Metals Tech

Dominant in the electric car sector, Chinese companies have been quietly consolidating their position in the lesser-watched trucking scene—but foreign tariffs and a perceived quality gap could signal roadblocks ahead, experts warn. The domestic supply chain and low-price strategy that helped make China’s EV car industry world-leading are being leveraged by established automakers and start-ups […]

In the past, gaming laptops would last anywhere from two to four hours on a single charge — a woefully short duration compared to their non-gaming counterparts. Powerful hardware like heavy-duty graphics cards requires a lot of energy to run, thus draining the battery. But trends have changed in recent years thanks to advances in […]

The drive system of a rail vehicle is the largest energy consumer in operation, followed by the systems for temperature management of the passenger compartment and the drive system—regardless of the type of train propulsion. Batteries or fuel cells must be maintained at an optimal operating temperature in electrically powered trains without energy supply via […]

An invention made from waste polystyrene that generates static electricity from motion and wind could lower power usage by recycling waste energy in air conditioners and other applications. More than 25 million tonnes of single-use, polystyrene packaging materials are made globally each year, but only a tiny fraction is recycled—most of it goes to landfill […]

Plastics make up around a quarter of the materials contained in electronic waste (e-waste). The proportion that is recycled is comparatively low—the majority is simply incinerated. The first step to improve recycling is the identification of polymer materials, so that they can be selectively sorted and processed in a way that preserves their function. Researchers […]

Blue Evolution, a California-based regenerative ocean farming company, announced Thursday it has merged with Blu3, a company specializing in regenerative ocean technologies. The move, Blue Evolution said, creates a combined entity that will leverage enhanced R&D capabilities to drive innovation and commercialize new seaweed-based products across multiple sectors – agriculture, biomaterials – and critical minerals. […]

University of Oxford researchers have made a significant step towards realizing miniature, soft batteries for use in a variety of biomedical applications, including the defibrillation and pacing of heart tissues. The work has been published in the journal Nature Chemical Engineering. The development of tiny smart devices, smaller than a few cubic millimeters, demands equally […]

In 1997, the Mercedes-Benz A-Class famously tipped out of a bend during the elk test. One of the causes of the infamous incident: The car was originally designed to be electric. Switching to a combustion engine eliminated the heavy battery, resulting in the center of gravity shifting too far upwards. The battery that should have […]

Form Energy aims to commercialize an iron-air battery system that can “store electricity for 100 hours at system costs competitive with legacy power plants,” the company says. The technology uses atmospheric oxygen to deoxidize (charge) and oxidize (discharge) small iron pellets housed in a water-based electrolyte. Form CEO and co-founder Mateo Jaramillo told Utility Dive in 2021 that the […]

Operating a building is often costly given the price of heating and energy usage, accounting for 37% of global CO2 emissions. As more commercial and mixed-use buildings are constructed across Canada, using sustainable energy measures to manage their environmental impact is vital to the health of our planet. University of Waterloo researchers have now developed […]