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Category: sustainability – Page 448

Electric airplanes are getting tantalizingly close to a commercial breakthrough

For $140000, you can fly your own electric airplane. The Slovenian company Pipistrel sells the Alpha Electro, the first electric aircraft certified as airworthy by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2018. It’s a welterweight at just 811 pounds (368 kilograms), powered by a 21 kWh battery pack—about one-fifth the power of what you’d find in a Tesla Model S. For about 90 minutes, the pilot training plane will keep you and a companion aloft without burning a drop of fossil fuel.

Those of us without a pilot license will have to wait longer for emissions-free flight—but not much. For all its challenges, 2020 has proven to be a milestone year for electric aviation. Electric aircraft set new distance records, replicated short commercial flight paths, won over the US military, and attracted buyers from big airlines.

And in June, European regulators granted another of Pipistrel’s aircraft, the Velis Electro, the world’s first electric “type certification,” deeming the entire aircraft design safe and ready for mass production (airworthiness only certifies individual aircraft).

Swiss Firm Engineers Hybrid Electric eVTOL/eSTOL Prototype

A Swiss firm has engineered a one-third scale model of a hybrid-electric aircraft capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) or efficient short take-off and landing (STOL) operations. The nifty vehicle will soon be performing its first test flight.

RELATED: NEW EVTOL VERTICAL ROTOR AIRCRAFT JOINS THE AEROSPACE RACE

The firm, called Manta Aircraft, says their new model combines the best features of a helicopter and a plane.

Volkswagen’s vision of Mobile EV-Charging Robot becomes a reality

Volkswagen shows mobile charging robot for fully autonomous charging of electric vehicles.

A year ago, Volkswagen unveiled its mobile charging station concept in which an autonomous robot facilitates the charging of the battery of electric cars. And now, after spending a year making the concept a reality, the automaker gives us a first glimpse of the prototypes of its mobile charging robot.

The first working prototypes, able to revolutionize the world of electric cars, has always been linked to the current scarcity of charging infrastructures. Its task – fully autonomous charging of vehicles in restricted parking areas, like underground car parks.

The concept consists of two modules – an energy storage device trailer with a charger and a mobile robot that can tow the trailer unit to a vehicle for charging.

Scientists turn CO2 into jet fuel

Researchers may have found a way to reduce the environmental impact of air travel in situations when electric aircraft and alternative fuels aren’t practical. Wired reports that Oxford University scientists have successfully turned CO2 into jet fuel, raising the possibility of conventionally-powered aircraft with net zero emissions.

The technique effectively reverses the process of burning fuel by relying on the organic combustion method. The team heated a mix of citric acid, hydrogen and an iron-manganese-potassium catalyst to turn CO2 into a liquid fuel capable of powering jet aircraft.

Tesla Model Y Police Car Makes World Debut in New York

It seems even police cars are moving to Tesla. 😃

Tesla Model Y enters the world of crime-fighting, commissioned by the Hastings-on-Hudson Police Department, Westchester County, New York. This is the first Model Y that has already been purchased and equipped as a police department vehicle in the world.

On December 21, the Hastings-on-Hudson Police Department shared the great news with the community via their Facebook. The PD has acquired and has already received their first electric car—Tesla Model Y. Police Chief David Dosin said the Westchester County Department was the first in the county to receive delivery of the all-electric police car, as the department is committed to alternative fuels and clean technologies.

Hastings PD introduces the first police outfitted Tesla Model Y in the US!!

The Hastings PD took delivery of a brand new Tesla Model Y today! It will serves as the police car assigned to the Detective Division.

Singer Akon is Spending $6 Billion to Build a “Real-Life Wakanda” in Senegal

Recording artist Akon has big plans for his upcoming smart city in Senegal. The new $6 billion development is called Akon City and will fulfill the star’s wish to provide a refuge for members of the African Diaspora both near and far. In addition to the 2000-acre resort, condos, and stadium, the metropolis is also planned to run on renewable energy and mainly use Akoin—the singer’s own cryptocurrency. After two years of planning and development, Akon has announced that they are breaking ground in 2021.

Akon believes that Africa, and his home of Senegal especially, is long overdue for economic investment. He is calling the forthcoming locale a “real-life Wakanda” and plans for it include a tech hub and “Senewood” to develop the film industry. Imagery by Bakri & Associates visualizes the unusual and futuristic forms that define the development and complement Akon’s forward-thinking choices.

This massive construction undertaking is geared towards stimulating the local economy and creating jobs for local workers. Many have praised this and are excited for the prospect of Akon City. But there are also some skeptics. Papa Massama Thiaw, a councilor and president of the youth commission for Ngueniene, shared that though many community members are optimistic, there is a lot of uncertainty. “The studies that were done were not in collaboration with the commune of Ngueniene,” he says. He also fears that jobs won’t be equally distributed. “I don’t want us to be just day laborers. We have to be among the managers.”

Hydrogen production with artificial photosynthesis and polymers

German scientists are researching a method to produce hydrogen using light and photoactive compounds on an organic chemical basis.

Hydrogen is considered to be one of the alternative energy sources of the future. So far, however, the costly and energy-intensive production process has been a major problem with regard to the environmental friendliness of this substance, which is in itself CO2 neutral. For this reason, increasing numbers of scientists around the world are researching other methods of producing hydrogen: from algae, for example. (IO reported). Scientists in Germany at the Friedrich Schiller University, the Leibniz Institute for Photonic Technologies (Leibniz IPHT) and the University of Ulm have taken inspiration from nature for their method of producing hydrogen.

To do so, the team from the “CataLight” Collaborative Research Center at the Universities of Jena and Ulm has combined new organic dyes with non-precious metal catalyst molecules that release gaseous hydrogen in water when irradiated with light. This substitute has shown a remarkable impact in terms of longevity and effect after excitation by visible light, they write in their study, published in Chemistry – A European Journal.

Photosynthesis as inspiration

In nature, sunlight is most effectively stored in chemical bonds through photosynthesis, because the light-collecting and reactive complexes in the thylakoid membrane are fixed in chloroplasts. The researchers led by Prof. Felix Schacher have achieved this type of arrangement with the help of polymers that interact with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic substances. These charged, so-called graft copolymers are produced artificially.