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Category: sustainability – Page 212

The technology could help make EVs more affordable as well as easier to charge.

A collaboration between researchers at the Yokohoma National University in Japan and the University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia has led to the development of a new electrode material that can be used in solid-state batteries. Thus the electrode doesn’t diminish after multiple charges and discharge cycles and can help in manufacturing durable batteries for electric vehicles.

As the world is turning over to electric modes of transportation in its bid to reduce carbon emissions, the battery has become a focal area of development.

Black_Kira/iStock.

While high charging times make the shift to electric vehicles unattractive, as the crucial component, the battery must also be cheap enough to encourage EV adoption. Although progress has been made in developing lithium-ion batteries, solid-state batteries (SSBs) have also gained traction as an alternative.

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World Food Day, celebrated every year on 16 October, marks the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 1945 as an organization that deals with global food and agricultural issues. The number of people going hungry has increased since 2014 and the prevalence of undernourishment has remained virtually unchanged in the past 3 years. This reversal in progress sends a clear warning that more must be done urgently if the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger is to be achieved by 2030.

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The ultralight solar cells are made of semiconducting inks using printing processes that can be scaled in the future to large-area manufacturing.

A group of engineers at MIT have developed a rather interesting solution to be deployed in remote locations or for assistance in emergencies: solar cells made of ultralight fabric that can turn any surface into a power source.

The research is published in Small Methods.

Melanie Gonick, MIT

Thinner than human hair, the durable, flexible solar cells are stuck on a strong, lightweight fabric that makes them very easy to affix to a surface, just like a sticker.

Continue reading “Video: MIT engineers develop paper-thin solar cells that can power any surface” | >

Environmentalists, however, argue that the process may not be a good thing.

University of Colorado researchers have conceived of a method of making useful materials out of some of the plastics that are inundating landfills everywhere, according to a report by the Colorado Sun.

The end result is a series of polycyanurate networks which have been used for decades in electronic devices, automobiles, circuit boards, the space industry and more.

AzmanJaka/iStock.

The novel process uses ethanol to break down plastics to their smallest molecules. Those molecules are then used as starting blocks to make a new plastic product equally as useful and durable as the recycled one.

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While Elon Musk’s Tesla has been making waves in the global auto industry, China has also become the center of action in the EV space! One company in China has recorded.

A breakthrough in battery technology so huge that even Musk is impressed! Which.

Chinese company has recorded this feat? What does the revolutionary battery offer?

Join us as we dive into how China just shocked the entire EV industry with a new battery!

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“The likelihood of a cyber-attacks on Twitter feel very high right now and their ability to be able to counteract that feels very low,” Radcliffe said. “The amount of information that they have on users is considerable and I think that that’s a potential source of concern, particularly in countries in the Middle East and other places where once the information is on the open market and in the public domain it could potentially be harmful to users.”

Partnering with individuals or groups close to authoritarian regimes raises concerns over how Twitter might react should it be pressured by supply information on dissidents or to quell opposition speech. They also raise questions about Musk’s potential conflict of business interests concerning Tesla and Space X’s availability in certain markets.

Such questions have already been brought up by at least one member of the US Congress. But experts say they’re much more concerned about data security should Twitter go under.

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Pelorus, a provider of experiential travel and yachting, has partnered with Swedish aviation company OceanSky Cruises, the “airline of airships,” to promote the advancement of ultra-sustainable airship travel.

Pelorus will provide thorough research, planning, and logistics as OceanSky’s “expedition partner” to create individualized private experiences before, after, and onboard OceanSky Cruises’ fleet of premier “lighter than air” airships, according to a press release by the company last week.

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This is number 22 on IE’s list of 22 best innovations, a look back at recycling for all plastics.

Two companies, Plastonix and Elemental Recycling have done what others could not: they have found technologies that recycle all types of plastic.

The monumental task of recycling the 380 million tons of plastic disposed of each year, that clog the ocean and beaches throughout the world, has eluded us. Around 80 percent of all plastic ends up in the oceans and landfills.

Ibrahim Can/Interesting Engineering.

This is a real innovation because up until now, there were practically no way to recycle most plastics, especially soft plastic, mixed plastics, and dirty or soiled plastics. That has all changed.

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The new sodium-sulfur batteries are also environmentally friendly, driving the clean energy mission forward at a low cost.

To realize the universal goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, the world is keenly looking at advancements in battery technology. Lower costs, higher capacity, and optimal utilization of scarce natural resources are expected to play a major role in taking the mission forward.

Their findings were published in Advanced Materials.

IStock / Black_Kira.

Helping to realize the goal, a group of researchers at the University of Sydney has come up with a sodium-sulfur battery with a significantly higher capacity than lithium-ion cells. The battery also costs considerably less to manufacture.

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