A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids that are moldable. Plastics are typically organic polymers of high molecular mass, but they often contain other substances. How about mostly sulfur? A new chemical process can transform waste sulfur into a lightweight plastic that may improve batteries for (more…)

Alphabet Energy (Alphabet) is a Hayward, California, company that develops thermoelectric materials and products that convert waste heat to electric power.

Alphabet’s web site provides this overview of the concept of thermoelectrics:

Thermoelectrics are solid-state semiconductors that (more…)

A new smart material called a MOF (metal organic framework) has the ability to adsorb carbon dioxide and release it when exposed to sunlight thus creating a new breakthrough in a way to recycle CO2 emissions using renewable energy.

The process is known as dynamic photo-switching (more…)

Are plastic bottles claiming too much space in your cupboard or basement? Maybe it’s time that you do something about it. Now before you grab a large plastic bag and dump them into your local recycling plant, think of the many ways that you can do with these plastic bottles. You can transform these useless garbage into coffee table decorations, pest control (more…)

Building with adobe is a timeless tradition that dates back millennia. But in Santa Fe, the material has enjoyed a resurgence thanks to growing awareness of adobe’s unparalleled cost-effectiveness in home construction. Adobe (or mud brick) homes are hardly a recent innovation, with many of the world’s earliest civilizations constructing entire cities out of this easily (more…)

U.S. scientists say that emerging photovoltaic technologies will enable the production of solar shingles made from abundantly available elements rather than rare-earth metals, an innovation that would make solar energy cheaper and more sustainable.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the American (more…)

We are currently living in an age of finite resources. We as a planet are completely dependent on something that will one day run out. Never before has the human race faced such a problem as the one we do today. It’s becoming more and more apparent, day by day, that we need to find new and inventive ways to save us from the inevitable peak that will plummet us all down (more…)

Often described as the next evolutionary leap in battery systems, solid state batteries substitute solid electrolyte films for liquid electrolytes, thus eliminating the need for cooling devices and supporting materials and making the battery more stable and efficient. Theoretically, they have the potential to cut both the size and the price of batteries in half. (more…)

A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. Semiconductor materials are the foundation of modern electronics, including radio, computers, telephones, and many other devices. Such devices include transistors and digital and analog integrated circuits. Transition metal oxides also (more…)

New Energy Technologies’ SolarWindow is a promising photovoltaic solar technology that we have been following for a while. SolarWindow’s promise is to generate electricity on see-through glass. In conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the company has successfully fabricated the largest-area organic photovoltaic (OPV) module (more…)