IEEE Spectrum: Perovskite Solar Cell Reaches Record Efficiency
Perovskite solar cells are one of the hottest prospects in clean energy research, offering strong power outputs from low-cost materials that are relatively simple to process into working devices. But their rapid development has not been without some stumbling blocks.
Now a team of researchers in South Korea has developed a perovskite blend that addresses both these challenges, and delivers what they say is the highest-efficiency perovskite cell to date.
Guardian: How Georgia Became the Biggest Electric Vehicle Market in the U.S.
During the last year, sales grew more than sevenfold in Georgia, with electric cars accounting for one of every 60 new cars sold, according to data firm Statista. That’s a higher percentage than the second-largest market, California, where the figure was one in 70.
So how did Georgia overtake the so-called Left Coast in adopting this green technology? And are there lessons to be learned from this boom for other sustainable businesses?
New York Times: New Research Links Earthquakes to Fracking Wells Near a Fault in Ohio
Not long after two mild earthquakes jolted the normally steady terrain outside Youngstown, Ohio last March, geologists quickly decided that hydraulic fracturing operations at new oil and gas wells in the area had set off the tremors.
Now a detailed study has concluded that the earthquakes were not isolated events, but merely the largest of dozens of quakes that rattled the area around the wells for more than a week.
The study, published this week in The Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, indicates that hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, built up subterranean pressures that repeatedly caused slippage in an existing fault as close as a half-mile beneath the wells.
National Journal: Tom Steyer Weighs 2016 California Senate Run
Billionaire climate-change activist Tom Steyer might jump into the race to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California in 2016.
"My sense is that he will take a look at it and consider it over the next few days or so," said a source close to the former hedge-fund manager.
The source also said the 57-year-old has "developed a lot of friends and relationships" through his work on ballot initiatives, electoral contests, and philanthropy. Steyer's fortune would also come in handy in what promises to be an expensive race.
Charles Krauthammer Op-Ed: Raise the Gas Tax. A Lot.
For 32 years I’ve been advocating a major tax on petroleum. I’ve got as much chance this time around as did Don Quixote with windmills. But I shall tilt my lance once more.
The only time you can even think of proposing a gas tax increase is when oil prices are at rock bottom. When I last suggested the idea six years ago, oil was selling at $40 a barrel. It eventually rose back to $110. It’s now around $48. Correspondingly, the price at the pump has fallen in the last three months by more than a dollar to about $2.20 per gallon.
As a result, some in Congress are talking about a 10- or 20-cent hike in the federal tax to use for infrastructure spending. Right idea, wrong policy. The hike should not be 10 cents but $1.