Bits of Energy

Recycled paper waste could be used to fuel cars

It seems a bit far-fetched, producing fuel out of paper waste with the help of bacteria found in animal droppings. But it is exactly what Tulane University scientists in New Orleans have done. They managed to use a novel bacterial … Continue reading →

High mercury levels in soil near coal-fired power plants

We have known for some time that coal-fired power plants emit heavy metals into the air, among which is mercury. Most of these highly toxic particles end up in waterways, through which they sometimes spread as far as to other … Continue reading →

Graphene and water: another perfect mix

We’ve said it before and we will say it again: graphene is here to stay. This time researchers of the Monash University Department of Materials Engineering seem to have lived up to one of graphene’s long due promises: an extremely … Continue reading →

Saudi proven oil reserves no longer world’s largest – Latin American proven reserves grow 400 percent in 4 years

According to a release by Latin American Energy Organisation OLADE last Thursday Venezuela has toppled Saudi Arabia as the country with the largest proven oil reserves. New discoveries have raised the proven reserves of Venezuela from 98 billion barrels of … Continue reading →

Just 565 Gt CO2 to go till 2050 under 450 Scenario – 80% proven fossil fuel reserves should remain untouched

In order to limit global warming to an average of no more than 2 degrees Celsius, the official UN climate target, the equivalent of 2230 gigatonnes CO2 of proven fossil fuel reserves should remain in the ground, a report published … Continue reading →

DNA: the building block of a new class of nanomaterials

For years, nanotechnologists have been captivated by the potential of quantum dots – semiconducting particles that can absorb and emit light efficiently and at custom-chosen wavelengths. Their true potential however, has been difficult to grasp because of the lack of … Continue reading →

A new hope for hydrogen energy: nanoparticle driven and solar powered

Hydrogen would be an excellent clean energy source, were it not for the fact that it costs a tremendous amount of energy to produce and is thus quite expensive. Researchers have been looking for ways to cheaply and sustainably produce … Continue reading →

Shutting down 20GW nuclear translates to 11GW extra coal

And 5GW of newly built gas power plants, which also emit more CO2 than [practically zero carbon] nuclear power plants. This is just the German case. Meanwhile also Switzerland has announced it will phase out its entire nuclear capacity and … Continue reading →