levels, according to a new report. Methane emissions have risen 20% in the past 20 years. The findings come from the Global Methane Budget 2024, which is...
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Lithium-sulphur battery still works after it’s cut in half
A team of Chinese researchers have made a lithium-sulphur battery that can provide power even after being folded or cut in half. The researchers, who have published their findings in ACS Energy...
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