About Tech & Environment News
Vertical Solar Panels in Snow
At 65 degrees north the December sun climbs only 1.6 degrees at noon, so panel angle matters. This explainer follows how the old tilt rule met bifacial panels, what vertical panels delivered in Alaska, Norway and Finland, and why snow and cloud still keep yield forecasts uncertain.
Is Wave Energy Commercially Viable Yet? What 2026 Shows
A wave energy device earned its first full DNV certificate in 2026 and a US test site opened, yet wave electricity still costs several times more than offshore wind. We weigh the pilots, King Island’s grid and storm survival to ask: is wave energy commercially viable?
Rocket Lab Introduces Space Solar Cell Without Germanium
Rocket Lab has introduced the Inverted Metamorphic Apex, a space solar cell made without germanium. According to the company, it is 40% lighter than existing cells in its class and converts 31.5% of sunlight into power when new. Germanium has grown scarce and costly.
BARC Method Recovers About 90% of Lithium From Seawater
Researchers at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre removed over 99% of interfering ions from seawater, then recovered about 90% of its lithium with a solvent reused over five cycles. The work remains at laboratory scale.
Airbus and MTU Plan Hydrogen Fuel Cell Engine Joint Venture
Airbus and MTU Aero Engines intend to set up a joint venture for a fully electric hydrogen fuel cell engine. The deal is non-binding and expected to start in 2027, but the release leaves hydrogen supply, cost and an aircraft date open.
Can Mushrooms Clean Contaminated Soil?
Mycoremediation uses fungi to break down pollutants like diesel and PCBs and to capture heavy metals. The evidence is strongest for organic pollutants, though results vary by species and site. Money holds the field back more than biology: few companies want to pay for a slower, unproven alternative.
Chinese Academy Builds Seawater Hydrogen System
Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a system that couples alkaline water electrolysis with low-grade waste heat from hydrogen production to drive seawater distillation, producing both hydrogen and fresh water simultaneously while improving efficiency.
Emvolon Puts Methanol Plants Inside Shipping Containers
Emvolon, an MIT spinout, builds shipping-container methanol units around repurposed car engines. Two reports give different output and cost figures.
Battelle Separates Rare Earth Elements With Proteins
Battelle researchers and collaborators have demonstrated that engineered calcium-binding proteins can selectively separate rare earth elements with high purity and yield. Supported by DARPA, the work offers a potential alternative to conventional processing methods for critical minerals.
Crescent Dunes Sold for $7 Million: What’s Next for America’s Molten-Salt Solar Tower
Crescent Dunes, the Nevada molten-salt solar tower that cost $975 million to build, changed hands for $7 million in July 2026 after its owner’s second bankruptcy. Four hot-tank leaks kept the plant far below its design output, while China now builds most new plants of its kind.
Geothermal Well Water Cooling: Free Air Conditioning From Your Backyard
Well water air conditioning, technically an open-loop geothermal system, is the most efficient geothermal option available, and often cheaper to install than a closed loop. What limits it isn’t the physics or even the cost. It’s whether local regulation, water rights, and aquifer conditions allow it at all.
Maersk and Anemoi Fit the First Rotor Sail to a Container Ship
Maersk is testing a rotor sail on a container ship for the first time, taking a technology already proven on bulk carriers onto a much tighter, crane-heavy deck. Maersk is putting a rotor sail on a container ship for the…
Does Biochar Improve Soil and Capture Carbon?
Roughly seven thousand years ago, in patches scattered across the Amazon basin, something unusual happened to the soil. Indigenous communities burned crop waste, bones, and pottery shards into the ground alongside their crops. The result was terra preta, a black,…
Smart-Home Synergy: Electrified HVAC Meets On-Site Solar
Explore the real-world convergence of modern electric heat pumps and on-site solar systems. Learn how smart thermostats, high Coefficients of Performance, and federal incentives are turning everyday homes into low-emission, energy-resilient powerhouses.
EFGL: The World’s First Nature-Inclusive Floating Wind Farm
The EFGL floating wind farm off the Occitanie coast is proving that renewable energy can do more than just generate power. By integrating Biohut artificial habitats, this project is actively supporting marine biodiversity, offering a scalable blueprint for how we can build energy infrastructure that works with, rather than against, our oceans.
Green Roof Insulation: Real Energy Savings or Urban Myth?
Green roofs get sold as insulation with big percentage claims. Summer cooling numbers hold up well across peer-reviewed studies. Winter insulation claims are far shakier, and a well-insulated building may see almost no benefit. Chicago’s own City Hall can’t produce one agreed-upon savings figure. Here’s the honest cost, payback, and verdict.
Inside an Earthship: How the Closed-Loop Design Works
An Earthship runs like a ship at sea: no power line, water main, or sewer hookup required. This piece walks through the closed-loop engineering that makes it possible, where the design struggles outside a desert climate, and what true off-grid independence costs.
Thermal Energy Storage at Home: Hot Water Tanks as Batteries
Every water heater is a small thermal battery already. This piece walks through how CTA-2045 (US) and EEBUS (EU) turn that into a grid resource, compares Rheem, Mixergy, and Steffes, and runs the honest cost-per-kWh math against a lithium battery — pack price versus installed price included
Is Aquaponics Worth It? Fish, Plants, and the Loop That Feeds Both
Aquaponics combines fish farming and plant growing into one water-saving loop — but the industry’s own numbers don’t agree on its size. This guide covers how the loop works, what it costs at every scale, why home systems fail, and the surprisingly mixed commercial track record behind the hype.
Phase Change Materials: The Silent Revolution in Home Insulation
Phase change materials store heat instead of resisting it — using the same physics that keeps ice water at a constant temperature while it melts. The first generation of building products failed commercially in the 2000s. This guide covers what changed, real costs and savings, and where PCM insulation genuinely makes sense today.