Researchers want to use heat from urban soil for heating

Researchers want to use heat from urban soil for heating

Most people will already be familiar with the basic situation: it is usually noticeably warmer in large cities than in the countryside. Urbanization, industrialization and climate change are responsible for different effects. As a result, the soil in the cities also warms up faster and only cools down later. An international research team has now … Read more

New wave power successfully passes 1 year test run

New wave power successfully passes 1 year test run

There is much to discover for divers around King Island in Tasmania. More than sixty sunken shipwrecks have already been found there. They are a testament to the power that the waves can unleash around the small island. This is exactly what Australian company Wave Swell Energy (WSE) now wants to take advantage of. The … Read more

RWE is building solar parks in former opencast mining areas

RWE is building solar parks in former opencast mining areas

The energy company RWE likes to present itself green and sustainable in advertisements. For a while, the slogan “go ahead” was used for this. In fact, it is still one of the largest CO2 emitters in all of Europe. The group also has to catch up in the field of solar energy. RWE’s coal-fired power … Read more

Are solar parks in the Sahara making climate change worse?

Are solar parks in the Sahara making climate change worse?

At first glance, the idea sounds fantastic: if the entire Sahara were equipped with solar panels, the world’s energy needs could be covered four times. Researchers calculated that some time ago. The idea is also gaining traction because the area is largely inhospitable and uninhabited. So there would be no competition for space. The first … Read more

Largest solar farm in the world to send power from Sahara to UK

Largest solar farm in the world to send power from Sahara to UK

The Sahara is literally overflowing with energy: within a few hours, photovoltaic cells can harvest more electricity there than humanity uses in a year. Unfortunately, so far this energy is only available regionally, as an early 2000s project to import the electricity to Europe failed. Now British entrepreneur Simon Morrish wants to pick up the … Read more

Poverty shrinks forests around the world

Poverty shrinks forests around the world

At first glance, the matter seems clear. Researchers in Japan analyzed detailed data sets on global forest cover from 1960 to 2019. Two opposing trends were observed: while deforestation has stopped in most richer countries and the number of trees has even increased again, in poorer countries the tropics still lost huge areas every year. … Read more

Ground-effect electric vehicle races across the water at 300 km/h

Ground-effect electric vehicle races across the water at 300 km/h

In 1967, US intelligence analysts discovered on satellite images a previously unknown structure about 100 meters long. It was therefore initially referred to as the “Caspian Sea Monster”. Later it turned out that it was by no means a mythical creature. Rather, it was the work of Soviet designer Rostislav Evgenievich Alexeyev that the Americans … Read more

The world’s first wind turbine with recyclable rotor blades is spinning

The world's first wind turbine with recyclable rotor blades is spinning

The German-Spanish joint venture Siemens Gamesa recently made mostly negative headlines. Losses lined up on missed forecasts, so the boss had to be replaced twice. Meanwhile, majority shareholder Siemens Energy has lost patience and wants to take over the company completely. Then the costs have to come down. In fact, the entire industry is suffering … Read more