Tidal and wind energy are being used to generate hydrogen in a pilot project installed in Orkney, Scotland, called Surf ‘n’ Turf.

The project was launched earlier this week by Paul Wheelhouse, the Scottish Government’s Business, Innovation and Energy Minister. He officially unveiled the newly installed hydrogen fuel cell at Kirkwall Pier. Other elements of the system, including an electrolyser, have already been installed. The facility produced the “world’s first tidal-powered hydrogen” in August, the European Marine Energy Centre says.

Link: https://www.hydroworld.com/articles/2017/09/tidal-energy-being-used-to-produce-hydrogen-in-orkney.html

Even a “fatberg” — an enormous clotted, mass of fat and garbage found clogging a London sewer — deserves a second chance, and the biggest fatberg ever found in a British sewer recently got one.

The fatberg, a cement-like plug of accumulated cooking grease, diapers, wipes, sanitary products and other refuse that was flushed down toilets, extended through 820 feet (250 meters) of Victorian sewage pipe, and weighed an estimated 143 tons (130,000 kilograms).

Link: https://www.livescience.com/60446-london-fatberg-converted-to-biofuel.html

Off the coast of Catalina Island near Los Angeles, a prototype of a new “kelp elevator”–a long tube with seaweed growing on it that can be moved up and down in the water to access sunlight and nutrients–will soon begin tests.

Link: https://www.fastcompany.com/40458564/could-these-robotic-kelp-farms-give-us-an-abundant-source-of-carbon-neutral-fuel

Small farms in Japan are struggling to survive. Rural populations are shrinking, and the average farmer is 67 years old. But two new farms will test a different business model to try to reinvigorate the sector: solar panels with mushrooms growing underneath them.

Link: https://www.fastcompany.com/40469425/these-solar-farms-have-a-secret-hiding-under-them-mushrooms

Solar power is growing exponentially as a key source to meet the world’s energy needs, the chief executive of a panel maker told CNBC on Friday.

Steve O’Neil, CEO at Norway-headquartered firm REC, said that was likely due to the falling cost of solar energy as a result of technological developments.

Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/15/singapore-summit-panel-maker-rec-expects-exponential-growth-in-solar-power.html

A TEAM of students from Western Sydney University is set to launch what it described as its “top secret” new solar powered car to compete in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in October.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/design/western-sydney-university-vying-for-top-prize-in-world-solar-challenge/news-story/6f9114897d7f7dfcf68e4bfab8b64887

Talk about having your solar powered cake and eating it, too! A researcher at UC-Berkeley has figured out that when you coat a certain kind of bacteria with nanoscale solar panels, you can get it to make biofuel, plastics and other products from sunlight, carbon dioxide and water. The process is 80% efficient, which tops natural photosynthesis, and it involves zero waste.

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/08/22/tiny-cyborg-bacteria-solar-powered-biofuel-factory-carbon-sequestration-unit/

This waste-to-resource project not only produces a less smoky and long-burning fire, but could also help improve health and sanitation outcomes.

https://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/kenya-fecal-briquettes-are-serving-clean-cooking-fuel.html

On 26 May, solar panels produced more than a quarter of all electricity needed in the country, with windy and bright conditions helping renewable energy generation to smash records.

https://news.sky.com/story/record-breaking-summer-for-renewable-power-generation-10984525

In order to rely on renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, the world is going to have to find efficient ways to store electricity, saving it up for times when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/super-volcanoes-could-be-the-key-to-our-battery-powered-future?utm_content=buffer91060&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Researchers have released the most accurate map ever produced of the dark matter in our Universe.

The team surveyed more than 26 million galaxies in the largest study of its kind.

The map will help scientists understand what dark matter is made from and learn more about another mysterious phenomenon called dark energy.

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-40817897

It seems like there’s a new graphene breakthrough coming out of the James Tour lab at Rice University almost every month. Over the last few years, the researchers are responsible for developing a graphene-based de-icing coat for plane wings, a carbon material that can filter radionuclides out of water, and using graphene nanotubes to build better batteries. Now, the team has managed to make graphene out of wood, by blasting a piece of pine with a laser beam.

https://newatlas.com/laser-wood-graphene/50705/