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UK technology firm Quantasol has come up with specially tailored solar cells to help boost their efficiency.

The premise behind the invention is that there are different forms of light around the world – at the equator, the sun may be burning hot however at higher latitudes, the sunlight is a lot weaker. Partly this is because the atmosphere acts as a light filter so the light reaching the ground will vary from place to place, and will also vary according to different atmospheric conditions.  Read more... (322 words, estimated 1:17 mins reading time)

Rising carbon dioxide levels could have a negative impact on our food crops according to latest research.

Researchers from Monash University tested staple crops of cassava and sorghum under different carbon dioxide levels to study its effects on nutritional quality and yield. Cassava is a staple food that millions depend on. Both species are from the same group of plants that produce cyanogenic glycosides and produce cyanide gas from the leaves if they are chewed or crushed. Approximately ten percent of all plant species and 60 percent of crop plants produce these chemicals.  Read more... (232 words, estimated 56 secs reading time)

Storing hydrogen is a bit of a problem, particularly when looking at ways to store hydrogen for fuel-cell powered vehicles. Hydrogen is difficult to store in tanks because it has a tendency to be quite explosive and researchers worldwide are currently looking into ways to stabilise the hydrogen by adding elements that bond with it.

One of the most promising looking solutions recently has been carbon nanotubes. However this is a high-tech solution which is also quite costly.  Read more... (228 words, estimated 55 secs reading time)

The recycling industry has not been immune to the effects of the global turmoil that has been ever-present over the past year. In fact, although recyclables have continued to provide a supply, demand from countries such as China have decreased meaning that prices for recyclable materials have decreased thanks to the lower demand for such products.

In fact the situation got so bad that boats filled with recyclable goods were said to be stuck in Chinese harbours unable to offload their goods because there were no buyers for the goods. Recycling warehouses have said their stores are filling up fast and some have been unable to accept any more recyclables because they don’t have any place to sell them.  Read more... (262 words, estimated 1:03 mins reading time)

A survey has shown that online supermarkets tend to use too many plastic bags when delivering goods.

Which? researchers ordered 29 items from the five top online supermarkets – Asda, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrosedeliver – and compared the usage of plastic bags in each online order.

The researchers found that some supermarkets were packing a single product such as mince, Fairy Liquid or a multi-pack of crisps into a single plastic bag, when multiple products in the same order could have easily been put into the same plastic bag. In particular, the researchers criticized Tesco and Sainsbury’s as they both used a much larger number of plastic bags than any of the other supermarkets. Tesco and Sainsbury’s both used 14 bags to pack the 29 items; Waitrose used 7, Ocado 10 and Asda 9.  Read more... (163 words, estimated 39 secs reading time)

British supermarket Sainsbury’s is hoping to up their green credentials by introducing new packaging for some of their cereal ranges by ditching the cardboard box exterior in favour of recyclable plastic bags. The move is hoped to reduce packaging by a third.

Sainsbury’s have already tested the packaging idea on one range, their Rice Pops cereal, and are now extending it to other cereals. Each product must be tested to ensure that the plastic bags give the cereal enough protection otherwise consumers will get their product home and end up with a bag of dust. Different cereals will react differently when transported due to friction and movement.  Read more... (217 words, estimated 52 secs reading time)

A pilot biogas conversion power plant is being built in Manchester, England, with the hopes that it will be generating power for 5,000 homes in the next two years. If the project is successful, other plants are planned in the hope that sewage gas will help provide energy for thousands more homes.  Read more... (218 words, estimated 52 secs reading time)

Supermarkets could soon be using the power of shoppers to help power their stores. Using technology similar to the Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) currently being used in some Formula One cars, kinetic plates can be used to generate electricity.

Kinetic plates are positioned in the entrances and exits to the supermarket car park. Every time a vehicle runs over the plate, the kinetic plate is pushed down. This creates a pumping action through a series of hydraulic pipes and this drives a generator where energy is captured and used to power the checkouts. The plates are able to produce around 30kw an hour.  Read more... (192 words, estimated 46 secs reading time)

One of the biggest problems associated with renewable energy is the lack of reliable energy outputs. However researchers believe they may have come up with a solution which involves treating lots of dispersed power sources as one big entity, with the added bonus that it would not need a radical overhaul of current power infrastructure.

Energy grids need to match supply and demand for energy as closely as possible – too much energy and there could be an overload, too little energy and there may be power cuts. Many renewable energy sources such as wind or solar power are notorious for having wildly fluctuating outputs meaning that as more and more renewable energy sources come online, grids are going to have to start being able to cope with these less reliable energy sources.  Read more... (305 words, estimated 1:13 mins reading time)