Exxon’s green energy stories on the website are gaslighting, REM Tec creates agrivoltaics for farms and Canada builds a mass storage site.
Category: sustainability – Page 207
The architecture of the new building is meant to convey the “timeless human need for connection to human and plant-life alike.”
Beijing-based MAD architects announced on Instagram on Tuesday that they won the contract to build the first large-scale air transportation junction for the new terminal of Changchun airport. The firm will now aim to create a green and sustainable structure that can accommodate all passenger needs.
The new site consists of 177.6 hectares with a building area of nearly 270,000 square meters and is located in Changchun, a city well-known as the international, regional hub in Northeast Asia with a population of 23 million.
Nanoscale defects and mechanical stress cause the failure of solid electrolytes.
A group of researchers has claimed to have found the cause of the recurring short-circuiting issues of lithium metal batteries with solid electrolytes. The team, which consists of members from Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, aims to further the battery technology, which is lightweight, inflammable, energy-dense, and offers quick-charge capabilities. Such a long-lasting solution can help to overcome the barriers when it comes to the adoption of electric vehicles around the world.
A study published on January 30 in the journal Nature Energy details different experiments on how nanoscale defects and mechanical stress cause solid electrolytes to fail.
According to the team, the issue was down to mechanical stress, which was induced while recharging the batteries. “Just modest indentation, bending or twisting of the batteries can cause nanoscopic issues in the materials to open and lithium to intrude into the solid electrolyte causing it to short circuit,” explained William Chueh, senior study author and an associate professor at Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
The possibility of dust or other impurities present at the manufacturing stage could also cause the batteries to malfunction.
## Cracks on the surface of ceramic electrolytes
The widespread use of ceramic materials source of solid electrolytes comes with a packing problem. Even though they enable the fast transport of lithium ions and separate the two electrodes that store energy, it is prone to developing tiny cracks on their surface.
The metals refining company behind the new development claims to also be eco-friendly.
Mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), a nickel product vital to EV battery development, is going to be produced in the U.S. for the first time by Massachusetts metals refining company Nth Cycle, according to a report by *electrek* published on Thursday.
Megan O’Connor, cofounder and CEO of Nth Cycle, said about the development: “We can economically and efficiently solve a key supply chain challenge for EV OEMs and battery manufacturers by offering MHP produced from our unique electro-extraction platform.”
“And as we continue to decarbonize the grid and electrify transportation, it’s more important than ever that our refining processes are environmentally sound and labor practices are safe. Our MHP product ensures both,” she added.
## The Inflation Reduction Act
Currently, the U.S. has the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which offers a $7,500 tax credit to electric vehicles. However, to qualify, a proportion of the electric car’s battery minerals must be extracted or processed in either the U.S. or its free-trade partner countries.
Up to now, most MHP has been produced in Indonesia, which isn’t a U.S. free trade partner, making the source of the product IRA ineligible.
The CEO of Tesla has made it his mission to colonize the planet Mars in our lifetime.
Elon Musk is known for making wild promises and setting outrageous goals. It’s one of his detractors’ biggest criticisms.
But it is also one of the visionary entrepreneur’s driving forces. He thrives on setting goals that society broadly deems unattainable. He loves nothing more than having his back to the wall, the odds against him.
The Tesla transformation to a fully integrated design.
Join me and Cory Steuben as he reviews all the different ways Tesla has an advantage over their competitors from manufacturing, the factories, the business model and the team.
Between, Cory, Sandy and the other associates at Munro & Associates they are likely the best in the planet who knows the most about how different cars are made and about the auto industry and the competition in the auto industry.
Cory is the President of Munro & Associates who is the de facto leader in reverse engineering and teardown benchmarking. They tear down all sorts of cars and they know every single part and every single price, the supply chain and what it takes to manufacture these parts.
Cory Steuben on Twitter:@corysteuben.
A new chemical process developed by Danish company Vestas can ensure that wind turbine blades are recycled at the end of their life, instead of being abandoned or going to landfill sites.
Wind power is one of the best ways to decarbonise the world’s electricity. Recent years have seen explosive growth in capacity additions, as well as gigantic new turbine designs able to generate as much as 18 MW. The costs keep falling, while efficiencies continue to improve. The trend is now obvious: renewable energy is the future and will inevitably displace fossil fuels.
Saudi Arabian mining company Ma’aden, together with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Innovation Ventures Fund, are investing $6 million USD into Lithium Infinity (Lihytech). The KAUST startup’s battery-grade lithium will be a key component in driving the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to developing the entire value chain of electric vehicles (EVs).
Lihytech has patented a membrane-based lithium extraction technology developed by Professor Zhiping Lai at KAUST. The innovative technology can extract the alkali metal from sources such as seawater, brine, red mud and more. Based on KAUST research, the startup was funded through the KAUST Near Term Grand Challenge, a research translation program, and the technology is being developed on the campus.
This investment will take the technology from lab to commercial pilot scale. Ma’aden is leading the investment with $4 million and KAUST Innovation Ventures is investing $2 million. The University’s venture capital arm, KAUST Innovation Ventures, supports deep tech startups that look to offer solutions to pressing scientific and technological challenges, such as lithium extraction. Lihytech will use the infusion of capital to build a pilot facility at KAUST to extract lithium from the Red Sea and other in-Kingdom resources.
The design facilitates efficient land use and can even save water lost to evaporation.
Sunstall, a California-based company, has launched a vertical solar panel, Sunzaun, which can be used in existing fields and arable lands without sacrificing them for clean green energy. The installation is much like conventional solar systems, just that the system uses bifacial solar modules, and the entire array stands like a boundary wall in the field.
As countries look to move away from fossil fuels, the interest in solar energy has increased in recent years. Countries in Europe facing harsh winters are also finding new ways of tapping into solar energy, such as installing solar panels at high altitudes… More.
Sunzuan.
Vertical solar panels.
Its concept is maintenance-free, recyclable, and offers low rolling resistance.
The concept of airless tires is getting closer to production, with Bridgestone’s version going in for testing in February 2023. The firm’s product is based on its “Air Free Concept,” a technology that eliminates the need for tires to be inflated with air to support the weight using a unique structure of spokes stretching along the inner sides of tires.
According to DesignBoom, the testing will be done in association with Idemitsu Kosan Co, using one of its compact electric vehicles. More than 3 billion tires are produced around the world in a year, and the market for airless tires is expected to hit $77.
Bridgestone.