Energy
Humankind's insatiable appetite for energy has put the planet in a very precarious position environmentally, but it also drives prosperity and improved living standards. New Atlas keeps you up to date with the latest breakthroughs in the energy sector, from the expanding field of renewable energy production to the exponential rise of battery technology and the slow march towards nuclear fusion.
Latest News
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World's largest tokamak fusion reactor powers up
December 04, 2023The world's largest and most advanced tokamak fusion reactor has gone online as the EU/Japanese 370-tonne JT-60SA reactor was fired up for the first time during an inauguration ceremony in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. -
Google switches on first-of-its-kind advanced geothermal project
November 28, 2023Google has announced that its innovative advanced geothermal plant in Nevada is now operational and connected to the grid, pioneering an approach that promises to unlock clean, always-on geothermal energy across a much larger range of locations. -
Container-based mobile battery hub recharged by kite power
November 27, 2023A Dutch startup spun out of the Delft University of Technology has launched the Kitepower Hawk, a wind energy storage solution that's designed to replace diesel generators for small island communities, on construction sites or in agriculture. -
Arizona solar canal project aims to save water while making power
November 23, 2023With most of Arizona in a state of moderate to extreme drought, the Gila River Indian Community and the US Army Corps of Engineers have signed a deal to begin a solar-over-canal project designed to cut down evaporation and boost solar efficiency. -
First commercial-scale ocean thermal energy generator slated for 2025
November 14, 2023In an average day, tropical oceans absorb about 278 petawatt-hours of solar energy. Harvesting just 1/4000th of that energy would supply the entire world's daily electricity – and ocean thermal energy conversion provides a possible method. -
Bill Gates backs novel device promising wind energy at 1/3 the cost
November 07, 2023It looks nothing like a typical "fan on a stick" wind turbine, but this oval track with evenly spaced wing blades could be an enormously disruptive addition to the renewable energy mix, since it slashes the cost of wind power to unprecedented lows. -
Climbing crane shimmies up turbine towers like a kid up a coconut tree
November 02, 2023To build or maintain today's colossal wind turbine towers, you either need an absolute monster of a crane – or something like this. The KoalaLifter self-climbing crane is quick, compact, handles heavy loads and creeps up turbine towers of any height. -
Extraordinary contra-rotating floating wind turbines to begin testing
November 01, 2023A wildly innovative turbine that could halve the cost of offshore wind is set to go into testing in Norway. The 19-m (62-ft), 30-kW, contra-rotating vertical-axis turbine is a prototype of a design that could scale to unprecedented size and power. -
Supercritical CO2 pilot aims to make steam turbines obsolete
October 31, 2023Steam turbines still produce most of the world's power, but supercritical CO2 promises to be much cheaper, and 10% more efficient as a medium than water, using 10X smaller turbines. A US$155-million pilot plant is now complete in San Antonio. -
Gargantuan 22-MW wind turbine will be among history's largest machines
October 22, 2023Imagine something as tall as New York's Chrysler building, but spinning. China's Mingyang Smart Energy has announced plans for a colossal 22-megawatt offshore wind turbine, and standing in its presence will be an unprecedented human experience. -
New neodymium-doped material can fish uranium out of seawater
October 12, 2023Since the 1960s, scientists have been turning to an unlikely harvesting ground for uranium: the world's oceans. Now, researchers have moved the prospect of sea-based uranium harvesting another step forward by using a cheap and easy-to-make material. -
Huff 'n' puff geothermal fracking: Earth batteries at 200% efficiency
October 04, 2023Sage Geosystems has pioneered a new form of cheap energy storage that uses the Earth as a giant bellows, pumping water into underground fractures, then letting it squirt back up at 70% efficiency – or 200% efficiency if you also harvest heat energy. -
Low-emissions flash method upcycles waste plastic into "free" hydrogen
September 17, 2023Researchers have harvested hydrogen from waste plastics using a low-emissions method. They say it not only solves environmental problems, but the value of the graphene by-product could offset the costs of producing hydrogen. -
Single-bladed floating wind turbine promises half the cost, more power
September 13, 2023We haven't seen a floating offshore wind turbine like this before. Touchwind claims its innovative single-blade turbines will solve several problems to drive down cost and downtime, using a single, huge blade with no fancy active pitch controls. -
Active wind turbine control aims to cut bird deaths by 80%
September 11, 2023One inconvenient truth for the clean energy industry – and a source of seemingly great concern to the fossil fuel lobby – is the indisputable fact that wind turbines kill birds. Researchers say smarter turbines could dramatically cut the toll.
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