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Archive for the ‘sustainability’ category: Page 474

Jul 8, 2019

Antigravity water transport system inspired by trees

Posted by in categories: engineering, solar power, sustainability, transportation

Efficiently moving water upward against gravity is a major feat of human engineering, yet one that trees have mastered for hundreds of millions of years. In a new study, researchers have designed a tree-inspired water transport system that uses capillary forces to drive dirty water upward through a hierarchically structured aerogel, where it can then be converted into steam by solar energy to produce fresh, clean water.

The researchers, led by Aiping Liu at Zhejiang Sci-Tech University and Hao Bai at Zhejiang University, have published a paper on the new transport and solar steam generation method in a recent issue of ACS Nano. In the future, efficient water transport methods have in and desalination.

“Our preparation method is universal and can be industrialized,” Liu told Phys.org. “Our materials have excellent properties and good stability, and can be reused many times. This provides the possibility for large-scale desalination and in the future.”

Jul 8, 2019

Toyota to test solar panels for electric cars

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

What’s not to like about this concept: high-efficiency solar cells gifting electric cars with mileage.

Bertel Schmitt, The Drive, said, “The solar roof could morph from mostly a marketing-device to a helpful feature.” He noted that, referring to plug-ins, “On a fair-weather day, the juice would be provided by the sun, a big improvement especially for people who don’t have their own garage.”

Toyota has ambitions over the concept and is to start testing an onboard solar recharging system where the hood, the roof, and back are covered with cells. The solar roof can charge while the car is on the move.

Jul 7, 2019

Renewable Energy Is Booming. Here’s How to Keep It Going

Posted by in categories: energy, sustainability

Commentary: Private investors are excited about renewable sources like solar and wind, but they need to focus on energy storage going forward.

Jul 7, 2019

Giant Floating Solar Farms Could Make Fuel and Help Solve the Climate Crisis, Says Study

Posted by in categories: climatology, solar power, sustainability

Millions of solar panels clustered together to form an island could convert carbon dioxide in seawater into methanol, which can fuel airplanes and trucks, according to new research from Norway and Switzerland and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, PNAS, as NBC News reported. The floating islands could drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels.

Jul 7, 2019

How to Track the LightSail 2 as It ‘Sails’ Around Earth

Posted by in categories: space travel, sustainability

Last week, the LightSail 2 officially made its first contact with Earth. The solar-powered spacecraft will be sailing around Earth’s orbit for the next year, all part of a mission to prove that solar sailing is a viable mode of space exploration.

If successful, the hope is that solar sailing could be used in other spacecraft going forward, something that could allow us to explore further in space at a lower cost than is currently possible.

Jul 6, 2019

11 Million People Employed in Renewable Energy Worldwide in 2018

Posted by in categories: economics, employment, energy, sustainability

Eleven million people had renewable energy jobs in 2018, according to the latest analysis from IRENA. New data shows that the diversification of the renewable energy supply chain is changing the sector’s geographic footprint, and more countries are tapping into the socio-economic gains of the energy transition. https://bit.ly/2XFScWF

Jul 4, 2019

An Itty-Bitty Robot That Lifts Off Like a Sci-Fi Spaceship

Posted by in categories: particle physics, robotics/AI, space travel, sustainability

Credit where credit is due: Evolution has invented a galaxy of clever adaptations, from fish that swim up sea cucumber butts and eat their gonads, to parasites that mind-control their hosts in wildly complex ways. But it’s never dreamed up ion propulsion, a fantastical new way to power robots by accelerating ions instead of burning fuel or spinning rotors. The technology is in very early development, but it could lead to machines that fly like nothing that’s come before them.

You may have heard of ion propulsion in the context of spacecraft, but this application is a bit different. Most solar-powered ion spacecraft bombard xenon atoms with electrons, producing positively charged xenon ions that then rush toward a negatively charged grid, which accelerates the ions into space. The resulting thrust is piddling compared to traditional engines, and that’s OK—the spacecraft is floating through the vacuum of space, so the shower of ions accelerate the aircraft bit by bit.

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Jul 4, 2019

Japan is a world leader in floating solar power

Posted by in categories: solar power, space, sustainability

Solar panels that don’t occupy valuable land.


Saving space whilst saving the planet.

Jul 4, 2019

The reality behind solar power’s next star material

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

For decades, slabs of crystalline silicon have dominated the solar industry. Other materials that can be layered in thin films, such as copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) and cadmium telluride (CdTe), have captured less than 5% of the market, because it’s hard to make them as efficient or cheap as conventional solar panels. Perovskites could be a different story. They should be cheaper to make and seem impressively efficient at converting sunlight into electricity — in the laboratory, at least.


Companies say they are close to commercializing cheap perovskite films that could disrupt solar power — but are they too optimistic?

Jul 3, 2019

New Solar + Battery Price Crushes Fossil Fuels, Buries Nuclear

Posted by in categories: nuclear energy, solar power, sustainability

Los Angeles Power and Water officials have struck a deal on the largest and cheapest solar + battery-storage project in the world, at prices that leave fossil fuels in the dust and may relegate nuclear power to the dustbin.

Later this month the LA Board of Water and Power Commissioners is expected to approve a 25-year contract that will serve 7 percent of the city’s electricity demand at 1.997¢/kwh for solar energy and 1.3¢ for power from batteries.

“This is the lowest solar-photovoltaic price in the United States,” said James Barner, the agency’s manager for strategic initiatives, “and it is the largest and lowest-cost solar and high-capacity battery-storage project in the U.S. and we believe in the world today. So this is, I believe, truly revolutionary in the industry.”