Lifeboat Foundation

JAC Motors, a Volkswagen-backed Chinese automaker, is set to launch the first mass-produced electric vehicle (EV) with a sodium-ion battery through its new Yiwei brand. Although sodium-ion battery tech has a lower density (and is less mature) than lithium-ion, its lower costs, more abundant supplies and superior cold-weather performance could help accelerate mass EV adoption. CarNewsChina reports that the JAC Yiwei EV hatchback deliveries will begin in January.

Yiwei is a new brand in 2023 for JAC. Volkswagen has a 75 percent stake in (and management control of) JAC and owns 50 percent of JAC’s parent company, Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Holdings (JAG). The Chinese government owns the other half of JAG, making for one of the auto industry’s stranger pairings.

The Yiwei EV appears to be a rebranded version of the Sehol E10X hatchback (above), announced earlier this year. CarNewsChina describes the Sehol model as having a 252 km (157 miles) range with a 25 kWh capacity, 120 Wh / kg energy density, 3C to 4C charging, and a HiNa NaCR32140 cell. When JAC revealed the Yiwei brand in May, it said it would drop the Sehol label and rebrand all its vehicles to either JAC or Yiwei, leading us to this week’s EV reveal. JAC hasn’t yet said whether the Yiwei-branded model will keep the E10X moniker.

When two new Montana wind farms come online, the state will have more nameplate capacity in wind than in coal.

Nameplate capacity is the maximum rated output in megawatts when a source of power operates in optimal conditions.

According to US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, Montana coal plants provided 1,631 megawatts (MW) of nameplate capacity in October. In the same period, Montana’s wind capacity provided 1,479 megawatts.

An innovative floating offshore wind turbine prototype was launched in New Bedford, Massachusetts this week. Instead of a single anchor tower, the approach uses a pyramid base that can also passively orient itself in the direction of the blowing wind.

As wind turbines get bigger and sweep larger areas in a single rotation, wind farms move offshore to gain maximum advantage from powerful sea winds. Over the years, the costs of wind-based energy have been plummeting, but as wind farms are set up farther into the sea, the costs and time required to set up new wind farms are bound to increase.

Join the green revolution! iSun and Next2Sun are reshaping the energy landscape with the US’s first vertical agrivoltaics system.

Embark on a sustainable energy journey as iSun and Next2Sun unite to introduce the first-ever vertical agrivoltaics system in the USA.

The first all-electric tugboat built in the United States, Crowley’s eWolf, has started sea trials along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The 82-foot ship assist tug, built by Coden, Ala. shipbuilder Master Boat Builders, is expected to enter service at the Port of San Diego in 2024. Video footage of the vessel on sea trials was shared by Crowley on social media.

The eWolf is designed to operate on full electric power, producing zero carbon emissions and expected 70 ton bollard pull strength. The vessel is equipped with an integrated electrical package provided by ABB, a 6.2 MWh Orca battery energy storage system from Corvus Energy and two electrically driven Schottel RudderPropellers type SRP 430 LE (2,050 kW each) featuring propeller diameters of 2.5 meters. The vessel also has two small generators on board for emergency use and to enable long distance transits at a reduced speed.

Carbon nanotubes have long tantalized researchers with their extraordinary mechanical and electronic properties. As one-dimensional nanostructures with remarkable mechanical strength and electrical conductivity, CNTs have been eyed for next-generation composites, energy storage devices, sensors and more. Yet realizing their promise has proven an enduring challenge.

CNTs have ultra-high surface energy and readily form large bundles rather than remaining as individualized tubes, severely compromising resultant material properties. Exfoliating these bundles, particularly in solution, has remained an immense difficulty despite intense R&D efforts over 30+ years employing covalent and noncovalent functionalization strategies.

Covalent approaches disrupt the CNTs’ pristine sp2 carbon networks, damaging their intrinsic properties. Noncovalent methods like surfactants and polymers have had limited success in debundling smaller diameter single-wall CNTs (SWCNTs), especially longer high aspect ratio tubes preferred for optimal conductivity and strength. And virtually all tactics have struggled to exfoliate specific SWCNT types, hindering enrichment in metallic SWCNTs boasting far higher conductance than their semiconducting counterparts.

Gravity is the reason things with mass or energy are attracted to each other. It is why apples fall toward the ground and planets orbit stars.

Magnets attract some types of metals, but they can also push other magnets away. So how come you feel only the pull of gravity?

Continue reading “Einstein’s Insight: Why Does Gravity Pull Us Down and Not Up?” »

The vessel’s design significantly reduces drag through hydrofoiling and realizing an impressive 80 percent energy savings.

The Open, designed by BMW Group Designworks, boasts an expansive cabin that spans 14.8 meters in length and 4.5 meters in width. It includes a flush deck featuring a two-seater helm station, a sheltered galley with ample seating, a double sunbed at the stern, and a spacious relaxation area on the foredeck.

Continue reading “BMW and Tyde to introduce the world’s largest electric foiling yacht” »

Scientists have discovered a new class of materials, carbon nitrides, which could rival diamonds in hardness. This discovery, the result of international collaboration and decades of research, opens up possibilities for various industrial applications due to their durability and other properties like photoluminescence and high energy density. Funded by international grants and published in Advanced Materials, this breakthrough marks a significant advancement in material science.

Scientists have solved a decades-long puzzle and unveiled a near unbreakable substance that could rival diamond, as the hardest material on earth, a study says.

Researchers found that when carbon and nitrogen precursors were subjected to extreme heat and pressure, the resulting materials – known as carbon nitrides – were tougher than cubic boron nitride, the second hardest material after diamond.