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Archive for the ‘sustainability’ category: Page 251

Oct 8, 2021

Hydrogel Tablet Can Purify a Liter of River Water in an Hour

Posted by in categories: engineering, sustainability

AUSTIN, Texas — As much as a third of the world’s population does not have access to clean drinking water, according to some estimates, and half of the population could live in water-stressed areas by 2025. Finding a solution to this problem could save and improve lives for millions of people, and it is a high priority among scientists and engineers around the globe.

Scientists and engineers at The University of Texas at Austin have created a hydrogel tablet that can rapidly purify contaminated water. One tablet can disinfect a liter of river water and make it suitable for drinking in an hour or less.

“Our multifunctional hydrogel can make a big difference in mitigating global water scarcity because it is easy to use, highly efficient and potentially scalable up to mass production,” said Guihua Yu, an associate professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering and Texas Materials Institute.

Oct 8, 2021

Solar-Powered Desalination Device Will Turn Sea Water Into Fresh Water For 400,000 People

Posted by in category: sustainability

A shipping-container hosting the world’s first zero-emissions, solar powered desalination technology is bringing clean water to rural Kenya.

Oct 8, 2021

Elon Musk confirms that Tesla Giga Shanghai now exceeds the Fremont Factory

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, sustainability, transportation

Tesla Giga Shanghai has officially exceeded the Fremont Factory’s output, according to Elon Musk’s calculations. As Tesla’s main export hub, Giga Shanghai’s output will play a significant role in the company’s global growth.

“We have three new factories. Giga Shanghai has done an incredible job. And Giga Shanghai now exceeds Fremont in production,” Musk announced at the 2021 Annual Shareholders Meeting.

Musk pointed out that Tesla Giga Shanghai took roughly 11 months to build and reached full volume production a year later. Since Giga Shanghai started operations, Tesla’s production and delivery numbers have noticeably increased.

Oct 6, 2021

Electric Aircraft Has Unlimited Range… With A Fleet Of Recharging Planes

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, sustainability, transportation

Circa 2012


It’s okay, you’ve not clicked on “Green Plane Reports”, but every so often something from beyond the world of cars catches our attention.

This time, it’s electric flight. The concept is nothing new, and it’s even been alluded to by people like Elon Musk of Tesla, but for the time being it remains a true flight of fancy, rather than a working concept for passenger transportation.

Continue reading “Electric Aircraft Has Unlimited Range… With A Fleet Of Recharging Planes” »

Oct 6, 2021

Solar plane makes history after completing round-the-world trip

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Circa 2016 Awesome


Solar Impulse 2 which landed in Abu Dhabi, is first plane powered by the renewable energy source to tour the globe.

Oct 6, 2021

In dry California, some buy units that make water from air

Posted by in category: sustainability

In drought-parched California, some residents are turning to pricey machines that developers say can produce hundreds of gallons of water a day, literally out of thin air.


BENICIA, Calif. (AP) — The machine Ted Bowman helped design can make water out of the air, and in parched California, some homeowners are already buying the pricey devices.

The air-to-water systems work like air conditioners by using coils to chill air, then collect water drops in a basin.

Continue reading “In dry California, some buy units that make water from air” »

Oct 6, 2021

Elon Musk’s airport-to-downtown S.A. tunnel transit plan takes a step forward; transportation agency seeks proposals

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, space travel, sustainability

When it surfaced two months ago, the notion of Teslas whizzing through underground tunnels between San Antonio International Airport and downtown seemed fanciful.

Now, there’s a sign the idea may have gained some traction.

The Boring Co., a tunneling firm backed by billionaire Elon Musk, has been talking to local leaders about building an underground transportation loop in San Antonio. Musk is the CEO of electric-vehicle maker Tesla, as well as the founder and CEO of SpaceX.

Oct 6, 2021

Catalysts found to convert carbon dioxide to fuel

Posted by in categories: particle physics, supercomputing, sustainability

The goal of tackling global warming by turning carbon dioxide into fuel could be one step closer with researchers using a supercomputer to identify a group of “single-atom” catalysts that could play a key role.

Researchers from QUT’s Centre for Materials Science, led by Associate Professor Liangzhi Kou, were part of an international study that used theoretical modelling to identify six metals (nickel, niobium, palladium, rhenium, rhodium, zirconium) that were found to be effective in a reaction that can convert into sustainable and clean energy sources.

The study published in Nature Communications involved QUT researchers Professor Aijun Du, Professor Yuantong Gu and Dr. Lin Ju.

Oct 6, 2021

A UK Company Revealed a New Electric Hybrid Car. But It’s Also a Bike?

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, sustainability

Get ready for the future of mobility.

The world is moving to electric vehicles (EVs), but we are still rolling on vehicle concepts meant for heavy internal combustion engines. Challenging the very concept of what a mobility solution should look like is the Ryzr, from new players in the EV market, R.

Continue reading “A UK Company Revealed a New Electric Hybrid Car. But It’s Also a Bike?” »

Oct 5, 2021

‘How did Tesla find chips?’ Morgan Stanley breaks down impressive Q3 delivery performance

Posted by in categories: computing, engineering, sustainability, transportation

Tesla’s impressive third-quarter delivery performance overshadowed the automotive industry’s ongoing struggle with the semiconductor chip shortage. Among all of the world’s automakers, Tesla has been basically the only car company to avert the crisis as it has not had any overwhelmingly public stoppages in vehicle production. Morgan Stanley’s new investor note, drafted by lead analyst Adam Jonas, examines Tesla’s ability to avoid detrimental production stoppages, which effectively helped the company capture its best quarter in company history.

Jonas titles Morgan Stanley’s most recent investor note, “How Did Tesla Find Chips?” In all honesty, this riddle was solved during the Q2 2021 Earnings Call, where Tesla stated in its Shareholder Deck that it used a combination of in-house microcontrollers to avoid any major catastrophes in the manufacturing of its vehicles. The company wrote:

“Our team has demonstrated an unparalleled ability to react quickly and mitigate disruptions to manufacturing caused by semiconductor shortages. Our electrical and firmware engineering teams remain hard at work designing, developing and validating 19 new variants of controllers in response to ongoing semiconductor shortages.”