Taxi driver Surendra Parajuli’s decision to buy an electric cab would have been unthinkable a decade ago, when chronic power cuts left Nepalis unable to light their homes at night. But a dam-building spree has led to dirt-cheap energy prices in a landlocked Himalayan republic otherwise entirely dependent on fossil fuel imports, meaning the switch […]
Metals Tech
New continuous reaction process can help turn plant waste into sustainable aviation fuel
Washington State University scientists successfully tested a new way to produce sustainable jet fuel from lignin-based agricultural waste. Published in the journal Fuel Processing Technology, the team’s research demonstrated a continuous process that directly converts lignin polymers, one of the chief components of plant cells, into a form of jet fuel that could help improve […]
Thor electric RV concept packs a 140 kWh battery and 500 mile range
The latest electric RV concept from Thor is a Class A motorhome with big batteries, electric drive, and a range-extending generator. Will this PHERV (?) make it to production? Visually similar to Thor’s existing Vegas Class A motorhome and co-developed by Thor and commercial EV manufacturer Harbinger, this “world’s first hybrid RV” combines a gas-powered […]
SK On to cut workforce as battery demand slumps
South Korean battery manufacturer SK On Company plans to cut its domestic workforce as it looks to ride out the current downturn in global demand for battery electric vehicles (BEVs), according to local reports citing industry sources. A company spokesperson emphasised that “”nothing had been confirmed at this time”. The South Korea battery industry has […]
Unique straining affects phase transformations in silicon, a material vital for electronics
When Valery Levitas left Europe in 1999, he packed up a rotational diamond anvil cell and brought it to the United States. He and the researchers in his group are still using a much-advanced version of that pressing, twisting tool to squeeze and shear materials between two diamonds to see in situ, within the actual […]
US backs Australian lithium, rare earths projects for up to $786 million
The United States has backed an Australian lithium and a rare earths project with up to $786 million in debt funding as Western countries seek to build supply chains for critical minerals. Australia’s American Rare Earths said on Tuesday it had received a letter of interest for a debt funding package of up to $456 […]
New origami-inspired system turns flat-pack tubes into strong building materials
Engineers at RMIT University have designed an innovative tubular structural system that can be packed flat for easier transport and pop up into strong building materials. This breakthrough is made possible by a self-locking system inspired by curved-crease origami—a technique that uses curved crease lines in paper folding. Lead researchers Dr. Jeff (Ting-Uei) Lee and […]
Glowing crystal-powered nuclear battery boasts 8,000x efficiency boost
When you picture a sci-fi energy source, glowing green crystals are right up there. Scientists in China have now demonstrated just that, in the form of a “micronuclear battery” that can provide continuous low levels of power for decades. The concept of a nuclear battery has been around for a long time, and while there […]
Belgian team wins S.Africa’s ‘most extreme’ solar car race
A team of Belgian students and engineers on Friday won a solar-powered car race in South Africa, widely considered the most challenging for testing the technology. Over a dozen teams competed in the eight-day race spanning thousands of kilometers, with varying weather and altitude extremes adding to the complexities for designers. “Innoptus claimed victory after breaking […]
Production of solar fuels: Storing the sun’s heat at 1,200°C
Closing the CO₂ cycle by converting climate-damaging carbon dioxide back into kerosene, gasoline and diesel: That is the idea behind Synhelion. The ETH spin-off uses the heat of the sun to produce synthetic fuels (Synfuels) from CO₂ and water. In June 2024, in the German city of Jülich, Synhelion inaugurated DAWN: the world’s first industrial […]
