Lifeboat Foundation

Kaizen Clean Energy (KCE) and ZincFive have come together to develop an integrated distributed energy solution for EV charging, hydrogen fueling and backup power. The new solution is said to provide the lowest delivered cost for hydrogen fueling, as well as up to 2,300 kg/day of hydrogen production, which is equivalent to 38 MWh of usable energy, in a 40-foot, movable containerized solution. It can be islanded or grid-connected, with no risk of battery thermal runaway and a small volume of hydrogen stored on site. The system integrates KCE’s hydrogen generator, ZincFive’s immediate power nickel-zinc batteries, and fuel cells from Power Cell to offer customers modular, scalable economic fueling as a service. Robert Meaney, co-founder of KCE, told pv magazine that the energy input comes from methanol. He said the system is essentially the clean version of a diesel generator. It uses the ZincFive battery for immediate demand response as the methanol-to-hydrogen system ramps up to full production over the first 15 minutes. After entering full production mode, the batteries shut off and the reformer takes over the full power demand. The system is charger agnostic and can support multiple DC fast chargers at once. KCE has started accepting pre-orders and plans to deploy a 20-foot, 150 kW solution with pilot customers in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Lightyear has launched the final design of its long-range, production-ready solar car. The model, which has been renamed “Lightyear 0,” has a Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) range of 625 kilometers and consumption of 10.5 kWh per 100 kilometers. However, the Dutch startup claims that a theoretical range of 695 kilometers could be achieved, with a battery pack capacity of 60 kWh. “The optimized solar roof and holistic design mean that the car can drive for weeks, even months, without charging,” the company said. Lightyear is already readying its second solar electric car, which will be available by late 2024 or early 2025.

Over the years, Masset, B.C., master carver Jaalen Edenshaw has advocated for clean energy use on the archipelago, a region that is disconnected from B.C. Hydro’s main electricity grid and mainly reliant on diesel.

Since last October, the Haida carver has been teaming up with brother Gwaai to carve a totem pole in honour of Kaay’ahl Laanas hereditary chief Watson Price (Gaahlaay) at a workshop in Masset powered by 18 solar panels that can generate as much as 40 kWh of electricity a day — enough to fully charge a small electric car.

Edenshaw, a member of the Ts’aahl Eagle Clan, is renowned for his traditional creations, including masks, canoes, and 13-metre high red cedar totem poles that are on display in galleries around the world.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., better known as SpaceX, has pulled in another $1.7 billion in equity funding, according to a filing Monday.

Privately held SpaceX, led by Tesla Inc. TSLA,-7.10% Chief Executive Elon Musk, sold about $1.68 billion in new equity in a $1.72 billion offering, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The first sales occurred late last month, it said.

Ricoh, European startups race to bring flexible power source to market this year.

TOKYO — A thin, flexible alternative to silicon-based solar cells is set to be produced in greater volumes, opening up more uses for renewable energy such as powering indoor smart devices.

Organic solar cells are made by printing photovoltaic material on plastic sheets and other bendable substrates. They are expected to cost half as much to make as silicon-based solar cells and are 100 times lighter, manufacturers say.

Continue reading “Solar power anywhere: Lightweight organic cells aim beyond rooftops” »

I wonder how these things would interact with the anaerobic fungi that can surivive off of straight plastics. Do you think they’d be homies?

Researchers say superworms, much bigger than a mealworm or wax worm, can eat plastic Styrofoam and survive, and could digest plastic garbage and pollution.

There are a handful of ways to produce hydrogen fuel without emitting carbon into Earth’s atmosphere. One involves using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

This method, known as electrolysis, requires a catalyst that speeds up chemical reactions that occur within hydrogen fuel cells.

More often than not, this electrocatalyst is platinum, a metal so rare that it’s typically more expensive than gold, which makes the production process more costly than traditional sources of renewable energy and fossil fuels.

It’s no longer enough to just eat healthy. One also needs to make sure our healthy eating is also healthy for the planet. There has been a great deal of interest and attention given to diets in the past years, especially as people were forced to fend for themselves at home. Diet fads come and go, but the ingredients we use have mostly remained the same, and the demand for meat-based products has only gone higher, not lower. Our food system isn’t just broken, but so is our mindset and expectations of an unlimited supply of materials to feed the planet at the expense of the planet itself. That definitely has to change, and a holistic kitchen system imagines how tomorrow’s diets won’t only be plant-forward but also planet-friendly.

Greenhouse gas emissions need to be significantly reduced to avoid potentially catastrophic effects of climate change, with access to clean and affordable energy needed to eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels. Many researchers and companies are working to address this issue and replace fossil fuels through the use of hydrogen, a storable fuel.

When used in a fuel cell, hydrogen does not emit any greenhouse gasses at the point of use and can help decarbonize sectors such as shipping and transportation, where it can be used as a fuel, as well as in manufacturing industries. However, most hydrogen produced today is almost entirely supplied from natural gas and coal, producing greenhouse gases. And therefore, green hydrogen production is urgently needed.

New research led by the University of Strathclyde suggests that solar energy can be accessed and converted into hydrogen – a clean and renewable fuel.

Early experiences with the new Tesla Model Y with 4,680 cells and a structural battery pack are showing some impressive potential for faster charging and better energy density.

When Tesla delivered its first made-in-Texas Model Y vehicles, we noted that it was strange that Tesla didn’t reveal any details – like specs and pricing – about the new version of the electric SUV.

Continue reading “Tesla Model Y with new 4680 cells shows impressive potential for faster charging” »