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Innovation / Energy

Researchers at Ohio State University have developed a technology for incorporating food waste into rubber.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

From Trash To Treads: Turning Tomato Peels and Eggshells Into Tires

Scientists at Ohio State University are replacing the petroleum-based filler in tires with food waste

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Charging Ahead: The Future of Batteries

Battery research is at a tipping point, and it’s never been more important

Fulcrum BioEnergy converts household trash into biofuel for airplanes.

Future of Energy

Could Garbage Fuel Airplanes?

Fulcrum BioEnergy wants to divert trash from landfills and create cheap green energy

A Rolls Royce concept for an autonomous ship

What Will the Autonomous Ship of the Future Look Like?

Shipbuilding companies are experimenting with self-driving, remotely-operated and crewless vessels

Iowa State University scientists modeled their artificial leaves after cottonwood leaves.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Are Artificial Trees the Future of Renewable Energy?

While a new device’s flapping leaves can generate a lot of energy, extracting it is far from a breeze

The 20-megawatt power facility is located east of Los Angeles in Ontario, California.

Five Questions You Should Have About California’s New Tesla-Powered Battery Bank

The storage facility will collect energy when it’s readily available, and release it when demand is high. What does this mean for the future of energy?

A California Startup Is Using Ashes to Protect Forests

Better Place Forests is accepting reservations from those who wish to have their remains scattered in a redwood forest in northern California

The process involves speeding up the fermentation of wood sugars. The resulting alcohol is then converted into jet fuel.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Could Wood Scraps Fuel Planes?

Alaska Airlines powered a cross-country commercial flight using a new biofuel derived from wood waste

University of California, Irvine chemist Shane Ardo is working to develop special plastic membranes and dyes that would enable a container to desalinate seawater.

Future of Energy

A Mission To Invent a Bottle That Takes the Salt Out of Saltwater

Scientists are exploring the potential of creating plastic containers that, with a little sun power, could desalinate seawater

In the sparse Reykjanes peninsula on Iceland’s southwest side, investigators aim to drill down 5,000 meters.

Future of Energy

Deep in the Heart of Iceland, There’s a New Way to Tap the Earth’s Energy

The Iceland Deep Drilling Project has extended a borehole thousands of meters deep to produce geothermal power at a scale never before seen

SPS-ALPHA concept and visualization

Future of Energy

What’s Next for Solar Energy? How About Space

Scientists are closer than ever to making the far-out concept of a space-based solar collection system a reality

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District is working with dairy farms to provide on-site digesters for manure.

Future of Energy

Why Anaerobic Digestion Is Becoming the Next Big Renewable Energy Source

A food-to-electricity plant in England is just one in a string of local efforts to make waste less wasteful

Xudong Wang and his team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have invented a new type of flooring that converts footsteps into usable energy.

Future of Energy

Move Over Solar: There’s New Energy Right At Our Feet

Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are turning wood pulp, a common waste material, into a flooring that generates electricity

Maanasa Mendu, of Mason, Ohio, presents HARVEST, her prototype renewable energy-gathering device, at the 2016 Young Scientist Challenge.

Future of Energy

The Answer to India’s Energy Crisis Could Be Blowing in the Wind

The 2016 Young Scientist Challenge winner modeled her energy harvester after a tree

Some researchers are trying to harness the energy from huge storms.

Future of Energy

Can We Capture Energy From a Hurricane?

Loaded with power, massive storms may be another conduit for renewable energy

Second Place Winner: Cetacea, designed by Keegan Oneal, Sean Link, Caitlin Vanhauer and Colin Poranski at the University of Oregon

Future of Energy

These Wild Sculptures Actually Generate Green Energy

The winning designs of the LAGI 2016 competition range from giant sailboat sculptures that harvest fog to floating gardens that harness wave power

Future of Energy

Inside the World’s First Large-Scale Effort to Harness Tidal Energy

Next month, the UK-based company MeyGen will install four underwater turbines off the coast of Scotland

Future of Energy

Can This Electric Bus Really Go 350 Miles On a Single Charge?

Some think a breakthrough by a California company could be the beginning of the end for smoky, noisy buses

Antelope graze nearby as an oil well is drilled in the Devon Energy oil fields.

Future of Energy

Is Oilfield School a Path to a Working-Class Future or an Anchor to the Past?

A new federal program designed to train the next generation of Wyoming oil workers signed up lots of eager students. Will any jobs await them?

Future of Energy

The Shoes With No (Carbon) Footprint

Energy company NRG has made a pair of sneakers from carbon emissions

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