Research Laboratory news

Artificial photosynthesis is a technique that shows promising results in the search for viable alternatives to fossil fuels, as it is a way to harvest solar energy to create hydrogen from water. For this process, so-called water splitting devices are used, which have yet to live up to their potential because their design still does not have the right properties to function efficiently. Now, researchers at the U.S. Department of...

Producing renewable fuels and other useful materials from carbon dioxide that has been pulled from the atmosphere has become one of the most important tasks for modern fuel research. The catalysts in use, which can perform this conversion, are usually made from expensive metals. Now, scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have discovered an inexpensive and environmentally safe method to create a clean chemical system...

One of today’s most challenging tasks in energy production and storage is to find a means to store energy for use at peak times when power is most expensive. Batteries are often paired with renewables to store energy produced at wind and solar farms and to stabilize the difference between demand and supply. The biggest problem with conventional batteries, however, is that developing a commercially-viable battery from readily available...