New England Clean Energy Council

Scientists are working toward a biofuel-driven, zero-carbon home energy system. It works by burning vegetable oil to power a generator and provide electricity for the home.

Currently solar cells are difficult to handle, expensive to purchase and complicated to install. The hope is that consumers will one day be able to buy solar cells from their local hardware store and simply hang them like posters on a wall. A recent study has shown that the dream is one step closer to reality.

Deep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions consistent with the UK's 80% greenhouse gas emission reduction target by 2050 are technologically and economically feasible. However, these cuts will require fundamental shifts in technology and behavior. Much more ambitious policies are needed if the 2050 target, as well as 2020 targets for CO2 and renewable energy, are to be met.

Scientists from leading European research institutions in the field of solar-to-fuel energy conversion call for unified action and substantial support for novel clean fuel technologies as well as a paradigm change in Europe's current energy policy. This is crucial if Europe is to maintain its environmental stability and economic development.

The Danish energy system can be changed to depend mainly on renewable energy and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 50%, according to a consensus from scientists, government officials and businesspeople. The big challenge lies in the system itself.

Slow-moving ocean and river currents could be a new, reliable and affordable alternative energy source. Engineers have made a machine that works like a fish to turn potentially destructive vibrations in fluid flows into clean, renewable power.

Engineers and entrepreneurs are rushing to explore alternative sources of efficient and renewable energy. One professor has strong words of caution as projects involving wind farms and photovoltaic cells proliferate. Coordination is lacking in development of alternative power sources, he warns.

“Net energy is a (mostly) irrelevant, misleading and dangerous metric,” says the editor-in-chief of Biofuels, Bioresources and Biorefining.

Researchers in China and Switzerland are reporting the highest efficiency ever for a promising new genre of solar cells, which many scientists think offer the best hope for making the sun a mainstay source of energy in the future. The photovoltaic cells, called dye-sensitized solar cells or Grätzel cells, could expand the use of solar energy for homes, businesses, and other practical applications, the scientists say.

Researchers have discovered and demonstrated a new method for overcoming two major hurdles facing solar energy. By developing a new antireflective coating that boosts the amount of sunlight captured by solar panels and allows those panels to absorb the entire solar spectrum from nearly any angle, the research team has moved academia and industry closer to realizing high-efficiency, cost-effective solar power.

During the time it takes you to read this article, something will happen high overhead that until recently many scientists didn't believe in. A magnetic portal will open, linking Earth to the sun 93 million miles away. Tons of high-energy particles may flow through the opening before it closes again, around the time you reach the end of the page.

Olive stones can be turned into bioethanol, a renewable fuel that can be produced from plant matter and used as an alternative to petrol or diesel. This gives the olive processing industry an opportunity to make valuable use of 4 million tons of waste in olive stones it generates every year and sets a precedent for the recycling of waste products as fuels.

Research that has provided a deeper understanding into the center of planets could also provide the way forward in the world's quest for cleaner energy. Scientists have gained a deeper insight into the hot, dense matter found at the center of planets and as a result, has provided further understanding into controlled thermonuclear fusion.

Scientists have created the first silicon solar cell to achieve 25 percent efficiency following a revision of the international standard.

Talk about a field of dreams. Cornell bioenergy plant experts are learning which field grasses are the best candidates for "dedicated energy" crops in the Northeast, considering the region's climate and soil conditions.

Scientists in Italy are reporting that a new process could eliminate key obstacles to expanded use of coal gasification to transform that abundant domestic energy resource into synthetic liquid fuels for cars and trucks. 

As the search for new fuels intensifies, researchers in Texas report that switching to certain alternative fuels to power cars, trucks, and SUVs may require the use of much more water than conventional petroleum-based gasoline and diesel. The findings suggest that producing alternative fuels could strain already limited water supplies in some regions of the country.

Better house envelopes, more efficient energy supply systems, and use of biofuels for heating buildings would reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Europe. Buildings account for 36% of Sweden’s energy consumption, and many homes are still heated with electricity. Existing houses therefore have a key role to play in reducing the use of electricity in Sweden.

Nanotechnologies can be used to develop sustainable energy systems while reducing the harmful effects of fossil fuels as they are gradually phased out over the next century. This optimistic scenario is coming closer to reality as new technologies such as biomimetics and Dye Sensitized solar Cells (DSCs) emerge with great promise for capturing or storing solar energy, and nanocatalysis develops efficient catalysts for energy-saving industrial processes. Europe is ready to accelerate development of these technologies, as delegates heard at a recent conference, Nanotechnology for Sustainable Energy.

In his State of the Union Address on Jan. 23, 2007, President Bush stated that, in order to substantially lower foreign oil imports, "We must increase the supply of alternative fuels, by setting a mandatory fuels standard to require 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017."