Latest energy articles from Materials World

The potential of waste cardboard as an indigenous UK fuel for bioenergy.

How the global energy system is undergoing its most profound transformation in a century.

Advancing a circular economy for composites from wind energy.

High-entropy alloys for hydrogen storage.

Accelerating electric vehicle adoption.

Can the promise of a ‘just transition’ become a reality?

How the growth in data centres drives an insatiable demand for energy.

Analysing the progress towards an all-electric mine.

How the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism reshapes materials trade.

Marie Laure Bertet of BASF talks about a project to improve the performance of floating photovoltaic systems.

Reviewing the UK’s critical minerals midstream processing, recovery and recycling capability.

A patent for a nuclear waste barrier in deep geological repositories.

A UK company claims to have produced 800°C solar-heated air and used the stored heat to dry mineral rock in a field trial.

The impacts on end-of-life strategy for lithium-ion batteries.

Trials of an infusion process for manufacturing basalt-fibre-reinforced vitrimer-polymer composite laminates have reportedly been successful.

Nickel and cobalt from spent phone batteries and carbon from waste industrial lignin are being combined for anode materials in sodium (Na)-ion batteries.

Professionals from across the UK energy sector discuss consumer-led flexibility, digitalisation and grid decentralisation.

Could enhanced grinding of materials be the key to circularity and energy efficiency in the built environment?

A ternary alkali agent composed of sodium hydroxide (NaOH), sodium aluminate (NaAlO₂) and calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)₂) reduces the sintering temperature.

The Red Arrows blaze a trail with a new approach to fuelling propulsion and producing their distinctive vapour trails

Implementing the National Materials Innovation Strategy.

Navigating UK maritime decarbonisation.

The paint-like coating can reportedly cool buildings passively without additional energy or water.

Acidification could allow wastewater to replace clean-water consumption in hydrogen production. 

A roadmap for preparing to meet Europe’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

The multilayer film reflects heat while still letting in light to improve the energy and water efficiency of greenhouse agriculture. 

Electric vehicle (EV) batteries could become easier to recycle thanks to an electrolyte made from a new self-assembling material.

US researchers have deployed three connecting strategies to engineer high-efficiency solar thermoelectric generators (STEGs).

Anti-reflective coatings combined with recycled solar glass could boost sustainability in global shipping.

How to make net-zero profitable

REECON-UK brought together the rare-earth global supply chain to explore recent geopolitical developments, technological advances and resource challenges.

Flash sintering technology can reportedly manufacture sodium-ion battery materials faster and more sustainably.

As the UK ceramics sector navigates high costs and pressure to decarbonise, there was much to discuss at an industry event.

Where we are on the journey to net-zero and are we asking the right questions?

The balancing act in ensuring fairness in the UK’s net-zero transition.

The recent Airbus Summit was clear that sustainable aviation would not come from one silver bullet, but needs multiple forces to propel it forward.

The Transition Pathway Initiative has evaluated the route to net-zero within the oil and gas and diversified mining sectors.

NanoPE reportedly enhances thermal radiation emission from LED surfaces to reduce their operating temperature.

The heating method is based on a dielectric susceptors nanocoating made of layers of carbon nanotubes.

All parts of a perovskite solar cell can reportedly be recycled repeatedly.

Four UK Research and innovation programmes seek to transform industry.

Decarbonising ceramics production with hydrogen

A Westminster debate unpacked the challenges and opportunities in filling the skills gaps to secure a green transition.

An electrically conductive firebrick that stores heat from renewable sources could power industrial processes.

The UK’s Henry Royce Institute releases a National Materials Innovation Strategy.

Can balloons made using graphene hold the future to aerospace technology?

A passive cooling device for solar cells has been designed to work using only gravity.

A way of making ammonia using a liquid-metal catalyst requires one-fifth less heat and 98% less pressure than conventional processes, say the inventors at RMIT University, Australia.

The energy transition might be even more complex than the Industrial Revolution

Italy’s largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, launched its critical raw materials (CRM) report at the Italian Embassy in London on 16 September.

How wave energy can particularly help coastal nations reach net-zero.

Aesthetically pleasing, high-efficiency, coloured solar panels could add new appeal to photovoltaic systems for architects and building owners.

Researchers from the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and Northumbria University, UK, wind up the next generation of smart offshore windfarms.

A recent Westminster Forum discussed how the UK can achieve globally competitive energy storage supply chain by 2030.

Making hydrogen from water using solar power and agricultural waste – such as manure or husks – is said to reduce the required energy by 600%.

Femtosecond lasers that can weld glass-to-glass make solar modules easier to recycle, says a US team.

University of Nottingham, UK, scientists have turned metal waste into a catalyst to make hydrogen from water.

Treating produced water – a by-product of oil and gas operations – using CO₂ could recover valuable elements.

A tubular cell that withstands high temperatures could cut costs for steam-based hydrogen production.

Can glass production be more sustainable?

Waste from wood products can convert waste heat into electricity, according to an Irish-Spanish study.

An integrated silicon-gel electrolyte system could make it possible for electric vehicles to travel up to 1,000km on a single charge.

A material to remove urea from water for hydrogen gas has been developed at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA.

Wind propulsion technologies have the potential to significantly reduce fuel usage and emissions from the shipping industry.

How is the UK driving towards more sustainable heavy goods vehicles? Two IOM3 members from Innovate UK explain more.

An adaptive roof tile could lower heating bills in winter and cooling bills in the summer without the need for electronics.