Menu

Blog

Archive for the ‘sustainability’ category: Page 167

Oct 28, 2022

2D nanoconfinement strategy enhances oxygen evolution performances

Posted by in categories: chemistry, energy, engineering, physics, sustainability

Prof. Zhang Tao’s group at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with Prof. Hou Yang from Zhejiang University and Prof. Xiao Jianping from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of CAS, proposed a novel two-dimensional (2D) nanoconfinement strategy to strongly enhance the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity of low-conductivity metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Results were published in Nature Communications.

The development of high-efficiency electrocatalysts for the electrochemical conversion of water to generate environmentally friendly and sustainable hydrogen energy has drawn tremendous attention for decades.

Despite the crucial role the OER plays in water splitting, OER at the anode requires a relatively high thermodynamic potential to accelerate water splitting kinetics. Thanks to the large surface area, tunable porosity, diverse compositions and metal centers, MOFs have emerged as promising candidates for efficient OER electrocatalysts. However, the intrinsically poor conductivity of the most MOFs seriously impede their .

Oct 27, 2022

Elon Musk tweets that the social media platform he’s buying is important to civilization

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, sustainability, transportation

This harkens back to the first time he spoke about Twitter as a town square.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has now confirmed he is buying Twitter. The billionaire has tweeted a letter of sorts addressed to the advertisers who use Twitter. In the letter, Musk explains why he bought Twitter and that most of the speculation surrounding the purchase has been wrong.


Twitter is important to civilization

Continue reading “Elon Musk tweets that the social media platform he’s buying is important to civilization” »

Oct 27, 2022

Discover a sustainable fabric made from the bark of a tree

Posted by in category: sustainability

Circa 2018 face_with_colon_three


A passion for botanical-based fashion leads to the sacred and rare bark cloth of southern Uganda.

Oct 27, 2022

Hydrogenation enables efficient and sustainable chemicals production

Posted by in categories: chemistry, sustainability

Providing highly efficient chemical processes that are also sustainable has become a key requirement for customers of the chemicals sector. While this is easier to achieve in large-scale, continuous processes for portfolio products, reaching similar levels of sustainability in multi-stage syntheses of complex, custom-manufactured molecules remains a challenge.

One solution to this problem is hydrogenation. When operated properly and with the appropriate knowledge and expertise, this technology is able to deliver excellent yields at high selectivity, and the catalysts applied in the process can often be re-used or recycled.

Oct 27, 2022

Lydie Evrard — Deputy Director General, IAEA — Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security

Posted by in categories: economics, engineering, finance, nuclear energy, security, sustainability

Protecting People, Society & Environment — Lydie Evrard, Deputy Director General; Head, Department of Nuclear Safety & Security, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)


Lydie Evrard (https://www.iaea.org/about/organizational-structure/departme…d-security) is Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Continue reading “Lydie Evrard — Deputy Director General, IAEA — Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security” »

Oct 26, 2022

Elon Musk Visits Twitter as $44 Billion Deal Nears Completion

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

Mr. Musk, who runs Tesla and SpaceX, visited Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters on Wednesday and tweeted a nine-second video of himself smiling and carrying a porcelain sink into the building.

“Entering Twitter HQ — let that sink in!” he wrote.


The world’s richest man arrived at Twitter’s San Francisco offices on Wednesday ahead of a Friday deadline to complete the acquisition of the social media service.

Continue reading “Elon Musk Visits Twitter as $44 Billion Deal Nears Completion” »

Oct 26, 2022

How one startup plans to increase EV range

Posted by in categories: energy, sustainability, transportation

It will also increase energy density by 30 percent.

The innovative UK start-up Ionetic, specializing in EV battery pack technology, introduced its cutting-edge EV battery pack design platform, which can shorten the time and cost of development for automakers developing new electric vehicles.

It has traditionally been expensive and time-consuming for many automobile firms to provide a high-performance and secure battery pack solution. Fully customized designs are frequently out of reach for most consumers, while current off-the-shelf battery pack solutions have low energy density and optimization. This is especially true for specialty, low-volume automakers who have particular needs.

Oct 26, 2022

Innovative Wind Energy And An Old Tried And True Way To Keep Cool

Posted by in categories: energy, sustainability

The objects seen on this roof are novel small-form-factor wind turbines. But read on to learn about a Bronze Age reinvention.


Two novel technologies represent innovation for those in the energy industry.

Oct 26, 2022

Tiny Ultrasound Sensors Could Monitor EV Batteries

Posted by in categories: health, sustainability, transportation

Ultrasound sensors as small as a thumbnail can scan lithium-ion batteries to check their charge, health, and safety, a new study finds.

The findings suggest that ultrasound—that is, sound waves at frequencies higher than human hearing can detect—might one day help electric vehicles better estimate how much charge remains in their batteries. This approach might also help detect unstable batteries on the verge of disaster, quickly test battery quality during manufacturing, and identify which used batteries are healthy enough to be resold to reduce waste, says study lead author Hongbin Sun, an ultrasonic engineer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in Tennessee.

Estimating how much charge is left in a commercial lithium-ion battery is currently a challenging task. For instance, electric vehicles typically experience an uncertainty of about 10 percent when estimating battery charge. This in turn reduces their driving range by about 10 percent, to ensure that they stay within their batteries’ safety margins.

Oct 25, 2022

Tesla is rumored to be looking to invest in Mexico

Posted by in categories: economics, Elon Musk, sustainability, transportation

Tesla is rumored to be looking to invest in Nuevo Leon, a Mexican state bordering Texas, as CEO Elon Musk meets with the governor.

Earlier this year, people crossing the border between Texas and Nuevo Leon were surprised to see not just the usual marked lanes for cars and trucks but also one marked “Tesla” – pictured above.

We ended up finding out that Tesla had struck a deal with the state of Nuevo Leon to have its own lane at the border crossing in order to reduce wait times for cargo going through the border. Or at least that was the explanation of Ivan Rivas, the economy minister of Nuevo Leon.