Left unchecked, excessive CO₂ emissions have the potential to significantly warm the planet in the coming decades. One way to curb this trend is to develop more efficient power electronics, which can channel electricity from clean energy sources to the global grid, with minimal energy losses. A new study reports one device that could help make this clean future a reality. Losses in traditional power electronics can be traced to the relatively sluggish movement of the charge carriers that carry current through them. That translates to slow switching speeds and overall inefficient device performance. This new device takes advantage of a phenomenon called bulk conduction, where charge carriers are generated (in this case, with light) and controlled nearly simultaneously throughout the device. Results showed that the device, made from silicon carbide, could perform 6 times faster than existing solid-state devices. That speed improvement alone could help reduce global CO₂ emissions by more than 10%. Research into how to commercialize and scale this technology is currently underway.