New Smart-Roof Coating Enables Year-Round Energy Savings
December 16th, 2021Scientists have developed an all-season smart-roof coating that keeps homes warm during the winter and cool during the summer – without consuming natural gas or electricity. Research findings point to a groundbreaking technology that outperforms commercial cool-roof systems in energy savings.
India’s Clean Power Target Will Double Electricity Supply Economically if Low-Cost Storage is Deployed
December 9th, 2021Dramatic cost reductions over the last decade in battery storage and wind and solar energy position India to leapfrog to a more sustainable system for delivering affordable and reliable power to serve near a doubling in electricity demand by 2030, according to a new study by researchers at Berkeley Lab.
Plants Buy Us Time to Slow Climate Change – But Not Enough to Stop It
December 8th, 2021An international team of researchers used a novel methodology combining remote sensing, machine learning, and terrestrial biosphere models to find that plants are photosynthesizing more, to the tune of 12% higher global photosynthesis from 1982 to 2020. In that same time period, global carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere grew about 17%, from 360 parts per million (ppm) to 420 ppm.
These Tiny Liquid Robots Never Run Out of Juice as Long as They Have Food
December 8th, 2021Scientists at Berkeley Lab have demonstrated the first self-powered, aqueous robot that runs continuously without electricity. The technology has potential as an automated chemical synthesis or drug delivery system for pharmaceuticals.
Fiber Lasers Poised to Advance Berkeley Lab’s Development of Practical Laser-Plasma Accelerators
December 6th, 2021Berkeley Lab researchers have zeroed in on the limitations of laser-plasma particle accelerator (LPA) development efforts and believe they have found a new path forward with optical fiber lasers. A new approach to high-power lasers – combining the pulses from many fast-acting but lower-energy optical fiber lasers – will energize these super-compact accelerators.
How Can Next-Gen Computer Chips Reduce Our Carbon Footprint?
December 1st, 2021Berkeley Lab scientists Maurice Garcia-Sciveres and Ramamoorthy Ramesh discuss how future microchips could perform better – and require less energy – than silicon. Over the next three years, they will lead two of the 10 projects recently awarded nearly $54 million by the Department of Energy to increase energy efficiency in microelectronics design and production.
Chloro-phylling in the Answers to Big Questions
November 30th, 2021Photosynthesis – the enzyme-based process of converting carbon dioxide into food, using water and sunlight – is literally the foundation of life on Earth, and understanding the reaction at an atomic level could lead to vast production of renewable fuels made from greenhouse gases sucked out of the air. A Berkeley Lab team has been uncovering precise, step-by-step details of photosynthesis for years. We spoke to two members, co-lead author and senior scientist Vittal Yachandra and co-first author and postdoctoral researcher Philipp Simon, about their latest study, shooting stuff with lasers, and why they chose this field.