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
-
World first energy storage unit demonstrates zero degradation over 5 years
April 15, 2024China's CATL – the world's largest EV battery producer – has launched TENER, which is described as the "world's first mass-producible energy storage system with zero degradation in the first five years of use." -
90-GWh thermal energy storage facility could heat a city for a year
April 09, 2024An energy supplier in Finland has announced the upcoming construction of an underground seasonal thermal energy storage facility about the size of two Madison Square Gardens that could meet the heating demands of a medium-sized city for up to a year. -
Condor-inspired retrofit boosts wind turbine energy production by 10%
April 03, 2024The Andean condor’s drag-reducing aerodynamic wings have inspired the creation of a winglet, which, when added to a wind turbine blade, boosted energy production by an average of 10%, according to a new study. -
Self-assembling crane promises to halve cost of offshore wind setup
March 25, 2024Part of the exorbitant cost of offshore wind energy is the massive crane ships required to install the damn things – but Norwegian company Windspider has come up with a brilliantly lightweight crane system that promises to slash costs in half. -
Urban Vibro Trucks will thump city streets for geothermal options
March 22, 2024A new simulation video from Herrenknecht AG shows off its Urban Vibro Trucks. The machines can deploy thumping devices from their mid-sections that send seismic waves beneath city landscapes to explore the terrain for geothermal development. -
'Drinking bird' toys upgraded to generate clean energy from water
March 15, 2024Scientists have converted a children's "drinking bird" toy into a tool that generates usable amounts of electricity. The generator could one day be utilized to power a wide variety of small electronic devices, both indoors and outside. -
World's largest tidal barrage energy project proposed in the UK
March 12, 2024A plan to build a barrier across the Mersey is starting to take shape. If it goes ahead, the ambitious project would becomes the largest tidal range facility in the world, while also offering pedestrians and cyclists safe passage across the river. -
Giant 'sand battery' holds a week's heat for a whole town
March 12, 2024A new industrial-scale “sand battery” has been announced for Finland, packing 1 MW of power and a capacity of up to 100 MWh of thermal energy for use during those cold polar winters. The new battery will be 10 times bigger than a prior pilot plant. -
Video: Wave-amplifying generator bounces twice as high as the swells
March 07, 2024Sweden's CorPower has announced "breakthrough" results from Atlantic ocean testing of its full-scale floating generators, which cleverly time their motions to amplify smaller waves while protecting themselves against dangerous storm conditions. -
Seawater plant will capture 10 tons of CO2 and make 300 kg of H2 per day
February 29, 2024The world’s largest ocean-based carbon dioxide removal plant is being built in Singapore, and will be capable of capturing 8 million lb of CO2 per year while also producing 231,000 lb of carbon-negative hydrogen. -
Trillions of tons of buried hydrogen: Clean energy gold rush begins
February 21, 2024There's enough natural hydrogen trapped underground to meet all projected demands for hundreds of years. An unpublished report by the US Geological Survey identifies it as a new primary resource, and fires the starter pistol on a new gold rush. -
Nuclear SMR welding breakthrough: A year's work now takes a day
February 20, 2024Small Modular Reactor (SMR) construction shifts into high gear, as UK company Sheffield Forgemasters welds a full-size nuclear reactor vessel in under 24 hours instead of the usual 12 months. The rollout of this game-changing tech could be massive. -
Ultra-high density hydrogen storage holds twice as much as liquid H2
February 20, 2024A nanoporous material that holds hydrogen at twice the density of cryogenic liquid H2 could address the challenges of large-scale liquid and gas storage that have held this clean fuel back. -
Massive geothermal potential found offshore, where the Earth splits
February 19, 2024A potentially game-changing and largely unexplored energy jackpot lies beneath the ocean floor, according to a whitepaper from geoscience tech consultancy CGG. Unique conditions under the sea bed promise cheaper and more accessible geothermal power. -
Bumpy solar cells could harvest up to 66% more energy
February 18, 2024Solar cell efficiency may get a bump from bumps. New research suggests that building tiny domes into the surface of organic solar cells could boost their efficiency by up to two-thirds, while capturing light from a wider angle.
Load More