An energy-efficient cleaning robot
State-of-the-art solar cells are efficient – but are even more so when they are kept clean. A cleaning robot developed by Norwegian researchers enables solar panels to deliver at full capacity.
Energy efficiency
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Norwegian to lead energy research in Europe
Nils Røkke, Director of Sustainability at SINTEF, is the new Chairman of the European Energy Research Alliance.
Super microscopes help make greener batteries
Researchers rely on super microscopes to develop more efficient next-generation batteries.
A future for skiing in a warmer world
As the world struggles to make progress to limit climate change, researchers are finding ways to adapt to warmer winter temperatures — by developing environmentally friendly ways of producing artificial snow.
Making a car workshop into an attractive, energy-efficient urban residence
Combining old and new to achieve reduced energy consumption, a better living environment and architectural success. It’s definitely possible and researchers will show you how.
One radiator to heat a whole floor
What happens to people’s comfort level when the heating system in a super-insulated building is simplified by installing only one radiator per floor?
EV owners’ range anxiety soon a thing of the past
In a few years we’ll be able to charge virtually wherever and whenever we want with only minimal buildout of the power grid, according to electrical engineering professor Magnus Korpås.
True hygge with environmentally friendly log fire
A crackling log fire is pure HYGGE. But what’s actually the best way to have log fires in our modern, well-sealed and fully-insulated homes?
The magical reindeer nose
Every schoolchild knows about Rudolph the Reindeer and his magic red nose. But Rudolph’s real-life counterparts really do have a magic nose. The colder it is, the better it is in keeping the animals warm and hydrated.
– The world doesn’t realise how much we need CO2 storage
The world will not be able to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement without technology capable of capturing, transporting and storing CO2.
Speed warning system saves lives and reduces emissions
Universal adoption of the ISA speed warning system in Norway could reduce both the average speed of vehicles and their emissions, concludes a recent SINTEF report. Lower speeds also lead to fewer fatalities and serious injuries on the roads.
Energy savings in shopping centres
Shopping centres are major energy consumers with significant opportunities for savings. Researchers are currently checking the impact of savings made on lighting and air-conditioning at the City Syd centre in Trondheim.
Green cooling with CO2
Man-made refrigeration gases threaten the Earth’s climate. The use of natural compounds like CO2 is an effective counter-measure.
Seven tips to cut your CO2 emissions
NTNU research can help you decide what measures will help cut your CO2 emissions the most. Reducing your shower time is one of them.
ABC — anything but coal
Policymakers, industry and government officials will have to invest US $2.5 trillion for electricity generation over the next 20 years. A new report presents the environmental costs and benefits linked to different renewable energy sources, and makes one thing abundantly clear: anything is better than coal.
Two tickets to Paris to talk about carbon cuts
NTNU was given only two admission tickets to the UN climate talks in Paris later this month. The tickets will be used in part by two researchers from the university’s Industrial Ecology Programme to give a workshop about carbon accounting.
Timing is everything for renewable energy use
There’s no time to waste in shifting to renewable energy sources if we are to avoid dangerous climate change. That’s especially true when it comes to bioenergy, which causes a temporary increase in CO2 levels that is later removed as replacement biostocks grow.
The jewel in the crown
“Dynamic positioning” has been hailed as “the jewel in the crown” and Norway’s greatest engineering feat since World War II. But what is it?
Carving up the global carbon pie in a new way
When negotiators come to Paris this December to discuss a binding and universal agreement on controlling climate change, they have to know how much each country contributes to the greenhouse gas emissions problem. A new method offers the best hope yet for accurately accounting for these emissions by providing the right incentives and assigning fair responsibilities.
A Third Industrial Revolution for Norway
Norway’s wealth and prosperity over the last four decades has been built on oil, but Jeremy Rifkin, a futurist and social and economic thinker, says it’s time for the country to change. The Third Industrial Revolution is coming, and Norway needs to abandon fossil fuels and move towards a greener future that relies on renewable energy, shared transport and ultra-efficient housing.
When almost clean isn’t clean enough
The solar cell industry is headed into clean-room labs to better understand and improve the materials that they are working with.
Low-carbon electricity future is clean and feasible
The countries of the world wrapped up preliminary climate talks in Lima, Peru this weekend with an agreement on how the UN’s 194 countries will tackle climate change. The agreement comes in advance of major negotiations scheduled for Paris next year to designed to curb the world’s production of greenhouse gases. In a publication from earlier this year, researchers at NTNU’s Industrial Ecology Programme report that the low-carbon future that would result from curbing greenhouse gas emissions is both feasible from a practical standpoint, and will also substantially reduce air pollution.
Turning humble seaweed to biofuel
A Norwegian research group has been able to achieve bio-oil yields of 79% from a common kelp. Other researchers working with the same species have yields closer to 20%. The secret is to heat the kelp very quickly and bring it to the right temperature within seconds.
Hope for the climate, hope for clean air
Climate talks in New York this week have offered a glimmer of hope that the world’s political leaders finally understand the need to act to curb global warming. An NTNU researcher says that these actions will have a beneficial side effect: cleaner air in some of the most polluted places on the planet.