• OPEC Agrees to Cut Oil Production

    The 23-member alliance has decided to reduce production by 2 million barrels per day. The move could increase crude oil prices and aid Russia, which is grappling with Western attempts to reduce its financing.

  • Solar Harvesting System May Generate Solar Power 24/7

    With all the research, history and science behind it, there are limits to how much solar power can be harvested and used – as its generation is restricted only to the daytime. A new type of solar energy harvesting system that breaks the efficiency record of all existing technologies. And no less important, it clears the way to use solar power 24/7.

  • Permanent Rupture: The European-Russia Energy Relationship Has Ended with Nord Stream

    Last Monday’s blasts that tore through the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines have already blown up whatever was left of five decades of German energy policy. For Germany, abandoning the Nord Stream pipelines signified a fundamental transformation of Germany’s energy security strategy, and its approach to relations with Russia. “The Nord Stream pipeline was the last gasp of Ostpolitik and this week’s damage is likely fatal.” Emily Holland writes.

  • Propelling Wind Energy Innovation

    Motivated by the need to eliminate expensive rare-earth magnets in utility-scale direct-drive wind turbines, Sandia National Laboratories researchers developed a fundamentally new type of rotary electrical contact. The novel rotary electrical contact eliminates reliance on rare-earth magnets for large-scale wind turbines.

  • Pipeline Leaks Likely the Result of Deliberate Act

    European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Wednesday that all indications are that leaks from two Nord Stream natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea “are the result of a deliberate act.” The 1,222-kilometer-long Nord Stream 1 pipeline has been, until recently, a major source of gas for Germany. Nord Stream 2, which is 1,234 kilometers in length, has yet to go into commercial operation.

  • Suspicious Leaks in Baltic Sea Nord Stream Pipelines Connecting Russia and Germany

    Both Nord Stream natural gas pipelines from Russia to Germany have developed apparent leaks within hours of one another. The cause is unknown, but some sources have hinted at sabotage.

  • New Wave Energy Technology Gets Its Sea Legs

    Clothing that charges your smart watch as you walk, buildings that vibrate in the wind and power your lights, a road that extracts energy from the friction created by moving cars, and flexible structures that change shape in ocean waves to generate clean electricity: New technology could generate electricity from ocean waves – and many other sources.

  • Rooftop Solar Cells Can Also Help Water Conservation

    Energy generation and use are tightly bound to water consumption, and fossil-fueled electrical grid’s enormous water use is often overlooked. A given household may save an average 16,200 gallons of water per year by installing rooftop solar.

  • Is China Reexporting Russian Gas to Europe?

    As the EU attempts to unpick its reliance on Russian gas, it could become more dependent on Chinese supplies, some of which come from Russia. This might undermine the aim of reducing purchases of its fossil fuels.

  • Germany Takes Over Rosneft Refineries in Move to Secure Energy Supplies

    Germany says it has taken control of a major oil refinery owned by the German unit of Russia’s Rosneft as a step to bolster energy security for the country amid oil and gas cuts by Moscow in retaliation for Western sanctions against it because of the invasion of Ukraine.

  • The Inflation Reduction Act Is the Start of Reclaiming Critical Mineral Chains

    One important component of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed by Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden on Aug. 16, has been largely overlooked. “Built within the IRA is a commitment to increasing the domestic U.S. supply of critical minerals—lithium, nickel, manganese, and graphite, among others—to provide the materials necessary for a vast expansion in electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, and renewable power production infrastructure,” Morgan Bazilian writes. “The United States needs more wind turbines, solar panels, and electric cars. But to make that possible, it will need more mines.”

  • “We’ve Got the Power”: Sandia Technology Test Delivers Electricity to the Grid

    For the first time, Sandia National Laboratories researchers delivered electricity produced by a new power-generating system to the Sandia-Kirtland Air Force Base electrical grid. The system uses heated supercritical carbon dioxide instead of steam to generate electricity and is based on a closed-loop Brayton cycle.

  • Climate Change Puts Availability of Vital Renewable Energy Source at Risk

    Climate change is putting the availability of biomass fuels and technologies – vital alternatives to fossil fuels – at risk, according to new research. The study has found that as temperatures rise, the window of opportunity to maximize the use of biomass from plants, wood and waste as a renewable energy source and an alternative to petrochemicals is closing.

  • Germany — No Exit from the Nuclear Energy Exit

    German Economy Minister Robert Habeck wants to keep two of the three German nuclear power plants on standby for an extra three months as an emergency reserve. That is the right decision.

  • Super-Fast Electric Car Charging, with a Tailor-Made Touch

    Despite the growing popularity of electric vehicles, many consumers still hesitate to make the switch. Now, scientists report that they’ve designed superfast charging methods tailored to power different types of electric vehicle batteries in 10 minutes or less without harm.