Solar PV module technology moves fast, and is delivering improvements continuously. So fast that itâs no trivial matter to judge the long-term reliability of the changes. Itâs a crucial issue as modules, once deployed, are expected to deliver results over lifetimes that span decades. Sara Fall and Jarett Zuboy at NREL describes a process designed to identify and address potential reliability problems quickly, before they are observed in the … [Read more...]
Chinaâs CATL to cut its EV battery costs by up to 50% this year, heralding a price war
Chinaâs CATL, the worldâs largest producer of EV batteries, is saying it will slash the cost of its batteries by up to 50% this year as part of a price war with Chinaâs second largest maker, BYD subsidiary FinDreams. The main cause is the overproduction of batteries in China: the oversupply means prices must fall. Muhammad Rizwan Azhar, Waqas Uzair and Yasir Arafat at Edith Cowan University look at the causes and implications, but add that … [Read more...]
ReDREAM pilot: mobile app for real-time green energy availability, prices, to control your usage
We already have the technology to allow households to monitor and control their energy usage so they can run individual appliances when the energy is cheapest and greenest. It just needs to be tested and then deployed at scale. Luca Arfini, writing for ESCI, describes the EU-funded ReDREAM project where over 700 people in four countries have had the monitoring installed in their homes, and been given the mobile app to control their usage. … [Read more...]
Danone to cut its methane emissions 30% by 2030: 58,000 dairy farms across 20 countries
Danone has pledged to cut its methane emissions by 30% by 2030 in its fresh milk supply. That makes it only one of three of the worldâs top sixty livestock producers to have set a target. Methane has driven 28% of human-caused climate change, with almost a third of that from livestock. The key strategies are âimproving herd and feed management, reducing manure-related emissions, and developing innovative methane inhibitor solutions.â The big … [Read more...]
Study: Marine Carbon Removal, and the Offshore Wind and Wave Energy to power it
Ocean-based carbon dioxide removal makes a lot of sense. The oceans are already carbon sinks that absorb about 30% of global carbon emissions. And the concentration of CO2 is higher in water than in air. Caitlin McDermott-Murphy at NREL looks at a new study of the technologies under development, and the opportunities for offshore wind and wave energy to power it. There are nature-based solutions like vast seaweed or algae farms. There are also … [Read more...]
Tandem solar cells (perovskite + silicon) can reach 40% energy conversion rates
Tandem solar lays new perovskite cells over standard silicon cells. Perovskite absorbs the shorter wavelengths of light that silicon misses. So the thin layer of perovskite collects the visible wavelengths, and lets the near-infrared light through to the silicon underneath. Martina GrĂŒnwald and Sarah Michaud writing for the WEF point at the results of R&D and demonstrations in Germany, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and China. Energy conversion … [Read more...]
16 innovative firms driving Aviationâs transition to net-zero
The Sustainable Aviation Challenge has identified 16 innovative firms that can accelerate the development and adoption of sustainable aviation fuel and other propulsion solutions. Aviation accounts for 2% of global emissions and, so long as lightweight compact clean aviation fuels are unavailable, this number is likely to increase along with air travel projections. Gianluca Gygax at the World Economic Forum lists the 16 firms, who will now be … [Read more...]
Chemicals Industry needs Sustainable Feedstocks to complete their net-zero journey
The chemicals industry is crucial to decarbonisation because itâs a major supplier of products to other industries. Many are very high profile - such as automotive, construction, food, and personal-care â so scrutiny will be high. Itâs why two-thirds of Europeâs largest chemical end users in Europe are committed to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030, and over a third have pledged net-zero targets by 2050. But although chemicals industry … [Read more...]
Fuel Cells and Electrolysis: nanoparticle catalyst electrodes can advance clean power and Hydrogen production
Fuel and electrolysis cells both involve electrochemical reactions (one is the reverse of the other), and their efficiency depends on the catalysts used on the electrodes. Conventional metal catalysts coarsen at high temperatures, reducing activity and durability. Elizabeth Thomson at MIT describes new research there that uses ion irradiation to precipitating metal nanoparticles onto the surface of the electrode. The process allows close control … [Read more...]
China is still playing the long game with its ânew threeâ: solar cells, lithium batteries, EVs
Chinaâs ânew threeâ â or xin san yang â are solar cells, lithium-ion batteries, and EVs. The term harks back to the concept of its âold threeâ that were once the pillars of its exports: clothing, home appliances and furniture. Chinaâs success is seen in the numbers: it accounts globally for 80%+ of solar cell exports, 50%+ of lithium-ion batteries and 20%+ of EVs. You Xiaoying, writing for China Dialogue, interviews experts and quotes reports … [Read more...]
Making solid fuel from captured CO2 (with a 96% conversion rate)
What if CO2 could be captured and, rather than locked away underground for eternity, turned into a stable powder that can be used in fuel cells to produce electricity? David Chandler at MIT describes research there and at Harvard that has demonstrated a new process that has a 96% conversion rate. Itâs been tried before, but the conversion rates were an unusable 20%. The CO2 is converted into formate and used like hydrogen or methanol (both strong … [Read more...]
Improved âSolar Thermochemicalâ process captures 40% of the sunâs heat to produce Green Hydrogen
The U.S. Department of Energy has set a goal to make green hydrogen domestically at $1 per kilogram by 2030. Current costs range from $3 to $8 and none of it is being done at scale. Getting the cost of green hydrogen down is a serious concern for policymakers and industry alike. Most efforts are through electrolysis, which used electricity to split the water that delivers the hydrogen production. Jennifer Chu at MIT describes research there on … [Read more...]
Why we need a European Central Carbon Bank within the EU ETS framework
The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is at a critical juncture as it navigates a path towards achieving a net-zero Europe by 2050. Amidst this transformation, the proposal to create the European Central Carbon Bank (ECCB) has sparked a range of criticisms. Some critics have raised valid concerns about the feasibility, necessity, governance, and potential drawbacks of such an institution. Robert Jeszke and Sebastian Lizak at the Centre for … [Read more...]
Using Generative AI to speed up and improve the Wind Turbine blade design process
Justin Daugherty at NREL describes research there on using generative AI to accelerate and improve the wind turbine blade design process. To keep up with the pace of change in the market (not just customer demands, but policy regulations and technological innovations), the current method uses simplified low-fidelity modelling because itâs quicker to turn around. But it is also less accurate. Researchers are exploring deep-learning models using … [Read more...]
Simple superconducting diode can dramatically cut energy use in transistors, data centres
Some estimates say data centres could be consuming up to 20% of all power globally in ten years. Thatâs largely because the billions of transistors have to be cooled. Elizabeth Thomson at MIT describes breakthrough research that has made a superconducting diode thatâs twice as efficient as the standard, therefore generating and wasting far less heat. Whatâs surprising is that some straightforward physics of materials was utilised, in contrast to … [Read more...]
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