Energy and Resources News

March 22, 2025

Top Headlines

Green Recipe: Engineered Yeast Boosts D-Lactic Acid Production

Mar. 20, 2025 — Researchers have engineered yeast to efficiently convert methanol into D-lactic acid, a key compound for biodegradable plastics and pharmaceuticals. By optimizing gene and promoter combinations, they achieved the highest reported yield to date, ...

Producing Nuclear Fusion Fuel Is Banned in the US for Being Too Toxic, but These Researchers Found an Alternative

Mar. 20, 2025 — Lithium-6 is essential for producing nuclear fusion fuel, but isolating it from the much more common isotope, lithium-7, usually requires liquid mercury, which is extremely toxic. Now, researchers ...

New Carbon-Negative Material Could Make Concrete and Cement More Sustainable

Mar. 19, 2025 — Researchers injected CO2 gas into seawater while applying an electrical current. The process transformed dissolved ions, minerals in seawater into clusters of solid particles. The clusters hold over ...

Nanocellulose Treated With Red Onion Dye Provides Effective UV Protection for Solar Cells

Mar. 19, 2025 — Researchers investigated how to use bio-based materials to produce effective UV protection films for solar cells. The study was the first to compare how the properties of different bio-based UV ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:04pm EDT

EPA Regulations Cut Power Sector Emissions but Miss Opportunities for Deeper Reductions

Mar. 19, 2025 — Regulations finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2024 could cut emissions from the power sector by 51% over 2022 levels, compared to ...

Eco-Friendly Method to Efficiently Convert Methane to Ethanol

Mar. 18, 2025 — In advancing sustainable energy solutions, an international collaborative team of scientists has achieved a significant milestone in low-carbon chemical conversion. In their recent publication in ...

Top Locations for Ocean Energy Production Worldwide Revealed

Mar. 17, 2025 — Until now, a global evaluation of ocean current energy with actual data was lacking. Using 30 years of NOAA's Global Drifter Program data, a study shows that ocean currents off Florida's East Coast ...

A Path to Safer, High-Energy Electric Vehicle Batteries

Mar. 12, 2025 — Researchers have published a new study that dives deep into nickel-based cathodes, one of the two electrodes that facilitate energy storage in ...

Artificial Photosynthesis: Researchers Mimic Plants

Mar. 14, 2025 — With artificial photosynthesis, humankind could utilize solar energy to bind carbon dioxide and produce hydrogen. Chemists have taken this one step further: They have synthesized a stack of dyes that ...

How Industrial Waste Gases Could Replace Fossil Fuels in Everyday Consumer Products

Mar. 13, 2025 — Industrial waste gases, long seen as a major contributor to climate change, could soon be captured and repurposed into everyday household products ...

Scientists Develop Solar-Powered Method to Convert Sewage Sludge Into Green Hydrogen and Animal Feed

Mar. 12, 2025 — Scientists have developed an innovative solar-powered method to transform sewage sludge -- a by-product of wastewater treatment -- into green ...

Water Movement on Surfaces Makes More Electric Charge Than Expected

Mar. 11, 2025 — Researchers have discovered that water generates an electrical charge up to 10 times greater than previously understood when it moves across a surface. The team observed when a water droplet became ...

Amino Acid Assists in Recycling Rechargeable Batteries

Mar. 11, 2025 — A new strategy for recycling spent lithium-ion batteries is based on a hydrometallurgical process in neutral solution. This allows for the extraction of lithium and other valuable metals in an ...

Researchers Unveil Comprehensive Zeolite Structures, Advancing Development of Catalysts for Petrochemical and Renewable Energy

Mar. 11, 2025 — Zeolites, crystalline materials widely used in the petrochemical industry, serve as pivotal catalysts in the production of fine chemicals, with ...

Breakthrough Nano-Spring Technology Boosts Battery Durability and Energy Density

Mar. 13, 2025 — Scientists improved battery durability and energy density with a nano-spring ...

Scientists Discover Smart Way to Generate Energy With Tiny Beads

Mar. 11, 2025 — Researchers have discovered a new method to generate electricity using small plastic beads. By placing these beads close together and bringing them into contact, they generate more electricity than ...

Self-Optimizing Catalysts Facilitate Water-Splitting for the Green Production of Hydrogen

Mar. 11, 2025 — Researchers have developed cost-effective and efficient water-splitting catalysts to be used in the eco-friendly production of hydrogen. Catalyst performance surprisingly increases over ...

Clothes Dryers and the Bottom Line: Switching to Air Drying Can Save Hundreds

Mar. 10, 2025 — By replacing clothes dyers with line drying, households in the U.S. could save upwards of $2,100 and avoid 3 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the lifetime of a dryer. The exact impacts, however, ...

Developing the Inherent Functionality of Highly Pure Porous Organic Polymers

Mar. 7, 2025 — Soaking up pollutants like a sponge, porous organic polymers (POPs) may be the key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to ...

Aluminum: A New Hero of Hydrogen Production

Mar. 5, 2025 — Engineers have developed a method to utilize aluminum to improve performance of water electrolysis ...

A Sustainable Iron Catalyst for Water Oxidation in Renewable Energy

Mar. 5, 2025 — A newly developed pentanuclear iron complex can offer an efficient, stable, and cost-effective solution for water oxidation. By electrochemically polymerizing the complex, researchers have obtained a ...

Footprints of Deep-Sea Mining

Mar. 5, 2025 — Mining of polymetallic nodules from the seabed might lead to significant and long-lasting ecological changes -- both in the mined area, where surface sediments and the fauna living in and on it are ...

New Discovery Could 'Revolutionize Carbon Fiber Industry'

Mar. 5, 2025 — A research team has developed a groundbreaking new method of producing carbon fiber while drastically reducing its energy ...

Breakthrough in Clean Energy: Palladium Nanosheets Pave Way for Affordable Hydrogen

Mar. 4, 2025 — Hydrogen energy is widely recognized as a sustainable source for the future, but its large-scale production still relies on expensive and scarce platinum-based catalysts. In order to address this ...

A Hot Droplet Can Bounce Across a Cool Pan, Too

Mar. 3, 2025 — When a droplet of water falls on a hot pan, it dances across the surface, skimming on a thin layer of steam like a tiny hovercraft; this is known as the Leidenfrost effect. But now, researchers know ...

Engineers Create More Effective Burner to Reduce Methane Emissions

Mar. 3, 2025 — Researchers have published a new study showing an advanced new methane flare burner, created with additive manufacturing and machine learning, eliminates 98% of methane vented during oil ...

Researchers Develop Efficient Lithium Extraction Method, Setting Stage for Sustainable EV Battery Supply Chains

Feb. 28, 2025 — In the race to meet the growing global demand for lithium -- a critical component in batteries for electric vehicles -- a team of researchers has developed a breakthrough lithium extraction method ...

Eco Friendly, Inexpensive System for Storing High-Power Energy from Pine Biomass

Feb. 28, 2025 — Scientists have come up with a lithium ion capacitor using electrodes produced from wood particles that are discarded as waste in sawmills. This biomass is both readily available and sustainable, ...

Leading the Charge to Better Batteries

Feb. 27, 2025 — A research group has revealed fundamental insights into anode-free solid-state batteries, paving the way for efforts to improve their ...

Scientists Crack the Code to Longer-Lasting Perovskite Solar Technology

Feb. 27, 2025 — Perovskite solar cells could last ten times longer thanks to new research, which suggests alumina nanoparticles significantly enhance the lifespan and stability of these high-efficiency energy ...

Cracking the Code on Solid-State Batteries

Feb. 27, 2025 — Researchers are working to enhance battery safety and efficiency by developing solid-state alternatives to lithium-ion batteries. These batteries offer improved energy efficiency and safety, but a ...

Researchers Uncover Key Insights Into CO2 Reduction Using SnO-Based Electrocatalysts

Feb. 26, 2025 — The less carbon dioxide polluting our air, the better. Researchers are investigating non-toxic, low-cost electrocatalysts to turn our sustainability goals into ...

Some Fuel Lodges in the Inner Walls of Fusion Vessels: Researchers Now Have a Better Idea of How Much

Feb. 26, 2025 — New research offers insights that could help reduce the amount of radioactive tritium embedded in the walls of fusion vessels to a ...

New Method Developed to Dramatically Enhance Bioelectronic Sensors

Feb. 26, 2025 — In a breakthrough that could transform bioelectronic sensing, an interdisciplinary team of researchers has developed a new method to dramatically enhance the sensitivity of enzymatic and microbial ...