Pioneering New Solutions to Recycle Solar Panels
Solar panels contain many valuable materials. Still, most of them end up discarded after use. Now researchers are investigating new ways of recycling.
Materials
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How mining operations without spoil heaps can become a reality
Mineral recovery by mining generates large volumes of surplus crushed rock that end up polluting natural environments. If we succeed in generating new knowledge, such surpluses can instead be used to manufacture concrete or improve agricultural soils.
Smart collaboration on future technology
TOPOCOM is bringing together leading European research institutions to work on a project that could replace today’s electronics.
Cheap, dirty leftovers can produce pure oxygen
Industry needs a lot of pure oxygen. New materials that are affordable and robust can provide us with cheaper and more sustainable oxygen production.
Artificial geysers can compensate for our mineral shortages
By imitating nature, it may be possible to recover seabed minerals by extracting hot water from the Earth’s crust. We can harvest green energy and be sensitive to the environment – all at the same time.
4D imaging of fluids in pores
A method based on CT (computed tomography) – a type of imaging that is widely used in hospitals – can help improve our understanding of CO2 storage, batteries, and processes in the body such as nutrient uptake.
Norway needs to know much more before actually mining the deep sea
Norway’s law on mining seabed minerals is too unclear, the knowledge base too flimsy, and the Storting’s White Paper on seabed mining does not hold water.
New knowledge will offer cheaper and greener rail services
New lubricants, combined with new knowledge about how they should be applied to train wheels and rails, have the potential to reduce rail sector costs in Norway by hundreds of millions of kroner during the next decade.
Extracting valuable minerals in Norway
Today, products that utilise rare materials are for the most part manufactured in China. However, the EU has recently decided to boost its raw materials supply security. Researchers and the minerals industry are now looking to Norway.
Research into zero carbon gas turbines receives 12.7 million euros
How can we decarbonize large-scale power generation and aviation as quickly as possible? The European Research Council has awarded a substantial grant to a team of researchers who will explore this.
We develop new technologies that may reduce the need for animal testing in medical research
Every organism needs to breathe – including cells that we use in in vitro microphysiological systems. We now have promising results with a material that enhances the quality of our experiments.
New guidelines for a greener seafood sector
The aquaculture sector can now download a set of guidelines containing 25 ideas about the circular use of plastics.
A new electrolyte to make better Lithium-ion batteries
Researchers at NTNU are searching for materials that could be used to make Li-ion batteries with a higher energy density.
The aluminium in your old car should be recycled into a new car, not something else
Unless we acquire greater knowledge about what happens at the atomic and molecular scale during materials recycling, progress towards a truly circular economy will grind to a halt.
3D printing – a revolution in manufacturing technology
In recent years, 3D printing has exploded in popularity, and may open a new era of faster and more climate-friendly manufacturing. But is it really the manufacturing method of the future?
Solid-state batteries could soon make electric cars safer and better
Solid-state batteries may be the perfect solution for electric cars of the future. Researchers in Norway are making these batteries better.
Need to know much more about deep sea mining
The Norwegian government has proposed opening an area of the continental shelf to deep sea mining. NTNU researchers have worked for more than a decade on this issue. They say we have much to learn before Norway can decide if this can become a viable industry.
Winter salting caused the crash – not the steel
Speciality steels made the headlines in 2021 following a serious car accident. Normally, alloys of this type corrode very slowly, but they must not be used to construct barriers along roads that are salted in winter. At other places on the road network, the same steels offer long lifetimes and cost savings.
Snow-repelling solar cell panels could boost generation in Norway
Norway has seen an increase in solar power capacity in recent years, but in winter solar panels face a big problem: snow. Researchers modelled how much extra electricity could be generated if solar panel surfaces were designed to repel snow and ice.
An artificial lava for sealing oil and gas wells has passed its lab tests
Norwegian oil and gas companies are now plugging and abandoning production wells using an artificial ‘lava’. So far, the results have been excellent. Recent laboratory results indicate that the same method can be used to seal subsurface CO2 storage reservoirs.
Green production of silicon is just around the corner
“We see no technical obstacles to being able to produce silicon without CO2 emissions within the next two to three years,” says Maria Wallin at NTNU.
Breathing new life into waste industrial marine plastics
The fisheries and aquaculture sectors are major users of plastics. A research project has recently been launched to investigate how these plastics can be recycled and made into new products.
A gamechanger for aluminium component production in the car industry
A new Norwegian technology is enabling the removal of an entire process stage from car component production lines. It makes the cars less expensive, more eco-friendly and faster to manufacture.
Philosophers and technologists join forces to develop a common computer language that can crack some unsolved mysteries
Linguistic logic rooted in classical philosophy can help us in our search for future eco-friendly materials.