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Seems like a good match for a high-winged transport like a C-17.
Rolls-Royce starts build of UltraFan aero-engine; 25% fuel efficiency improvement over first generation Trent
Rolls-Royce has officially started building the world’s largest aero-engine, UltraFan. Work on the first module is underway at the DemoWorks facility in Derby, UK, and the demonstrator engine, which has a fan diameter of 140 inches, will be completed by the end of the year. Artist’s impress...
No cobalt, no lithium, just abundant sodium and nickel. We're talking scalable.
ion Ventures and LiNa Energy conclude successful test of solid-state sodium-nickel battery platform
ion Ventures, a modern utility and energy storage infrastructure specialist, and LiNa Energy, a solid-state battery technology developer, concluded their first successful trial of LiNa’s proprietary solid-state sodium-nickel battery platform at an undisclosed location in South East England last ...
@SJC: Core unit (including graphite) is swapped out every 7 years to avoid the problems long term graphite irradiation (swelling, etc). Terrestrial Energy knows what they are doing.
Canada investing $20M in Terrestrial Energy to support development of Integral Molten Salt SMR
Canada investing $20M in Terrestrial Energy to support development of Integral Molten Salt SMR Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Hon. Navdeep Bains, announced a $20 million investment in Terrestrial Energy to accelerate development of the company’s Integral Molten Salt React...
Very clever design--eliminating a helical gearset with its axial thrust has got to improve efficiency. I wonder about wear/longevity of those sliding segments. Wish them luck--lowering motor speed for highway driving should be great for increased range.
Inmotive introduces efficient two-speed transmission for EVs
Inmotive, a Canadian-based automotive supplier, has launched its patented Ingear two-speed transmission. Invented and designed for the next generation of electric vehicles, the Ingear features a simple and durable design that enables a more efficient powertrain, with extended range, at lower co...
One very expensive status symbol for most buyers.
2021 Jeep Gladiator available with 3rd generation 3.0L EcoDiesel
As suggested in 2018, (earlier post) the 2021 Jeep Gladiator is now available with the 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 engine. The expected fuel economy ratings will deliver the highest driving range on one tank of fuel yet for Gladiator. The new 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 engine, rated at 260 horsepow...
If you have a source of biogas, why not just that for your energy needs? Seems like it would be a lot simpler and less expensive.
Graz researchers develop cost-effective chemical looping process for decentralized production of high-purity hydrogen
Hydrogen researchers at Graz University of Technology (Austria), together with the Graz-based start-up Rouge H2 Engineering, have developed a cost-effective process for the decentralized production of high-purity hydrogen using chemical looping. Currently, hydrogen is mainly produced centrally...
Smart. Screen/test, isolate, rinse, repeat.
Canada mandates health check of air and rail passengers before boarding
The Government of Canada is introducing new domestic transportation measures to support provincial, territorial and local efforts to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 spreading from travelling within Canada. These new measures include: A requirement for all air operators to conduct a health check ...
Traditionally, putting propellers far from the fuselage creates a hazard should one fail during takeoff--pilot has to manage the turning moment from single engine on one side. I suppose this isn't such a problem with the smaller takeoff/landing motors along the wingspan.
NASA releases concept images of all-electric X-57 Maxwell airplane in final Mod IV configuration
NASA has released a series of concept images of the all-electric X-57 Maxwell airplane (earlier post), showcasing aspects of its final Mod IV configuration during different flight modes. The artist’s concept image shows NASA’s first all-electric X-plane, the X-57 Maxwell, flying shortly after...
@EP: If I had to guess, and looking at the graph, large hydro (imports from Pacific NW) declined, natural gas increased, coal is already marginal. Just wait until the ill-advised shutdown of Diablo Canyon in 2025.
CARB publishes 2020 CI values for electricity as transportation fuel: average 82.92 gCO2e/MJ, up from 2019
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) Executive Officer has certified the 2020 annual update to the carbon intensities (CI) of the lookup table pathways for a) California Average Grid Electricity Used as a Transportation Fuel in California and b) Electricity Supplied under the Smart Chargin...
"...spontaneous power delivery..."
Not sure that's what you mean to say--I'd rather not have my car accelerate spontaneously.
New BMW X5 xDrive40d and new BMW X6 xDrive40d feature straight six-cylinder diesel engine and 48V mild-hybrid technology
The BMW X5 and the BMW X6 now also offer 48V mild-hybrid technology to optimize the spontaneous power delivery and effectiveness of the drive system. From May 2020, the new BMW X5 xDrive40d (combined fuel consumption: 6.4 – 5.9 l/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 167 – 154 g/km) and the new ...
Per SJC, best use case may be for larger scale, stationary applications, where taking off a stream of nitric acid becomes a benefit, not a burden.
New MOF material captures and converts NO2
New research led by The University of Manchester has developed a metal-organic framework (MOF) material that provides a selective, fully reversible and repeatable capability to capture nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a toxic air pollutant produced particularly by diesel and bio-fuel use. The NO2 can th...
I assume the fuel cells need a supply of H2 (from nat gas, bio gas, syn gas) as well as CO2 from flue gas, so the additional power generated is not exactly 'free'. However, good work on a more efficient way to sequester CO2.
ExxonMobil, FuelCell Energy expand agreement to optimize carbonate fuel cell technology for large-scale carbon capture
ExxonMobil and FuelCell Energy, Inc. signed a new, two-year expanded joint-development agreement to further enhance carbonate fuel cell technology for the purpose of capturing carbon dioxide from industrial facilities. The agreement, worth up to $60 million, will focus efforts on optimizing t...
@mahonj: 60 MW/unit latest version, FYI.
NuScale’s SMR design clears Phases 2 and 3 of Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s review process
NuScale Power announced that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has completed the second and third phases of review of the company’s revolutionary small modular reactor design. This development—six weeks ahead of schedule—marks a significant milestone in the company’s timeline to comm...
The world needs *cheap* green energy. Cheap energy is the foundation of prosperity in the modern world. There is no reason (besides entrenched interests) that affordable, safe, clean, nuclear SMRs could not be powering our world.
Study finds shifts to renewable energy can drive up energy poverty
Efforts to shift away from fossil fuels and replace oil and coal with renewable energy sources can help reduce carbon emissions but do so at the expense of increased inequality, according to a new study by researchers at Portland State University (PSU) and Vanderbilt University. Julius McGee,...
As far as load-shifting storage for a NPP, I am curious to compare the capital and operational cost of energy storage vs just scaling up the NPP and load-following. In the latter case your NPP capital cost goes up and capacity factor goes down, of course, but you avoid the cost of storage. For intermittent renewables the need for backfill of capacity is mandatory, of course.
Highview Power unveils giga-scale cryogenic battery
Highview Power has developed a modular cryogenic energy storage system—the CRYOBattery—that is scalable up to multiple gigawatts of energy storage and can be located anywhere. This technology reaches a new benchmark for a levelized cost of storage (LCOS) of $140/MWh for a 10-hour, 200 MW/2 GWh ...
Another way: synthesize low-carbon liquid fuels using nuclear heat & power. Also decarbonize the grid with nuclear. The solutions are out there.
Leading UK scientists set out resource challenge of meeting EV targets by 2050
UK Natural History Museum Head of Earth Sciences Prof Richard Herrington and fellow expert members of SoS MinErals (an interdisciplinary program of NERC-EPSRC-Newton-FAPESP funded research) recently wrote a letter to the UK Committee on Climate Change pointing out that meeting UK electric car t...
Replace the renewable energy source with a small modular nuclear reactor and then you've got something.
Rotterdam The Hague Airport initiates study for the production of renewable jet fuel from air
Rotterdam The Hague Airport and a European consortium led by EDL Anlagenbau Gesellschaft mbH signed a cooperation agreement to develop a demonstration plant that produces renewable jet fuel from air. This plant aims to be the first worldwide to offer renewable jet fuel from air to the market. ...
@Davemart: please check your math.
Cornell team develops new inexpensive stereo-camera method to detect objects for self-driving cars; pseudo-LiDAR
Cornell researchers have shown that using two inexpensive cameras on either side of a vehicle’s windshield can detect objects with nearly LiDAR’s accuracy and at a fraction of the cost. The LiDAR sensors currently used to detect 3D objects in the paths of autonomous cars are bulky, ugly, expe...
Gotta start leaving that carbon in the ground. Oil company balance sheets show these reserves as assets. They are going to go to the mat against anything that impairs those assets (e.g. carbon tax, whatever). This is the fight of the 21st century.
Production of crude oil as a percentage of proved reserves: Recent worldwide and U.S. trends
by Michael Sivak. In this analysis, I examined the relation between crude-oil production and crude-oil reserves in the world and in the United States. The variable of interest was the amount of crude oil produced as a percentage of proved reserves of crude oil. (This variable is inversely rel...
@EP: Your scheme is not practical: just how do you identify the worst drivers, and then limit them to the automated cars? Testing? Special driver's license?
I believe automated driving is going to be limited to certain very well-marked, limited access highways for a long time (decades, IMHO) before we ever get to level 5 autonomy.
Rice, Texas Tech study finds automated cars and their operators fail to detect dangers
New research from Rice University and Texas Tech University has found that drivers often fail to spot hazards missed by automated vehicles, and it only gets worse the longer drivers ride in them. The study is published in the journal Human Factors. The researchers examined the behavior of 60 li...
Except for local emissions, hydrogen does not compete well with liquid fuels for transportation use cases--this effort is like rowing upstream against the wind in a leaky rowboat.
California Energy Commission and ARB report on status of hydrogen refueling station network
The California Energy Commission and California Air Resources Board (ARB) have released a joint report on the planning, design, development, and deployment of hydrogen refueling stations critical to supporting the adoption of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). This joint report satisfies an...
The EPR is the most baroque expression of the redundant engineered safety used by large PWR designs. The future of nuclear is smaller, simpler, passively safe, factory-built. See NuScale (SMR/PWR) and Terrestrial Energy (SMR/MSR).
PWR = Pressurized Water Reactor
MSR = Molten Salt Reactor
SMR = Small Modular Reactor
World’s first EPR enters into commercial operation at China’s Taishan nuclear power plant
Unit 1 of the Taishan nuclear power plant has become the world’s first EPR—a third-generation pressurized water reactor—to enter into commercial operation. Comprising two 1750-MW EPR reactors, Taishan nuclear power plant is the biggest cooperation project to have taken place between China and F...
What E-P said.
EIA: CO2 emissions from US power sector have declined 28% since 2005
US electric power sector CO2 emissions have declined 28% since 2005 because of slower electricity demand growth and changes in the mix of fuels used to generate electricity, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). EIA calculated that CO2 emissions from the electric power se...
@E-P: Agree--nuclear baseload running full steam 24/7 (MSR) with molten salt thermal storage of night-time production could make for very economical electricity. The article is about home battery storage, something that is good for emergency backup but is probably an overly-expensive way to store grid surplus.
UCSD study: under current policies, home energy storage would often increase carbon emissions
Under current policies, home energy storage systems would also often increase carbon emissions, according to a study by a team of researchers at the University of California San Diego published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. The researchers selected 16 of the largest ut...
Makes sense--consider:
1. Carbon emissions from battery manufacture, shipping, installation, eventual disposal. These things are not required for a house to have power--they are additional infrastructure with their own carbon footprint.
2. As the study notes, existing monetary incentives for grid demand usage are not aligned with lowered-CO2 goals. If cheap, late night base load comes from coal, demand time-shifting is not desirable from a CO2 perspective.
As others have noted, if base load is nuclear, the equation becomes more favorable.
UCSD study: under current policies, home energy storage would often increase carbon emissions
Under current policies, home energy storage systems would also often increase carbon emissions, according to a study by a team of researchers at the University of California San Diego published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. The researchers selected 16 of the largest ut...
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