Hawaii startup just launched world’s first ocean-assisted carbon removal plant
Each Heimdal can pull 1,000 tons of carbon out of the ocean per year at just a fraction of the cost of air-capture methods.
Technology & innovation
This archive covers technology and innovation breakthroughs that improve lives, protect the environment, and expand human possibility. From medical devices to clean energy tools, the stories here focus on what’s working and who’s making it happen.
New seed-firing drones are planting 40,000 trees every day to fight deforestation
In comparison to traditional methodologies, they are not only 25 times faster, but 80 per cent cheaper, according to developer AirSeed Technologies.
New plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste
An enzyme created by engineers and scientists at the University of Texas breaks down plastics that typically take centuries to degrade in a matter of days.
Egypt to build world’s first climate-positive, net-zero city
The new city, Nexgen, to be located east of Cairo, will produce more food and energy than it consumes.
‘Radical’ solar technology breakthrough allows energy to be stored for up to 18 years
Solar energy that lasts 18 years in a bottle? Researchers at Sweden’s Chalmers University have built a molecule that absorbs sunlight, holds it as a liquid, and releases it as electricity only when a catalyst says go. To prove it works, they charged the liquid with Swedish sun, shipped it to a partner lab in China, and three months later powered a tiny chip — just 800 nanometers thin — that turned the stored sunlight into electricity. Output is still small, but the concept is validated. If it scales, it points toward a future where clean energy isn’t tethered to grids or mining-heavy batteries, but travels quietly in a jar to wherever people need it.
Stanford University researchers invent groundbreaking solar panels that work at night
The setup is inexpensive and, in principle, could be incorporated within existing solar cells. It is also simple, so construction in remote locations with limited resources is feasible.
New technique uses plastic waste to capture CO2 emissions
The scientists from Rice University developing the technique estimate that the cost to remove CO2 from flue gas streams would be about US$21 a ton, a significant improvement over existing alternatives.
Abu Dhabi start-up invents method to produce fresh water from the ocean without electricity
The novel evaporation method produces no waste and can be performed without electricity, and does not generate any carbon emissions or produce toxic by-products like brine.
General Electric produces its first 100% recyclable wind turbine that can be reconstructed as it ages
Recyclable wind turbine blades just moved from concept to reality: a French-led consortium has built a 62-meter prototype in Ponferrada, Spain, designed to be fully broken down and reused at the end of its life. The secret is a thermoplastic resin called Elium, which can be chemically separated from its glass fibers so both materials return to the manufacturing stream as good as new. Engineers will now put the blade through structural lifetime testing in Denmark, with the recycling process itself validated soon after. If the approach proves commercially viable, it could close one of renewable energy’s most persistent loops — turning the blades that power our clean-energy future from a looming waste problem into a genuine circular success story.
Brain implant allows completely “locked-in” patient to communicate
Locked-in syndrome is a rare condition that makes it impossible for the patient to move or speak, but are still conscious and can see, hear, and smell.