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Category: sustainability – Page 194
Researchers have created a solar-powered device that can pull water from the air to create hydrogen.
That’s the premise of Yi Zheng’s new invention. The associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at Northeastern has created a sustainable material that can be used to make buildings or other objects able to keep cool without relying on conventional cooling systems.
Circa: 2021
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng developed a “cooling paper” that could help cool the air in homes and businesses without the use of electricity.
Main photo: What if buildings could stay cool all on their own—no electricity required? That’s the premise of a new invention by Yi Zheng, associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at Northeastern. Photo by Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University.
The sun beats down, making everything you touch radiate burning heat. Beads of sweat form all over your body, even when you sit still. It’s one of those beastly hot summer (or spring) days.
Scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science found that some reefs in the tropical Pacific Ocean could maintain high coral cover into the second half of this century by shuffling the symbiotic algae they host. The findings offer a ray of hope in an often-dire picture of the future of coral reefs worldwide.
While global warming is causing the loss of coral reefs globally, scientists believe that some corals are increasing their tolerance to heat by changing the symbiotic algae communities they host, which through photosynthesis provide them with the energy they need to live.
“Our results suggest that some reefs in the eastern tropical Pacific, which includes the Pacific coasts of Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Colombia, might be able to maintain high coral cover through the 2060s,” said coral biologist Ana Palacio-Castro, lead author of the study, alumna of the Rosenstiel School, and a postdoctoral associate at the school’s Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies. “However, while this may be seen as good news for these reefs, their survival may not continue past that date unless we reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and curtail global warming on a larger scale.”
Electric buses could help solve the problem. Today Bhattacharya is the CEO and co-founder of BasiGo, a mobility startup racing to electrify the city’s buses. The company is not alone. Swedish-Kenyan electric vehicle manufacturer Roam also has its eyes set on Nairobi’s mass transport sector. Both are rolling out fleets of buses this year that could mark the start of a new chapter for city’s famous matatu culture.
During the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in Nairobi, Kenya, something improbable happened: a mountain appeared. To curb the transmission of the virus, authorities called on the city’s thousands of private bus operators to cease trading. “Within three days, the air completely cleared,” recalls entrepreneur Jit Bhattacharya. “You could see Mount Kenya … crystal clear,” some 90 miles away.
Bhattacharya also saw an opportunity. Kenya produces 90% of its electricity from renewable sources – mostly geothermal and hydropower – and has surplus grid capacity, yet it imports nearly all its petroleum fuels. What if clean energy could be channeled into the transport sector? Maybe it could help the city clean up its act. Maybe Mount Kenya could become a permanent feature for Nairobi once more.
The Kenyan capital is home to over five million people, and matatus, privately owned minibuses and shared taxis, “are critical to the way people in Nairobi get around,” explains Christopher Kost, Africa program director at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. “In the city, we have 40% of trips on public transport.”
Well that’s one way to make good use of the space.
If we have vertical farms then why not vertical pig farms.
High-rise hog farms have sprung up nationwide as part of Beijing’s drive to enhance its agricultural competitiveness and reduce its dependence on imports.
Exxon’s green energy stories on the website are gaslighting, REM Tec creates agrivoltaics for farms and Canada builds a mass storage site.
The architecture of the new building is meant to convey the “timeless human need for connection to human and plant-life alike.”
Beijing-based MAD architects announced on Instagram on Tuesday that they won the contract to build the first large-scale air transportation junction for the new terminal of Changchun airport. The firm will now aim to create a green and sustainable structure that can accommodate all passenger needs.
The new site consists of 177.6 hectares with a building area of nearly 270,000 square meters and is located in Changchun, a city well-known as the international, regional hub in Northeast Asia with a population of 23 million.
Nanoscale defects and mechanical stress cause the failure of solid electrolytes.
A group of researchers has claimed to have found the cause of the recurring short-circuiting issues of lithium metal batteries with solid electrolytes. The team, which consists of members from Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, aims to further the battery technology, which is lightweight, inflammable, energy-dense, and offers quick-charge capabilities. Such a long-lasting solution can help to overcome the barriers when it comes to the adoption of electric vehicles around the world.
A study published on January 30 in the journal Nature Energy details different experiments on how nanoscale defects and mechanical stress cause solid electrolytes to fail.
According to the team, the issue was down to mechanical stress, which was induced while recharging the batteries. “Just modest indentation, bending or twisting of the batteries can cause nanoscopic issues in the materials to open and lithium to intrude into the solid electrolyte causing it to short circuit,” explained William Chueh, senior study author and an associate professor at Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
The possibility of dust or other impurities present at the manufacturing stage could also cause the batteries to malfunction.
## Cracks on the surface of ceramic electrolytes
The widespread use of ceramic materials source of solid electrolytes comes with a packing problem. Even though they enable the fast transport of lithium ions and separate the two electrodes that store energy, it is prone to developing tiny cracks on their surface.
The metals refining company behind the new development claims to also be eco-friendly.
Mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), a nickel product vital to EV battery development, is going to be produced in the U.S. for the first time by Massachusetts metals refining company Nth Cycle, according to a report by *electrek* published on Thursday.
Megan O’Connor, cofounder and CEO of Nth Cycle, said about the development: “We can economically and efficiently solve a key supply chain challenge for EV OEMs and battery manufacturers by offering MHP produced from our unique electro-extraction platform.”
“And as we continue to decarbonize the grid and electrify transportation, it’s more important than ever that our refining processes are environmentally sound and labor practices are safe. Our MHP product ensures both,” she added.
## The Inflation Reduction Act
Currently, the U.S. has the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which offers a $7,500 tax credit to electric vehicles. However, to qualify, a proportion of the electric car’s battery minerals must be extracted or processed in either the U.S. or its free-trade partner countries.
Up to now, most MHP has been produced in Indonesia, which isn’t a U.S. free trade partner, making the source of the product IRA ineligible.