Lifeboat Foundation

One of the big problems with solar vehicles is that there’s just not much room on a car to make that much power. With a super efficient car like an Aptera, you can get a meaningful amount of power from solar panels, mostly because the car doesn’t use that much power. But, if you don’t want your car to look like an airplane without wings or a weird science project, you can’t get that much actual range per hour of solar charging. However, an Australian professor came up with a better idea to power his Tesla off of solar panels alone: a printed solar panel that rolls up.

The Charge Around Australia project doesn’t aim to be the first EV excursion around Australia, or even the first trip around Australia on solar power. The point is to be the first vehicle that has gone around the continent in a normal car powered by an innovative new solar technology.

Continue reading “College Team To Drive Around Australia & Showcase Printed Solar Power” »

Please welcome a second posting here at 21st Century Tech Blog, from Katie Brenneman. Katie’s previous contribution looked at how individuals can practice sustainability to mitigate the threat of climate change. Her many interests include writing on lifestyle, mental health, and sustainability. You can follow her on Twitter.

In this contribution, Katie has chosen a timely topic: the increasing consumer interest in electric vehicles (EVs). The recent stratospheric rise in gasoline and diesel prices because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made EVs far more attractive. That plus more announcements about new EV models, i.e., The Ford Lightning (an EV version of the F-150) may prove to be the moment when North Americans begin a rapid move away from fossil-fuel-powered vehicles?

As fuel prices continue to rise around the world, many consumers are taking another look at EVs as a potential solution for their transportation needs. This follows historical trends that show whenever there is a spike in gas and diesel costs it is accompanied by an increase in EV sales. Online searches for EVs continue to double with many in the renewable energy sector wondering if this is the watershed moment that will finally move us to take zero-emission actions seriously.

“I cannot take your philanthropy on climate change seriously when you have a massive short position against Tesla,” Musk told Gates, per the texts.

Architect Andreas Tjeldflaat from design and research studio, Framlab, has his head high up in the clouds.

His latest project, titled Oversky, was recently on display at an exhibition on architecture and climate change at Sweden’s Bildmuseet art museum.

Oversky deals with a series of semi-floating structures in the ariel space between roads and buildings. The modular structures would be based on the technology that allows zeppelins to float, known as the lighter-than-air technology, and would be interconnected and supported by various infrastructural links that connect the street, known as “the cloudscape”.

Pigs live in modular pens in barns with airy lattice-like facades on this Croatian farm designed by architecture studio Skroz.

Skroz designed the Eco Pig Farm for Sin Ravnice, one of the first professional breeders dedicated to the long-neglected Slavonian Black pig, which is indigenous to the Slavonia region of eastern Croatia.

The pig is prized for its bacon and the local specialty sausage “kulen”, but its numbers dwindled during the 20th century as factory farming increased, because the breed requires access to pasture.

GE is ready to rock the world of onshore wind turbines with 3D printing for a new concrete base.

Vast swaths of the US have yet to be tapped for wind energy, partly on account of politics and partly because wind speeds in those areas are less than optimal. Only the voting public can take care of the political end. Meanwhile, engineers and innovators are hammering away at the wind speed issue, which can be solved by building taller wind turbine towers. That’s not as easy as it sounds, but GE Renewable Energy is banking on 3D printing to overcome the obstacles.

Why Not Taller Wind Turbines?

Continue reading “Taller Wind Turbines To Get TLC From 3D Printing” »

Musk’s latest compensation windfall, which must be certified by Tesla’s board, comes days after he offered to buy Twitter for $43 billion, with analysts suggesting he could sell Tesla shares to help finance the deal.

Musk already is the world’s richest person, according to Forbes.

Tesla reported quarterly revenue of $18.76 billion and so-called adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $5.02 billion. Combined with the previous three quarters’ results, that surpasses milestones that trigger the vesting of the ninth through 11th of 12 tranches of options granted to Musk in his 2018 pay package.