Posted in sustainability
Researchers predict that a “flashing” electric ratchet could separate same-charge ions by their diffusion coefficients, a possibility that could improve the energy efficiency of processes such as water desalination and purification.
A vertical farm built inside a greenhouse in Texas can produce hundreds of thousands of heads of lettuce with significantly less energy than usual.
Future food.
Think about grasshopper fries, a protein bar made of crickets or silkworm cocoons. As unconventional as it may sound, Singapore is trying to make insect food mainstream. The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has given approval to 16 species of insects, such as crickets, silkworms and grasshoppers for human consumption.
The latest news, reported by the Singapore newspaper The Straits Times notes that the approval of the insects for consumption will be subject to food safety requirements. This will include treatment processes to kill pathogens and proper packaging and storage facilities.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has been promoting insects for human consumption recently. Insects are known for their high protein content and Singapore’s latest interest in adding insects to the national food menu is seen as a way for the country to safeguard its national food security. As per The Strait Times newspaper, the SFA had also conducted a scientific review to analyse the benefits of directly eating specific insects or making them into items such as snacks for human consumption. The Singapore government also held a public consultation exercise on the regulation of insects and insect products before the SFA approval.
Besides insects, SFA said it will also permit the cocoons of silkworms for human consumption in Singapore. They are also consumed in China and Malaysia, among other places. Silkworms produce cocoons with silk threads that are composed of two main proteins, known as sericin and fibroin. While silk has traditionally been used to produce textiles, countries like Japan have allowed companies to turn these silk threads into food and edible coatings in recent years. With the new announcement, the Singapore food industry is trying to capitalise on the opportunity to launch snacks and protein bars made of insects. Several home-grown firms also produce cricket powder for use in flour and cookies and are currently selling it to customers in the US and the UK. But the scale of consumer demand and the lack of public awareness is seen as challenges down the road. With a growing population, the world needs more available, affordable and sustainable alternatives for a balanced diet. However, a lot more needs to be done to normalise insect consumption around the world.
A new Tesla Megapack project has broken ground in Arizona, and when it comes online in 2024, it will be the state’s largest energy storage system.
For utilities, battery energy storage is one of the most helpful new technologies they can employ to reduce fossil fuel dependence and increase the reliability of their associated grid. By holding onto excess power generated during lulls in demand, power companies can more easily address peak demand and, importantly, reduce costs. Now, a new Tesla Megapack energy storage system is set to do just that in Arizona.
The Sierra Estrella energy storage facility, constructed by utility company Salt River Project (SRP) and energy system constructor Plus Power LLC, will be the largest of its kind in Arizona. The massive network of Tesla Megapacks will have a capacity of 1,000MWh, enough energy to power 56,000 homes for four hours. According to previous information released by SRP, the project was set to cost $400 million, but this does not account for the recent Tesla Megapack price cut.
Sorry I’m not that active. My mom had a heart attack a little over a month ago and I care for her now. Plus last Thursday I went to the ER for overdosing accidentally on depakote which can be deadly. But check this out. In case of an emergency is this cool or what? Kind of expensive though.
If this summer you’re in the mood for some off-the-grid camping trips, this state-of-the-art self-sustainable luxury trailer is what you need. Designed from the ground up for off-grid camping, the trailer can also produce its own water, making it fully self-sufficient. This extremely sophisticated camper is the work of a California-based company called Living Vehicle which specializes in making self-sustainable luxury travel trailers. The 2023 model was recently introduced by Living Vehicle and it boasts a few industry firsts.
According to its makers, the off-grid camper is aimed at those who wish “to travel far away from campgrounds and overcrowded RV parks.” With a starting price of $340,000, the luxury camper is available in three versions: Core, Max, and Pro. Additionally, Living Vehicle offers a laundry list of options that can be added to the camper via the company’s online configurator.
The 29-foot-long innovative camper runs on solar power. It comes with 1,400W of solar capacity as standard, but Living Vehicle offers an option to further increase its capacity. The Pro version boosts the maximum solar capacity of 3,400W. The energy is stored in a lithium-ion battery pack with a capacity ranging from 14.4 kWh to 57.6 kWh depending on the trailer’s version, along with invertor power ranging from 5 kW to 20 kW. The company from Santa Barbara claims the stored solar energy can power the camper’s air conditioner overnight without any external power input.
Sodium-ion batteries (Na-ion) are being put into small Chinese EVs that are priced significantly lower than prevailing EV models.
According to this article Colorado will run out of water by 2050. The way we can stop this situation is with desalinated water that can fill underground aquifers.
Nearly half a million homes in the Centennial State could be without water by 2050. Colorado River reservoir levels are in a free fall. And local farmers already don’t have the supplies they need. What happens next depends on what we do today.
The discovery of new quantum materials with magnetic properties could pave the way for ultra-fast and considerably more energy-efficient computers and mobile devices. So far, these types of materials have been shown to work only in extremely cold temperatures. Now, a research team at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden are the first to make a device made of a two-dimensional magnetic quantum material work in room temperature.
Today’s rapid IT expansion generates enormous amounts of digital data that needs to be stored, processed, and communicated. This comes with an ever-increasing need for energy—projected to consume more than 30% of the world’s total energy consumption by 2050. To combat the problem, the research community has entered a new paradigm in materials science. The research and development of two-dimensional quantum materials, that form in sheets and are only a few atoms thick, have opened new doors for sustainable, faster and more energy-efficient data storage and processing in computers and mobiles.
The first atomically thin material to be isolated in a laboratory was graphene, a single atom-thick plane of graphite, that resulted in the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics. And in 2017, two-dimensional materials with magnetic properties were discovered for the first time. Magnets play a fundamental role in our everyday lives, from sensors in our cars and home appliances to computer data storage and memory technologies, and the discovery opened for new and more sustainable solutions for a wide range of technology devices.
In the last decade, we have witnessed biology bring us some incredible products and technologies: from mushroom-based packaging to animal-free hotdogs and mRNA vaccines that helped curb a global pandemic. The power of synthetic biology to transform our world cannot be overstated: this industry is projected to contribute to as much as a third of the global economic output by 2030, or nearly $30 trillion, and could impact almost every area of our lives, from the food we eat to the medicine we put in our bodies.
The leaders of this unstoppable bio revolution – many of whom you can meet at the SynBioBeta conference in Oakland, CA, on May 23–25 – are bringing the future closer every day through their ambitious vision, long-range strategy, and proactive oversight. These ten powerful women are shaping our world as company leaders, biosecurity experts, policymakers, and philanthropists focused on charting a new course to a more sustainable, equitable, clean, and safe future.
As an early pioneer in the high-throughput synthesis and sequencing of DNA, Emily Leproust has dedicated her life to democratizing gene synthesis to catapult the growth of synthetic biology applications from medicine, food, agriculture, and industrial chemicals to DNA data storage. She was one of the co-founders of Twist Bioscience in 2013 and is still leading the expanding company as CEO. To say that Twist’s silicon platform was a game-changer for the industry is an understatement. And it is no surprise that Leproust was recently honored with the BIO Rosalind Franklin Award for her work in the biobased economy and biotech innovation.
Tesla is preparing to launch Powerwall 3, the third generation of its home battery pack, according to information obtained by Electrek.
In 2015, when launching its Tesla Energy division, Tesla launched the first generation of the Powerwall, and it quickly became, by far, the most popular home battery pack in the residential market.
Shortly after, Tesla launched Powerwall 2, a new version of the residential battery pack with more energy and power capacity.
