Archive for the ‘transportation’ category: Page 344
May 22, 2018
Dealerships trash talk electric cars: study
Posted by Bill Kemp in categories: sustainability, transportation
Car dealerships in Nordic countries actively discourage consumers from buying electric vehicles, researchers who conducted an undercover investigation said Monday.
Their findings, published in the peer-reviewed Nature Energy, reveal an overlooked barrier to the sale of electric vehicles, which are expected to play a key role in lowering CO2 emissions and curbing global warming.
Posing as prospective buyers, the researchers made 126 enquiries at 82 dealerships in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland.
Continue reading “Dealerships trash talk electric cars: study” »
May 21, 2018
Advanced biofuels can be produced extremely efficiently
Posted by Bill Kemp in categories: energy, finance, sustainability, transportation
A chance to switch to renewable sources for heating, electricity and fuel, while also providing new opportunities for several industries to produce large numbers of renewable products. This is the verdict of researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, who now, after 10 years of energy research into gasification of biomass, see an array of new technological achievements.
“The potential is huge! Using only the already existing Swedish energy plants, we could produce renewable fuels equivalent to 10 percent of the world’s aviation fuel, if such a conversion were fully implemented,” says Henrik Thunman, Professor of Energy Technology at Chalmers.
How to implement a switch from fossil-fuels to renewables is a tricky issue for many industries. For heavy industries, such as oil refineries, or the paper and pulp industry, it is especially urgent to start moving, because investment cycles are so long. At the same time, it is important to get the investment right because you may be forced to replace boilers or facilities in advance, which means major financial costs. Thanks to long-term strategic efforts, researchers at Sweden´s Chalmers University of Technology have now paved the way for radical changes, which could be applied to new installations, as well as be implemented at thousands of existing plants around the globe.
Continue reading “Advanced biofuels can be produced extremely efficiently” »
May 20, 2018
Urban Aero moves forward with innovative VTOL aircraft
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: innovation, transportation
The development of Israel-based Urban Aeronautics’ Cormorant prototype is well underway, with hopes of launching a full-scale development of the aircraft in the near future.
May 19, 2018
Stunning helicopter footage shows Hawaii volcano’s fast-moving lava flow
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: transportation
May 17, 2018
Warning and Aviation Code Red Alert Issued For Hawaii
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: futurism, transportation
Red is the highest level of alert to aviation, meaning that either an eruption is forecast to be imminent with significant emission of ash into the atmosphere likely — as is the case currently in Hawaii — or an eruption is underway with significant emission of ash into the atmosphere. Either way, this could mean disruptions are possible in aviation around the big island of Hawaii for the foreseeable future, depending on what happens.
Ash clouds from volcanoes can clog the engines of airplanes and cause them to malfunction — or stop working altogether. According to this article from the World Organization of Volcano Observatories:
May 16, 2018
Elon Musk Details Incredible Hyperloop Plan to Connect With SpaceX Launches
Posted by Bill Kemp in categories: Elon Musk, transportation
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk outlined plans to use The Boring Company’s hyperloop to link city centers to spaceports, which in turn will be used to transport humans across the planet in under an hour using the SpaceX BFR as an “Earth-to-Earth” transit system.
May 15, 2018
How Microsoft is using location data to map the future (VB Live)
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: robotics/AI, transportation
The power of the cloud, artificial intelligence, and machine learning is making smart cities and data-based Location of Things navigation a reality. Join the Principal Product Manager for Microsoft Azure Maps and others and learn how advanced location technology will revolutionize everything from autonomous cars to connected cities. Don’t miss this VB Live event!
Location data is the foundation of technology: It’s what binds a device and a user, a user and the environment they’re in. And as location data moves to the cloud and gets smarter, powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, the number of potential applications for smart location data is exploding, says Chris Pendleton, Principal PM for Azure Maps. We’re on the threshold of creating a smarter society, built on the hundreds of millions of connected devices that together create The Location of Things.
Continue reading “How Microsoft is using location data to map the future (VB Live)” »
May 15, 2018
Researchers hope to debut flying car at Tokyo Olympics
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: business, economics, finance, transportation
Asia-focused English-language publication that brings you insights about business, finance, economic and political newsand analysis for Asia, by Asia on asia.nikkei.com
May 14, 2018
Elon Musk says LA-area test tunnel almost complete (Update)
Posted by Bill Kemp in categories: Elon Musk, transportation
Billionaire Elon Musk says he’s almost completed a tunnel under a Los Angeles suburb to test a novel transportation system that would scoot commuters underground on electric sleds called skates.
Musk tweeted Thursday that, pending regulatory approvals, free rides will be offered to the public in a few months. He also posted an Instagram video of the interior of the tunnel.
Last year, the Hawthorne City Council approved an approximately 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) test tunnel from Musk’s SpaceX rocket plant to a point east of Los Angeles International Airport.