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Archive for the ‘sustainability’ category: Page 315

Dec 3, 2020

This Solar-Powered Luxury RV Has A Balcony & Can Charge Your Tesla!

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

RV life has never appealed a great deal to me. It has had a slight appeal, but it always looked a bit too compromising for my tastes. Until I discovered the Living Vehicle today.

Granted, there are still some benefits to a more fixed living situation, and an important thing to note is the Living Vehicle is certainly not cheap. It starts at $229,995 and various options will add thousands more (each). But the thing is wicked, offers the core luxuries of life that I feel I need, and allows you to travel all over the place and have different amazing views out your window and your front door as you wish — the kind of views, I presume, that can cost millions of dollars on their own.

Dec 3, 2020

Tractebel Develops New Floating Wind, Large-Scale Hydrogen Production Platforms

Posted by in category: sustainability

Tractebel Overdick has developed a new floating wind foundation concept for 15+ MW wind turbines with a “hydrogen ready” option, and an offshore hydrogen production platform which can utilise the potential of large-scale offshore wind farms at an industrial scale of up to 800 MW.

The new floater design is said to have been optimised to reduce the overall costs of the floating foundation, through all major fabrication, installation, and operational aspects. In the case of the new hydrogen platform, the company has also highlighted that the new design – for which the system configuration and platform layout have been optimised based on the company’s previous design for a 400 MW system – can now lead to an overall cost reduction and competitive levelized cost of hydrogen.

The floating wind foundation, based on triangular arrangement of the main load carrying members, does not require any moving parts or wires, thus reducing risks and allowing for easier transport and installation operations, according to Tractebel Overdick. Moreover, the floater can be fabricated without using large heavy lift cranes or similar infrastructure, which might not be available in remote areas of the world.

Dec 3, 2020

Mapping quantum structures with light to unlock their capabilities

Posted by in categories: computing, mapping, quantum physics, solar power, sustainability

A new tool that uses light to map out the electronic structures of crystals could reveal the capabilities of emerging quantum materials and pave the way for advanced energy technologies and quantum computers, according to researchers at the University of Michigan, University of Regensburg and University of Marburg.

A paper on the work is published in Science.

Applications include LED lights, solar cells and artificial photosynthesis.

Dec 3, 2020

How to ‘future proof’ your petrol car with an electric conversion kit

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

One Dutch-Irish company is leading the way towards greener roads, by selling cheap electric conversion kits for existing petrol or diesel cars.

Drivers will be able to cut their carbon footprints by trading in an old car running on fossil fuel and turning it into a functioning, battery-operated electric vehicle.

Based just south of Dublin, New Electric claims to be able to “future proof” cars for years to come, no matter the brand, the desired speed, or torque. Its mission is to take good quality cars that may have been sent to the scrap heap and revamp them by installing batteries.

Dec 2, 2020

New platform generates hybrid light-matter excitations in highly charged graphene

Posted by in categories: engineering, nanotechnology, quantum physics, solar power, sustainability

Graphene, an atomically thin carbon layer through which electrons can travel virtually unimpeded, has been extensively studied since its first successful isolation more than 15 years ago. Among its many unique properties is the ability to support highly confined electromagnetic waves coupled to oscillations of electronic charge—plasmon polaritons—that have potentially broad applications in nanotechnology, including biosensing, quantum information, and solar energy.

However, in order to support , must be charged by applying a voltage to a nearby metal gate, which greatly increases the size and complexity of nanoscale devices. Columbia University researchers report that they have achieved plasmonically active graphene with record-high charge density without an external gate. They accomplished this by exploiting novel interlayer charge transfer with a two-dimensional electron-acceptor known as α-RuCl3. The study is available now online as an open access article and will appear in the December 9th issue of Nano Letters.

“This work allows us to use graphene as a plasmonic material without metal gates or voltage sources, making it possible to create stand-alone graphene plasmonic structures for the first time” said co-PI James Hone, Wang Fong-Jen Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Columbia Engineering.

Dec 2, 2020

Privacy Overview

Posted by in categories: chemistry, climatology, economics, law, sustainability

Warrior for our planet!

Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius:

Continue reading “Privacy Overview” »

Dec 2, 2020

Universal Basic Means of Production: Can It Make UBI Obsolete?

Posted by in categories: food, nanotechnology, sustainability

“The newest term — Universal Basic Means of Production — helps someone unfamiliar with the concepts to better imagine that world without clouding the idea with negative connotations from the past. So, what if instead of focusing so heavily on the idea of passing out money to individuals, we shift our focus to subsidizing 3D printers, local recycling centers for collecting plastic to make 3D printing filament when possible, and vertical gardens in homes and communities.”


Imagine a carbon nanotube replicator and garden in every home. It’s not sci-fi and will soon be possible. How fast we make the transition is entirely up to us.

This term refers to the idea of providing every household with technology that allows people to produce things they need at home. This includes consumer goods such as clothes, food, building materials, etc. and refers to the idea of getting everyone producing as many of their consumable materials as possible.

Continue reading “Universal Basic Means of Production: Can It Make UBI Obsolete?” »

Dec 1, 2020

Subsidies Mean This Electric Car Is Literally Free in Germany

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

EVs are selling themselves in Europe right now.

Dec 1, 2020

New Wind Turbine Blades Could be Recycled Instead of Landfilled

Posted by in category: sustainability

If the blades can hold up to outdoor conditions, they could help accelerate onshore and offshore wind power.

Dec 1, 2020

BMW Creates World’s First Electric Wingsuit That Can Fly Up

Posted by in category: sustainability

The sustainable propulsion system enables flights at over 300 km/h (186 mph) for 5 minutes and climbing ability for the first time.