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Hydrogen-powered aviation

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The transportation sector is responsible for about a quarter of human-generated greenhouse gas emissions.  Most of the energy used by transport systems comes from fossil fuels.  The transition to electric vehicles – cars, trucks, and buses – is making a real difference.  However, the emissions from the aviation industry have continued to grow faster than those of other forms of transportation.  There have been increased efforts to develop hydrogen-powered aircraft, but the challenges are substantial.

Hydrogen can be used for aviation both as a directly combusted fuel, or to power electric fuel cells.  Its advantages are that its use produces no carbon dioxide, and, in fact, hydrogen produces more energy per pound than jet fuel.

A study by researchers at MIT looked at the prospects for hydrogen use in aircraft and what needs to be done to make it practical.  The biggest issue is that the extra bulk of a hydrogen fuel tank and fuel cells in a plane would have to be offset by weight reductions elsewhere, such as reducing payload (cargo or passengers).  This would mean there would need to be more flights, thereby reducing the gains made.  The researchers argued that improvements in fuel cell power and more weight efficient fuel systems could eliminate the need for additional flights.

The bigger challenge is the infrastructure for generating and distributing hydrogen.  There needs to be green hydrogen – hydrogen produced without carbon emissions – and the infrastructure for getting it to planes where it is needed has to also not produce substantial emissions.

The study suggests that the rollout of hydrogen-based aviation should start at locations that have favorable conditions for hydrogen production.

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Fueling greener aviation with hydrogen

Photo, posted December 20, 2016, courtesy of Dylan Agbagni via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Capturing hot carbon dioxide

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Decarbonizing industries like steel and cement is a difficult challenge.  Both involve emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide both from burning fossil fuels and from intrinsic chemical reactions taking place.  A potential solution is to capture the carbon dioxide emissions and either use them or store them away.  But this sort of carbon capture is not easy and can be quite expensive.

The most common method for capturing carbon dioxide emissions from industrial plants uses chemicals called liquid amines which absorb the gas.  But the chemical reaction by which this occurs only works well at temperatures between 100 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cement manufacturing and steelmaking plants produce exhaust that exceeds 400 degrees and other industrial processes produce exhaust as hot as 930 degrees.

Costly infrastructure is necessary to cool down these exhaust streams so that amine-based carbon capture technology can work. 

Chemists at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a porous material – a type of metal-organic framework – that can act like a sponge to capture CO2 at temperatures close to those of many industrial exhaust streams.  The molecular metal hydride structures have demonstrated rapid, reversible, high-capacity capture of carbon dioxide that can be accomplished at high temperatures.

Removing carbon dioxide from industrial and power plant emissions is a key strategy for reducing greenhouse gases that are warming the Earth and altering the global climate.  The captured CO2 can be used to produce value-added chemicals or can be stored underground or chemically-reacted into stable substances.

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Breakthrough in capturing ‘hot’ CO2 from industrial exhaust

Photo, posted March 3, 2010, courtesy of Eli Duke via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Artificial plants to clean indoor air

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The average American spends about 90% of their time indoors breathing the air in our workplaces, homes, or schools.  The quality of this air affects our overall health and well- being.  Indoor air quality is an issue because many sources can generate toxic materials, including building materials, carpets, and more.  But high levels of carbon dioxide are a health hazard themselves. Indoor CO2 levels can often be 5 to 10 times higher than the already heightened levels in the atmosphere. 

Many of us make use of air purification systems, which can be expensive, cumbersome, and require frequent cleaning and filter replacements.

Researchers at Binghamton University in New York are working to develop artificial plants that consume carbon dioxide, give off oxygen, and, as a bonus, generate a little electricity. These artificial plants make use of the artificial light in the indoor environment to drive photosynthesis.  They achieve a 90% reduction in carbon dioxide levels, which is far more than natural plants can achieve.

The Binghamton researchers had been working on bacteria-powered biobatteries for various applications, but they repurposed the work into a new idea for artificial plants.  The artificial plants have “leaves” containing a biological solar cell and photosynthetic bacteria.  Their first plant had five leaves and demonstrated promising carbon dioxide capture rates and oxygen generation.  It also produced a little electricity.  If its generating capacity can be improved, it might also be useful for charging cell phones or other practical applications.

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Binghamton researchers develop artificial plants that purify indoor air, generate electricity

Photo, posted October 13, 2012, courtesy of F. D. Richards via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A better way to extract lithium

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Lithium is the critical component in the batteries that power phones and computers, electric cars, and the systems that store energy generated by solar and wind farms.  Lithium is not particularly rare, but it is difficult and often environmentally harmful to extract from where it is found.

Traditional ore sources are increasingly difficult and expensive to mine.  The largest known deposits of lithium are in natural brines – the salty water found in geothermal environments.  These brines also contain other ions like sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, and efficiently separating out the lithium is extremely challenging.

Traditional separation techniques consume large amounts of energy and produce chemical waste, particularly hazardous chlorine gas.  These techniques typically suffer from poor selectivity; that is, the process is interfered with by the other ions present in natural brines.

A team of researchers at Rice University has developed a three-chamber electrochemical reactor that improves the selectivity and efficiency of lithium extraction from brines.  The middle chamber of the reactor contains a specialized membrane that acts as a barrier to chloride ions, preventing them from getting to the electrode area where they can form chlorine gas.

The new reactor has achieved a lithium purity rate of 97.5%, which means the setup can effectively separate lithium from other ions in the brine and allow the production of high-quality lithium hydroxide, the key material for battery manufacturing. 

The Rice University reactor design has the potential to be a game changer for lithium extraction from geothermal brines.

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‘Game changer’ in lithium extraction: Rice researchers develop novel electrochemical reactor

Photo, posted October 21, 2023, courtesy of Simaron via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Mining extinct volcanoes

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Rare earth elements are a group of 17 elements that are used to improve the performance, efficiency, and durability of a wide range of products.  More than 200 products across a diverse set of applications make use of rare earth elements.  Although the amount of rare earth used in a particular product may not be very much of its weight, volume, or monetary value, it may often be necessary for the device even to function.  Rare earth elements react with other elements to form compounds that are essential because of their specific chemical behaviors. 

Rare earth elements are not actually rare; in fact, they are fairly common.  But they are mostly not found in their pure form and are generally difficult to refine.  China accounts for more than 90% of global production of rare earth elements and this represents a strategic problem for the rest of the world.

New research by scientists from the Australian National University has found that some extinct volcanoes, which have not erupted for thousands or even millions of years, may be rich sources of rare earth elements.  Furthermore, those elements may be easier to extract than the ones from other sources because the iron-rich magma that formed the volcanoes could be up to 100 times more efficient at concentrating rare-earths than magma found in active volcanoes today.

The clean tech industry uses rare earths for wind turbines, solar panels, and electric cars.  The demand for rare earths may grow fivefold by the end of this decade.  Relying on just one country for the world’s supply is a major concern.  There are ancient volcanoes all over the planet and they may represent a solution to a global problem.

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Extinct Volcanoes Could Be Source of Key Metals Needed for Clean Tech

Photo, posted June 6, 2020, courtesy of Dennis Jarvis via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Electric vehicles and health

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Much of the discussion about the benefits of electric vehicles centers about the climate impact of not burning fossil fuels as well as about reduced operating costs.  A new study by the University of Toronto looked at the health benefits of large-scale adoption of electric vehicles.

The Toronto researchers used computer simulations to show that widespread electrification of the U.S. vehicle fleet when coupled with significant use of renewable energy to power the fleet could result in health benefits worth between $84 and $188 billion dollars by 2050.  Expressing these benefits in dollar terms is a way to quantify those benefits, but clearly what is most important is people’s health.

Carbon dioxide coming out of tailpipes is what is most harmful to the climate, but there is much more than CO2 vehicle exhaust.  There are many air pollutants that have a significant, quantifiable impact on human health.  These include nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and small particles known as PM2.5. 

The study simulated levels of air pollution across the United States under various scenarios of adoption of EVs and the use of renewable energy.  The simulations clearly showed that the combination of widespread use of electric vehicles and the greening of the power grid would result in huge cumulative public health benefits.  But these benefits will take time to accrue.  The internal combustion vehicles being sold today will still be on the roads for many years and will continue to spread pollution everywhere there are roads.

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New research reveals how large-scale adoption of electric vehicles can improve air quality and human health

Photo, posted May 7, 2020, courtesy of Mark Vletter via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Extreme geothermal power

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Krafla is one of the most explosive volcanoes in Iceland, which is home to many active volcanoes, including one recently in the news near Reykjavik that hadn’t erupted for 800 years .  Krafla is the site of the Krafla Magma Testbed, which may end up being for geoscientists what the Large Hadron Collider has been for particle physicists. 

For over a decade, researchers have been drilling straight into the ground at Krafla to study what goes on deep beneath an active volcano.  Ten years ago, they encountered an unexpected magma chamber a little over a mile down.  Their equipment was destroyed but the researchers decided that they had uncovered a unique opportunity to study magma dynamics and potentially be able to tap into a significant new energy source.

The plan is to use the tremendous heat energy contained in magma to dramatically improve the production of geothermal energy.  Krafla is already the site of a geothermal energy plant that makes use of the heat beneath the surface to boil water that then drives turbines to generate electricity.

Forthcoming drilling projects will make use of new equipment that can handle the harsh conditions that will be encountered in the magma chamber.  The goal is to tap directly into the magma to produce superheated steam that could produce ten times more power than conventional geothermal systems.  Conventional systems access temperatures around 200 to 300 degrees; the magma is at 1,800 degrees.

It will take a few years to complete the project, but if it is successful, it could have implications well beyond Iceland.  There are many active volcanoes all over the world.

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Drilling into magma: Risky plan takes geothermal to supercritical extremes

Photo courtesy of Landsvirkjun.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A giant solar project for Google

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One of the largest solar projects in the US has recently come online in Texas.  Three solar farms built side-by-side in Buckholts, Texas by SB Energy can provide 875 megawatts of electricity, nearly the size of a typical nuclear power plant.  The project will supply the largest solar energy purchase ever made by Google and the electricity generated will be used to power its new operations in the area.  Google will use about 85% of the project’s solar power for data centers in Ellis County and for cloud computing in the Dallas Region.

In total, Google has contracted with clean energy developers to bring more than 2,800 megawatts of new wind and solar projects to Texas.  Google expects to spend $16 billion through 2040 to purchase clean energy for its global operations.

According to the International Energy Agency, data centers’ total electricity consumption could reach more than 1,000 terawatt-hours in 2026, which is more than double the amount used in 2022.  One terawatt-hour is enough energy to power 70,000 homes for a year.  So, it is not surprising that large technology companies are investing heavily in energy technologies.

Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have all recently announced investments in nuclear energy to power data centers.  These companies all have made commitments to seek sources of carbon-free electricity to power their data centers and their increasing efforts in artificial intelligence.  Because of the rise of artificial intelligence, the large companies are not meeting their commitments to reduce their carbon emissions and are needing to greatly increase their efforts to obtain clean power.

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One of the largest solar projects in the US opens in Texas, backed by Google

Photo, posted March 27, 2016, courtesy of Ben Nuttall via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

New approaches to nuclear power

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The US is the world’s largest user of nuclear power.  Its 94 reactors supply nearly 19% of the country’s electricity. But the number of U.S. reactors has steadily fallen over the past 30 years and new nuclear power plants are a real rarity.  The reasons are a combination of perceived dangers following several nuclear accidents and the increasing costs associated with building plants that can meet a growing number of regulatory requirements.

There are recent developments associated with new advanced reactor technologies that may lead to a resurgence in the use of nuclear power.  Bill Gates’ energy company TerraPower is developing nuclear reactors that use sodium instead of water for cooling.  Such reactors operate at lower pressures and higher temperatures.  

Meanwhile, Kairos Power, a California-based energy company, has entered into an agreement with Google to build multiple small modular nuclear reactors that will supply electricity to that giant tech company.  The modular reactors use a molten-salt cooling system combined with a ceramic, pebble-type fuel in order to transport heat to a steam turbine to generate power.  The novel design of these reactors can reduce construction timelines, allow deployment in more places, and make final project delivery more predictable.

Surveys indicate that a majority of Americans favor the use of nuclear power, which has the advantages that it doesn’t create greenhouse gas emissions and can run 24-7.  But traditional nuclear power plants are too expensive and have too many potential problems.  These new nuclear power technologies may be the answer for allowing nuclear power to play an important role in the future energy system.

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New nuclear clean energy agreement with Kairos Power

Photo, posted May 16, 2016, courtesy of Steve Jurvetson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The bloated carbon footprint of LNG

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According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the United States is the world’s largest producer of natural gas.  In fact, natural gas supplies approximately one third of the United States’ primary energy consumption, most of which is used to heat buildings and to generate electricity.  While most natural gas is delivered in its gaseous form in this country, the demand for natural gas in international markets has given rise to the use of natural gas in a liquified form. 

Liquified natural gas (LNG) is natural gas that has been cooled to a liquid state, at about -260° Fahrenheit, for easier storage and transportation.  The volume of natural gas in its liquid state is about 600 times smaller than its volume in its gaseous state, which makes it possible to transport it to places pipelines do not reach.

Liquified natural gas is considered a clean fossil fuel because burning it produces less emissions than coal and oil.  However, according to a new study by researchers from Cornell University, LNG imported from the U.S. actually has a larger climate impact than any other fossil fuel—including coal – once processing and shipping are taken into account. 

The study, which was recently published in the journal Energy Science & Engineering, found that LNG leaves a greenhouse gas footprint that is 33% worse than coal when emissions are analyzed over a 20-year time frame. 

According to the research team, there is no need for LNG as an interim energy source because the transition requires massive infrastructure expenditures.  Instead, those financial resources should be used to “build a fossil-fuel-free future as rapidly as possible.”

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Liquefied natural gas carbon footprint is worse than coal

Photo, posted November 17, 2017, courtesy of Colin Baird via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Reducing emissions from cement

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Cement production accounts for about 7% of global carbon emissions.  It is one of the most difficult challenges for emissions reduction.  The emissions associated with producing cement come from both the energy used to provide heat for the process and from the chemical reactions that take place in the formation of cement.  Cement is an essential building block of society, and its use is not expected to decline over time.

A German company called Heidelberg Materials is embarking on an ambitious project to reduce carbon emissions from a cement plant in Norway.  They are building a facility to use absorbent chemicals to capture large quantities of carbon dioxide emitted through cement production.  More than half a ton of carbon dioxide arises from every ton of cement produced at the plant.

Once the carbon dioxide is captured it will be chilled to a liquid, loaded onto ships, and carried to a terminal farther up the Norwegian coast.  From there, it will be pumped into undersea rocks located 70 miles offshore and a mile and a half below the bottom of the North Sea.

With all of this complicated process going on, cement from the plant is likely to be quite expensive.  It might even be two or three times the price of ordinary cement.  Heidelberg Materials is counting on customers’ willingness to pay much more for cement that comes with green credentials. 

Can this be economically viable?  Heidelberg estimates that cement accounts for only about 2% of the cost of a large building project but as much as 50% of the emissions.  As a result, using carbon-free cement could be a relatively inexpensive way for builders to reduce emissions.

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Cement Is a Big Polluter. A Plant in Norway Hopes to Clean It Up.

Photo, posted May 7, 2016, courtesy of Phillip Pessar via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

South American drought

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Vast areas of South America have been gripped in drought conditions for months.  Rivers in the Amazon basin fell to record-low levels in October.  The drought has amplified wildfires, parched crops, disrupted transportation networks, and interrupted hydroelectric power generation in parts of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

The drought is related to the impact of the El Niño that was present for the latter part of 2023 and the first half of this year.  El Niño typically shifts rainfall patterns in such a way that there is reduced rainfall in the Amazon.  This is especially true during the dry season months of July, August, and September.

Forecasts earlier in the year warned that there would be extreme fire conditions during the dry season.  Indeed, the Pantanal region that spans parts of southern Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia has experienced one of its worst fire seasons in decades.  The lack of rainfall, low soil moisture, and drawdowns of groundwater helped to amplify fires and caused them to spread faster and farther.

The drought has strained power supplies in Brazil and Ecuador because hydroelectric power stations are producing less electricity.   Snarled transportation networks with impassible rivers have left some communities struggling to get supplies. 

Brazil’s National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters has called the current drought the most intense and widespread Brazil has ever experienced.  Late October saw 293 Brazilian municipalities facing extreme drought.

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Intense, Widespread Drought Grips South America

Photo, posted August 13, 2010, courtesy of Colm Britton via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

How much energy storage is needed?

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Energy storage is a critical aspect of modern energy systems as they move towards heavy dependence on renewable sources such as solar and wind that don’t produce energy at the same rate all the time.  Excess energy generated by solar power needs to be stored for when the sun isn’t shining; excess wind energy needs to be stored for when the wind isn’t blowing.  But how much storage capacity does the energy system need to have?

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a model that can be used to project what a system’s storage needs would be if it were to shift entirely to renewable sources.

The model accounts for how energy production from renewable sources would change during different times of day and different times of the year.  For example, there is much more solar energy generation in the summer when the days are longer, and it is sunny more often.

There is also the issue of short-term vs. long-term energy storage.  Short-term energy storage does not refer to how long a storage device can store the energy.  It refers to how long it can provide power at its rated level.

The study focused on Italy’s energy system, which has suffered in recent years because it had difficulties in obtaining natural gas from Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine.

As the world moves increasingly towards renewable power sources, energy systems need to be able to account for the variability of those sources.  The new model offers policymakers critical information for use in energy system planning.

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Model Projects Energy Storage Needs for Fossil Fuel-Free Energy System

Photo, posted October 28, 2016, courtesy of Daxis via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Progress towards electric school buses

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The U.S. has nearly half a million school buses providing daily transportation for about 20 million students.  Most of these buses are powered by diesel engines which not only dump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere but also fill kids’ lungs with harmful fumes.

Thanks to various federal and state incentive programs, this situation is starting to change.  School districts all over the country are beginning to swap out old diesel buses for emissions-free electric-powered school buses.

Electric school buses are finding their way into school districts of all sizes and demographics.  The first district in the country to go fully electric was in Martinsville, Texas, which last year converted its 4-bus fleet.  The first large urban district to go all-electric was the 74-bus fleet in Oakland, California this summer.

The EPA’s $5 billion Clean School Bus program and many state initiatives are providing incentives for the transition.  Five years ago, there were less than 1,000 electric school buses in the U.S.  Now there are about 5,000 and more than 7,000 additional buses are in the pipeline.

Apart from the climate implications, there is urgency to replacing diesel school buses from a health perspective.  Diesel exhaust is classified as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization, and it contains fine particles and nitrogen oxides, both of which are well-documented asthma triggers.

Electric buses are more expensive than diesel buses, but they are much cheaper to operate. School districts need to put in place charging infrastructure.  The transition is not so easy to accomplish, but it is an important step, and more and more school districts are taking it.

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Slowly but Surely, U.S. School Buses Are Starting to Electrify

Photo, posted May 5, 2021, courtesy of California Energy Commission via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Solar-powered desalination

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People in remote, low-income regions far from the ocean often need to meet their water needs from groundwater and groundwater is becoming increasingly saline due to climate change.  Desalination of brackish groundwater is a huge and largely untapped source of drinking water, but there are challenges in making the process efficient and reliable.

Engineers at MIT have developed a solar-powered desalination system that requires no batteries or external power sources and is capable of producing large quantities of clean water despite the variations of sunshine throughout the day.

The system is based on the process of electrodialysis and consists of water pumps, an ion-exchange membrane stack, and a solar panel array.  What is unique about it is that it makes use of sensors and a control system that predicts the optimal rate at which to pump water through the system based on the output of the solar panels.  As a result, it uses nearly all of the electricity generated to produce clean water and does not need stored or grid-based energy.

The MIT engineers tested a community-scale prototype on groundwater wells in New Mexico over a six-month period.  The system harnessed on average over 94% of the electricity generated by its solar panels and produced as much as 5,000 liters of water per day despite large variations in weather and sunlight.

The new renewable-powered, battery-free system could provide much-needed drinking water at low cost, especially for communities where access to seawater and to grid power are limited.  The team plans to further test and scale up the system so it can supply larger communities and even whole municipalities with low-cost drinking water.

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Solar-powered desalination system requires no extra batteries

Photo courtesy of Shane Pratt.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Renewables progress

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According to a new report by the International Energy Agency, the world is on track to produce nearly half of the electricity it uses from renewable sources by the end of this decade.  The report also finds that in nearly every country, large wind and solar plants are the cheapest forms of new power.

Between now and 2030, countries will add more than 5,500 gigawatts of new renewable capacity.   That is as much as China, India, the U.S., and the EU combined have at present.  Most of the new capacity will come from solar power.

China is aggressively pursuing renewable power installations with massive solar and wind projects.  By 2030, China will account for nearly half of the world’s renewable power capacity.

This year’s UN Climate Change Conference, held in the United Arab Emirates, established the goal of tripling renewable energy capacity worldwide by 2030. 

The growth in solar power continues to outperform industry expert projections as manufacturing ramps up.  India and the U.S. are both expected to triple their solar manufacturing capacity by the end of this decade.  Manufacturing, largely based in China, is already outstripping demand.

By 2030, solar and wind power are expected to account for about 30% of global electricity generation, hydropower about 13%, and other renewables such as geothermal power about 5%.

These estimates are based on existing policies and market conditions.  Governments could speed up the shift to clean energy by cutting red tape and by making it cheaper for poorer countries to finance solar and wind projects.

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Renewables 2024

Photo, posted November 23, 2023, courtesy of Rick Obst via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The last coal plant in Britain

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The Industrial Revolution, which basically got underway in the mid-19th century, was largely enabled by coal, which fueled iron manufacturing, railroads, steam engines, and more.  Most of these things got their start in Britain, which inspired the rest of the world to follow suit.

The world’s first coal-burning power plant began producing electricity at the Holborn Viaduct in London in 1882.  This September, Britain – the birthplace of coal power – shut down its last coal-burning power station when the 2,000-megawatt Ratcliffe-on-Soar facility ceased operations.  Uniper, the company that operated the plant, will be converting the 750-acre site to a low-carbon energy hub.

Shutting down coal plants is not a simple matter, as they are the lifeblood of entire towns and regions where they are located.  Finding fair transitions for workers is an uphill battle that has to take place in many locations.

Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel, producing more greenhouse gas than others, but historically was the cheapest and most abundant source of power in many countries.  In recent decades, it has been replaced by gas, nuclear power, and most recently, renewables like wind and solar.

The coal era has ended in much of the world. The United States still gets 16% of its electricity from coal, but that number keeps getting smaller.  Unfortunately, the great majority of coal use is in the world’s two most populous countries:  India and China.  Both are adding renewable energy sources, but both have rapidly climbing energy demand.  China’s coal consumption is expected to peak this year and flatten out.  But there is still work to be done to bring an end to coal power.

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Britain Shuts Down Last Coal Plant, ‘Turning Its Back on Coal Forever’

Photo, posted March 13, 2016, courtesy of Arran Bee via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A structural battery

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The size and especially the weight of batteries is a critical factor for most things that use them.  Battery weight is a key limitation for computers and cell phones. It is even more of a limitation for electric cars, ships, or planes.

If the battery of a device or vehicle can also function as a load-bearing structure, its weight and energy consumption can be dramatically reduced.  This concept of a structural battery is sometimes called massless energy storage.  It has the potential to halve the weight of a laptop computer, make cell phones as thin as a credit card, and increase the range of an electric car by as much as 70%.

Researchers at Chalmers University in Sweden have been working on structural battery technology for many years.  Their first published results in 2018 showed how stiff, strong carbon fibers could be used for chemical storage of electrical energy.

Since then, they have been creating batteries with increasing energy density.  Their latest versions still have only a quarter of the capacity of today’s lithium-ion batteries. But if batteries can be part of the structure of a vehicle, for example, and can be made of lightweight materials like carbon fiber, then the overall weight of the vehicle can be greatly reduced and not nearly as much energy will be needed to power it.

The goal of the Chalmers research is to achieve battery performance that makes it possible to commercialize the technology.  There is a lot of engineering work to be done before these structural batteries can go from laboratory proofs of concept to real world use.  But the potential is quite promising.

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World’s strongest battery paves way for light, energy-efficient vehicles

Photo, posted August 8, 2024, courtesy of NOI Techpark via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Electric cars and power outages

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As more and more cars are powered by electricity instead of gasoline, people are beginning to worry about what happens during power outages caused by storms and other disruptive events.  It is easy to jump to the conclusion that this is a brand-new problem for drivers.  However, when electricity goes out over a sizeable area, most gas pumps stop working and it isn’t easy to keep gas cars running either.

Electric cars are often charged at home every day and such cars are more likely to be almost fully charged than nearly depleted at any time.  For those drivers, a power failure is unlikely to be much of a concern unless it persists for a very lengthy period.  On road trips, unless a power outage extends over a very wide area, one can probably get to a charger that is still operating.

Nonetheless, the federal government has commissioned researchers at Iowa State University to study potential solutions to possible difficulties in keeping electric cars running during power failures.  The goal of the study is to find ways to reduce the outage frequency of chargers by 75% and the power restoration time by 50%.

The study will evaluate the resiliency of charging stations in extreme weather events and identify ways to quickly restore power to charging stations in the event of outages.  Included are onsite solar power and battery storage at chargers as well as redundant power lines from different electrical substations.  There is even the possibility  of trucks delivering pre-charged batteries to charging stations after a storm.  Identifying and developing technologies to improve the resilience of charging stations is an important goal as the transition to electric vehicles continues.

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Researchers working to keep electric vehicles charging, even when the lights go out

Photo, posted July 29, 2013, courtesy of Jeff Cooper via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Solar energy on federal land

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Officials at the federal Bureau of Land Management announced late in August that they had finalized a plan to add Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming to the Western Solar Plan, which started during the Obama era.   The plan, created in 2012, provides permitting for solar projects on federal land.  The original plan included Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

The Western Solar Plan is a major expansion for clean energy production in the Bureau of Land Management’s land leasing portfolio.  For decades, the BLM has leased tens of millions of acres of federal land to fossil fuel companies for oil, coal, and natural gas exploration and production.

The new addition includes 1.1 million acres of land in Oregon, an area larger than the entire state of Rhode Island.  The land selected is deemed to be of low risk for any adverse environmental effects from solar installation, and the plots of land are all within 15 miles of existing or planned electrical transmission lines.  A little over 50% of Oregon’s land is owned by the federal government and is managed primarily by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.

The publication of the finalized plan at the end of August initiated a 30-day period for any participants in the initial planning to voice objections.  The governors of the 5 new states are reviewing the plan.  Final approval and adoption are expected later this year.

Western states need to expand solar and other clean energy production to meet their climate goals and federal lands will have to play an important role.

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Plan would make 1 million acres of federal land in Oregon available for solar energy projects

Photo, posted May 20, 2024, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

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