Engineering

Solar cells based on perovskites, calcium titanium oxide minerals or compounds with similar structures, are among the most promising emerging energy solutions. Over the past few years, engineers and material scientists have been exploring the potential of solar mini-modules (i.e., small cells that can be used to create larger-scale solar panels) made of perovskite bifacial structures.

The push to prepare American cities and towns for greater climate resilience has become more urgent in recent years as scientific evidence of warming mounts and extreme weather events grow more common. Officials in many states, including Massachusetts and New York, are enacting new rules requiring developers and property owners to change or reduce the type or amount of energy used in their buildings, to incorporate certain construction materials and technology while excluding others, and to plan for rising seas and stormwater runoff.

Mounted on the rooftops of industrial buildings, solar panels could meet the entire electricity demand of up to 35% of U.S. manufacturers. A new study, published in Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, investigates the feasibility of meeting these electricity demands through on-site solar panel installations for different regions and manufacturing sectors across the United States.

The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) developed an algorithm designed to help estimate heating and cooling consumption easily in buildings that cannot afford a building energy management system (BEMS).

More than 100 years ago, scientists discovered how to turn water into hydrogen gas—a highly desired green energy that’s been nicknamed “the fuel of the future.”

In logging while drilling (LWD), one of the biggest challenges in upgrading from “acoustic measurement” to “intelligent guide drilling” is that the transmission rate of downhole telemetry is too low to achieve real-time and effective formation evaluation.

In the early 2000s, Uruguay experienced a crippling energy crisis. Lacking oil or natural gas reserves, the Uruguayan government realized that if the country were to become energy independent, it had to move forward with renewables. Today, more than 95% of Uruguay’s electricity is generated from renewable sources, chiefly wind and hydropower.

Buildings are Europe’s largest energy consumer. They are responsible for about 40% of the energy consumed and 36 % of greenhouse gases emitted in the EU. However, a mere 1% undergo energy renovations each year. To meet Europe’s climate targets, buildings need to become much more energy efficient, and tools used to make this possible need to be improved.

An ultrathin braided wire in the core of an electrode increases the energy density of lithium-ion batteries, a team of researchers reports in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. Batteries of this kind could be incorporated into functional textiles and used to supply power to smartphones and other electronic devices while we are wearing them. The new braided current collector structure replaces a single continuous wire and improves ion transport within the electrode, increasing charge density.

An international team of researchers, including nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego, has uncovered nanoscale changes inside solid-state batteries that could offer new insights into improving battery performance.