Lifeboat Foundation

The world’s coastlines harbor a largely untapped energy source: the salinity difference between seawater and freshwater. A new nanodevice can harness this difference to generate power.

A team of researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has reported a design for a nanofluidic device capable of converting ionic flow into usable electric power in the journal Nano Energy. The team believes that their device could be used to extract power from the natural ionic flows at seawater-freshwater boundaries.

The fourth quarter is past its midway point, and Tesla’s Megafactory in Lathrop, California, seems like it’s still going full speed ahead. During a recent drone flyover of the site, a fleet of 332 Megapack batteries was spotted in the facility’s staging areas.

The Tesla Megapack may not be as visually compelling as the Cybertruck or the Model 3 Highland, but it is a key product in Tesla’s portfolio. Designed for grid use, the Megapack has the potential to disrupt the energy sector. The battery has been performing well so far, as it has been deployed successfully in high-profile projects like the 182 MW/730 MWh battery farm in Moss Landing, California, and the 150 MW/300 MWh system in New South Wales, Australia.

The Megapack is available in two variants: a 2-hour version that offers 1.9 MW of power and 3.9 MWh of energy and a 4-hour variant that features 1 MW of power and 3.9 MWh of energy. The grid-scale battery is priced at $1,908,590 for the four-hour variant with installation and $2,123,590 for the two-hour variant with installation. Without installation charges, the Megapack is priced at $1,321,390 for the two-hour variant and $1,270,310 for the four-hour version.

The 100MW/200MWh Chinchilla battery in Queensland, Australia, has been registered and connected to the grid. Expectations are high that the massive battery farm’s commissioning will begin soon.

The Chinchilla battery features 80 Tesla Megapack batteries. It is also the first battery farm that will be built by state-owned generator CS Energy, as noted in a Renew Economy report. The facility was committed as part of the state’s response to an explosion at the Callide coal-fired generator — an incident that helped convince the state to accelerate its adoption of sustainable solutions.

The 80 Tesla Megapack batteries are situated next to the Kogan Creek coal-fired generator, which also happens to be owned by CS Energy. The 750MW Kogan Creek coal-fired generator is among the largest coal-fired facilities in Australia. As per local reports, CS Energy is looking to develop a clean energy hub around Kogan Creek, so the Tesla Megapack farm could be considered part of the state-owned generator’s initiatives in the area.

To enhance their catalytic efficiency in degrading organic pollutants, such as RB and urea, researchers further functionalized the surface of the micromotors with laccase, the bio-catalytic counterpart, for the generation of ammonia from urea. Urea is an emerging contaminant, being a common pollutant from residential activities (urea is the main component of urine) and from different industrial processes.

The chemical component laccase accelerates the conversion of urea into ammonia upon contact with contaminated water. This ammonia can be transformed into hydrogen, which is a clean and sustainable energy source.

“This is an interesting discovery. Today, water treatment plants have trouble breaking down all the urea, which can result in eutrophication when the water is released. This is a serious problem in urban areas in particular,” says Rebeca Ferrer, a PhD student from Dr. Katherine Villa’s group at ICIQ.

Researchers innovated a stretchable thermoelectric generator with a skin-attachable gasket, enhancing energy production through “mechanical metamaterials.”

National research council of science and technology.

This breakthrough has the potential to revolutionize the area of energy generation by leveraging the power of “mechanical metamaterials.”

Continue reading “Researchers devised worlds’ most efficient thermoelectric harvester” »

The DOE’s shipment of 0.5 kilograms of plutonium-238 to Los Alamos National Laboratory marks a milestone in producing fuel for NASA

Established in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is “To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity.” Its core values are “safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion.” NASA conducts research, develops technology and launches missions to explore and study Earth, the solar system, and the universe beyond. It also works to advance the state of knowledge in a wide range of scientific fields, including Earth and space science, planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics, and it collaborates with private companies and international partners to achieve its goals.

Dr. Hyekyoung Choi and Min Ju Yun’s research team from the Energy Conversion Materials Research Center, Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI), has developed a technology that can increase the flexibility and efficiency of a thermoelectric generator to the world’s highest level by using “mechanical metamaterials” that do not exist in nature. The research results were published in Advanced Energy Materials.

In general, a material shrinks in the vertical direction when it is stretched in the horizontal direction. It is like when you press a rubber ball, it flattens out sideways, and when you pull a rubber band, it stretches tightly.

The amount of transversal elongation divided by the amount of axial compression is Poisson’s ratio. Conversely, mechanical metamaterials, unlike materials in nature, are artificially designed to expand in both the horizontal and vertical directions when it is stretched in the horizontal direction. Metamaterials have a negative Poisson’s ratio.

While the chemistry is different from traditional lithium-ion batteries, it’s part of a power pack with big advantages, including greater energy storage (estimated at up to 15 times that of lithium-ion) in relation to mass, a metric referred to as energy density.

Other perks include easy recyclability, being planet-friendly, and being cost-effective, per the ET report, which was written with benefits to the Indian market in mind.

“It is a long-range, budget-friendly, lightweight, and recyclable source of energy that can arguably be a saviour in the EV market,” Kriti Saraiya wrote for ET.

Adisonpk/iStock.

Graphene’s atomically thin structure makes it impenetrable to a variety of elements, including protons. However, graphene’s edges, flaws, and functionalization can open up channels for proton diffusion. Temperature, humidity, and the existence of functional groups are some of the variables that affect the flow of protons in graphene.