Lifeboat Foundation

During the second quarter earnings call, Elon Musk called on miners to efficiently mine more nickel. According to Musk, nickel miners could be assured of massive contracts with Tesla, provided that their mining practices are efficient and environmentally conscious. If recent reports are any indication, it appears that a Canadian mining company has recently answered the CEO’s call.

In a statement to Bloomberg, Toronto-based Canada Nickel Co. stated that it is poised to build a facility that has the capability to process zero carbon nickel. The need for such a product was highlighted by Canada Nickel Chief Executive Officer Mark Selby to the publication. “The electric vehicle chain and broader market in general is crying out for zero-carbon product,” he said.

Goodbye gas stations.

During the second quarter earnings call, Elon Musk tentatively confirmed that Tesla would be making a compact car and a vehicle with high capacity. Granted, it would probably take a few more years before such vehicles are produced, but one thing seems certain. Considering Tesla’s speed and pace, it would not be surprising if Tesla’s compact car and high capacity EV causes the extinction of the internal combustion engine.

Tesla’s current lineup of vehicles, which comprise the Model S, Model 3, Model X, and Model Y, are great EVs, but they are still fairly large for their class. This includes the Model 3 and the Model Y, Tesla’s “smaller” vehicles in its lineup. This, together with the vehicles’ premium price, end up blocking the company from reaching its full potential in the auto market. With a compact car and a high capacity vehicle, however, things could drastically change for Tesla.

Continue reading “Tesla’s next vehicles have the potential to usher in the extinction of gas cars” »

After Elon Musk mentioned that Tesla was working on a couple more vehicles, a compact car and “high capacity” vehicle, my mind started to race about how this van-like vehicle could use all of the technologies that Elon has mentioned in various interviews. First, let’s cover the basics that I’m 99% sure the vehicle will have. I got some of these ideas from one of my Cybertruck articles. After that, I’ll take things in a little different direction than our previous “Tesla Cybervan” article.

Interesting.

Audi has announced that it is testing out bidirectional charging technology for electric cars, this would incorporate the electric car into the domestic power grid and could provide additional power to the grid when not in use.

Continue reading “Audi is testing out bidirectional charging technology for electric vehicles” »

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.

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.

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.

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” »

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