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Category: sustainability – Page 140

It’s hard to believe that there’s a Tesla Model S out there with nearly 1.2 million miles on its odometer, but indeed there is. And here it is.

The car, a 2014 Model S P85, has racked up 1.18 million miles so far, which works out to approximately 131,000 miles per year. Could you imagine driving that much? And doing so in an electric car, which naysayers often state can’t go the distance. Well, we think this car proves that EVs can be driven a significant amount of miles per year and that the charging infrastructure, at least in some parts of the world, can support high-mileage drives.

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Elon Musk hints at a low-cost electric vehicle in the works, made in high volume, with advanced production technology, and the progress in China is a significant factor in Tesla’s success.

Questions to inspire discussion.

What is the status of the next generation Tesla production line?
—Elon Musk reviews the plans for the next generation Tesla production line every week and believes it will be revolutionary. The first production line will be at Giga Texas, with Giga Mexico as the second option.

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Amid the rubble of large-sale earthquake, war or other disaster—and as aging buildings and infrastructure are replaced—mountains of concrete are often taken to landfill or pounded into rubble for roads.

For a more sustainable approach, Flinders University and The University of Melbourne experts are developing a ‘value add’ for old broken concrete to ‘upcycling’ coarse aggregate to produce a strong, durable and workable concrete using a small amount of a secret ingredient—graphene.

The novel method is gaining ground every day as new graphene deposits are discovered and mined—bringing the price of that raw material down as the cost of cement and aggregates continues to rise, the researchers say.

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How do forests cool themselves during the summer? This is what a recent study published in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology hopes to find out as a team of international researchers investigated the forests cool themselves through water evaporation and shading. However, climate change could have drastic consequences towards this type of natural air conditioning, specifically from droughts that dry up the soil, disabling a forest’s ability to stay cool during hot months.

For the study, the researchers collected daily measurements over four straight summer seasons of soil moisture and air temperature across 54 sites in broadleaf forests throughout Central Europe. They discovered that shaded forests were typically 2 degrees Celsius (36 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than temperatures outside the shaded forests. Additionally, they discovered that this cooling effect was driven by soil moisture with this cooling effect becoming less prevalent as soils become drier.

“The findings are alarming in the context of climate change as more frequent and more severe droughts may threaten the cooling functions of forests,” said Dr. Caroline Greiser, who is a landscape ecologist at Stockholm University and lead author of the study.

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When Emiliano Cortés goes hunting for sunlight, he doesn’t use gigantic mirrors or sprawling solar farms. Quite the contrary, the professor of experimental physics and energy conversion at LMU dives into the nanocosmos.

“Where the high-energy particles of , the photons, meet atomic structures is where our research begins,” Cortés says. “We are working on material solutions to capture and use solar energy more efficiently.”

His findings have great potential as they enable novel solar cells and photocatalysts. The industry has high hopes for the latter because they can make accessible for chemical reactions—bypassing the need to generate electricity. But there is one major challenge to using sunlight, which solar cells also have to contend with, Cortés knows: “Sunlight arrives on Earth ‘diluted,’ so the energy per area is comparatively low.” Solar panels compensate for this by covering large areas.

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Flying electric cars are not just for sci-fi movies. Miami-based Doroni Aerospace announced Friday its all-electric flying car, the Doroni H1, received official FAA Airworthiness Certification. And the best part – it’s designed to fit in your garage.

Doroni claims to be the first company to test manned flights with a 2-seater flying electric car in the US. The Doroni H1 took flight earlier this year.

CEO Doron Merdinger successfully piloted the personal electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) this summer. Merdinger said receiving the flight certification “is not just a milestone for our company, but a leap forward for the entire field of personal air mobility.”

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Receiving the FAA’s Airworthiness Certification is not just a milestone for our company, but a leap forward for the entire field of personal air mobility.

Doroni Aerospace.

This achievement propels Doroni Aerospace into a leadership position in personal air transportation, marking a significant leap forward for electric flying cars. The H1 had performed its first piloted flight earlier this year.

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With a hydrogen production rate of 139 millimoles per hour and per gram of catalyst, the material holds the world record for green hydrogen production with sunlight.

Scharfsinn86/iStock.

Professor Emiliano Cortés, a leading figure in experimental physics and energy conversion at LMU, and Dr. Matías Herrán, a postdoc researcher at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, delved into the intricate world of nanotechnology to develop high-performance nanostructures that could revolutionize solar energy utilization.

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