Lifeboat Foundation

The H2 Barge 2 is a hydrogen fuel-cell powered ship designed to transport containers on the Rhine between Rotterdam (NL) and Duisburg (DE) with zero emissions that could represent a massive reduction in carbon emissions.

Developed by Dutch shipowner Future Proof Shipping (FPS) and funded by the EU Flagships project and the Interreg ZEM Ports NS project, the H2 Barge 2 (formerly Fenny 1 and FPS Waal) was built as a conventionally powered containership before being converted to electric drive – with the 1.2 MW of power to drive the vessel’s motors coming from six PEM fuel cells, hydrogen storage, and a number of battery packs placed below deck.

Compared to its previous incarnations, the H2 Barge 2 is expected to reduce 3,000 tons of CO₂ annually while sailing a comparable amount of shipping containers up and down the Rhine. And, in doing so (the company says), the vessel proves that the European river fleet can be, “fully zero emission already today.”

Sales slowed in 2023, but heat pumps are gaining ground on fossil fuels.

Heat pumps are still a hot technology, though sales in the US, one of the world’s largest markets, fell in 2023.

Football players (and anyone else who takes hard hits) may want to breathe a sigh of relief.

In recent research, engineers at the University of Colorado of Boulder and Sandia National Laboratories have developed a new design for padding that can withstand big impacts. The team’s innovations, which can be printed on commercially available 3D printers, could one day wind up in everything from shipping crates to football pads—anything that helps to protect fragile objects, or bodies, from the bumps of life.

Continue reading “Redefining Helmet Safety: Scientists Develop New Material That Absorbs Six Times More Energy” »

Minesto aims to offer clean, dependable, and cost-effective ocean-based power solutions through its Dragon-class tidal power plants.

Highly reducing or oxidizing photocatalysts are a fundamental challenge in photochemistry. Only a few transition metal complexes with Earth-abundant metal ions have so far advanced to excited state oxidants, including chromium, iron, and cobalt. All these photocatalysts require high energy light for excitation and their oxidizing power has not yet been fully exploited. Furthermore, precious and hence expensive metals are the decisive ingredients in most cases.

A team of researchers headed by Professor Katja Heinze of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has now developed a new molecular system based on the element manganese. Manganese, as opposed to precious metals, is the third most abundant metal after iron and titanium and hence widely available and very cheap. The study is published in the journal Nature Chemistry.

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck the world’s largest active volcano on Friday — Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii — knocking items off shelves and cutting power in a nearby town but not immediately prompting reports of serious damage.

The earthquake, which didn’t cause a tsunami and which the U.S. Geological Survey initially reported as magnitude 6.3, was centered on Mauna Loa’s southern flank at a depth of 23 miles, 1.3 miles southwest of Pahala.

Discover how BMW and Toyota are accelerating the shift to hydrogen-powered vehicles, revolutionizing the automotive industry.

We’re one step further down the path to limitless clean power.

From the article: As much as 55,000 tons (50,000 metric tons) of hydrogen could lurk in the reservoir beneath the mine — enough to sustain the high flow rate for 238 years, according to the study.

A portion of ancient oceanic crust that sits atop Albania and hosts one of the largest chromium mines on Earth also contains a huge hydrogen reservoir, offering a potential source of clean energy.