Energy

an overhead shot of land split in three. the left side is dry and dusty. the middle has some vegetation, and the right side has a lot.

Desertification is destroying fertile land. Here’s how we’re fighting it.

a female presenting person in a lab coat holding a solar cell

New “tandem” solar cell breaks world record

A new tandem solar cell containing layers of silicon and perovskite has demonstrated an unprecedented efficiency of 33.7%.

Kristin Houser

Clean Energy

These 4 charts show the unstoppable growth of solar

Solar is growing fast enough to displace fossil fuels from the entire global economy before 2050, but infrastructure needs to keep up.

Andrew Blakers

Clean Energy

Making electricity from wastewater

Researchers have developed a “sandwich-like” membrane that removes pollutants while generating power.

B. David Zarley

a closeup of the fans for a carbon capture system

Climate Crisis

New material traps CO2 — and turns it into baking soda

A new material for direct air capture systems turns trapped carbon into baking soda when introduced to seawater.

Kristin Houser

Clean Energy

Self-sufficient “microgrids” could save you from power grid emergencies

Centralized power systems rely on large power plants and transmission grids, but microgrids are self-sufficient.

Alan Brent and Soheil Mohseni

a hand holding a flat, squarish white battery with two holes in it

Clean Energy

These 3D-printed batteries could be the future of clean energy

Silicon Valley startup Sakuu has developed a 3D-printing platform that it says can mass produce solid-state batteries, in any shape and size

Kristin Houser

Clean Energy

These “microreactors” could be the future of nuclear power

Microreactors that can be built and deployed much faster than traditional nuclear power plants could be the future of nuclear energy

Kristin Houser

Climate Crisis

Startup plants first GMO trees designed for carbon removal

Living Carbon is ready to begin planting thousands of GMO trees engineered to pull 27% more carbon from the air.

Kristin Houser

Inventions

This “chameleon” material can heat or cool houses on demand

Thanks to “electrochromism,” a newly developed material can switch between absorbing and reflecting heat from the sun.

Sam Jarman

an illustration of an astronaut on the moon holding lunar dust

Climate Crisis

A shield of lunar dust could cool the Earth, says Harvard scientists

New research out of Harvard shows how we could potentially cool the Earth by creating a massive sun shield out of moon dust.

Kristin Houser

Climate Crisis

This new idea could reduce steel’s carbon emissions by 90%

B. David Zarley

A grid of fans pulling carbon from the air

Climate Crisis

World’s biggest direct air capture plant is trapping CO2 in Iceland

Direct air capture technology is starting to take off, with ever-larger CO2 removal facilities opening across the globe.

Kristin Houser

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