Clean energy entrepreneurs have a new way to raise money at University of Central Florida. The school announced this week that it has received one of eight U.S. Department of Energy grants as part of the government agency’s Cleantech University Prize, which supports clean energy innovation. As part of the grant, the university will host […]

Smart palm trees have been installed and are ready for use in Dubai this summer enabling beach goers and park visitors to have limitless power and internet access on their mobile phones. Soaking up the sun during the day, these state-of-the-art trees store energy to be discharged in the evening. On each tree, there are […]

A pioneering 3D-printed house has popped up in Xian, China. Earlier this week, Chinese company ZhuoDa “built” a two-story villa in less than three hours. Made up of six 3D-printed modules, the house was assembled like LEGO bricks before a live audience who were then invited to explore the interior. The modular fireproof home can […]

Solar panels are an investment — not only in terms of money, but also energy. It takes energy to mine, process and purify raw materials, and then to manufacture and install the final product. Silicon-based panels, which dominate the market for solar power, usually need about two years to return this energy investment. But for […]

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel and University of Florida researchers have been awarded a United States-Israel Bi-national Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) grant to improve the production of biogas that supplies farms’ energy needs. The goal of this project is to design guidelines for improved anaerobic digesters (biogas systems) for treatment in […]

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) wave energy competition is moving toward the next phase with 92 teams. The Wave Energy Prize is a design-build-test competition encouraging the development of better innovations for wave energy conversion (WEC) devices that will double energy capture. When this is achieved, costs will be reduced making wave energy more […]

Calling Tesla not just a car company but an “energy innovation company,” Tesla’s founder Elon Musk unveiled his cost-cutting Powerwall and Powerpack battery systems earlier this year, designed to “move the electricity grid off of fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources.” Read more…

Visions of dazzling engagement rings may pop to mind when platinum is mentioned, but a significant share of the nearly half a million pounds of the rare metal mined each year ends up in vehicle emission systems and chemical manufacturing plants. The silvery white metal speeds up or enhances reactions, a role scientists call serving as […]

In the future, green buildings may actually be green. A gazebo, unveiled this month at the Expo 2015 world’s fair in Milan, demonstrates how algae-filled plastic could serve as a living “skin” for buildings.   Read more…

In rural Nigeria, a woman named Iniobong opened a maternity clinic to serve her community. It had no electricity, so she used candlelight or kerosene to deliver babies and care for mothers. One day, a woman named Blessing brought a solar light to her prenatal check-up. It sparked Iniobong’s interest, so Blessing told her that […]