Fusion is the process that powers the sun and the stars, and scientists are getting a lot closer to replicating it here on Earth. ITER, the $22 billion dollar international fusion megaproject in the south of France, is the most well-funded endeavor, paid for by the governments of its member nations. But VC’s and private investors are also pouring money into fusion start-ups, with hopes to commercialize fusion power within the next decade. With a number of breakthroughs already this year, the race is on to prove that fusion power is not only possible, but integral to a clean energy future.
Tesla Energy Is About To Take Over Texas
Tesla Energy Is About To Take Over Texas… Tesla is about to become a state-wide electric utility provider for Texas, so let’s look at how this will help Tesla and what it means for the future.
Why Tesla’s New Nanotech Battery Is A Game Changer
Why Tesla’s New Nanotech Battery Is A Game Changer? Ever since Tesla introduced its Model 3 version, a lot of things have changed. This model is only priced within a 40,000-dollar price range, making it much more affordable for the common person. So much so that the model 3 has become the world’s most selling electric vehicle. In 2019 alone, more than 300,000 of these cars were sold across the world. Now, Tesla’s electric cars use a lithium-ion battery to power the car. These are essentially the same types of batteries that we use in our phones, but since a car requires many times the power compared to a phone, these batteries are very large. This means that Tesla utilizes a lot of cobalt, graphite, and lithium to produce these batteries. The problem is that the world could just end running out of these elements quite soon. But not to worry, because Tesla does have a plan. The answer lies in the new nanotech batteries.
This technology is extremely tiny but even more so terrific! We are basically dealing with gizmos which are so much that you could not see them with your naked eye. Hell, not even with an average microscope, as you would need an electron microscope to be able to see its function. To put that into perspective, the gizmos we’re talking about, around which this technology revolves, are so small that you could fit billions of them on the point of a needle. That’s right! But do not let that fool you. This tiny technology is absolutely amazing. Basically, one of the aspects of nanotechnology is a thing called graphene. Just take out a few seconds to understand what graphene is because nanotech is the essence of how we perceive batteries.
28,000 Year Nuclear Waste Battery? Diamond Batteries Explained
Given the relatively short lifespan, overheating, and battery cell supply issues of current battery technologies, they can’t be used everywhere. Some companies are claiming that nuclear diamond battery technology can kill two birds with one stone: creating energy storage that could last for thousands of years by putting nuclear waste to use… potentially powering everything from EVs to cellphones. Is this the holy grail of battery technology or hype; and more importantly, is it safe? Let’s explore Nano Diamond Batteries and where this might be going
A giant step toward the holy grail of energy research — Scientist on fusion breakthrough
Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku lauded a recent nuclear fusion experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
“This is a giant step toward the holy grail of energy research,” said Kaku, professor of theoretical physics at the City College and City University of New York. “To hit break-even, to extract more energy than you put in, and this could eventually become a game-changer.”
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announced a key achievement in nuclear fusion that it had, back on Aug. 8, been able to produce 1.3 megajoules of energy at its National Ignition Facility, albeit very briefly. Kaku told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that the achievement was a giant step towards clean energy.
“A fusion reactor is carbon neutral, it does not create carbon dioxide, it does not create copious quantities of nuclear waste that you find in fission plants with uranium, it does not meltdown,” said the author of “The God Equation: The Quest for a Theory of Everything.” “The fuel is seawater, hydrogen from seawater could be the basic fuel.”
Fusion, the lesser-known and opposite reaction to nuclear fission is when two atoms slam together to form a heavier atom and release energy. It is the way the sun makes energy.
Kaku explained some of the drawbacks to nuclear fusion and why it’s not currently an easily accessible source of energy.
“It turns out that when you heat hydrogen to tens of millions of degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature of the sun, things become unstable, and that’s why this reaction took place over a hundred trillionth of a second, just a snap of the finger, so in other words, we want to have a continuous stream of energy, not bursts of energy, like we found here,” Kaku said.
Why Neom Might Be The Future of Sustainable Cities
With an investment of $500 billion, Saudi Arabia is touting this 100-mile-long linear city (“The Line”) as the most sustainable urban complex in the world. And one with some cutting edge renewable technologies … like generating fresh water in a desert. But will it work? Let’s explore if Neom is the future of sustainable cities.
Ultra Stable Solid-State Battery
With a capacity retention of 82% after 10,000 cycles, the first Stable Solid-State battery has come as unconventional electrolyte mix composed of Lithium-Germanium-Phosphorus-Sulfide and Lithium-Phosphorous-Sulfide-Chloride. The first is usually unstable and fails rather quickly. The second is a highly conductive solid state electrolyte material, though way more stable, still presents the same problems as the first one.
Liquid Metal Batteries – As Good As The Hype? | Answers With Joe
There’s no shortage of battery storage solutions these days, but one of the most interesting (and one with massive potential) is the liquid metal battery – a battery that you literally melt. So let’s talk about how it works, the pros and cons, and how they stack up against Tesla’s lithium-ion battery packs.
New Iron-Air Battery outperforms best Lithium Ion tech. Cheap. Abundant. Non-toxic & Carbon Free
Iron Air batteries use cheap, nontoxic, abundant materials and potentially have a far higher energy density than Lithium-Ion batteries. The technology was first developed by NASA in the seventies, but no major commercial application has ever come to fruition. Now though, a US company, backed by some pretty big investors, has developed a grid-scale iron air battery that could be a real industry disruptor.
Solid State Batteries – Autumn 2021 mass production in Japan. Is it FINALLY happening?
Solid state batteries are the long-promised Holy Grail of battery technology. They’re smaller and better than existing Lithium Ion batteries. They charge more quickly and last much longer. What’s not to like? Trouble is, no-one’s managed to mass produce one at any useful scale yet. Turns out it’s quite tricky to make them reliable! Now though, two major Japanese companies are finally firing up their full production lines. So will 2021 be the year?