Norwegian rivers need to be better protected
When hydroelectric power plants suddenly switch off the water, we risk killing fish fry and other living organisms in rivers. The regulations need to change, say scientists and anglers.
When hydroelectric power plants suddenly switch off the water, we risk killing fish fry and other living organisms in rivers. The regulations need to change, say scientists and anglers.
High-temperature heat pumps are no longer simply for idealists. They’re contributing to more than just climate accounting, and industrial companies are standing in line to learn more.
Driving range is often a deciding factor when consumers choose an electric car. Lithium-ion batteries are reaching their ability to store energy, which has researchers exploring new alternatives — including solid-state batteries.
Many buildings with solar cells produce more electricity than they consume themselves, but current legislation prevents surplus power from being sold to neighbouring consumers. A pilot project in Trondheim will be the first in the world to test a system that makes this possible.
How Norwegian scientists and engineers harnessed the country’s wild waterfalls by developing super efficient turbines — and how advances in turbine technology being developed now may be the future in a zero-carbon world.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released its third Working Group report on how humankind can mitigate the ecosystem and societal effects of climate change. Much can be done, but the challenges remain enormous, the report confirms.
While former Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg steered Norway according to the logic of economics, today’s politicians seem to lack a basic understanding of markets. The result is a policy that amplifies energy scarcity and drives up energy prices – without policymakers recognizing this unintended consequence.
Increases in economic growth contribute to one-for-one increases in carbon emissions. Energy system decarbonization and economic productivity gains are the most effective carbon emissions mitigation mechanisms for sustainable economic development.
World leaders have gathered in Glasgow to discuss climate change. But the most likely outcome is that actions won’t extend beyond the talk.
The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and SINTEF have travelled to the UN climate change conference, COP26, with three strong recommendations on how the North Sea can power the green energy transition.
A new method using nanowires can make solar panels much more efficient and much cheaper than today.
An abrupt halt to oil activities in the North Sea is not the solution to the climate crisis. The way forward is to establish alternatives to oil.
Code red for humanity, says the IPCC. Fortunately, there’s still a lot we can do, but we have no time to lose, says NTNU climate researcher Edgar Hertwich.
A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) describes with unnerving detail just what can happen if nations fail to limit greenhouse gas emissions. But rapid international action will keep the worst consequences at bay, the panel said.
Producing silicon results in large carbon dioxide emissions, but recirculating it can remove contaminants more efficiently.
Large cost cuts are achievable for both floating and bottom-fixed wind farms in the future. If we do this correctly, floating wind turbines will be able to compete with bottom-fixed wind turbines by 2030.
Relatively simple adaptation could make the cargo ships of the future completely green. The technology is based on the chemical compound ammonia, some extensive number crunching and one or two engine modifications.
Many of the world’s dams are not used for hydropower, but a new study shows they could be easily altered to produce renewable energy. This would be the most sustainable solution for new energy production in the world, says NTNU Professor Tor Haakon Bakken.
The sun shines just as much out at sea as it does on land. There are also no restrictions on area use and seawater even helps to cool the solar panel technology. It’s only a matter of time before the first floating solar energy farms are installed at sea.
Researchers have studied the energy consumption of 140 hotels in Norway and Sweden. The use of CO2 heat pumps could cut energy consumption in these hotels by about 60 per cent.
Solar cells that use special dyes to collect light could one day be integrated into buildings. Researchers at NTNU are trying to find the best dyes for the job.
Harnessing a fundamental property of electrons called spin could help create a new generation of computer chips and faster, more stable and less power hungry devices. NTNU researchers are studying a type of material that could make this technology feasible.
Everyone knows there’s just too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere — and we’re heating up the planet at an unprecedented pace. In the third episode of NTNU’s new English-language podcast, 63 Degrees North, we’ll hear what Norwegian researchers are doing to help address this problem.
New discoveries are making silicon production cleaner, and solar cells of the future will become even more environmentally friendly.