Keep an eye on these especially the paint-on coating for energy-efficient windows; I have seen this amazing paint by a friend at Duke.
From energy efficiency to carbon capture, Berkeley Lab scientists are on it.
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Category: energy – Page 337
Very BIG DEAL for battery life improvements.
A QUEENSLAND company working to improve lithium-ion batteries has secured agreements with two international manufacturing companies to test its technology.
Nano-Nouvelle has a tin-based material with a 3D nanostructure that could replace layered graphite-copper in the anode of Li-ion batteries, with the potential to improve energy storage capacity by 50 per cent.
CEO Stephanie Moroz (pictured) secured the field testing deal at the recent 18th International Meeting on Lithium Batteries, Chicago, USA. The meeting attracted more than 1,500 delegates from Europe, Asia, and the USA.
Hydrogen is widely regarded as a promising and clean alternative energy source. The traditional source of hydrogen (H2) for fuel cell use is water, which is split into H2 and oxygen (O2). But O2 is a low-value product.
So, this week in ACS Central Science (“Electrochemical Partial Reforming of Ethanol into Ethyl Acetate Using Ultrathin Co3O4 Nanosheets as a Highly Selective Anode Catalyst”), researchers report a new approach and a new catalyst that can produce not just hydrogen but also valuable chemicals, including the most common ingredient in nail polish.
Researchers have found a way to make the valuable chemical ethyl acetate while generating H2 gas to power fuel cells. (Image: Nanfeng Zheng)
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Made in China motto is gaining speed in China.
SHANGHAI Foreign firms say they are struggling to gain access to China’s vast railway market as the country, seeking to transform its domestic industry into an export powerhouse, tightens the bidding criteria on rail tenders.
The complaints echo similar concerns raised in other industries including technology and renewable energy, and highlight what some foreign companies see as an uneven playing field when operating in China.
Four rail suppliers with offshore funding said they were finding it harder to win contracts thanks to the proliferation of government-supported rivals, with at least one saying it was already experiencing discrimination.
“Gogoro is bringing 200 of its stylish all-electric scooters to Berlin. Starting today, anyone over 21 with a valid driver’s (or motorcycle) license will be able to rent one of the scooters as part of a new scooter-sharing program”
Elon Musk has been a busy man lately as he works to transition the world to renewable energy and sustainable transportation with the goal of decarbonizing the global economy to meet the challenge of climate change. To meet that goal, Tesla will need to address “high passenger-density urban transport” – and Musk just confirmed plans to create a fully autonomous electric Minibus using the Model X chassis.
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Tethers Unlimited, Inc. (TUI) announced that it has signed a Public-Private Partnership with NASA to deliver a HYDROS™ propulsion system for a CubeSat mission. Concurrently, TUI has signed an associated contract to provide three HYDROS thrusters sized for Millennium Space Systems’ (MSS) ALTAIR™ class microsatellites to support three different flight missions. Total contract value for the two efforts is $2.2M.
The HYDROS propulsion system uses in-space electrolysis of water to generate hydrogen and oxygen gas, which it then burns in a bipropellant thruster. This water-electrolysis method allows small satellites to carry a propellant that is non-explosive, non-toxic, and unpressurized. The hydrogen and oxygen generated on-orbit will enable high-thrust and high-fuel-efficiency propulsion so these small satellites can perform missions requiring orbital agility and long-duration station-keeping.
The partnership with NASA is a cost-sharing program funded under NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate’s “Utilizing Public-Private Partnerships to Advance Tipping Point Technologies” Program. In this effort, TUI will conduct lifetime and environmental testing of prototypes of HYDROS systems sized for CubeSats and microsatellites and then deliver a flight unit HYDROS thruster intended for testing on a CubeSat mission as part of NASA’s Pathfinder Technology Demonstration Program, at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California.
The purchase of HYDROS thrusters by MSS represents a significant commercial customer investment that will enable the HYDROS Public-Private Partnership to develop and deliver a transformative propulsion technology meeting needs for both NASA and commercial small satellite endeavors.
“We are honored to have the opportunity to partner with NASA and Millennium Space Systems to demonstrate this revolutionary thruster technology,” said Dr. Rob Hoyt, TUI’s CEO and Chief Scientist. “Traditionally it has been very difficult to launch small satellites with propulsion capabilities due to the risks that standard propellants such as hydrazine pose to the launch vehicle’s primary payload. HYDROS will enable highly-maneuverable satellites to launch as secondary payloads without posing a significant risk to primary payloads. In the future, when asteroid and lunar mining efforts begin to provide in-situ resources, the HYDROS technology will enable use of the water ice available on asteroids and the Moon to propel the spacecraft, equipment, and resources needed for a robust in-space economy.”
““The factory is the machine that builds the machine,” Musk says, sitting in the lobby of his new building.”