Fossil fuels revolutionised the world, ushering in a new age of development, however, more than 100 years later, it's evident that the benefits fossil fuels come at a price. As the supply of fossil fuels continues to deplete at alarming levels, the harmful effects of using fossil fuels are damaging the environment, increasing pollution, and the greenhouse effect. Countries around the world are now searching for more sustainable and environment-friendly sources of energy, such as solar energy and wind energy and other types of renewable energy.
According to researchers at the Stanford University and the other US and European Universities, 139 nations have the possibility to transition into 100 percent renewable energy use by 2050. The combination of renewable sources used by the nations may vary, but a majority of all the energy needs (94.7 percent) are predicted to be met by wind and solar power, while other sources include tidal and wave energy.
The countries closest to achieving the 100 percent renewable energy target are: Tajikistan (76 percent), Paraguay (58.9 percent), Norway (35.8 percent), Sweden (20.7 percent), Costa Rica (19.1 percent), Switzerland (19 percent), Georgia (18.7 percent), Montenegro (18.4 percent), and Iceland (17.3 percent).
The study by the Solutions Project comes as a part of the campaign for 100 percent renewables launched by Hollywood actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo in 2015. The goal of the study aims to remove reliance on fossil fuels entirely by switching completely to renewable sources of energy.
Transferring to renewable sources of energy would reportedly meet the Paris Climate Change Agreement goal as well of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees C. In addition, the nearly 4.6 million deaths per year due to air pollution could also be averted.
To reach the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy only, all vehicles would need to be electric and aircrafts to be fuelled by hydrogen. Apart from stopping the use of fossil fuels, even the use of nuclear power would need to be dropped as nuclear power requires the mining of uranium, but stopping the use of nuclear power itself would decrease the global energy demand by 12.65 percent.
Although a large number of nations are on the path of becoming 100 percent renewable energy based, since the largest economies of the nation have yet to take significant steps towards renewable energy sources, the desired result is still a way off.

The Union ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) issued a circular to all state governments to this effect.

The Centre has said that that environment impact assessment (EIA) is not applicable for solar power projects and to development of solar parks.
The Union ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) issued a circular to all state governments to this effect. The ministry of environment, forest and climate (EFCC) change had in July issued a notification on applicability of EIA to the sector.
The MNRE said that the EFCC ministry has clarified that EIA provisions were not applicable to the sector. It further clarified that the disposal of Photo Voltaic (PV) cell attracts the rules covering hazardous and other wastes. The development of solar parks shall attract the provisions of Water and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, the MNRE said in a notification in August.

The device, which is being developed by a New York-based start up, allows users to compose messages as if they were sat at a computer or tapping a smart phone screen.
It would allow wearers to make use of any surface as a “virtual keyboard” and the band would even allow users to type by simply THINKING about it.
The high-tech device works by reading electromagnetic signals sent from the brain to muscles in the hands.
The company behind the “brain-machine interface” (BMI), Ctrl-Labs, has already successfully tested their gadget to type text messages and play retro arcade game Asteroids.
Dr Kaifosh, the firm’s chief science officer, said: “We are developing systems to connect your neural output to machines as tightly as it is connected to the muscles you activate when you speak, you won’t have to think about how you communicate text to a computer.”
Ctrl-Labs plans to test a version of the wristband for the mass market next year and say it could be on the arms of millions of people within the next three years.
Companies like Facebook and technology magnate Elon Musk are already investing millions of dollars in to BMI technology with the aim of one day developing implants which could improve brain function and improve memory.

An immense black hole 100,000 times bigger than the sun has been discovered at the heart of the Milky Way.
The enormous void, which lies around 25,000 light years from Earth, could help scientists uncover the how stars, galaxies and even life itself came to be in the universe.
Supermassive black holes are said to fuel the birth of stars and influence space-time itself.
According to reports, this newly-discovered black hole could rank as the second largest ever seen in the Milky Way.
Despite its immense size, scientists have called it a "mini me" version of its super-massive "cousin" known as Sagittitarius A*.
Each black hole is deemed to be the driving force of a galaxy's evolution.
A black hole is a region of space that has such an extremely powerful gravitational field that it absorbs all the light that passes near it and reflects none.
Studies predict there are 100 million to one billion black holes looming in the Milky Way - but only 60 or so have been identified so far.
Japanese astronomers found the new black hole looming in a cloud of gas - 16,4000 feet above sea level in the Andes, northern Chile.
Professor Tomoharu Oka, of Keio University in Japan, said the existence of black holes like the new discovery are widely accepted, but their origins remain unknown.
This new finding could increase the number of other black hole candidates, he added.
Ultimately this vast entity is set to make a "considerable contribution to the progress of modern physics".
Despite their widespread existence, the concept of a black hole has only been around for 100 years.
The term was not used until 1967, and only 46 years ago the first void was identified.
This story originally appeared in The Sun.

A new water-based battery part could be the key to safe, powerful batteries that don’t risk catching on fire. Though they don’t last as long as the batteries already in our phones, researchers hope it’s an important next step toward solving the scourge of exploding electronics.

The most common batteries are lithium-ion batteries, which have electrical conductors, or electrodes, on the two sides. These charge and discharge when ions move from one electrode to the other. Electrolytes in the middle help the ions move. Most of the time, electrolytes are made of organic chemicals that easily burst into flame. Fireproof, water-based electrolytes exist, too, but because water isn’t very reactive, these safer batteries usually aren’t very powerful, says Chunsheng Wang, an engineer at the University of Maryland and co-author of the new study. Now, scientists have developed lithium-ion batteries with a water-based electrolyte that won’t explode and can reach four volts — the same voltage as more common, organic electrolytes. The results were published today in the journal Joule.

Two years ago, Wang’s team (working with chemist Kang Xu at the US Army Research Laboratory) created a water-based electrolyte that reached three volts. But though the electrolyte was safe, it degraded one of the electrodes, so it couldn’t hold a lot of energy. In today’s paper, they developed a water-based electrolyte with a special feature that only organic electrolytes usually have: a solid coating that protects the electrodes from degrading.

In lithium-ion batteries with organic electrolytes, some of the chemicals decompose into a solid, protective layer on the surface of the electrode during the first charge. This layer is called the “solid electrolyte interphase” (SEI). Water-based electrolytes usually don’t have an SEI, because decomposing water doesn’t form any of the chemicals to make the solid layer.

But the team created a water-based electrolyte with a very high concentration of salt, and this electrolyte was then able to create an SEI. So, you still get the safety of water, along with a solid layer protects the electrodes from breaking down, allowing it to hold more energy.

These batteries are already better than other water-based ones. But there’s one big limitation: they only work for about 70 cycles, and battery companies want batteries that last for at least 500. “The next step is to make a longer cycle,” says co-author Chongyin Yang, also an engineer at UMD. “We really want to push the technology to a real application and move forward to market.”