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Study finds direct seawater splitting has substantial drawbacks to conventional water splitting, offers almost no advantage

Green Car Congress

A study by a team of researchers from Technische Universität Berlin (TUB) and Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft has found that direct seawater splitting for hydrogen production has substantial drawbacks compared to conventional water splitting and offers almost no advantage. Additionally, H 2 O is needed for water splitting.

Water 497
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A New Energy-Efficient Hydrogel Pulls Water From Air

Cars That Think

Using a new kind of hydrogel material, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have pulled water out of thin air at temperatures low enough to be achieved with sunlight. Atmospheric water harvesting draws water from humidity in the air. The material is a hydrogel, a polymer network that naturally retains a lot of water.

Water 133
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Oleophobic hydrophobic magnetic sponge selectively soaks up oil, sparing water and wildlife

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A Northwestern Engineering-led team has developed a highly porous smart sponge that selectively soaks up oil in water. Oil spill clean-up is an expensive and complicated process that often harms marine life and further damages the environment. Skimmers don’t work in rough waters or with thin layers of oil. —Vikas Nandwana.

Water 243
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SwRI, UTSA researchers show biochar is low-cost, effective method to treat fracking water

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Researchers at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) have determined that biochar, a substance produced from plant matter, is a safe, effective and inexpensive method to treat flowback water following hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. —Maoqi Feng, SwRI. —Zhigang Feng, USTA.

Water 257
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Baker Institute-led group to develop nationwide protocol for paying ranchers and farmers to store carbon

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Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy has initiated a working group to develop a United States protocol for paying ranchers and farmers to store carbon in their soil. The current system for voluntary carbon transactions is broken and needs to be fixed, group founders said. —Kenneth Medlock. —Jim Blackburn.

Store 170
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Wärtsilä Ammonia Release Mitigation System receives Approval in Principle from DNV

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This system mitigates the risks associated with future fuels, such as ammonia, which can be hazardous to both health and the environment unless handled and stored with great care. With WARMS, typical emissions comprise nitrogen (N 2 ) and water (H 2 O), with ammonia (NH 3 ) emissions less than 30 ppm.

Water 170
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Researchers at Korea University develop high-performance textile-based electrodes for watersplitting

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An electrochemical water-splitting reaction offers an effective pathway to generate hydrogen fuels and store electricity from various intermittent but renewable energy sources. Our approach can provide a promising tool for developing high-performance electrodes for water electrolyzers and other electrochemical energy devices.

Universal 243