Energy, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 24, 2022

Are solar panels worth it? How to save money and energy

Are solar panels worth it when it comes to saving money on your energy bills? In recent years, it's a question more and more people are asking. In 2020, the global output for solar power energy was 156 terawatt-hours, according to the International Energy Agency. Over 13,400 megawatts of that...

Mar 11, 2022

Biofuel: Definition, types, pros and cons

Biofuels can be made from some of the same ingredients used to bread and pizza, but instead of feeding your stomach they are used to power your car. It’s well-established that fossil fuels are incredibly harmful, and they’re not renewable, either. When so many people rely on petrol- and diesel-power...

Mar 15, 2022

How to store renewable energy

Renewable-energy storage is important to help humanity reduce its dependence on fossil fuels such as oil and coal, which produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Harnessing the power of the sun with solar panels and utilizing wind power with wind turbines are two common ways...

Jun 26, 2023

Wind and solar power overtakes coal for the first time ever in the US

Wind and solar power has generated more electricity than coal for the first time ever in the U.S, according to new federal data. Wind and solar sources produced a combined 252 terawatt-hours in the first five months of 2023, compared with coal's output of 249 TWh, data from the U.S....

Nov 9, 2004

Natural Nuclear Reaction Powered Ancient Geyser

With all the complicated engineering and physics needed to build a nuclear reactor, it is rather remarkable that one turned on spontaneously two billion years ago. Evidence for this natural reactor was found in 1972 at the Oklo mine in the West African country of Gabon. New research confirms that...

May 13, 2005

Personal Nuclear Power: New Battery Lasts 12 Years

A new type of battery based on the radioactive decay of nuclear material is 10 times more powerful than similar prototypes and should last a decade or more without a charge, scientists announced this week. The longevity would make the battery ideal for use in pacemakers or other surgically implanted...

Jul 9, 2007

Nuclear Event Rating Scale Revamped

A scale used to classify the severity of a nuclear accident is being expanded to include incidents related to the transport of radioactive materials. The International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) works like the Richter scale for earthquakes. Government officials use a numeric scale to classify and report the severity of...

Jul 23, 2007

Americans Warm to Nuclear Power and Sour on Oil

Nuclear power is becoming a more attractive alternative energy source to Americans, according to a new survey. The survey results also indicated that the U.S. public is increasingly unhappy with oil and more willing to develop alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power. Also, while American concern over...

Oct 23, 2007

Report: Nuclear Power Has Bright Future

Nuclear power has a bright future globally, according to a report released today by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The annual report makes two projections, one assuming all nuclear capacity currently under construction or firmly in the development pipeline gets completed and attached to the grid, but no other...

Nov 19, 2007

Whatever Happened to Nuclear Power?

Editor's Note: This article is part of an occasional LiveScience series about ideas to ease humanity's impact on the environment. At the turn of the millennium, nuclear power appeared to be on its way out, like land-line telephones. But the nukes industry appears to be in vogue again, thanks in...

Apr 22, 2008

Uranium Supply Decline Clouds Nuclear Power's Future

Declining uranium supplies suggest nuclear power is not the magic bullet some might have hoped for to replace fossil fuels. By burning fossil fuels, conventional power plants and vehicles factor in to global warming by emitting carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps heat from the sun. Advocates of nuclear...

Dec 3, 2008

Nuclear Fusion Moves One Step Closer

Nuclear fusion has long seemed promising as a source of energy. But it remains just that: a promise. New research carried out at an MIT fusion reactor may have brought the promise a bit closer to reality, though scientists caution that a practical fusion power plant is still decades away....

Dec 19, 2008

The Energy Debates: Nuclear Power

Editor's Note: The Energy Debates is a LiveScience series about the pros, cons, policy debates, myths and facts related to various alternative energy ideas. We invite you to join the debate by commenting directly on each article. The Facts While the nucleus of an atom is tiny, an extraordinary amount...

Apr 16, 2009

Readers Pick: Top 10 Alternative Energy Bets

Top 10 Alternative Energy Bets We polled LiveScience readers, and here are the Top 10 choices. (Image credit: Energy Island)We polled LiveScience readers about what alternative energy technologies they think will lead the pack, and here are their Top 10 choices. Among the favorites are: Energy from natural sources including...

Jun 3, 2009

Investment in Green Energy Quadruples in 4 Years

About $155 billion was invested in 2008 in clean energy companies and projects worldwide, according to a new report out today. That's four times a much as the 2004 investment. Renewable energy, including solar, wind, biofuels and more, accounts for more than 40 percent of power generation capacity added during...