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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Bill Gates breaks ground on first Gen-IV nuclear plant in the US
June 12, 2024Bill Gates has helped break ground to mark the construction of the first next-generation nuclear reactor in the United States. The joint project by TerraPower and the Department of Energy plans to build a sodium test reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming by 2030. -
Mesmerizing vertical turbine wall to enter customer trials this year
June 11, 2024Since revealing an wind turbine wall concept back in 2021, Joe Doucet has been working on bringing the idea to life. That time is here with the launch of Airiva, a modular rotary wind turbine wall destined for installation on city infrastructure. -
Fast-charging sodium-ion battery uses anodes made from trees
June 09, 2024Swedish sodium-ion developer Altris has identified a means of making the lithium-free batteries even more sustainable. Together with partner Stora Enso, it's adapting tree pulp-sourced carbon toward use as an anode material. -
HotTwist water-based thermal system cuts heating bills by 75%
June 07, 2024Water can hold a huge amount of thermal energy, and a new system to tap into this is being trialed in Scotland. A startup called SeaWarm uses heat stored in bodies of water for buildings, pulling four times more heat out than electricity used. -
Small modular nuclear reactors get a reality check in new report
May 31, 2024A new report has assessed the feasibility of deploying small modular nuclear reactors to meet increasing energy demands around the world. The findings don't look so good for this particular form of energy production. -
Thermal power cell harvests electricity from heat at record efficiency
May 27, 2024A new heat-to-energy converter has reached a record efficiency of 44% – the average steam turbine manages about 35%, for comparison. This thermophotovoltaic cell is a major step on the way to sustainable, grid-scale renewable energy storage. -
World's first superyacht to run on hydrogen
May 16, 2024A luxury superyacht is the testbed for green hydrogen technology as the ship, formally known as Project 821, is put in the water at Feadship's Amsterdam base. It's the largest motor yacht ever launched in the Netherlands. -
40% of US lithium needs could come from unlikely source in Pennsylvania
May 15, 2024Thanks to the increase of electric vehicles and other battery-using technologies, the demand for lithium is expected to skyrocket in the coming years. One odd but potent source of the metal is a Pennsylvania wastewater stream, says a new study. -
Fusion record paves way for commercial reactors
May 14, 2024The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) hits a new fusion reactor endurance record that could open the door to practical fusion power on a commercial scale. Using a tungsten lining, the WEST reactor held a reaction for six minutes. -
Volcanic ash: The cheapest battery for solar energy storage
May 14, 2024It's rarely great news when an area gets blanketed in volcanic ash – but University of Barcelona researchers have discovered it has a rare combination of useful properties, which make it remarkably useful as an energy storage medium. -
World's highest-efficiency hydrogen system scales up for mass production
May 13, 2024Hysata promises the world's cheapest hydrogen, thanks to a remarkable device that splits water into H2 and O2 at 95% efficiency – some 20% higher than the best conventional electrolyzers. The company has raised US$111 million to scale up production. -
Ultra-high density battery vests give next-gen soldiers twice the energy
May 12, 2024Amprius began shipping its remarkable silicone-anode batteries in 2022, laying claim to the world's highest-density battery cells along the way. It's now focusing attention on a unique use case: a military-spec wearable battery for warfighters. -
Drilling into magma: Risky plan takes geothermal to supercritical extremes
May 08, 2024The Krafla Magma Testbed "has the potential to be for geoscientists what the Large Hadron Collider has been for particle physicists." So say researchers working on the project to drill into a magma chamber to explore massive geothermal power. -
Sea-bed 'air batteries' offer cheaper long-term energy storage
May 06, 2024Israeli company BaroMar is preparing to test a clever new angle on grid-level energy storage, which it says will be the cheapest way to stabilize renewable grids over longer time scales. This innovative system lets water do the work. -
Lithium-free sodium batteries exit the lab and enter US production
May 02, 2024Natron Energy fell a little behind schedule on production plans for its sodium batteries but officially commenced production of the rapid-charging, long-life lithium-free batteries this week, bringing to market an intriguing new storage alternative.
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