Material & Energy

Seawater-Powered Hydrogen Reactor can Fuel a Submarine for 30 Days

MIT researchers Aly Kombargi (left) and Niko Tsakiris (right) with their new hydrogen reactorTony PulsoneMIT scientists have found an intriguing new method to produce hydrogen fuel using soda cans, seawater, and coffee grounds. They believe this chemical reaction could power engines or fuel cells in marine vehicles that use seawater.Hydrogen plays a crucial role...

Australia-Singapore Clean Energy Cable Approved

A graphic overview of the ambitious AAPowerLink project, which is expected to supply its first clean power in the early 2030sSunCableGovernment officials have granted crucial approval to the world's largest renewable energy and transmission initiative. Spearheaded by SunCable, the AAPowerLink project involves constructing a massive solar farm in Australia's Northern Territory.This endeavor aims...

World’s First Dual-Tower Solar Plant Boosts Efficiency by 24%

The new facility is now about 90% complete and is expected to come online later this yearCGTNIn China's Gansu Province, engineers have erected two towers standing at 650 feet (200 meters) tall. Alongside them, an array of 30,000 mirrors arranged in concentric circles will generate more than 1.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.While photovoltaic...

Funded: Full-Scale Self-Assembling Wind Turbine System

A self-assembling crane that promises to slash the cost of offshore wind installationsWindSpiderThese innovative modular wind turbines assemble themselves section by section, eliminating the need for large cranes and promising to cut offshore wind installation costs by up to half. New funding has launched the initial project.Today's wind turbines are colossal, ranking among humanity's...

Offshore Wind Turbine Pivots Like a Weathervane

A 1:3 scale prototype of X1 Wind's floating platform was installed at the PLOCAN test site in the Canary Islands in 2023X1 WindA new offshore wind farm system, promising quicker and more cost-effective installation and operations, is set to be tested in the Mediterranean. Named the NextFloat+ Project, it has been awarded a €13.4...

Breakthrough in Green Hydrogen Substitutes Water for Iridium

Credit: DepositphotosHydrogen holds potential as a potent, eco-friendly fuel source, provided its production process is also environmentally sustainable. A recent report highlights the challenges in achieving genuinely green hydrogen, while a new study overcomes a hurdle in its production.According to a study released today in the journal Nature Energy, authored by Kiane de Kleijne...

Fast-Charging Sodium-Ion Battery uses Tree-Based Anodes

Lignode is a carbon substance that Stora Enso and Altris are teaming to use to replace anode graphiteStora Enso"One month after Natron Energy launched mass production of its pioneering sodium-ion batteries, Swedish company Altris, in collaboration with Stora Enso, discovered a way to enhance the sustainability of lithium-free batteries by adapting carbon from tree...

Promising New Desalination Method Operates without Electricity

Shuqi Xu (left) and Professor Juan Felipe Torres with their first prototype of thermodiffusive desalination. Credit: ANU College of Engineering, Computing & CyberneticsResearchers at The Australian National University have introduced a novel desalination method that mitigates many of the adverse effects associated with traditional techniques and cuts energy consumption by approximately 80%.Freshwater scarcity...

Pennsylvania Could Provide 40% of US Lithium Needs from an Unexpected Source

Runoff from fracking operations is not usually considered a good thing, but a new finding reveals it could be a source of a very valuable metalDALL-EAs electric vehicles and other battery technologies continue to rise, researchers anticipate a surge in the demand for lithium in the coming years. A new study identifies an unusual...

The Most Efficient Hydrogen System in the World Scales up for Mass Production

Hysata guarantees the world's most affordable hydrogen with a groundbreaking device that splits water into H2 and O2 at 95% efficiency, which is about 20% more efficient than the top conventional electrolyzers. The company has secured US$111 million to expand production.Hydrogen production typically wastes 20-30% of renewable energy, contributing to high costs. Australian company...