Scientists have discovered a way to use an ancient life form to create one of the newest technologies for solar energy, in systems that may be surprisingly simple to build compared to existing silicon-based solar cells. The secret: diatoms. These tiny, single-celled marine life forms have existed for at least 100 million years.

You still have some of the baby fat that researchers have long thought melted away after childhood. And be glad. The baby fat, known to scientists as brown fat, burns calories and uses energy. It's called the "good fat," as compared to white fat, which just hangs around and stores energy until needed....

According to a newly released draft of a report by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21), Spain now leads the world in added photovoltaic capacity. Although Germany is still the leading nation in total grid-connected solar photovoltaic capacity, this news now means Spain has surged into second place there.

Vampire power is the energy sucked by plugged-in appliances that are on standby mode or otherwise turned off. Here are 8 common examples where people can save money and reduce carbon emissions by simply taking the time to turn off these appliances and devices when not in use.

Federating energy-saving applications could provide more secure privacy for consumers than aggregating them in the data flood that impends.

According to a new report released by the Interior Dept, shallow-water offshore wind farms could supply as much as 20% of the electricity in most coastal states. The report, released last week by Interior Sec. Ken Salazar, said that the greatest offshore wind energy potential in the U.S. lies off the Atlantic Coast which holds 1,000 gW potential

Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that a tiny aquatic plant can be used to clean up animal waste at industrial hog farms and potentially be part of the answer for the global energy crisis. Their research shows that growing duckweed on hog wastewater can produce five to six times more starch per acre than corn ...

Energy independence sounds like such a great idea. If only we could be free … of what, exactly? The single biggest energy exporter to the U.S. is Canada. And even the petrostates we don't like have to sell us oil at whatever price the market sets. We buy lots from Hugo Chávez in Venezuela.

Officials at New York’s Empire State Building today unveiled a new process for analyzing and retrofitting existing structures for environmental sustainability. As central elements of the $500 million upgrade program presently underway at the world’s most famous office building, the program is expected to reduce energy consumption by up to 38%

$1.79 might seem like a small price to pay for a bottle of water. But it costs the Earth far more than that. Compared to a liter of tap water, producing a liter of bottled water requires as much as 2,000 times more energy, according to the first analysis of its kind. The study also found that our nation's bottled water habit sucked up the...

And since the bible says "the Earth will not be destroyed by a flood," climate change is not a threat. This is what Rep. Shimkus (R-Ill) asserted at a House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment hearing recently. Shimkus also called Chris Monckton (a past advocate of forcibly quarantining people with AIDS for life) to testify as a climate expert.

Falling into a black hole might not be good for your health, but at least the view would be fine. A new simulation shows what you might see on your way towards the black hole's crushing central singularity. The research could help physicists understand the apparently paradoxical fate of matter and energy in a black hole.

For millenniums, microbes have been a staunch technological ally. They have leavened our bread and cured our cheeses. Now, engineers are asking them to convert carbon dioxide into fuel and to build a new generation of batteries. Some of the smallest life forms on the planet are helping us cope with the energy challenges of the 21st century.

T. Boone Pickens looks tired. Standing in the sunken pit of a packed lecture hall at Rice University, he's hawking his Pickens Plan for energy independence, saying we need to use more wind power and natural gas. The 80-year-old, with flesh-colored hearing aids set deep inside his ears and tanned bags drooping under his eyes...

Brain tumors are energy hogs but are sneaky and hide their consumption behind the blood protein albumin. Researchers have discovered how to attach a fluorescent substance to albumin that accumulates in the tumor. A laser light causes the tumor to glow and viola! Surgeons safely remove the glow-in-the-dark cancer cells, leaving healthy cells alone

Two environmental groups have teamed up with Google in an effort to help steer renewable energy development away from sensitive areas, by utilizing Google Earth maps. The maps, covering protected areas in 13 western states, are available for the public to view.

The new machines use 5.08 kilowatt-hours of energy per day, down about 15% from a nationwide average of 6 kilowatt-hours used by current machines. The new machines also emit about 12% less greenhouse gas, in part by keeping drinks cool with carbon dioxide instead of the usual hydrofluorocarbons, which scientists say contribute to global warming.

The Department of Energy will spend $6 billion in stimulus funds cleaning up Cold War era nuclear weapons sites in a dozen states. Tennessee, Idaho, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Utah, Illinois, California, Kentucky, and Nevada all have sites that have made the list.

cientists working at the National Ignition Facility of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, have built the most powerful laser in the world, capable of simulating the energy force of a hydrogen bomb and the sun itself.

The California Energy Commission is going ahead with a proposal this summer that promises to ban State shops from selling televisions not considered energy efficient.