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Archive for the ‘sustainability’ category: Page 447

May 29, 2020

Agricultural Drone Speeds Chinese Rice Seeding

Posted by in categories: drones, food, sustainability

One of China’s largest agricultural drone companies is helping to overhaul the rice-farming industry.

XAG recently launched a rice-seeding demonstration of seeding via drone at Happy Farms, an agricultural park in Guangdong province.

May 29, 2020

Will a New Glass Battery Accelerate the End of Oil?

Posted by in categories: energy, internet, sustainability

Circa 2017


Electric car purchases have been on the rise lately, posting an estimated 60 percent growth rate last year. They’re poised for rapid adoption by 2022, when EVs are projected to cost the same as internal combustion cars. However, these estimates all presume the incumbent lithium-ion battery remains the go-to EV power source. So, when researchers this week at the University of Texas at Austin unveiled a new, promising lithium- or sodium–glass battery technology, it threatened to accelerate even rosy projections for battery-powered cars.

“I think we have the possibility of doing what we’ve been trying to do for the last 20 years,” says John Goodenough, coinventor of the now ubiquitous lithium-ion battery and emeritus professor at the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas, Austin. “That is, to get an electric car that will be competitive in cost and convenience with the internal combustion engine.” Goodenough added that this new battery technology could also store intermittent solar and wind power on the electric grid.

Continue reading “Will a New Glass Battery Accelerate the End of Oil?” »

May 29, 2020

Squad’s cute little 50 mph solar-powered mini-EV just got even better

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Amsterdam-based Squad Mobility’s solar powered electric two-seater quickly caught our fancy the last time we covered it. Now the Squad Solar City Car is back with updated design options for the solar-powered microcar.

May 29, 2020

Energy Scavengers: Static Electricity Could Power the World

Posted by in categories: energy, sustainability

By harvesting the everyday energy of static electricity, scientists may have found the world’s most plentiful source of renewable, sustainable power.

May 28, 2020

No Joke — Algeria Plans 4 Gigawatt, 5 Year Solar Power Initiative

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

Make no small plans. That seems to be the logic among the leaders of Algeria.

For some perspective, I just wrote about the corporate behemoth Amazon, which hopes to get to 100% renewable electricity by 2025 (firm target of 2030) and has a whopping total of 31 utility-scale wind and solar power plants built or planned that add up to 2,900 MW of total power capacity. That’s 2.3 gigawatts (GW). Algeria is talking about building 4 gigawatts of solar power capacity in 5 years. That’s a pretty stunning target.

Continue reading “No Joke — Algeria Plans 4 Gigawatt, 5 Year Solar Power Initiative” »

May 27, 2020

German firm introducing game-changing solar-wind-wave energy platform

Posted by in categories: energy, sustainability

A German power firm will launch demonstrations of a one-of-a-kind, triple-threat power generating platform off Iraklio, Greece, later this year.

SINN Power has been testing wave converter modules for five years. Buoys attached to steel frame components generate energy as waves push them up and down. The modular nature of the platform is unique in the industry.

“The has been a key element since we started developing maritime technologies that allow flexibility and a wide variety of applications,” according to SINN Power CEO Philipp Sinn. “The floating platform can supply to islands across the world … and contribute to the worldwide implementation of offshore wind farms.”

May 27, 2020

Solar panel recycling: Turning ticking time bombs into opportunities

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

Australia has certainly demonstrated its appetite for solar power. Now, with the average lifespan of a solar panel being approximately 20 years, many installations from the early 2000’s are set to reach end-of-life. Will they end up in landfill or be recycled? The cost of recycling is higher than landfill, and the value of recovered materials is smaller than the original, so there’s limited interest in recycling. But given the presence of heavy metals, such as lead and tin, if waste is managed poorly, we’re on track for another recycling crisis. A potential time bomb could present itself as an opportunity, however, if the global EV industry showed an interest in the recovered solar products.

May 26, 2020

New Plant-Based Bottles Made From Plant Sugar Degrade in a Year

Posted by in categories: chemistry, food, sustainability

A new “all-plant” drink bottle is underway at a Netherlands biochemicals company. These bottles are made from sustainable crops and decompose within a year.

The bottle is made from plant sugars instead of traditional fossil fuels. Avantium is the company behind the bottle. They have already found support from beer company Carlsberg, who plans to sell a plant-plastic lined cardboard bottle in future beverage releases. Coca-Cola and Danone have also backed the product.

Avantium’s chief executive, Tom van Aken told the Guardian that the plan should be finalized by the end of the year, with the bottles hitting supermarket shelves by 2023. “This plastic has very attractive sustainability credentials because it uses no fossil fuels, and can be recycled – but would also degrade in nature much faster than normal plastics do,” says Van Aken.

May 26, 2020

Watch cyclists charge Tesla Model X with human power

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

A group of cyclists managed to charge a Tesla Model X electric SUV with their own power.

One of the best things about electric vehicles is that you get to choose where the energy powering your car comes from.

Continue reading “Watch cyclists charge Tesla Model X with human power” »

May 25, 2020

Giant new offshore wind turbine to debut in 2024

Posted by in categories: engineering, sustainability

Spanish engineering company Siemens Gamesa has revealed a new offshore wind turbine, set to become the world’s largest and most powerful, with serial production planned for 2024.