Aestus Ajith

Scientists are trialling 'hydricity' - a new power source that combines solar energy and hydrogen It's hitting unprecedented levels of efficiency. As ingenious and environmentally friendly as solar energy solutions are, they're not always as efficient as we'd like them to be - and of course, they're only generating new electricity when the Sun is out. But an international team of scientists has come up with a new type of energy system they're calling 'hydricity', which combines the power of sunlight with hydrogen fuel. There are two ways we get energy from the Sun: photovoltaic cells (the panels you see on rooftops) and solar thermal power plants, which concentrate the Sun's rays, then use the generated heat to warm up water and drive turbines using the steam that's produced. The latter method captures more of the Sun's solar spectrum, but is less efficient than a standard solar panel, and can only work in direct sunlight - w...

Jules Verne mused about getting energy from heat in the ocean  (Image: Marc Pagani/Getty) Jules Verne imagined this limitless power source in Victorian times – now 21st-century engineers say heat trapped in the oceans could provide electricity for the world IF ANY energy source is worthy of the name "steampunk", it is surely ocean thermal energy conversion. Victorian-era science fiction? Check: Jules Verne mused about its potential in  Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea  in 1870. Mechanical, vaguely 19th-century technology? Check. Compelling candidate for renewable energy in a post-apocalyptic future? Tick that box as well. Claims for it have certainly been grandiose. In theory, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) could provide  4000 times the world's energy needs in any given year , with neither pollution nor greenhouse gases to show for it. In the real world, however, it has long been written off as impractical. This year, a surprising number of pro...