Energy

About: <p><strong>Energy, in physics, the capacity for doing work. It may exist in potential, kinetic, thermal, electrical, chemical, nuclear, or other various forms. There are, moreover, heat and work&mdash;i.e.,&nbsp;energy&nbsp;in the process of transfer from one body to another.</strong></p> <h2>Energy General</h2> <p>Energy makes everything happen, from boat&nbsp;engines&nbsp;moving forward to electric lights shining and lightning strikes.</p> <p>The universe is made of&nbsp;matter&nbsp;(all &lsquo;stuff&rsquo; in&nbsp;solid,&nbsp;liquid, or&nbsp;gas&nbsp;forms) and&nbsp;energy. Energy is the ability to create change. Careful scientific studies over centuries have found natural laws that govern energy&mdash;and these laws seem to be true everywhere in the known universe.</p> <h2>Energy Is A Physical Quantity That Follows Precise Natural Laws.</h2> <p>These include the&nbsp;law of conservation of energy, the&nbsp;first law of thermodynamics, and the&nbsp;second law of thermodynamics. Energy exists in how objects interact with each other. Often energy that can only be indirectly observed - by observing the processes that happen within a system. On Earth, everything from the&nbsp;weather&nbsp;to volcanoes comes from the energy flowing through the various systems around us.</p> <h2>Physical Processes On Earth Are The Result Of Energy Flow Through The Earth System.</h2> <p>Everything that physically happens, from&nbsp;light&nbsp;reflecting off a rock to currents deep in the&nbsp;ocean, happens because energy is flowing. Biological systems require energy too.</p> <h2>Biological Processes Depend On On Energy Flow Through The Earth System.</h2> <p>Every process in every living organism, including people, is driven by energy like photosynthesis and eating food. Everything from reproducing tiny cells to running down the street involves the transfer of energy.</p> <p>Energy is often useful when it is&nbsp;transformed&nbsp;or transferred. This is often referred to as 'using energy,' which is confusing because energy can't be&nbsp;used up&mdash;it just gets converted to a different form of energy! The two most straightforward ways of transferring energy are&nbsp;work&nbsp;and&nbsp;heat, both of which have specific definitions in the context of energy science. These definitions are slightly different from how the words are used in everyday language.</p> <p>Part of what&rsquo;s confusing about energy is that it is expressed using a lot of different&nbsp;units. These include units useful at the&nbsp;molecular&nbsp;level like&nbsp;electron volts&nbsp;(eV) to words used in the kitchen like&nbsp;calories. Physics classes tend to use units like&nbsp;joules, although chemists often favor calories. To make the units even more confusing, the energy sector uses units like&nbsp;kilowatt-hours&nbsp;and&nbsp;BOE (Barrel of oil equivalent, a unit of energy).</p> <p>There are also many large energy units useful for talking about energy use for whole countries like&nbsp;terawatt-hours&nbsp;and&nbsp;quads.</p> <p>The&nbsp;rate&nbsp;(energy per unit of time) that energy is transferred (or 'used') is known as&nbsp;power. When energy is transferred quickly, that means a large amount of power; when it's transferred slowly, it's less power.</p> <h2>Energy Serves Many Uses</h2> <p>Energy provides many useful&nbsp;energy services&nbsp;that allow for a high&nbsp;quality of life&nbsp;that people living in&nbsp;modernized societies&nbsp;have grown accustomed to.&nbsp;These services require a constant supply of&nbsp;primary fuels&nbsp;and&nbsp;primary flows&nbsp;to harness the needed energy. Specific services include powering vehicles (internal combustion engines), feeding populations, and generating&nbsp;electricity for&nbsp;billions of people.</p> <p>Energy also can cause damage or harm. For instance, burns are caused by an excess of&nbsp;thermal energy. Car accidents do a great deal of damage when the&nbsp;kinetic energy&nbsp;associated with driving down the street dissipates in a collision. Additionally, harnessing energy often leads to&nbsp;pollution&nbsp;and other&nbsp;environmental consequences&nbsp;like&nbsp;climate change.</p> <h2>Types Of Energy</h2> <p>Energy cannot be created or destroyed: this is known as the&nbsp;law of conservation of energy&mdash;meaning that energy must be harvested from some source. No process can create energy, no matter how nice that would be. However, many processes can&nbsp;transform energy&nbsp;from one type (like those found in nature) into another (like those useful for&nbsp;energy services). There are many different forms or types of energy that can be sorted into three main categories:</p> <p>For more information on how energy can't be created or destroyed but can only be taken from available resources in nature, please visit the page: the law of conservation of energy</p> <h2>Energy Conservation: Where Do We Get The Energy We Use?</h2> <p>Since energy cannot be created (or destroyed), people extract energy from&nbsp;high-density sources of energy&nbsp;called&nbsp;primary fuels or physical processes that move energy called&nbsp;primary flows. The energy extracted from nature is called&nbsp;primary energy&nbsp;(the sum of our fuels and flows). Most primary energy comes from fuels like&nbsp;hydrocarbons&nbsp;and&nbsp;nuclear fuels. The rest of our primary energy is from flows like&nbsp;wind power&nbsp;and&nbsp;hydropower&nbsp;(see&nbsp;fuel vs. flow). Energy can be found in nature in the form of fuels and flows, which can be harnessed and transformed into ways that are readily usable by humans. For example, the process of&nbsp;evaporation&nbsp;and&nbsp;rainfall&nbsp;allows rivers to keep flowing. We use the energy from the flow of&nbsp;water&nbsp;to create electricity, which had ultimately come from the&nbsp;sun. The energy changed form several times, but no energy was created or destroyed, just transferred.</p> <h2>General Energy: Work&nbsp;</h2> <p>Science uses very specific definitions for words, which are often different from everyday use. To a physicist, the word&nbsp;work&nbsp;means to push (exert a&nbsp;force) an object some distance&mdash;a process that (by definition) requires an input of energy like wind propelling the blades of a wind turbine.</p> <h2>General Energy: Heat</h2> <p>Heat can be both a desired and undesired result of energy utilization. For example,&nbsp;thermal energy&nbsp;heats houses and meals, which is desirable - especially in colder climates. However, heat is also a by-product of&nbsp;friction, which isn't always sought after. For instance, intricate parts in vehicles use&nbsp;lubricating oil&nbsp;to reduce friction. Still, if the&nbsp;oil&nbsp;runs out, those intricate parts will be exposed to high levels of friction, which typically leads to increased heating and severe damage within the engine.</p> <h2>General Energy: Light</h2> <p>Ultimately, most of the earth's energy comes from nuclear fusion&nbsp;that takes place within the&nbsp;sun. This energy takes the form of light, which is otherwise known as&nbsp;electromagnetic radiation. In light, energy is transferred in little &lsquo;packets&rsquo; called&nbsp;photons&nbsp;that contain discrete amounts of energy that can propagate (as&nbsp;waves) over very long distances. When the photons hit an object, they transfer their energy to the item. It's important to note that all light, not just&nbsp;visible light, is like this. Light can have many different forms that are invisible to the unaided human eye. These various forms are classified by their&nbsp;wavelength&nbsp;and occupy a broad spectrum (known as the&nbsp;electromagnetic spectrum); differing ranges within this spectrum have different levels of energy. The highest energy to lowest are gamma rays,&nbsp;x-rays,&nbsp;ultraviolet&nbsp;(UV), visible,&nbsp;infrared,&nbsp;microwave, and&nbsp;radio.</p> <p><strong>Before you go!</strong></p> <p><em><strong>Recommended:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.whatsorb.com/energy/the-earth-as-an-inexhaustible-clean-energy-source"><strong>How Inexhaustible Is Earth&rsquo;s Geothermal Energy</strong></a></em></p> <p><em><strong>Did you find this an interesting article, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below.<br />We try to respond the same day.<br /></strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>Like to write your article about energy transmission?<br />Send your writing &amp; scribble with a photo to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>, and we will write an interesting article based on your input.</strong></em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p>
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CO2 Storage: Everything You Need To Know
Oil nation Norway plans to help fight climate change by capturing and storing Europe’s carbon emissions. CO2 storage: everything you need to know, is a great story about the pros and cons of  CO2 storage in a 'industrial' and natural way. CO2 Storage By The Northern Lights Project Schematic of the subsurface going from south to north through the 31/5-7 (Eos) CO2 confirmation well. The CO2 plume extent after 37.5 Mt injection is illustrated in magenta. The ‘Northern Lights’ project will store captured CO2 emissions in the North Sea. But this procedure is not without risks. The world is facing a climate catastrophe, and despite rapid growth in renewable energy production, some industries continue to emit vast amounts of CO2 during production processes. {youtube}                                                      Norway and CO2 emissions | DW Documentary CO2 Producing Industries Two of these industries are cement and steel, both crucial for the economy. A solution is needed, and Norway believes part of the answer for Europe is carbon capture and storage (CCS). The country has called its CCS project ‘Northern Lights.’ The plan is to capture CO2 emitted from industrial sites, liquefy it, and then transport the liquefied gas via pipelines to be stored in the North Sea, approximately 3000 meters below sea level. Project director Sverre Overå Climate Change And CO2 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said that the only way to limit the global rise in temperature to a maximum of two degrees is to capture and store many billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases. But in Germany people have protested against the use of carbon capture and storage. The technology has been fraught with problems in the past. And there are other, more natural alternatives. Peatland use. Peat from Middle European mires was used since the Bronze Age as fuel. Due to scarcity of wood, the intense use of peat started in the 18 th  century in Germany. Especially in the north of Germany peat was won, also for agricultural use for soil improvement and as litter. In the end of the 19 th  century complex ditch systems were established to drain the land. As a result more agricultural area was available. After the Second World War every piece of land was used, which included grassland and field use on peatlands. The most extensive drainage measures and thus most complex degradation of peatlands were carried out in the 1960s (Hydromelioration), whereby huge amounts of nutrients and climate effective gases were set free. CO2 Storage The Natural Way One option could be to restore moorlands and bogs. When wet, these store carbon that has been sucked from the air by plants. But many bogs have been drained for farming, and as drained moorlands dry, CO2 is produced, meaning they have become a source of pollution rather than carbon storage. Reversing this and returning them to their carbon storing potential could be relatively inexpensive, as well as being a more natural way of reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  Credits: DW Documentary gives you knowledge beyond the headlines. Watch high-class documentaries from German broadcasters and international production companies. Meet intriguing people, travel to distant lands, get a look behind the complexities of daily life and build a deeper understanding of current affairs and global events. Subscribe and explore the world around you with DW Documentary. Before you go! Recommended:  Algae Canopy Miracle Works Better Than A Forrest: How? Did you find this an interesting article, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your article about roof gardens? Send your writing & scribble with a photo to  [email protected] , and we will write an interesting article based on your input.
Oil nation Norway plans to help fight climate change by capturing and storing Europe’s carbon emissions. CO2 storage: everything you need to know, is a great story about the pros and cons of  CO2 storage in a 'industrial' and natural way. CO2 Storage By The Northern Lights Project Schematic of the subsurface going from south to north through the 31/5-7 (Eos) CO2 confirmation well. The CO2 plume extent after 37.5 Mt injection is illustrated in magenta. The ‘Northern Lights’ project will store captured CO2 emissions in the North Sea. But this procedure is not without risks. The world is facing a climate catastrophe, and despite rapid growth in renewable energy production, some industries continue to emit vast amounts of CO2 during production processes. {youtube}                                                      Norway and CO2 emissions | DW Documentary CO2 Producing Industries Two of these industries are cement and steel, both crucial for the economy. A solution is needed, and Norway believes part of the answer for Europe is carbon capture and storage (CCS). The country has called its CCS project ‘Northern Lights.’ The plan is to capture CO2 emitted from industrial sites, liquefy it, and then transport the liquefied gas via pipelines to be stored in the North Sea, approximately 3000 meters below sea level. Project director Sverre Overå Climate Change And CO2 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said that the only way to limit the global rise in temperature to a maximum of two degrees is to capture and store many billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases. But in Germany people have protested against the use of carbon capture and storage. The technology has been fraught with problems in the past. And there are other, more natural alternatives. Peatland use. Peat from Middle European mires was used since the Bronze Age as fuel. Due to scarcity of wood, the intense use of peat started in the 18 th  century in Germany. Especially in the north of Germany peat was won, also for agricultural use for soil improvement and as litter. In the end of the 19 th  century complex ditch systems were established to drain the land. As a result more agricultural area was available. After the Second World War every piece of land was used, which included grassland and field use on peatlands. The most extensive drainage measures and thus most complex degradation of peatlands were carried out in the 1960s (Hydromelioration), whereby huge amounts of nutrients and climate effective gases were set free. CO2 Storage The Natural Way One option could be to restore moorlands and bogs. When wet, these store carbon that has been sucked from the air by plants. But many bogs have been drained for farming, and as drained moorlands dry, CO2 is produced, meaning they have become a source of pollution rather than carbon storage. Reversing this and returning them to their carbon storing potential could be relatively inexpensive, as well as being a more natural way of reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  Credits: DW Documentary gives you knowledge beyond the headlines. Watch high-class documentaries from German broadcasters and international production companies. Meet intriguing people, travel to distant lands, get a look behind the complexities of daily life and build a deeper understanding of current affairs and global events. Subscribe and explore the world around you with DW Documentary. Before you go! Recommended:  Algae Canopy Miracle Works Better Than A Forrest: How? Did you find this an interesting article, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your article about roof gardens? Send your writing & scribble with a photo to  [email protected] , and we will write an interesting article based on your input.
CO2 Storage: Everything You Need To Know
CO2 Storage: Everything You Need To Know
Hydrogen Future Fuel Makes The World: ‘Now’
No more carbon emissions? Is it possible? Hopefully, soon, you could drive in a car that produces greenhouse gasses or zero carbon emissions. Your office could even be fitted with emergency power generators that do not operate on fossil fuels but hydrogen cell technology. However, we still need to overcome some logistical obstacles. Hydrogen future fuel makes the world: ‘now’! Hydrogen: Goal Of The Future There are more and more technologies that make use of greenhouse gases. These are already available, but which ones exactly? Hydrogen is a clear frontrunner that offers many opportunities for energy application, production, and distribution. Recommended:  Pope Francis Believes In Hydrogen. Heavenly! What Is An Hydrogen Cell? Hydrogen fuel cells are a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen. As a result, exhaust gases are only produced from pure water. In these gases, chemical energy is stored that can be converted to electrical energy. This energy can be used to power temporary storage batteries, electric drive motors, or other applications. Hydrogen Future Fuel Makes The World: ‘Now’ H2-hydrogen molecules in a hydrogen fuel cell are divided into negatively charged electrons (yellow) and positively charged protons (blue). The protons travel in an electrolyte membrane, but the electrons must pass through an external circuit, creating electricity. Eventually, the electrons, oxygen molecules, and protons together form water. Recommended:  The Ideal Clean Car: A Student’s Utopian Vision Hydrogen Continues To Grow As a pressurized gas or liquid, hydrogen fuel is relatively easy to transport. You can refuel quickly, so you don't need long to recharge, with an electric car, for example. Hydrogen production continues to evolve toward renewable sources. This makes fuel cells and electrolyzers an interesting option for efficient, powerful, and 100 percent clean energy distribution and storage worldwide. The Toyota Mirai is an electric vehicle with hydrogen cells that have been in operation for a couple of years. It is visible on the road and is used by customers in California. Recommended:  Solar Wind And Hydrogen Powers Modern Cargo Ships 10 Industry Applications Of Hydrogen Fuel Cells Below, we show you ten applications for hydrogen fuel cells. Some of these mentioned below you might not know. Warehouse Logistics Large warehouses want to use hydrogen fuel cells to power, among other things, clean forklift trucks, pallet jacks, and trucks. Global DistributionFuel cells can be used for long-distance transport and local distribution. Companies such as Hyundai, Toyota, and UPS are already building vans and semi-trailers on hydrogen. Buses Hydrogen energy is being considered to provide buses. Large cities, including London, Vancouver, Beijing, and Chicago, have experimented with hydrogen-powered buses. Trains There are already hydrogen-powered trains in Germany. Models are expected to arrive in Great Britain, Italy, South Korea, Japan, the USA, and France in the next five years. Personal Vehicles Major car manufacturers such as Toyota, Hyundai, BMW, and Honda produce hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) for personal use. Planes Several experimental projects, such as Helios and Pathfinder prototypes, have investigated hydrogen fuel cells' application in space and aeronautics. A hybrid system was used in which hydrogen fuel cells were supplemented with electrical energy from solar panels. Theoretically, this made the unlimited day and night flights possible. Recommended: Transport By Airships: The Comeback Of Zeppelins Backup Power Generation Stationary fuel cells are deployed locally as part of Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS); continuous availability is essential. Think, for example, of hospitals. They are increasingly looking for hydrogen to provide this power supply. Microsoft recently made it to the newspaper because they had carried out a successful test with hydrogen: a data center's servers ran on hydrogen for two days straight. Mobile Power Generation Hydrogen offers various possibilities for mobile power generation. NASA created one of the first hydrogen fuel cells to provide electricity for shuttles and missiles in space.  Uncrewed Arial Vehicles (UAVs) Many new UAVs (i.e., drones) are now being used, from parcel delivery to rescue and search operations. Batteries now determine the range and power. The private and military industries are looking to use hydrogen fuel cells to make them last up to three times longer and have more capacity. Hydrogen: Hydrogen Energy Used To Fly A Drone Boats And Submarines Hydrogen fuel cells are used on several boats. For example, the Energy Observer has solar panels and wind turbines on board to generate their hydrogen for a fuel cell system. Military stealth submarines such as the German type 212 use hydrogen fuel cells as an alternative to nuclear energy: silent sailing, low exhaust heat, and a wide range. Safety Challenges By Hydrogen Fuel Cell Systems Hydrogen still needs to overcome some obstacles to be used properly. Hydrogen has a relatively low energy density. This means that it has to be stored in large quantities. Local regulations limit the use of hydrogen. The industry must do its best to correct the public perception of hydrogen (think of the Zeppelin incident in Hindenburg), even though the technologies have already improved considerably. Many infrastructural changes will still be needed to enable the transport, refueling, and storage of hydrogen. It poses logistical challenges on a large scale. Besides, there is also a fire/explosion risk. Before you go! Recommended:  Hydrogen-Powered Energy Observer: Future Vision Did you find this an interesting article, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your article about energy transmission? Send your writing & scribble with a photo to  [email protected] , and we will write an interesting article based on your input.
No more carbon emissions? Is it possible? Hopefully, soon, you could drive in a car that produces greenhouse gasses or zero carbon emissions. Your office could even be fitted with emergency power generators that do not operate on fossil fuels but hydrogen cell technology. However, we still need to overcome some logistical obstacles. Hydrogen future fuel makes the world: ‘now’! Hydrogen: Goal Of The Future There are more and more technologies that make use of greenhouse gases. These are already available, but which ones exactly? Hydrogen is a clear frontrunner that offers many opportunities for energy application, production, and distribution. Recommended:  Pope Francis Believes In Hydrogen. Heavenly! What Is An Hydrogen Cell? Hydrogen fuel cells are a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen. As a result, exhaust gases are only produced from pure water. In these gases, chemical energy is stored that can be converted to electrical energy. This energy can be used to power temporary storage batteries, electric drive motors, or other applications. Hydrogen Future Fuel Makes The World: ‘Now’ H2-hydrogen molecules in a hydrogen fuel cell are divided into negatively charged electrons (yellow) and positively charged protons (blue). The protons travel in an electrolyte membrane, but the electrons must pass through an external circuit, creating electricity. Eventually, the electrons, oxygen molecules, and protons together form water. Recommended:  The Ideal Clean Car: A Student’s Utopian Vision Hydrogen Continues To Grow As a pressurized gas or liquid, hydrogen fuel is relatively easy to transport. You can refuel quickly, so you don't need long to recharge, with an electric car, for example. Hydrogen production continues to evolve toward renewable sources. This makes fuel cells and electrolyzers an interesting option for efficient, powerful, and 100 percent clean energy distribution and storage worldwide. The Toyota Mirai is an electric vehicle with hydrogen cells that have been in operation for a couple of years. It is visible on the road and is used by customers in California. Recommended:  Solar Wind And Hydrogen Powers Modern Cargo Ships 10 Industry Applications Of Hydrogen Fuel Cells Below, we show you ten applications for hydrogen fuel cells. Some of these mentioned below you might not know. Warehouse Logistics Large warehouses want to use hydrogen fuel cells to power, among other things, clean forklift trucks, pallet jacks, and trucks. Global DistributionFuel cells can be used for long-distance transport and local distribution. Companies such as Hyundai, Toyota, and UPS are already building vans and semi-trailers on hydrogen. Buses Hydrogen energy is being considered to provide buses. Large cities, including London, Vancouver, Beijing, and Chicago, have experimented with hydrogen-powered buses. Trains There are already hydrogen-powered trains in Germany. Models are expected to arrive in Great Britain, Italy, South Korea, Japan, the USA, and France in the next five years. Personal Vehicles Major car manufacturers such as Toyota, Hyundai, BMW, and Honda produce hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) for personal use. Planes Several experimental projects, such as Helios and Pathfinder prototypes, have investigated hydrogen fuel cells' application in space and aeronautics. A hybrid system was used in which hydrogen fuel cells were supplemented with electrical energy from solar panels. Theoretically, this made the unlimited day and night flights possible. Recommended: Transport By Airships: The Comeback Of Zeppelins Backup Power Generation Stationary fuel cells are deployed locally as part of Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS); continuous availability is essential. Think, for example, of hospitals. They are increasingly looking for hydrogen to provide this power supply. Microsoft recently made it to the newspaper because they had carried out a successful test with hydrogen: a data center's servers ran on hydrogen for two days straight. Mobile Power Generation Hydrogen offers various possibilities for mobile power generation. NASA created one of the first hydrogen fuel cells to provide electricity for shuttles and missiles in space.  Uncrewed Arial Vehicles (UAVs) Many new UAVs (i.e., drones) are now being used, from parcel delivery to rescue and search operations. Batteries now determine the range and power. The private and military industries are looking to use hydrogen fuel cells to make them last up to three times longer and have more capacity. Hydrogen: Hydrogen Energy Used To Fly A Drone Boats And Submarines Hydrogen fuel cells are used on several boats. For example, the Energy Observer has solar panels and wind turbines on board to generate their hydrogen for a fuel cell system. Military stealth submarines such as the German type 212 use hydrogen fuel cells as an alternative to nuclear energy: silent sailing, low exhaust heat, and a wide range. Safety Challenges By Hydrogen Fuel Cell Systems Hydrogen still needs to overcome some obstacles to be used properly. Hydrogen has a relatively low energy density. This means that it has to be stored in large quantities. Local regulations limit the use of hydrogen. The industry must do its best to correct the public perception of hydrogen (think of the Zeppelin incident in Hindenburg), even though the technologies have already improved considerably. Many infrastructural changes will still be needed to enable the transport, refueling, and storage of hydrogen. It poses logistical challenges on a large scale. Besides, there is also a fire/explosion risk. Before you go! Recommended:  Hydrogen-Powered Energy Observer: Future Vision Did you find this an interesting article, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your article about energy transmission? Send your writing & scribble with a photo to  [email protected] , and we will write an interesting article based on your input.
Hydrogen Future Fuel Makes The World: ‘Now’
Hydrogen Future Fuel Makes The World: ‘Now’
Energy Storage In Bricks: Your Home As Powerhouse
This research could clear the way for inexpensive storage of renewable energy by using a supercapacitor. The brick of the house has been converted into a battery that can collect electricity, creating the possibility that someday buildings will actually become powerhouses. Energy Storage In Bricks New technology uses the porous nature of baked red bricks. They fill them with small nanofibres of a conductive plastic that can retain energy. So, the first bricks will store sufficient electricity to power small lights. If the capacity could be more, they would be a cheap alternative to lithium-ion batteries. Energy bricks are supercapacitors, they store electricity as a substantial static charge. They charge and discharge way faster than batteries. {youtube}                                        Regular bricks can be transformed into energy storage devices Scientists around the world are working on increasing the energy density of supercapacitors. They also want to raise the charging speed of batteries. Finding new ways to store electricity is essential in fighting the climate crisis. We can store renewable energy until we need it. Recommended:  Great Renewable Energy Storage: Compressed Air Energy Storage: Food For Thought “A solar cell on the roof of your house has to store electricity somewhere and typically we use batteries,” said Julio D’Arcy, at Washington University in St Louis, US, who was part of the research team. “What we have done is provide a new ‘food-for-thought’ option, but we’re not there yet.” The energy density of bricks is only 1 percent of that of lithium-ion batteries, mentioned the journal Nature Communications. To store more charge in the brick, you can add materials like metal oxides, according to D'Arcy.  They hope to have the same energy density as lithium-ion batteries soon. "This technology is much cheaper than lithium-ion batteries," says D'Arcy. Recommended:  Hydrogen Energy Storage: A Remarkable Innovation Dan Brett, a professor of electrochemical engineering at the University College London, UK, says: "Heat is the main consideration when thinking about energy storage in the fabric of any building." The study demonstrates the potential for storing energy. Powerhouse, Power Bricks  Scientists made tiny prototypes of power bricks, using chemical vapors. They wanted a reaction of them with the red iron oxide in the bricks and then form a plastic nanofibre network. They used a special plastic, named Pedot. It is a perfect conductor of electricity. The reactions showed a difference from red stones to dark blue. Another advantage of the supercapacitors is that they charge and discharge tremendously fast. The power bricks can be circulated 10,000 times before their capacity is significantly reduced. Energy Storage: Electricity Researchers demonstrated using an epoxy resin that a wall with connected power bricks would need an insulating coating not to get a shock. The bricks would even work underwater. The reactivity used to produce the power stones can have a slight dampening effect on their structural qualities, Arcy said, but the bricks were most often used today in houses as decorative facades. Richard McMahon, a professor of power electronics at the University of Warwick, UK, said that the study was fascinating. "Energy storage is essential, especially electricity. They showed an interesting demonstration of a possibility, but it is not even practical applicable yet." Storing significant amounts of electricity is and remains a challenge; that's why we keep on looking for alternatives. There is a company that uses gravity to store energy through stacking giant bricks into a tower. Then they release the energy by dropping the stones back to the ground.  Similar things are researched as well. Scientists are also compressing air into a liquid to store energy. They use a significant factory in Manchester, UK, to test this experiment. Before you go! Recommended:  Home Solar Energy Storage By Nissan Did you find this an interesting article, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your article about renewable energy storage? Send your writing & scribble with a photo to  [email protected] , and we will write an interesting article based on your input.
This research could clear the way for inexpensive storage of renewable energy by using a supercapacitor. The brick of the house has been converted into a battery that can collect electricity, creating the possibility that someday buildings will actually become powerhouses. Energy Storage In Bricks New technology uses the porous nature of baked red bricks. They fill them with small nanofibres of a conductive plastic that can retain energy. So, the first bricks will store sufficient electricity to power small lights. If the capacity could be more, they would be a cheap alternative to lithium-ion batteries. Energy bricks are supercapacitors, they store electricity as a substantial static charge. They charge and discharge way faster than batteries. {youtube}                                        Regular bricks can be transformed into energy storage devices Scientists around the world are working on increasing the energy density of supercapacitors. They also want to raise the charging speed of batteries. Finding new ways to store electricity is essential in fighting the climate crisis. We can store renewable energy until we need it. Recommended:  Great Renewable Energy Storage: Compressed Air Energy Storage: Food For Thought “A solar cell on the roof of your house has to store electricity somewhere and typically we use batteries,” said Julio D’Arcy, at Washington University in St Louis, US, who was part of the research team. “What we have done is provide a new ‘food-for-thought’ option, but we’re not there yet.” The energy density of bricks is only 1 percent of that of lithium-ion batteries, mentioned the journal Nature Communications. To store more charge in the brick, you can add materials like metal oxides, according to D'Arcy.  They hope to have the same energy density as lithium-ion batteries soon. "This technology is much cheaper than lithium-ion batteries," says D'Arcy. Recommended:  Hydrogen Energy Storage: A Remarkable Innovation Dan Brett, a professor of electrochemical engineering at the University College London, UK, says: "Heat is the main consideration when thinking about energy storage in the fabric of any building." The study demonstrates the potential for storing energy. Powerhouse, Power Bricks  Scientists made tiny prototypes of power bricks, using chemical vapors. They wanted a reaction of them with the red iron oxide in the bricks and then form a plastic nanofibre network. They used a special plastic, named Pedot. It is a perfect conductor of electricity. The reactions showed a difference from red stones to dark blue. Another advantage of the supercapacitors is that they charge and discharge tremendously fast. The power bricks can be circulated 10,000 times before their capacity is significantly reduced. Energy Storage: Electricity Researchers demonstrated using an epoxy resin that a wall with connected power bricks would need an insulating coating not to get a shock. The bricks would even work underwater. The reactivity used to produce the power stones can have a slight dampening effect on their structural qualities, Arcy said, but the bricks were most often used today in houses as decorative facades. Richard McMahon, a professor of power electronics at the University of Warwick, UK, said that the study was fascinating. "Energy storage is essential, especially electricity. They showed an interesting demonstration of a possibility, but it is not even practical applicable yet." Storing significant amounts of electricity is and remains a challenge; that's why we keep on looking for alternatives. There is a company that uses gravity to store energy through stacking giant bricks into a tower. Then they release the energy by dropping the stones back to the ground.  Similar things are researched as well. Scientists are also compressing air into a liquid to store energy. They use a significant factory in Manchester, UK, to test this experiment. Before you go! Recommended:  Home Solar Energy Storage By Nissan Did you find this an interesting article, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your article about renewable energy storage? Send your writing & scribble with a photo to  [email protected] , and we will write an interesting article based on your input.
Energy Storage In Bricks: Your Home As Powerhouse
Tesla Battery Day: It Blows My Mind
Tesla’sTesla’s Battery Day is upon us. The September 22nd event in Palo Alto, California, “will blow your mind,” CEO Elon Musk promised in a recent earnings call. “It blows my mind, and I know it!” Musk also hinted that we should expect “many exciting things” at the event. Tesla Battery Day: It blows My Mind What sort of things? Musk has left a trail of breadcrumbs over the years in the form of tweets, public comments, patents, and research papers published by his team of battery scientists, hinting at what kinds of battery breakthroughs Tesla may unveil. Late Monday night, Musk penned a series of tweets meant to reset expectations about the event. “Important note about Tesla Battery Day unveil tomorrow,” began Musk’s tweet, “This affects long-term production, especially Semi, Cybertruck & Roadster, but what we announce will not reach serious high-volume production until 2022.” This he pegged to the difficulty of ramping production. “It’s 1000% to 10,000% harder than making a few prototypes,” said Musk in a followup tweet. “The machine that makes the machine is vastly harder than the machine itself.” Recommended:  Tesla Electric Cybertruck: Explorer’s Best Friend Musk also noted that Tesla would increase, not reduce, battery cell purchases from partners such as Panasonic and others. “We still foresee significant shortages in 2022 & beyond unless we also take action ourselves,” said Musk in another tweet. Tesla is already the industry leader in squeezing range out of lithium-ion batteries in electric cars, so it will be interesting to see what other advances get showcased on Battery Day. The company initially planned to hold the event in April, but it has had to reschedule it until later in the year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company held a similar event focused on self-driving technology in April 2019. Say what you will about Musk’s ability to meet deadlines and live up the expectations he sets, but he certainly knows how to put on a good show. But what does the billionaire CEO have up his sleeve that will blow our minds? Here’s our roundup of recent rumors as well as predictions from some experts we interviewed. Tesla Battery: Roadrunner Project Like most car companies, Tesla sources its batteries from major producers to focus on its core mission: building electric cars. The company’s so-called 2170 cells currently used in Model 3 and Model Y vehicles are produced by Panasonic at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada. But those supplies can become strained. In 2018, a shortage of cells at Panasonic added to Tesla’s 'production hell' woes just as it began ramping up its big push to make the Model 3. Musk has criticized Panasonic’s pace of battery production as constraining the output of the Model 3 and the Model Y. Panasonic CEO Kazuhiro Tsuga has predicted that its batteries will “run out” if Tesla continues to expand its business. This suggests Musk might announce that Tesla will begin manufacturing its batteries. Recent acquisitions, leaked photos, patent applications, and research published by Jeff Dahn, one of the pioneering developers of the lithium-ion battery and Tesla’s head of battery research, all point to Tesla making this significant shift in-house battery production. Several photos of Tesla’s supposed in-house batteries recently surfaced on  Electrek . The batteries, which are rumored to be from Tesla’s secretive “Roadrunner” project, appear to be twice the size of Panasonic’s 2170 cells. They also may be higher capacity while being lower cost for the company to produce by removing the tab, a part of the battery that forms a connection between the cell and what it is powering. Tesla’s Giant Australian Battery Tesla Battery: More Energy, Fewer Cells per Pack Caspar Rawles, an analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence who focuses on the raw materials that go into lithium-ion batteries, said his group had dubbed the new cells “the Tesla biscuit tin” because that’s what it looks like. More energy per cell means fewer cells per pack, which can help drive down the overall cost of production for Tesla. And that could mean a future where electric cars are comparably priced with gas-burning vehicles. It’s not just leaked photos of unknown origin that point to Tesla is making its batteries. The company posted job listings earlier this year seeking workers for “line cell manufacturing” engineers at its factory in Fremont, California. Tesla also struck a deal with South Korean company Hanwha Corporation to purchase battery formation equipment. The equipment headed to Fremont first and then to Gigafactories in Nevada, Shanghai, and Berlin. Million Mile Battery Tesla Tesla is also expected to reveal new details about its quest to build a 'million-mile' battery, which refers to how long a battery can last in a car before needing to be replaced. This is where Dahn and his research team in Nova Scotia come into play. In May,  Reuters  reported that the new ' million-mile' battery will be jointly developed with Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) and will utilize technology developed by Dahn’s team of academic battery experts. It was also reported that Tesla was in advanced talks to use CATL’s lithium-ion phosphate batteries, which use no cobalt, the most expensive metal in EV batteries. The battery is expected to lower Tesla’s cost per kilowatt-hour — the unit of energy most commonly used to measure the capacity of the battery packs in modern electric vehicles — to under $100. Many experts believe that reaching that mark would allow Tesla to sell electric cars for the same prices as gasoline-powered ones, thereby making them far more accessible. One of Musk’s primary objectives has always been “making combustion seem obsolete to a consumer (and) making them feel that they have to go electric,” said Steve Photo by Vlad Tchomplov. Tesla Model 3 Headlights in Dever Recommended:  Insane Tesla Data: Are Robotaxis Coming Soon? Patens And Tesla Batteries Tesla has filed a flurry of patent applications in recent months based on Dahn’s research. In December 2019, the company submitted an application for a patent for “dioxazolones and nitrile sulfites as electrolyte additives for lithium-ion batteries.” The substance could enable a better, longer-lasting, and cheaper battery for electric cars and home storage products, the company said in its application. In April, another patent application was submitted, this time for something called a “single crystal” nickel-cobalt-aluminum (NCA) electrode. The most successful lithium-ion battery systems involve using nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) electrodes. In a paper published by Dahn and his team in the  Journal of The Electrochemical Society  regarding the significance of the single crystal cathode, he says: “We conclude that cells of this type should be able to power an electric vehicle for over 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles) and last at least two decades in grid energy storage.” In other words, these new single-crystal electrodes could enable Tesla to achieve similar or better energy density as NMC electrodes. Tabless Tesla Battery Cell Design: 1.6 Million Kilometers Tesla has also applied to a new “tabless” battery cell design that it says improves on existing designs. Musk tweeted that “it’s a lot more important than it sounds.” Indeed, the photos leaked to  Electrek  (which Rawles said looked like a biscuit tin)   show a tabless cell. Tesla’s patent outlines a battery design where features like bumps and small spikes act to connect different layers rather than relying on a welded, unifying conductive tab. Tabs are what make a clean connection to whatever the battery is powering. They also require a fair amount of finesse to manufacture. Streamlining that process by removing the tab could save Tesla a lot of time, materials, and money. Cobalt Batteries: Blood Dimond Batteries Musk has been vocal about wanting to eliminate cobalt from Tesla’s batteries. In 2018, he tweeted that Tesla uses less than 3 percent of cobalt in its batteries and that the next-generation versions would have “none.” Battery Day could be an opportunity for the company’s CEO to outline exactly how he could achieve that. Cobalt is a key component of batteries. It’s also the most expensive material in the battery and mined under conditions that often violate human rights, leading it to be called the “blood diamond of batteries.” As a result, scientists and startups are rushing to create a cobalt-free battery. Recommended:  Why Needs Renewable Technology Child Labor? Dahn is one of those scientists. He co-authored a paper in 2019 that concluded that cobalt brings little or no value to NCA-type batteries where nickel is at least 90 percent of the transition metal layer. The paper hoped that it would spur more interest in cobalt-free materials and specifically named aluminum, manganese, and magnesium as three elements with more use than cobalt. But Benchmark’s Rawles is skeptical, calling Tesla “very low cobalt exposed anyway.” Also, Tesla recently published a sustainability report in which the company declared it would work with the mining industry to find more sustainable sources of cobalt — which Rawles says is an indication that Tesla will be working with cobalt for some time. Tesla's Gigafactory To Terrafactory During the earnings call in which Musk promised to blow our minds, he also hinted at a possible future direction for its manufacturing footprint. Tesla’s next factories won’t be called Gigafactories, he said — they may be called “Terafactories.” If Giga implies a billion of something, then tera equals a trillion. Tesla decided to call its facilities Gigafactories because it was going to produce “gigawatt-hours” (GWh) of battery capacity. A Terafactory could imply a 'terawatt-hour' of the battery capacity or 1,000 GWh. That’s 20 times the current capacity of Panasonic’s production at Gigafactory Nevada. Terawatt-Hour Of Battery Capacity  One of Tesla’s recent acquisitions provides a clue as to how Tesla could achieve this exponential increase in battery capacity. Back in 2018, Tesla acquired a company called Maxwell Technologies in an all-stock deal worth $218 million. Maxwell’s big innovation is dry electrode technology, which is more environmentally friendly than the more commonly used wet electrode technology. Maxwell’s technology eliminates the solvents in a battery cell through which electric current flows. The company says this dry electrode technology, which can be applied to batteries of varying chemistries, also boosts performance and is more cost-effective than wet electrode technology. Transitioning to dry electrode technology could allow Tesla to eliminate a lot of the manufacturing space currently dedicated to wet electrode production, which, in turn, would enable it to pack more cell production into its facilities. Thus, a Gigafactory becomes a Terafactory. Tesla And Utilities Earlier this year, Tesla unveiled a new product called Autobidder, which allows customers involved in Tesla’s home storage projects, like its Australian battery farm, to sell energy back to the grid when they don’t need it. Think of it as a virtual power plant network. It’s not just aspirational: Tesla has also applied to become an electricity supplier in the UK. There have also been leaked screenshots from one of Dahn’s presentations that imply that Tesla’s new in-house produced battery cells would be “suitable for grid-tied vehicles.” The presentation, which was later made private, said (emphasis ours): With the smart grid, the driver should be able to make their vehicle available to be charged or discharged when parked at home or at work up to set maximum and minimum charge points so that the next needed drive is possible. Vehicle owners should be paid for this by utilities. The future is very exciting. This would have huge implications for the ownership of Tesla’s electric cars and how customers could monetize their vehicles as batteries on wheels. But don’t expect Musk to announce Tesla as the second coming of PG&E. While there is value in staking out a position in energy platforms, Tesla is still far off from becoming its utility. Tesla, Alon Musk Feeding The Techno Beast A trademark of Musk’s public presentations has been revealing “one more thing,” whether it’s an updated Roadster or an electric-powered All-Terrain Vehicle. Battery Day isn’t a product event, but Musk is nothing if not a showman. “Musk knows how to feed the techno beast by giving red meat to the folks who like these tech details,” LeVine said. Musk is also acutely aware of the competition, whether it’s QuantumScape, the 10-year-old San Jose, California, a startup backed by Bill Gates (another Musk antagonist), or Lucid Motors, the EV startup founded by the former lead engineer on the Model S. QuantumScape claims its lithium-ion batteries can extend the range of electric vehicles by 50 percent. And Lucid says it recently unveiled sedan, the Air, can achieve a range that is 20 percent better than the best Tesla. EV batteries are no longer the sole province of Tesla. Legacy automakers like Volkswagen, General Motors, and Ford are funneling billions of dollars into EV development, and batteries will play a major role. Musk needs to seize the moment if he’s to remain in the pole position, LeVine said. “The headlines say that these are Tesla killers,” he said of companies like QuantumScape and Lucid Motors. “This Battery Day is about Tesla saying, ‘Not so fast.’” Cover photo by  Qilai Shen.  Elon Musk gestures during Tesla’s China-made Model 3 delivery ceremony at the company's factory near Shanghai. Before you go! Recommended:  How Inexhaustible Is Earth’s Geothermal Energy Did you find this an interesting article, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your article about batteries, storage, and electric cars? Send your writing & scribble with a photo to [email protected] , and we will write an interesting article based on your input.
Tesla’sTesla’s Battery Day is upon us. The September 22nd event in Palo Alto, California, “will blow your mind,” CEO Elon Musk promised in a recent earnings call. “It blows my mind, and I know it!” Musk also hinted that we should expect “many exciting things” at the event. Tesla Battery Day: It blows My Mind What sort of things? Musk has left a trail of breadcrumbs over the years in the form of tweets, public comments, patents, and research papers published by his team of battery scientists, hinting at what kinds of battery breakthroughs Tesla may unveil. Late Monday night, Musk penned a series of tweets meant to reset expectations about the event. “Important note about Tesla Battery Day unveil tomorrow,” began Musk’s tweet, “This affects long-term production, especially Semi, Cybertruck & Roadster, but what we announce will not reach serious high-volume production until 2022.” This he pegged to the difficulty of ramping production. “It’s 1000% to 10,000% harder than making a few prototypes,” said Musk in a followup tweet. “The machine that makes the machine is vastly harder than the machine itself.” Recommended:  Tesla Electric Cybertruck: Explorer’s Best Friend Musk also noted that Tesla would increase, not reduce, battery cell purchases from partners such as Panasonic and others. “We still foresee significant shortages in 2022 & beyond unless we also take action ourselves,” said Musk in another tweet. Tesla is already the industry leader in squeezing range out of lithium-ion batteries in electric cars, so it will be interesting to see what other advances get showcased on Battery Day. The company initially planned to hold the event in April, but it has had to reschedule it until later in the year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company held a similar event focused on self-driving technology in April 2019. Say what you will about Musk’s ability to meet deadlines and live up the expectations he sets, but he certainly knows how to put on a good show. But what does the billionaire CEO have up his sleeve that will blow our minds? Here’s our roundup of recent rumors as well as predictions from some experts we interviewed. Tesla Battery: Roadrunner Project Like most car companies, Tesla sources its batteries from major producers to focus on its core mission: building electric cars. The company’s so-called 2170 cells currently used in Model 3 and Model Y vehicles are produced by Panasonic at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada. But those supplies can become strained. In 2018, a shortage of cells at Panasonic added to Tesla’s 'production hell' woes just as it began ramping up its big push to make the Model 3. Musk has criticized Panasonic’s pace of battery production as constraining the output of the Model 3 and the Model Y. Panasonic CEO Kazuhiro Tsuga has predicted that its batteries will “run out” if Tesla continues to expand its business. This suggests Musk might announce that Tesla will begin manufacturing its batteries. Recent acquisitions, leaked photos, patent applications, and research published by Jeff Dahn, one of the pioneering developers of the lithium-ion battery and Tesla’s head of battery research, all point to Tesla making this significant shift in-house battery production. Several photos of Tesla’s supposed in-house batteries recently surfaced on  Electrek . The batteries, which are rumored to be from Tesla’s secretive “Roadrunner” project, appear to be twice the size of Panasonic’s 2170 cells. They also may be higher capacity while being lower cost for the company to produce by removing the tab, a part of the battery that forms a connection between the cell and what it is powering. Tesla’s Giant Australian Battery Tesla Battery: More Energy, Fewer Cells per Pack Caspar Rawles, an analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence who focuses on the raw materials that go into lithium-ion batteries, said his group had dubbed the new cells “the Tesla biscuit tin” because that’s what it looks like. More energy per cell means fewer cells per pack, which can help drive down the overall cost of production for Tesla. And that could mean a future where electric cars are comparably priced with gas-burning vehicles. It’s not just leaked photos of unknown origin that point to Tesla is making its batteries. The company posted job listings earlier this year seeking workers for “line cell manufacturing” engineers at its factory in Fremont, California. Tesla also struck a deal with South Korean company Hanwha Corporation to purchase battery formation equipment. The equipment headed to Fremont first and then to Gigafactories in Nevada, Shanghai, and Berlin. Million Mile Battery Tesla Tesla is also expected to reveal new details about its quest to build a 'million-mile' battery, which refers to how long a battery can last in a car before needing to be replaced. This is where Dahn and his research team in Nova Scotia come into play. In May,  Reuters  reported that the new ' million-mile' battery will be jointly developed with Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) and will utilize technology developed by Dahn’s team of academic battery experts. It was also reported that Tesla was in advanced talks to use CATL’s lithium-ion phosphate batteries, which use no cobalt, the most expensive metal in EV batteries. The battery is expected to lower Tesla’s cost per kilowatt-hour — the unit of energy most commonly used to measure the capacity of the battery packs in modern electric vehicles — to under $100. Many experts believe that reaching that mark would allow Tesla to sell electric cars for the same prices as gasoline-powered ones, thereby making them far more accessible. One of Musk’s primary objectives has always been “making combustion seem obsolete to a consumer (and) making them feel that they have to go electric,” said Steve Photo by Vlad Tchomplov. Tesla Model 3 Headlights in Dever Recommended:  Insane Tesla Data: Are Robotaxis Coming Soon? Patens And Tesla Batteries Tesla has filed a flurry of patent applications in recent months based on Dahn’s research. In December 2019, the company submitted an application for a patent for “dioxazolones and nitrile sulfites as electrolyte additives for lithium-ion batteries.” The substance could enable a better, longer-lasting, and cheaper battery for electric cars and home storage products, the company said in its application. In April, another patent application was submitted, this time for something called a “single crystal” nickel-cobalt-aluminum (NCA) electrode. The most successful lithium-ion battery systems involve using nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) electrodes. In a paper published by Dahn and his team in the  Journal of The Electrochemical Society  regarding the significance of the single crystal cathode, he says: “We conclude that cells of this type should be able to power an electric vehicle for over 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles) and last at least two decades in grid energy storage.” In other words, these new single-crystal electrodes could enable Tesla to achieve similar or better energy density as NMC electrodes. Tabless Tesla Battery Cell Design: 1.6 Million Kilometers Tesla has also applied to a new “tabless” battery cell design that it says improves on existing designs. Musk tweeted that “it’s a lot more important than it sounds.” Indeed, the photos leaked to  Electrek  (which Rawles said looked like a biscuit tin)   show a tabless cell. Tesla’s patent outlines a battery design where features like bumps and small spikes act to connect different layers rather than relying on a welded, unifying conductive tab. Tabs are what make a clean connection to whatever the battery is powering. They also require a fair amount of finesse to manufacture. Streamlining that process by removing the tab could save Tesla a lot of time, materials, and money. Cobalt Batteries: Blood Dimond Batteries Musk has been vocal about wanting to eliminate cobalt from Tesla’s batteries. In 2018, he tweeted that Tesla uses less than 3 percent of cobalt in its batteries and that the next-generation versions would have “none.” Battery Day could be an opportunity for the company’s CEO to outline exactly how he could achieve that. Cobalt is a key component of batteries. It’s also the most expensive material in the battery and mined under conditions that often violate human rights, leading it to be called the “blood diamond of batteries.” As a result, scientists and startups are rushing to create a cobalt-free battery. Recommended:  Why Needs Renewable Technology Child Labor? Dahn is one of those scientists. He co-authored a paper in 2019 that concluded that cobalt brings little or no value to NCA-type batteries where nickel is at least 90 percent of the transition metal layer. The paper hoped that it would spur more interest in cobalt-free materials and specifically named aluminum, manganese, and magnesium as three elements with more use than cobalt. But Benchmark’s Rawles is skeptical, calling Tesla “very low cobalt exposed anyway.” Also, Tesla recently published a sustainability report in which the company declared it would work with the mining industry to find more sustainable sources of cobalt — which Rawles says is an indication that Tesla will be working with cobalt for some time. Tesla's Gigafactory To Terrafactory During the earnings call in which Musk promised to blow our minds, he also hinted at a possible future direction for its manufacturing footprint. Tesla’s next factories won’t be called Gigafactories, he said — they may be called “Terafactories.” If Giga implies a billion of something, then tera equals a trillion. Tesla decided to call its facilities Gigafactories because it was going to produce “gigawatt-hours” (GWh) of battery capacity. A Terafactory could imply a 'terawatt-hour' of the battery capacity or 1,000 GWh. That’s 20 times the current capacity of Panasonic’s production at Gigafactory Nevada. Terawatt-Hour Of Battery Capacity  One of Tesla’s recent acquisitions provides a clue as to how Tesla could achieve this exponential increase in battery capacity. Back in 2018, Tesla acquired a company called Maxwell Technologies in an all-stock deal worth $218 million. Maxwell’s big innovation is dry electrode technology, which is more environmentally friendly than the more commonly used wet electrode technology. Maxwell’s technology eliminates the solvents in a battery cell through which electric current flows. The company says this dry electrode technology, which can be applied to batteries of varying chemistries, also boosts performance and is more cost-effective than wet electrode technology. Transitioning to dry electrode technology could allow Tesla to eliminate a lot of the manufacturing space currently dedicated to wet electrode production, which, in turn, would enable it to pack more cell production into its facilities. Thus, a Gigafactory becomes a Terafactory. Tesla And Utilities Earlier this year, Tesla unveiled a new product called Autobidder, which allows customers involved in Tesla’s home storage projects, like its Australian battery farm, to sell energy back to the grid when they don’t need it. Think of it as a virtual power plant network. It’s not just aspirational: Tesla has also applied to become an electricity supplier in the UK. There have also been leaked screenshots from one of Dahn’s presentations that imply that Tesla’s new in-house produced battery cells would be “suitable for grid-tied vehicles.” The presentation, which was later made private, said (emphasis ours): With the smart grid, the driver should be able to make their vehicle available to be charged or discharged when parked at home or at work up to set maximum and minimum charge points so that the next needed drive is possible. Vehicle owners should be paid for this by utilities. The future is very exciting. This would have huge implications for the ownership of Tesla’s electric cars and how customers could monetize their vehicles as batteries on wheels. But don’t expect Musk to announce Tesla as the second coming of PG&E. While there is value in staking out a position in energy platforms, Tesla is still far off from becoming its utility. Tesla, Alon Musk Feeding The Techno Beast A trademark of Musk’s public presentations has been revealing “one more thing,” whether it’s an updated Roadster or an electric-powered All-Terrain Vehicle. Battery Day isn’t a product event, but Musk is nothing if not a showman. “Musk knows how to feed the techno beast by giving red meat to the folks who like these tech details,” LeVine said. Musk is also acutely aware of the competition, whether it’s QuantumScape, the 10-year-old San Jose, California, a startup backed by Bill Gates (another Musk antagonist), or Lucid Motors, the EV startup founded by the former lead engineer on the Model S. QuantumScape claims its lithium-ion batteries can extend the range of electric vehicles by 50 percent. And Lucid says it recently unveiled sedan, the Air, can achieve a range that is 20 percent better than the best Tesla. EV batteries are no longer the sole province of Tesla. Legacy automakers like Volkswagen, General Motors, and Ford are funneling billions of dollars into EV development, and batteries will play a major role. Musk needs to seize the moment if he’s to remain in the pole position, LeVine said. “The headlines say that these are Tesla killers,” he said of companies like QuantumScape and Lucid Motors. “This Battery Day is about Tesla saying, ‘Not so fast.’” Cover photo by  Qilai Shen.  Elon Musk gestures during Tesla’s China-made Model 3 delivery ceremony at the company's factory near Shanghai. Before you go! Recommended:  How Inexhaustible Is Earth’s Geothermal Energy Did you find this an interesting article, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your article about batteries, storage, and electric cars? Send your writing & scribble with a photo to [email protected] , and we will write an interesting article based on your input.
Tesla Battery Day: It Blows My Mind
Tesla Battery Day: It Blows My Mind
Wireless Energy Transmission: Nikola Would Smile
New Zealand is home to many incredible things. Rugby. Haka, Kiwifruit. Lord of the Rings. And EMROD. This start-up has risen to fame with a first in the world, a long-range, high-power, wireless power transmission - meant to replace existing copper line technology.  Electromagnetic Waves Transmitting Energy Founded by tech entrepreneur Greg Kushnir, it is the brainchild of a man who envisioned a technology that would reduce power distribution costs, avoid outages, and be capable of supporting renewable energy. The technology they designed is based on electromagnetic waves, which wirelessly transmit energy. This can be done over great distances and is both safe and highly efficient. The Kiwi government was so impressed with the concept that they funded its development, which was done in a warehouse in Auckland, as a shared effort with Callaghan Innovation. Photo by EMROD. EMROD Truck for wireless power transmission. Since its launch, critical reception has been nothing short of phenomenal. The EMROD technology was nominated for the Royal Society Award and was presented a contract by the country’s second largest electricity distribution company, Powerco. This company intents to be the first one to test the technology.   Recommended:  Exclusive: World’s Biggest Battery Is A CO2 Killer Green Appeal: Renewable Energy Transmission The green appeal of the company is one of its main advantages. Kushnir says: “ We have an abundance of clean hydro, solar, and wind energy available around the world but there are costly challenges that come with delivering that energy using traditional methods, for example, offshore wind farms or the Cook Strait here in New Zealand requiring underwater cables which are expensive to install and maintain. ”   He seized the opportunity he saw and came up with a solution for moving clean energy from where it was available abundantly to where it was needed most. “ Energy generation and storage methods have progressed tremendously over the last century, but energy transmission has remained virtually unchanged since Edison, Siemens, and Westinghouse first introduced electric networks based on copper wires 150 years ago. Everyone seems to be fixated on the notion that energy comes to consumers as electricity over copper wires, and I knew there had to be a better way .” Recommended:  Solar Floating Energy: A Smart Blue Innovation Delivering Energy To Remote Places He teamed up with the famous scientist Dr. Ray Simpkin of Callaghan Innovation to test his concept. Together, the two companies managed to find a way of transmitting energy wirelessly over great distances at a low cost. This would be ideal for, for instance, remote villages - that the ‘traditional’ energy transmission companies have deemed unfeasible for connection as the costs for wiring are too high. This would especially apply to areas in Africa and the Pacific Islands. Villages could be connected to receive cheap and sustainable energy for their schools, hospitals, governments, and businesses.   Photo by EMROD. Pole with an EMROD power transmission plate. Electricity distributors have expressed their interest, with the Powerco mentioned above now about to invest in a proof of concept. According to their Network Transformation Manager Nicolas Vessiot, “ We're interested to see whether Emrod's technology can complement the conventional ways we deliver power. We envisage using this to deliver electricity in remote places, or across areas with challenging terrain. There's also potential to use it to keep the lights on for our customers when we're doing maintenance on our existing infrastructure .” Recommended:  Blue Floating Energy: Wind, Solar, Hydrogen, Waves Prototyping In Progress This prototype is expected by October. After October, two to three months will be spent on training Powerco personnel and extensive testing. This means that by early 2021, the project will begin its field trials. For this prototype, safety was the keyword. They are using a non-ionizing Industrial, Scientific and Medical frequency (ISM) band to transmit the energy. " We have chosen this widely used and well-regulated frequency because there's a long history of using it safely around humans and its scientifically proven safety guidelines, which are accepted internationally ,” according to Kushnir.   While this trial is only capable of transmitting a few kilowatts of energy, there is plenty of room to scale up if proven successful. It could be the long-awaited dream for those eager to connect their remote village’s infrastructure. Before you go! Recommended:  How Inexhaustible Is Earth’s Geothermal Energy Did you find this an interesting article, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your article about energy transmission? Send your writing & scribble with a photo to [email protected] , and we will write an interesting article based on your input.
New Zealand is home to many incredible things. Rugby. Haka, Kiwifruit. Lord of the Rings. And EMROD. This start-up has risen to fame with a first in the world, a long-range, high-power, wireless power transmission - meant to replace existing copper line technology.  Electromagnetic Waves Transmitting Energy Founded by tech entrepreneur Greg Kushnir, it is the brainchild of a man who envisioned a technology that would reduce power distribution costs, avoid outages, and be capable of supporting renewable energy. The technology they designed is based on electromagnetic waves, which wirelessly transmit energy. This can be done over great distances and is both safe and highly efficient. The Kiwi government was so impressed with the concept that they funded its development, which was done in a warehouse in Auckland, as a shared effort with Callaghan Innovation. Photo by EMROD. EMROD Truck for wireless power transmission. Since its launch, critical reception has been nothing short of phenomenal. The EMROD technology was nominated for the Royal Society Award and was presented a contract by the country’s second largest electricity distribution company, Powerco. This company intents to be the first one to test the technology.   Recommended:  Exclusive: World’s Biggest Battery Is A CO2 Killer Green Appeal: Renewable Energy Transmission The green appeal of the company is one of its main advantages. Kushnir says: “ We have an abundance of clean hydro, solar, and wind energy available around the world but there are costly challenges that come with delivering that energy using traditional methods, for example, offshore wind farms or the Cook Strait here in New Zealand requiring underwater cables which are expensive to install and maintain. ”   He seized the opportunity he saw and came up with a solution for moving clean energy from where it was available abundantly to where it was needed most. “ Energy generation and storage methods have progressed tremendously over the last century, but energy transmission has remained virtually unchanged since Edison, Siemens, and Westinghouse first introduced electric networks based on copper wires 150 years ago. Everyone seems to be fixated on the notion that energy comes to consumers as electricity over copper wires, and I knew there had to be a better way .” Recommended:  Solar Floating Energy: A Smart Blue Innovation Delivering Energy To Remote Places He teamed up with the famous scientist Dr. Ray Simpkin of Callaghan Innovation to test his concept. Together, the two companies managed to find a way of transmitting energy wirelessly over great distances at a low cost. This would be ideal for, for instance, remote villages - that the ‘traditional’ energy transmission companies have deemed unfeasible for connection as the costs for wiring are too high. This would especially apply to areas in Africa and the Pacific Islands. Villages could be connected to receive cheap and sustainable energy for their schools, hospitals, governments, and businesses.   Photo by EMROD. Pole with an EMROD power transmission plate. Electricity distributors have expressed their interest, with the Powerco mentioned above now about to invest in a proof of concept. According to their Network Transformation Manager Nicolas Vessiot, “ We're interested to see whether Emrod's technology can complement the conventional ways we deliver power. We envisage using this to deliver electricity in remote places, or across areas with challenging terrain. There's also potential to use it to keep the lights on for our customers when we're doing maintenance on our existing infrastructure .” Recommended:  Blue Floating Energy: Wind, Solar, Hydrogen, Waves Prototyping In Progress This prototype is expected by October. After October, two to three months will be spent on training Powerco personnel and extensive testing. This means that by early 2021, the project will begin its field trials. For this prototype, safety was the keyword. They are using a non-ionizing Industrial, Scientific and Medical frequency (ISM) band to transmit the energy. " We have chosen this widely used and well-regulated frequency because there's a long history of using it safely around humans and its scientifically proven safety guidelines, which are accepted internationally ,” according to Kushnir.   While this trial is only capable of transmitting a few kilowatts of energy, there is plenty of room to scale up if proven successful. It could be the long-awaited dream for those eager to connect their remote village’s infrastructure. Before you go! Recommended:  How Inexhaustible Is Earth’s Geothermal Energy Did you find this an interesting article, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your article about energy transmission? Send your writing & scribble with a photo to [email protected] , and we will write an interesting article based on your input.
Wireless Energy Transmission: Nikola Would Smile
Wireless Energy Transmission: Nikola Would Smile
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Energy

Energy, in physics, the capacity for doing work. It may exist in potential, kinetic, thermal, electrical, chemical, nuclear, or other various forms. There are, moreover, heat and work—i.e., energy in the process of transfer from one body to another.

Energy General

Energy makes everything happen, from boat engines moving forward to electric lights shining and lightning strikes.

The universe is made of matter (all ‘stuff’ in solid, liquid, or gas forms) and energy. Energy is the ability to create change. Careful scientific studies over centuries have found natural laws that govern energy—and these laws seem to be true everywhere in the known universe.

Energy Is A Physical Quantity That Follows Precise Natural Laws.

These include the law of conservation of energy, the first law of thermodynamics, and the second law of thermodynamics. Energy exists in how objects interact with each other. Often energy that can only be indirectly observed - by observing the processes that happen within a system. On Earth, everything from the weather to volcanoes comes from the energy flowing through the various systems around us.

Physical Processes On Earth Are The Result Of Energy Flow Through The Earth System.

Everything that physically happens, from light reflecting off a rock to currents deep in the ocean, happens because energy is flowing. Biological systems require energy too.

Biological Processes Depend On On Energy Flow Through The Earth System.

Every process in every living organism, including people, is driven by energy like photosynthesis and eating food. Everything from reproducing tiny cells to running down the street involves the transfer of energy.

Energy is often useful when it is transformed or transferred. This is often referred to as 'using energy,' which is confusing because energy can't be used up—it just gets converted to a different form of energy! The two most straightforward ways of transferring energy are work and heat, both of which have specific definitions in the context of energy science. These definitions are slightly different from how the words are used in everyday language.

Part of what’s confusing about energy is that it is expressed using a lot of different units. These include units useful at the molecular level like electron volts (eV) to words used in the kitchen like calories. Physics classes tend to use units like joules, although chemists often favor calories. To make the units even more confusing, the energy sector uses units like kilowatt-hours and BOE (Barrel of oil equivalent, a unit of energy).

There are also many large energy units useful for talking about energy use for whole countries like terawatt-hours and quads.

The rate (energy per unit of time) that energy is transferred (or 'used') is known as power. When energy is transferred quickly, that means a large amount of power; when it's transferred slowly, it's less power.

Energy Serves Many Uses

Energy provides many useful energy services that allow for a high quality of life that people living in modernized societies have grown accustomed to. These services require a constant supply of primary fuels and primary flows to harness the needed energy. Specific services include powering vehicles (internal combustion engines), feeding populations, and generating electricity for billions of people.

Energy also can cause damage or harm. For instance, burns are caused by an excess of thermal energy. Car accidents do a great deal of damage when the kinetic energy associated with driving down the street dissipates in a collision. Additionally, harnessing energy often leads to pollution and other environmental consequences like climate change.

Types Of Energy

Energy cannot be created or destroyed: this is known as the law of conservation of energy—meaning that energy must be harvested from some source. No process can create energy, no matter how nice that would be. However, many processes can transform energy from one type (like those found in nature) into another (like those useful for energy services). There are many different forms or types of energy that can be sorted into three main categories:

For more information on how energy can't be created or destroyed but can only be taken from available resources in nature, please visit the page: the law of conservation of energy

Energy Conservation: Where Do We Get The Energy We Use?

Since energy cannot be created (or destroyed), people extract energy from high-density sources of energy called primary fuels or physical processes that move energy called primary flows. The energy extracted from nature is called primary energy (the sum of our fuels and flows). Most primary energy comes from fuels like hydrocarbons and nuclear fuels. The rest of our primary energy is from flows like wind power and hydropower (see fuel vs. flow). Energy can be found in nature in the form of fuels and flows, which can be harnessed and transformed into ways that are readily usable by humans. For example, the process of evaporation and rainfall allows rivers to keep flowing. We use the energy from the flow of water to create electricity, which had ultimately come from the sun. The energy changed form several times, but no energy was created or destroyed, just transferred.

General Energy: Work 

Science uses very specific definitions for words, which are often different from everyday use. To a physicist, the word work means to push (exert a force) an object some distance—a process that (by definition) requires an input of energy like wind propelling the blades of a wind turbine.

General Energy: Heat

Heat can be both a desired and undesired result of energy utilization. For example, thermal energy heats houses and meals, which is desirable - especially in colder climates. However, heat is also a by-product of friction, which isn't always sought after. For instance, intricate parts in vehicles use lubricating oil to reduce friction. Still, if the oil runs out, those intricate parts will be exposed to high levels of friction, which typically leads to increased heating and severe damage within the engine.

General Energy: Light

Ultimately, most of the earth's energy comes from nuclear fusion that takes place within the sun. This energy takes the form of light, which is otherwise known as electromagnetic radiation. In light, energy is transferred in little ‘packets’ called photons that contain discrete amounts of energy that can propagate (as waves) over very long distances. When the photons hit an object, they transfer their energy to the item. It's important to note that all light, not just visible light, is like this. Light can have many different forms that are invisible to the unaided human eye. These various forms are classified by their wavelength and occupy a broad spectrum (known as the electromagnetic spectrum); differing ranges within this spectrum have different levels of energy. The highest energy to lowest are gamma rays, x-rays, ultraviolet (UV), visible, infrared, microwave, and radio.

Before you go!

Recommended: How Inexhaustible Is Earth’s Geothermal Energy

Did you find this an interesting article, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below.
We try to respond the same day.

Like to write your article about energy transmission?
Send your writing & scribble with a photo to [email protected], and we will write an interesting article based on your input.

 

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