Aerospace and defence contractor QinetiQ has been tapped by the French government to carry out radar impact assessment work on new wind farm applications, as part of an attempt to “break the deadlock” with national meteorological service Météo-France, whose objections to project siting have frequently resulted in planning refusal.
AENewsFuel Cells | Hydrogen Fuel | Public Transit | TransportationIn an effort to reduce China’s harmful and plentiful greenhouse gas emissions, Chinese company Sifang (a subsidiary of China South Rail Corporation) has developed the world’s first hydrogen powered tram. The tram took two years of research and development to complete, and will be powered entirely by hydrogen fuel cells. Since this is a tram […]
adminShifting to renewable energy sources has been widely touted as one of the best ways to fight climate change, but even renewable energy can have a downside, as in the case of wind turbines’ effects on bird populations. In a new paper, a group of researchers demonstrate the impact that one wind energy development in Kansas has had on Greater Prairie-Chickens (Tympanuchus cupido) breeding in the area.
Led by China and the US, the world added 59GW of PV generation capacity in 2015, a 34{f24b02adee2102ff0c5f5079c50862fc8ba5fa53f8615b567037555463da2377} year on year surge, according to new figures from GTM Research.
The efficiency of solar cells depends on precise engineering of polymers that assemble into films 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. Today, formation of that polymer assembly requires solvents that can harm the environment, but scientists have found a ‘greener’ way to control the assembly of photovoltaic polymers in water using a surfactant — a detergent-like molecule — as a template.
adminHigh-performance lithium ion batteries face a major problem: Lithium will eventually start to run out as batteries are deployed in electric cars and stationary storage units. Researchers have now discovered an alternative: the “fool’s gold battery”. It consists of iron, sulfur, sodium and magnesium – all elements that are in plentiful supply. This means that giant storage batteries could be built on the cheap and used stationary in buildings or next to power plants, for instance.
Electric Cars | Future Technology | TransportationWhile solar-power electric hybrid vehicles are a proven success story on the roads, the time is ripe for the appearance of solar-electric watercraft. Already a pontoon boat – Loon – is available in the market. It is solar-electric powered and can seat eight passengers. Now a smaller one – the purely electric run, Infinyte I4 […]
