Latest news with #energyresearch
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Researchers make groundbreaking discovery with major implications for next-gen energy source: 'The picture has really changed'
A research team from Chalmers University of Technology recently explored the process of nuclear fission in 100 nuclei and published its findings in Nature. With a thorough study that investigated areas of nuclear fission research never fully explored before, the scientists aimed to understand how and why the fission — or splitting — of certain nuclei resulted in an uneven weight distribution between the two fragments. "Since this study has given us access to fission data of many more nuclei, the picture has really changed, and we have now a better understanding of how nuclear shells influence nuclear fission," explained the team's Andreas Heinz. Fission-based power is still a work in progress, and while the splitting of a heavy atomic nucleus releases massive amounts of energy, the breadth of our nuclear energy research remains relatively limited. According to the university report, the Chalmers researchers sought to contribute one more piece of the puzzle: the fact that the shell structures of various nuclei seemed to link to the uneven output of the fission process. To establish the pattern, they tested a wide series of "exotic nuclei," or nuclei with unusually large proton-neutron differences. "Our dataset will help constrain the fission models used to estimate the fission properties of nuclei with extreme neutron-to-proton ratios for which experimental data are unavailable," the team noted in its study. Finding new ways to manipulate and harness the energy released from the splitting of atoms can provide a clean power source that doesn't rely on the planet-warming combustion of fossil fuels. While other renewable energy sources have made massive strides scientifically and commercially, sources such as wind and solar can't compare to the vast amounts of energy that nuclear power promises. If advancements continue to develop, nuclear power may prove to be a competitive energy source in the long run, driving prices down with its high efficiency and consistency. With more and more ever-improving alternatives to fossil fuels emerging, we can hope to reduce our global carbon pollution and its corresponding impact on our weather, basic needs, and health. Should we be digging miles beneath Earth's surface? No way Definitely Depends what it's for Depends where we do it Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
CNA
03-07-2025
- Science
- CNA
Record 122°C subsurface temperature found in Sembawang, suggesting geothermal energy potential
SINGAPORE: At a small plot of land just 600m from Sembawang Hot Spring, researchers have found subsurface temperatures of 122 degrees Celsius - the highest recorded in Singapore to date. Measured at a depth of about 1.76km, the discovery surpassed earlier findings in Admiralty, where a temperature of 70 degrees Celsius was detected at a depth of 1.12km in 2022. Dr Jonathan Poh, a research fellow at the Energy Research Institute @ NTU (Nanyang Technological University), described the discovery as a 'huge milestone' in Singapore's geothermal exploration efforts. The data will contribute to geothermal feasibility studies, fuelling the possibility of harnessing geothermal energy as a future energy source. Currently, about 95 per cent of Singapore's energy is generated by burning natural gas, a fossil fuel. Geothermal energy, derived from heat stored beneath the Earth's surface, is a renewable resource that can be tapped for applications such as cooling and industrial heating, the researchers said. The study was led by around 15 researchers from NTU and TUMCREATE, in collaboration with Surbana Jurong. TUMCREATE is a research platform involving the Technical University of Munich, other universities, public agencies and industry partners. The findings were part of a national study supported by the National Research Foundation and the Energy Market Authority (EMA). Four researchers from the team sat down with members of the media on Thursday (Jun 3) to share insights from their findings. IDENTIFYING SITES When the researchers were exploring geothermal energy in Singapore, their initial plan was to drill several shallow wells at different parts of the country to identify potential sites. However, they noticed that the northern region tended to be hotter. Based on their analysis, heat flow at the northern part of Singapore is at least twice the global continental average, despite Singapore not being situated in a volcanic region. To identify suitable drilling sites, the team considered several criteria. First, the locations needed to have good road access and around 1,600 square metres of open space. The sites also had to be some distance from the hot spring and faults in the Earth's surface. Given Singapore's limited land availability, the researchers said the sites in Admiralty and Sembawang eventually met all the requirements. Both sites sit on Simpang granite, a type of rock with a high concentration of naturally occurring heat-generating elements, making it ideal for harnessing geothermal energy. 'If there is a thick crust full of this type of granite, it can possibly contribute up to about 40 per cent of the total heat flow measured at the surface,' said Dr Poh. Using current data, the researchers found that there is potential for temperatures to reach 230 degrees Celsius 5km deep - well above the minimum of 150 degrees Celsius typically needed for generating electricity. The researchers are now exploring different heat extraction technologies that could be used in Singapore. 'In Singapore, as we are not sitting on a volcano or near a volcano zone, we need this kind of newly developed systems which allow us to extract heat,' said Mr Anurag Chidire, a research associate at TUMCREATE. COST SAVINGS, REDUCED EMISSIONS As Singapore works towards its net-zero emissions target by 2050, geothermal energy is emerging as a compelling option, the researchers said. To evaluate potential cost savings using both systems, researchers modelled and simulated their application in electricity generation and chilled water production used in Singapore's district cooling system. In one simulation, electricity generation costs were reduced by at least 38 per cent, while chilled water costs dropped by 39 per cent. Geothermal energy could also potentially bring cost savings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 90 per cent, the researchers found. 'Singapore is prudent enough to know that they want to diversify their electricity mix in future. They do not want to go only with 100 per cent imports, or go only with hydrogen, or only solar,' said Mr Chidire, noting that solar power is limited. 'That is the reason why geothermal can play an important role in the diversification of Singapore's electricity, by enhancing the security and aligning with all the environmental cost aspects.' WHAT'S NEXT Dr Poh said the new data has motivated the EMA to launch a geophysical survey, which will provide the researchers with a baseline understanding of Singapore's subsurface and identify other areas with geothermal potential. For now, they are awaiting the outcome of the geophysical study, which is likely to be released at the end of 2026. The researchers are also trying to engage with other countries to support their geothermal work, he added. Professor Alessandro Ramognoli, who leads the joint research team, added that current data is already 'quite compelling'. 'From our side, what we are working on is to see whether we can bring together the public sector, together with the private sector, to go for a pilot demonstration plan,' he said, adding that the pilot demonstration will help them study what it entails to actually deploy geothermal energy.
Bloomberg
03-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
China Leads a BRICS Nations Shift Into Solar Power, Report Shows
China's vast clean-energy industry has spearheaded a BRICS solar-power boom, with the bloc accounting for more than half of global generation last year, according to a new report. Most BRICS countries remain major fossil fuel producers, but the group together produced 51% of the world's solar energy in 2024 — up from 15% a decade earlier, energy research firm Ember said in the report. China accounted for the lion's share, and alone produced 39%, but India made up 6.3% and Brazil totalled 3.5%.
Forbes
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Science Savants Mourn DOE Funding Cuts As Google's Fusion News Provides A Quiet Rebuke
Inside Commonwealth Fusion Systems' Devens, Massachusetts facility. Two of America's most senior scientists are enraged at the Trunp administration's slashing of research funding for energy, as well as draconian cuts at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The protesting scientific savants are John P. Holdren, President Barack Obama's science adviser and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Neal Lane, a former NSF director and President Bill Clinton's science adviser and OSTP director. In an impassioned essay, published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, they say, 'What is happening now far exceeds our worst fears.' They state: 'Brutal cuts in staff and budgets have devastated not only science and science-centered work conducted inside the government, but also science at colleges, universities and nongovernmental research centers across the country that depend on federal funding. Profusion Of Companies Benefit 'The businesses that support the decimated offices and programs are likewise being impacted. The immense profusion of U.S. companies that work to convert the advances flowing from government-supported sciences into societal benefit, will suffer, too.' The co-authors see organic damage at the Department of Energy (DOE). They say that of its $50 billion budget in fiscal year 2024, about $15 billion went to non-defense research and development, and $7 billion of that went to energy supply options – nuclear, fossil and renewables — and to energy efficiency. Some $8 billion, according to Holdren and Lane, went to basic research, supported by the DOE's Office of Science. 'That office, the nation's largest funder of basic research in the physical sciences, supported 25,000 researchers (including students) at 300 institutions around the country, including 17 Department of Energy national laboratories; that work included advanced scientific computing, basic energy sciences, biological and environmental research, fusion energy sciences, high energy physics, and nuclear physics.' When I asked John Savage, the retired co-founder of the computer science department at Brown University, what the key ingredient is in research, he responded, 'Passion.' He explained that scientists need constant passion to barrel through the disappointments and constant roadblocks that stand between concept and realization, the time spent working at the bench on a microscope or a computer. An example of the rewards of that tireless seeking of a way forward in science came with the announcement that Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), headquartered in Devens, Massachusetts, has signed a deal with Google to provide 200 megawatts of power from a site in Chesterfield County, in southwestern Virginia. This could be the beginning of the greatest revolution yet in energy and electricity production. Breakthrough Lit Industrial Revolution It could be as big a breakthrough in science and engineering as when James Watt added a condenser to an embryonic steam engine — and lit the fuse to the Industrial Revolution. It will have come after decades of frustration and passion — and untold billions of dollars of funding from world governments and private companies and research universities, often deploying government funding This money has been spread across two principal competing fusion technologies: magnetic confinement fusion (tokamak) and inertial confinement fusion, in which a target is compressed with a beams of energy or light. Both have been stubbornly difficult, head-breakingly hard. Lately there have been major advances in inertial fusion at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, but magnetic confinement promises, through CFS leadership, to be the first commercial plant. Tellingly, during the past 70 or so years, there have been many efforts to cut funding for fusion. Success isn't guaranteed, but CFS has reached the threshold and is confident that it will succeed. The lessons learned in many experiments have paved the way for a moment of high excitement: the opening of what might be the beginning of a new chapter in the energy and the human prospect.
