Archive for the 'Energy' Category
Construction Begins on World’s Biggest Liquid Air Battery
June 24th, 2020If you’re like me, you’re thinking, “The efficiency has to be very low.” I found this on the Wikipedia entry for cryogenic energy storage: In isolation the process is only 25% efficient, but this is increased to around 50% when used with a low-grade cold store, such as a large gravel bed, to capture the […]
DARPA Wants Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
June 22nd, 2020Via: Ars Technica: There are many ways to get around space, but most of them are pretty slow. This is why, even when launching at an optimal time, a spacecraft leaving Earth requires about six months to reach orbit around Mars. For decades, many rocket scientists have looked to a propulsion system powered by a […]
Speculation About Tesla Battery Day
June 19th, 2020Musk keeps delaying Battery Day, so I went looking for speculation about what might be announced. Via: Now You Know:
Starlink Will Cause Large Change in Seismic Oil and Gas Exploration
June 15th, 2020Oil companies use tape to store information collected from reflection seismology. A lot of tape. A lot of bulky, slow, expensive tape. Starlink will allow for the fast movement of terabytes of data from remote exploration vessels to cloud storage for analysis. Currently, the data moves by crates in helicopters and trucks. Via: BigMarker: For […]
Rivian Will Build Fixed Energy Storage Systems Out of Used Vehicle Batteries
June 12th, 2020Via: Rivian:
Tipping Point: Hyundai Has Bigger Market Share for EVs Than Combustion Cars
June 8th, 2020Via: Electrek: Internal-combustion vehicles made by Hyundai-Kia represented 8.9% of the global market in the first quarter of 2020. But the EVs it sells were 9.9% of the global electric-vehicle market. In other words, Hyundai could be the first legacy automaker that is now more competitive on EVs than with its gas- and diesel-powered cars.
Sales of Gas Powered Cars Peaked in 2017
May 19th, 2020Via: Bloomberg: Gas-powered vehicles will still comprise more than half of global auto sales for years to come, but the market has already peaked, according to BNEF. Worldwide, we will never buy as many traditional cars and trucks as we did in 2017.
X-37B Space Plane’s Microwave Power Beam Experiment
May 10th, 2020Via: The Drive: The X-37B’s upcoming mission is known as both Orbital Test Vehicle-6 (OTV-6) and U.S. Space Force-7 (USSF-7). It will carry out missions that will assess the effects of cosmic radiation and other “space effects” on plant seeds and various material samples. According to a Space Force press release, which went out on […]
Tesla Orders Battery-Making Machines on Road to Building Its Own Cells
May 6th, 2020Tesla is weeks away from significant announcements related to cell manufacturing and improvements. Via: Electrek: Tesla has placed an order for battery-making machines with Korea’s Hanwha on the road to building its own battery cells. … We previously reported on Tesla’s secret Roadrunner project, which consists of Tesla developing its own battery cell production with […]
Bankruptcy Looms Over U.S. Energy Industry, from Oil Fields to Pipelines
April 22nd, 2020Just print more trillions. Via: Reuters: U.S. shale producers, refiners and pipeline companies are scrambling for cash and face likely restructuring as they struggle under heavy debt loads and a dual supply/demand shock in the worst crisis the oil industry has faced.
