Lifeboat Foundation

Due to rising environmental concerns, global energy production is shifting from fossil fuels to sustainable and renewable energy systems such as solar and wind power. Despite their advantages, they have two significant weaknesses: volatile power production and irregular supply. Hence, they are augmented with energy storage systems (ESSs).

Lithium-ion batteries are at the forefront of ESSs but are prone to fires due to flammable electrolytes and lithium-based materials. The flowless zinc-bromine battery (FLZBB), which uses non-flammable electrolytes, is a promising alternative, offering cost-effectiveness and a simple battery platform.

An FLZBB consists of a positive electrode, a negative electrode, an electrolyte, and a separator to keep the electrodes apart. Unlike conventional zinc-bromine batteries, the electrolyte in FLZBB does not need to be pumped and is instead held in a gel-like container. Graphite felt (GF) is widely used as an electrode in many redox batteries due to its stability in acidic electrolytes.

A newly developed stretchable lithium-ion battery retains efficient charge storage after 70 cycles and expands up to 5000%. This innovation caters to the growing demand for batteries in wearable electronics, ensuring flexibility and durability.

When you think of a battery, you probably don’t think of something stretchy. However, batteries will need this shape-shifting quality to be incorporated into flexible electronics, which are gaining traction for wearable health monitors. Now, researchers in ACS Energy Letters report a lithium-ion battery with entirely stretchable components, including an electrolyte layer that can expand by 5000%, and it retains its charge storage capacity after nearly 70 charge/discharge cycles.

Advancements in Flexible Electronics.

In the age of technology everywhere, we are all too familiar with the inconvenience of a dead battery. But for those relying on a wearable health care device to monitor glucose, reduce tremors, or even track heart function, taking time to recharge can pose a big risk.

For the first time, researchers in Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering have shown that a health care device can be powered using body heat alone. By combining a pulse oximetry sensor with a flexible, stretchable, wearable thermoelectric energy generator composed of liquid metal, semiconductors, and 3D printed rubber, the team has introduced a promising way to address battery life concerns.

“This is the first step towards battery-free wearable electronics,” said Mason Zadan, Ph.D. candidate and first author of the research published in Advanced Functional Materials.

Recent research has demonstrated the effectiveness of ultrathin Bi4O5Br2 nanosheets with controlled oxygen vacancies in enhancing the piezocatalytic production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), presenting a viable, environmentally friendly alternative to traditional methods.

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) serves as a crucial chemical raw material with extensive applications in numerous industrial and everyday contexts. However, the industrial anthraquinone method of producing H₂O₂ is fraught with significant drawbacks, including high levels of pollution and energy consumption. An alternative approach involves harnessing ubiquitous mechanical energy for piezocatalytic H₂O₂ evolution, which offers a promising strategy. Despite its potential, this method faces challenges due to its unsatisfactory energy conversion efficiency.

Bi₄O₅Br₂ is regarded as a highly attractive photocatalytic material due to its unique sandwich structure, excellent chemical stability, good visible light capture ability, and suitable band structure. Aspired by its non-centrosymmetric crystal structure, piezoelectric performance has begun to enter the vision of researchers recently. However, its potential as an efficient piezocatalyst is far from being exploited, especially since the impacts of defects on piezocatalysis and piezocatalytic H₂O₂ production over Bi₄O₅Br₂ remains scanty. Thus, mechanical energy-driven piezocatalysis provides a promising method for H₂O₂ synthesis from pure water with great attraction.

Tesla Energy secured a $375 million Megapack contract in Australia. The new Tesla Megapack contract will help build a 415 MW/1660 MWh battery Down Under, one of the largest four-hour batteries in the world.

Tesla Energy will supply Megapacks to Akaysha Energy’s Orana Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). The Orana project is located in New South Wales within Central West Orana’s Renewable Energy Zone (REZ).

We are very pleased to announce the successful closing of the debt financing of the Orana project as we move into construction on Akaysha’s first four-hour BESS to date. As the largest standalone BESS financing globally, this achievement not only secures the capital for Orana’s construction but also highlights the strong support we have received from both local and international banks, as well as from BlackRock. Their commitment to advancing the energy transition in Australia and internationally has been pivotal to reaching this milestone.

How to levitate a magnet with no batteries, external power, or trickery. It floats on pure SCIENCE!Below are some links you can use to purchase bismuth and…

In 2023, Google and Microsoft each consumed 24 TWh of electricity, surpassing the consumption of over 100 nations, including places like Iceland, Ghana, and Tunisia, according to an analysis by Michael Thomas. While massive energy usage means a substantial environmental impact for these tech giants, it should be noted that Google and Microsoft also generate more money than many countries. Furthermore, companies like Intel, Google, and Microsoft lead renewable energy adoption within the industry.

Detailed analysis reveals that Google’s and Microsoft’s electricity consumption — 24 TWh in 2023 — equals the power consumption of Azerbaijan (a nation of 10.14 million) and is higher than that of several other countries. For instance, Iceland, Ghana, the Dominican Republic, and Tunisia each consumed 19 TWh, while Jordan consumed 20 TWh. Of course, some countries consume more power than Google and Microsoft. For example, Slovakia, a country with 5.4 million inhabitants, consumes 26 TWh.

Residents suffer sleepless nights without air-conditioning as energy company blames fallen trees for outages.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has announced the design and construction of the Series Hybrid Electric Propulsion AiRcraft Demonstration (SHEPARD) vehicle. The uncrewed air system developed for DARPA recently received its official X-plane designation of XRQ-73. Built in collaboration with Scaled Composites, a Northrop Grumman subsidiary, the XRQ-73 SHEPARD is a DARPA “X-prime” program leveraging hybrid electric architecture and component technologies to quickly mature a new mission-focused aircraft design with propulsion architecture and power class for the Department of Defense.

“The idea behind a DARPA X-prime program is to take emerging technologies and burn down system-level integration risks to quickly mature a new missionized long endurance aircraft design that can be fielded quickly. The SHEPARD program is maturing a specific propulsion architecture and power class as an exemplar of potential benefits for the Department of Defense,” said Steve Komadina, SHEPARD program manager.

The DARPA team includes members from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and warfighters. The prime contractor for SHEPARD is Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Aeronautics Systems sector in Redondo Beach, CA. Scaled Composites, LLC is a major supplier, along with Cornerstone Research Group, Inc., Brayton Energy, LLC, PC Krause and Associates, and EaglePicher Technologies, LLC. The XRQ-73 aircraft hybrid-electric uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) will be a Group 3 UAS weighing approximately 1,250 pounds. First flight of the XRQ-73 is expected by year-end 2024.