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Archive for the ‘sustainability’ category: Page 347

Jul 24, 2020

World population projected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050, and 11.2 billion in 2100

Posted by in categories: economics, sustainability

The current world population of 7.6 billion is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, according to a new United Nations report being launched today. With roughly 83 million people being added to the world’s population every year, the upward trend in population size is expected to continue, even assuming that fertility levels will continue to decline.

The World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision, published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, provides a comprehensive review of global demographic trends and prospects for the future. The information is essential to guide policies aimed at achieving the new Sustainable Development Goals.

Jul 24, 2020

How to build a Dyson sphere in five (relatively) easy steps

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

We are closer to being able to build a Dyson Sphere than we think. By enveloping the sun in a massive sphere of artificial habitats and solar panels, a Dyson Sphere would provide us with more energy than we would ever know what to do with while dramatically increasing our living space. Implausible you say? Something for our distant descendants to consider? Think again. We could conceivably get going on the project in about 25 to 50 years, with completion of the first phase requiring only a few decades.

Jul 23, 2020

Charging hundreds of EVs parked at a condo is a solvable problem, here’s how

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Skeptics like to point out that most EV drivers live in single-family homes that make charging easy. And they point to the current lack of charging stations at condos as an impenetrable obstacle to EV adoption. But this viewpoint reflects a lack of understanding of how daily EV charging works. I recently chatted with Jason Appelbaum, chief executive of EverCharge — the biggest EV charging network you never heard of.


Several hundred electric cars, all parked in the same condo garage, can easily get their daily dose of electricity. It requires a smart load-balancing system.

Jul 23, 2020

Creating Water From Thin Air

Posted by in categories: business, sustainability

About 2.1 billion people around the world do not have immediate access to clean drinking water.

The Water Abundance XPrize competition rewards innovators who come up with new ways to harvest clean water from the atmosphere.

This year, the winning design can produce at least 2,000 litres of water per day, which would satisfy the needs of 100 people.… See More.

Continue reading “Creating Water From Thin Air” »

Jul 23, 2020

Fast food waste and lithium trash are the next big biofuel

Posted by in categories: food, sustainability

Researchers from Brazil have found a way to use leftover kitchen grease and lithium battery waste to create a reliable, eco-friendly biofuel.

Jul 22, 2020

Tesla shares rise as it extends profit run for fourth straight quarter

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, sustainability, transportation

Soon I mean very soon he will beat Apple.


The earnings make Elon Musk’s electric car maker eligible to be included in the S&P 500 index and come a day after he qualified for a $US2.1 billion payout.

Jul 22, 2020

German NGO Cites Passive Cooling as Vital to Sustainable Buildings

Posted by in category: sustainability

German Sustainable Building Council also highlighted importance of NatRefs in ACs at ATMO/DTI Conference.

Using shading for passive cooling, © Simy27, 2020.

Passive cooling design, as well as natural refrigerant-based air conditioning, are vital to achieving sustainable cooling in buildings, according to Anna Braune, Director of Research and Development at the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), a Stuttgart, Germany-based NGO.

Jul 22, 2020

Ford unveils electric Mustang Mach-E race car with 1,400 horsepower

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Ford Motor has developed a racing version of its upcoming all-electric Mustang Mach-E crossover with 1,400 horsepower and a top speed that’s not street legal.

The company plans to use the prototype vehicle, which it’s calling the Mustang Mach-E 1400, to show off the potential performance of all-electric vehicles as the new crossover begins arriving in dealerships later this year.

“It’s an all-around athlete,” Mark Rushbrook, motorsports director of Ford Performance, told CNBC. He called the vehicle a “learning platform” for the company to utilize aspects of for its future all-electric vehicles.

Jul 22, 2020

Miami chemists’ breakthrough technique enables design at the interface of chemistry and biology

Posted by in categories: biological, chemistry, sustainability

A technique developed by Miami University associate professors of chemistry and biochemistry Dominik Konkolewicz and Rick Page may help enable more rapid and efficient development of new materials for use in pharmaceuticals, biofuels, and other applications.

Konkolewicz’s and Page’s technique uses nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology to illuminate how proteins and synthetic polymers interact in chemical substances known as bioconjugates.

Jul 22, 2020

Oxygen breathes new life into solar cell research

Posted by in categories: chemistry, solar power, sustainability

(Nanowerk News) Scientists in Australia and the United States have been able to ‘upconvert’ low energy light into high energy light, which can be captured by solar cells, in a new way, with oxygen the surprise secret ingredient. The results are published in Nature Photonics (“Photochemical upconversion of near-infrared light from below the silicon bandgap”).


Scientists in Australia and the United States have been able to ‘upconvert’ low energy light into high energy light, which can be captured by solar cells, in a new way, with oxygen the surprise secret ingredient.

The results are published in Nature Photonics (“Photochemical upconversion of near-infrared light from below the silicon bandgap”).

Continue reading “Oxygen breathes new life into solar cell research” »