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Category: sustainability – Page 41

Blue Ghost lander captures stunning sunset shots on the moon before falling silent

A private lunar lander has captured the first high-definition sunset pictures from the moon.

Firefly Aerospace and NASA released the stunning photos Tuesday, taken before the Blue Ghost lander fell silent over the weekend. One shot included Venus in the distance.

Firefly’s Blue Ghost landed on the on March 2, the first private spacecraft to touch down upright and perform its entire mission. It kept taking pictures and collecting science data five hours into the lunar night before it died for lack of solar energy.

Electrode design could prevent explosions in next-gen batteries, allowing 1,000 km on a single charge

A research team at UNIST has identified the causes of oxygen generation in a novel cathode material called quasi-lithium and proposed a material design principle to address this issue.

Quasi-lithium materials theoretically enable batteries to store 30% to 70% more energy compared to existing technologies through high-voltage charging of over 4.5V. This advancement could allow to achieve a of up to 1,000 km on a single charge. However, during the high-voltage charging process, oxygen trapped inside the material can oxidize and be released as gas, posing a significant explosion risk.

The research team, led by Professor Hyun-Wook Lee in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, discovered that oxygen oxidizes near 4.25V, causing partial structural deformation and gas release.

Hydrogen-powered boats offer climate-friendly alternative to road transport

Cargo transport is responsible for an enormous carbon footprint. Between 2010 and 2018, the transport sector generated about 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions. To address this problem, experts are looking for alternative, climate-friendly solutions—not only for road transport, but also for shipping, a sector in which powering cargo ships with batteries has proved especially difficult.

One promising but under-researched solution involves small, autonomous, hydrogen-powered boats that can partially replace long-haul trucking. A research team led by business chemist Prof Stephan von Delft from the University of Münster has now examined this missing link in a new study published in Communications Engineering.

The team has mathematically modeled such a boat for the first time and carried out a - and cost analysis. “Our calculations show in which scenarios hydrogen-powered boats are not only more sustainable but also more economical compared to established transport solutions,” explains von Delft. “They are therefore relevant for policymakers and industry.”

Water Futures: Mobilizing Multi-Stakeholder Action for Resilience

Access to freshwater is changing rapidly, with water stress affecting billions of people and countless businesses each year. Droughts and floods are becoming more frequent and severe, water pollution continues to rise and, without urgent action, we will soon reach a tipping point. This report outlines key pathways to strengthen water resilience, through private sector and multi-stakeholder action, and secure the future of water for society and the global economy.

Every industry depends on water. This makes water resilience not just an environmental concern, but a cornerstone of economic stability, business continuity and prosperity. Rising demand, driven by population growth, shifting consumption and the energy transition, is further straining resources. With an economic value estimated at $58 trillion, water’s critical importance and the scale of the challenge cannot be overstated.

No company or government can build water resilience alone. The World Economic Forum’s Water Futures Community brings together public and private sector sectors leaders to accelerate investment and action. In collaboration with McKinsey & Company, this report offers a systems approach for our community of partners to strengthen water resilience and highlights opportunities for collective action to accelerate solutions at scale.

Fighting coastal erosion with electricity

New research from Northwestern University has systematically proven that a mild zap of electricity can strengthen a marine coastline for generations—greatly reducing the threat of erosion in the face of climate change and rising sea levels.

In the new study, researchers took inspiration from clams, mussels and other shell-dwelling sea life, which use dissolved minerals in seawater to build their shells.

Similarly, the researchers leveraged the same naturally occurring, dissolved minerals to form a natural cement between sea-soaked grains of sand. But, instead of using metabolic energy like mollusks do, the researchers used to spur the chemical reaction.

A new nanoplastic paves the way for sustainable street lighting

A new study resulting from a collaboration between King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) shows how nanomaterials can significantly reduce the carbon emissions of LED (light-emitting diode) streetlights. The research team estimates that by adopting this technology, the United States alone can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than one million metric tons.

The findings are published in the journal Light: Science & Applications.

The nanomaterial, called nanoPE, enhances the emission of thermal radiation from the surface of the LED to reduce the LED temperature. LEDs generate heat, which raises their temperature and risks damaging the LED electronics and shortening the LED’s lifespan. In fact, approximately 75% of the input energy in LEDs is eventually lost as heat.

New method for harnessing sunlight offers path to stable, low-cost solar hydrogen production

A collaborative team of researchers from Imperial College London and Queen Mary University of London has achieved a significant milestone in sustainable energy technology, as detailed in their latest publication in Nature Energy.

The study unveils a pioneering approach to harnessing sunlight for efficient and stable hydrogen production using cost-effective organic materials, potentially transforming the way we generate and store clean energy.

The research tackles a longstanding challenge in the development of solar-to-hydrogen systems: the instability of organic materials such as polymers and small molecules in water and the inefficiencies caused by energy losses at critical interfaces. To address this, the research team introduced a multi-layer device architecture that integrates an organic photoactive layer with a protective graphite sheet functionalized with a nickel-iron catalyst.

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