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Archive for the ‘energy’ category: Page 153

May 6, 2022

Tesla releases its 2021 Impact Report, shows strides toward full sustainability

Posted by in categories: energy, sustainability

Tesla has released its 2021 Impact Report, and it revealed that the company is making huge strides in its efforts to help accelerate the world’s shift to sustainable energy.

From the people it employs to its supply chain and products, Tesla is transforming itself into an entity that is cleaner, more efficient, and more responsible than ever before.

Tesla’s website focused on four notable portions of its 2021 Impact Report, namely the company’s people, environment, supply chain, and products. In each of these topics, Tesla highlighted the steps it took to better itself while setting a standard for the automotive industry as a whole.

May 4, 2022

Major advance in microwave power beaming

Posted by in category: energy

Researchers from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have demonstrated the feasibility of terrestrial microwave power beaming by transmitting 1.6 kilowatts (kW) over a distance of 1 kilometre (km) – the most significant advance for this technology in nearly 50 years.

May 4, 2022

A 62-minute orbital period black widow binary in a wide hierarchical triple

Posted by in categories: energy, space

May 4, 2022

A new type of battery provides low-cost, long-term energy storage

Posted by in categories: energy, sustainability

Providing a new means for storing excess renewable energy.

May 3, 2022

California is on the threshold of using 100 percent renewable power

Posted by in categories: energy, sustainability

May 3, 2022

How the James Webb Space Telescope beat all expectations

Posted by in categories: energy, space

Yet on April 28, 2022, each instrument’s alignment was completed, with a ~20 year lifetime expected. Both telescope and team performed dazzlingly, surpassing expectations overall.

First: the pristine, on-course launch conserved fuel purposed for course-correction.

Continue reading “How the James Webb Space Telescope beat all expectations” »

May 1, 2022

Why a bipartisan embrace of crypto might never touch Bitcoin

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, energy

Crypto’s biggest skeptics see plenty of reasons to criticize the industry, but generally at the heart of most complaints is a belief that crypto is contributing very little to society while burning massive amounts of energy.

While crypto’s believers could squabble over the former point until they’re blue in the face, the latter is a little harder to deny. Bitcoin uses an estimated 204.50 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity per year at current rates according to the oft-cited tracker built by Digiconomist, this number is equal to the power consumption of Thailand. Meanwhile Ethereum’s energy footprint is half the size but still comparable to the power consumption of Kazakhstan. In 2018 the United States reported its total consumption of electricity as 4,222.5 TWh.

For some legislators, those numbers are hard to swallow. This week, the New York State Assembly passed a bill that had team crypto up in arms. The bill blocks the formation of crypto mining firms in the state that rely on non-renewable power. It notably doesn’t apply to existing facilities. A corresponding bill is currently making its way through the Democrat-controlled state senate. everyone, and welcome back to Chain Reaction.

Apr 30, 2022

Jeff Bezos Loses $13 Billion in Hours as Amazon Shares Slump

Posted by in category: energy

Amazon slid 14%, pulling Nasdaq 100 to lowest since March 2021.


Jeff Bezos saw $20.5 billion of his fortune melt away after Amazon.com Inc.’s results left investors disappointed, helping fuel the worst month for technology stocks in years.

Shares of the e-commerce company were down 14% on Friday after it reported a quarterly loss and the slowest sales growth since 2001. Bezos’s net worth fell to $148.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, from a peak this year of more than $210 billion.

Continue reading “Jeff Bezos Loses $13 Billion in Hours as Amazon Shares Slump” »

Apr 29, 2022

New hydrogen fuel cell uses iron instead of rare and expensive platinum

Posted by in category: energy

A cheaper hydrogen fuel cell could mean better green energy options.

Apr 29, 2022

A Problem That Could Plague Rapid Transport Like Bullet Trains & Hyperloop

Posted by in categories: energy, mapping, transportation

If you look at Amtrak’s route map, you’ll notice that the service isn’t really geared toward serving rural areas and smaller cities. Sure, they do stop at some smaller cities along existing rail routes, but those aren’t the point as much as a place to get fuel and let people get onto connecting services. On top of that issue, Amtrak largely uses the same tracks as freight trains, and the freight lines have been placed according to freight needs and not the needs of potential passengers. In one particularly weird case, it completely skips the Phoenix metro area, with the nearest station in Maricopa.

But I’m getting off topic a bit with that last one. The main point to gather from the map is that it’s designed mostly to connect larger cities with other large cities. Going from New York to Los Angeles isn’t a big deal. Going from El Paso to Albuquerque, well, even Amtrak tells you on the map that you’re getting on a Greyhound. Public transit really isn’t a priority in the United States, though. So maybe this isn’t a fair comparison. Let’s look at some maps in other countries for a minute: