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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Bizarre 460-foot "battery tanker" set to ship electrons by 2026
May 30, 2023Japanese company PowerX is moving ahead with its strange plan to build a "mobile power station" in the form of a 140-meter (460-ft) electric "battery tanker," which will carry 241 megawatt-hours of renewable energy across the sea over short distances. -
New coating covers perovskite solar cells' last Achilles heel
May 30, 2023Perovskite is quickly gaining on silicon in the solar cell field, but it has one major drawback – durability. Now, a new treatment has been shown to keep perovskite solar cells working at 99% of their efficiency after 1,000 hours of use. -
Coal's green potential: Storing energy instead of being burned for it
May 25, 2023Coal is not thought of as clean fuel, but it might yet have a role to play in the push for greener energy. Researchers say that it could be great for storing hydrogen gas, one of the most promising clean fuel sources currently being explored. -
Tiny holes key to making lightning-like energy from air, says study
May 24, 2023As anyone who's ever seen a bolt of lightning knows, the air around us can be filled with an astonishing amount of energy. A new study shows a way to harvest this power using a perforated nanofilm that can be made from a vast variety of materials. -
Helion to supply Microsoft with fusion power by 2028, or pay penalties
May 15, 2023In an outrageously audacious move, Washington-based fusion power startup Helion has signed the world's first fusion power supply deal, promising to deliver Microsoft at least 50 megawatts of clean fusion power by 2028, or pay financial penalties. -
Pivoting arms could stabilize massive floating offshore wind turbines
April 25, 2023Irish company Gazelle has announced the third generation of a fascinating new floating wind platform design it says can stabiliize massive offshore turbines up to 20 MW in capacity, while radically reducing weight, cost and sea floor cable tension. -
CATL launches ultra-high density 500-Wh/kg "condensed battery"
April 20, 2023In huge news for zero-emissions aviation, Chinese company CATL is set to go to mass production on a "condensed battery" it says can squeeze in more than twice as much energy as a Tesla Model Y battery, by weight – while being safe enough to fly with. -
Gogoro's battery swap GoStations help with power grid stability
April 19, 2023Back in 2015, Gogoro proposed setting up a network of battery-swapping stations for riders of its electric smartscooter. Now the company operates thousands of them, and has partnered with Enel X to have the network serve as virtual power plants. -
New KAUST tandem solar cell breaks efficiency world record
April 18, 2023The dynamic duo of silicon and perovskite continue their rampage through the solar cell industry. Researchers at KAUST have developed a new silicon/perovskite tandem solar cell with a record-breaking efficiency. -
Solar dish reactor produces hydrogen and captures waste products
April 17, 2023EPFL engineers have built and tested a solar reactor that generates hydrogen gas from sunlight and water. The system is not only highly efficient at producing hydrogen, it also captures the “waste” products of oxygen and heat to put them to use too. -
Using microwaves improves production, recyclability of solar cells
April 13, 2023Solar cells are good for the environment, but they have downsides. They’re expensive to make, and there are limited ways to recycle them. But researchers have developed a new manufacturing technique that may address both of these issues. -
Tokamak Energy unveils images of fusion power plant slated for 2030s
April 11, 2023Tokamak Energy has released the first images of what its commercial fusion power plant, which it says would safely generate enough electricity to power 50,000 homes in the 2030s, would look like. -
TAE makes world-first readings of magnetically-confined H-B fusion
February 28, 2023Most current fusion power projects require tritium – an incredibly scarce and problematic fuel. TAE is targeting cheaper, safer hydrogen-boron (H-B) fusion, and it's just announced a world-first measurement of H-B fusion in magnetically confined plasma. -
GE installs world's first spiral-welded wind turbine tower
February 26, 2023Denver's Keystone Tower Systems says it can cut the cost of wind energy with tech borrowed from pipemaking. It uses spiral welding techniques to roll sheet steel into huge turbine towers on-site, stronger, faster and cheaper than current techniques. -
Silver mirror triples efficiency of perovskite solar cells
February 19, 2023Perovskites are one of the most promising new materials for solar cell technology. Now engineers at the University of Rochester have developed a way to more than triple the material’s efficiency by adding a layer of reflective silver underneath it.
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