Green Gravity Labs want to drop dense weights down mine shafts and harness the kinetic energy released to generate electricity. Once fallen the weights would be returned to elevation utilising renewable energy.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-21/old-mine-shafts-make-renewable-energy-green-gravity-port-kembla/102367724

A team of researchers at Macquarie University have discovered that the use of microwave radiation during the manufacturing of solar panels can reduce the amount of energy needed, as well as leaving the final product in a slightly better position for delamination and recycling at end-of-life.https://www.pv-magazine-australia.com/2023/04/17/microwave-technology-tipped-to-advance-solar-cell-production/

A significant part of the costs of popular  polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolysers is the cost of the rare metals required, such as iridium, platinum or gold.Korean researchers have discovered they can uniformly coat the electrode with iron oxide, which has low electrical conductivity, and then convert the iron oxide to iron nitride to increase its conductivity. Then they coat the iron oxide with a very thin layer of iridium, using about 10% of iridium currently used in PEM technology. This will significantly reduce the cost of the electrolyser, while apparently maintaining a similar performance.https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/boosting-green-hydrogen-korean-researc

Australian company Hysata  reports that its “capillary-fed electrolysis” (CFE) cell technology completely eliminates bubbles – one of the biggest remaining drags on electrolyser efficiency – making it the highest performing cell globally. Typical efficiency levels are currently around 75%. The Hysata team are reporting their system can deliver overall efficiency levels of 95% - making hydrogen production of below US$1.50/kg per kilogram by the mid-2020s more achievable.https://hysata.com/news/hysata-delivers-the-step-change-needed-in-electrolysis/

A team of engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have identified that "literally any kind of material can harvest electricity from air, as long as it has holes smaller than 100 nanometers (nm), or less than a thousandth of the width of a human hair.” https://www.umass.edu/news/article/engineers-umass-amherst-harvest-abundant-clean-energy-thin-air-247