The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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Gamblin Artists Colors introduces oil paints pigmented with waste from acidic water draining from old coal mine. Paints throughout the ages have been uniquely colored by crushed gemstones, rare shellfish, and even powdered Egyptian mummies. With that same pioneering spirit, the Portland, Oregon-based Gamblin Artists Colors began recycling dry pigment dust collected by their Torit air filtration system during the 1990s and mixing it into a paint color they called Torrit Grey....
Hydrogen discovered in Albanian mine provides clues on where to find massive hydrogen flows. The world's largest natural flow of highly pure hydrogen gas has been quietly seeping through a nondescript pool deep within an Albanian chromium mine. Researchers reported the study in a paper published in the journal Science, noting that the investigation of similar deposits may reveal more major findings of this clean-burning resource across the globe. Naturally occurring hydrogen a...
New light-bending nanomaterials may turn science fiction into science fact across AI computing, medical, and entertainment fields. Konstantin Novoselov, co-discoverer of graphene and 2010 Nobel laureate, is among a group of scientists behind a breakthrough that could open the way for even more revolutionary nanomaterial applications similar to graphene, from smart contact lenses to rapid disease detection. Although scientists had long understood that crystal graphene existed,...
The all-electric Taycan and Macan will take center stage at technology, arts, and culture festival in Austin, Texas. Returning to Austin for its third year at South by Southwest arts and tech festival, Porsche will spotlight three new all-electric options – the Taycan Turbo S, Macan 4 and Macan Turbo. Porsche is committed to increasing the sales of electric vehicles, stating that it expects to make more than 80% of its sales EVs by 2030. These well-publicized goals by such a...
Combining carbon-free energy with permanent storage of CO2 creates a more cost-effective self-sustaining loop. A research team at Ohio State University (OSU) has proposed the combination of carbon capture with geothermal energy in a cheap, novel method that could make capturing carbon dioxide from the air a viable option. Their system recycles some of the captured CO2 to transport geothermal energy in a closed loop that can make large-scale direct air capture cheaper and more...
Startup Clairity raises $6.75 million to scale carbon removal system, bringing active carbon capture closer to cheaper, universally adoptable solutions California-based climate tech startup Clairity Technology announced that it has raised $6.75 million to scale its energy-efficient and cost-effective direct air capture (DAC) solution for removing dilute CO2. DAC technology is a key carbon removal option in the transition to a net-zero energy system that works by extracting...
A little rust might make batteries safer, easier to recycle, and a potential competitor to lithium-ion. By using water in place of the hazardous chemical electrolytes used in commercial batteries, an international team of scientists hailing from Australia to China has proposed a water-based battery technology, a safer and greener alternative to chemical-laden batteries marketed today. Lithium-ion batteries, used in everything from laptops and phones to electric vehicles,...
With the money, permits and resources locked in, US Strategic Metals has positioned itself as a desperately needed sustainable domestic battery metals platform Intent on repairing the widening gap representing a nonexistent American electric battery industry, US Strategic Metals (USSM) has transformed from humble beginnings as a mine site cleanup and reclamation business to a one-stop green battery metals platform taking the first steps toward a secure domestic closed-loop...
New rules would allow the testing needed to build an open-pit mine over the largest hard rock lithium deposit in the U.S. In a unanimous vote, the Board of Environmental Protection has amended Maine's prohibitive mining rules to allow for open-pit excavation of certain clean energy metals. The provisional amendment, still under final consideration, is the refinement of a state law adopted last July intended to restrict mining and processing resources containing polluting sulfi...
Ampcera's solid-state battery tech surpasses DOE fast charging goal. Due to mounting charge anxiety over limited at-home charging options and prolonged urban charging station wait times, the United States Advanced Battery Consortium and U.S. Department of Energy have both set commercial manufacturers a goal of 80% battery ultrafast charge in 15 minutes – which Ampcera's all-solid-state (ASSB) battery tech has just blown past. Last year, Ampcera was awarded a $2.1 million g...
A startup launched by students out of Curtin University's Accelerate program creates graphite from waste carbon. High-purity graphite is substantially sought-after for graphene production and is in heavy demand for the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries. A new technology developed through Curtin University's Accelerate program in Australia, coined RapidGraphite, transforms waste carbon into battery-grade graphite within seconds. The Accelerate program supports early-stage...
Long-term partnership will secure battery-grade lithium hydroxide for automaker and accelerate both companies' expansion into EV space. This week, Albemarle announced a long-term partnership with BMW to deliver battery-grade lithium hydroxide for the automaker's next generation of high-performance electric vehicles and to work together to develop technology for safer and more energy-dense batteries. "Albemarle is committed to building a more resilient world," said Albemarle...
The Biden administration's Investing in America Agenda will fund three projects to scale enhanced geothermal systems to power the equivalent of 65 million U.S. homes. The U.S. Department of Energy has high hopes for enhanced geothermal, a process by which manmade hydrothermal power is produced by using hydraulic fracturing techniques to split rock at depths much greater than naturally occurring geothermal wells and injecting water to generate steam, subsequently driving...
Massive geothermal lithium reserves give U.S. leverage while superpowers employ protectionist measures around supply chains. There's a new international race, not into space or to establish military superiority, but to secure critical minerals in a worldwide resource grab for the feedstocks that will fuel a global green energy transition. While we're all on the same side – or, in this case, the same planet – the superpowers have been at odds with how to achieve net-zero car...
Initial studies test graphene as an emerging biological contaminant – where microplastics and pharmaceuticals have fallen. Graphene, a truly revolutionizing nanomaterial with potential that is hard to overstate, may continue to be developed without acute risk to human health, research suggests. Science has discovered an emergence of contaminants as unanticipated drawbacks to technological development – notably microplastics and pharmaceuticals that have made their way int...
Aims to curb industrial heat's CO2 footprint, which is more than cars and planes combined. Climate tech company DexMat and Rice University have received $1.5 million in U.S. Department of Energy funding on a project to replace aluminum or copper fins in heat exchangers with a thermal conductivity-enhanced version of DexMat's flagship product, Galvorn – a high-performance, carbon nanomaterial that is stronger than steel, lighter than aluminum, and as conductive as copper. T...
Indium for lithium battery anode makes fast charging a reality; Cornell researchers look for lighter alternatives. Engineers at Cornell University have developed a lithium battery capable of charging in less than five minutes, with stable performance over extended cycles of charging and discharging. The secret ingredient? Indium. "Range anxiety is a greater barrier to electrification in transportation than any of the other barriers, like cost and capability of batteries, and...
Polymer tape's sticky properties change when irradiated with UV light. The discovery of graphene – a material with an ever-increasing number of uses – came from the humblest of beginnings: a hunk of graphite, and Scotch tape. Now, tape is once again taking center stage as an unlikely hero of science and technology as researchers from Japan have developed an adhesive with stickiness properties that can be programmed by UV light. Nanomaterials like graphene, which are mere ato...
The Kapolei Energy Storage (KES) facility run by Plus Power has begun operations in Oahu, Hawaii, touted as the most advanced grid-scale standalone battery energy storage system in the world. The facility replaces a defunct coal power plant and will support roughly one-fifth of the population's energy needs, including moderating renewables, reducing electricity bills, and protecting against blackouts. Hawaii's infamous island prices for imported goods were never so alarmingly...
In the next move toward zero-emissions solutions beyond battery-electric vehicles, General Motors and Honda Motor Co. announced their switch to a co-developed system producing hydrogen fuel cells commercially. Both manufacturers announced their intention to shift away from diesel and focus on hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), marking this as the first time they have been produced at scale. Honda and GM engineers focused on lowering costs by advancing the cell...
H2 infrastructure - Nikola builds out, Shell pulls back, and passenger cars lag heavy vehicles. Shell's withdrawal from passenger-vehicle hydrogen refueling operations has ignited debates on the developing industry's overall timing and viability. However, automakers and governments are still backing hydrogen fuel cells due to growing concerns about the slow pace and environmental expense of new critical mineral mines needed for lithium-ion batteries currently powering most...
Researchers at MIT have demonstrated a lithium-ion battery cathode made with organic materials, offering a more sustainable way to power electric vehicles, and Lamborghini is all-in. "I think this material could have a big impact because it works really well," said Mircea Dincă, W.M. Keck Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper on the findings published in the journal ACS Central Science. "It is already competitive with incumbent technologies, and it can save...
In what may be a watershed moment for U.S. state laws regarding critical mineral mining, South Dakota Rep. Kirk Chaffee has taken a second swing at taxing lithium, and this time it may stick. Last year, a similar effort to classify lithium as an energy mineral passed the state House but was rejected in the Senate. The current bill, for which Chaffee is the main sponsor, classifies South Dakota's future lithium as a precious metal and imposes a 10% tax on mining profits, with...
"At the time, physicists were just starting to talk about the potential of quantum technologies and quantum computers," 36-year-old Mickael Perrin recalled of his career beginnings 12 years ago. "Today there are dozens of start-ups in this area, and governments and companies are investing billions in developing the technology further. We are now seeing the first applications in computer science, cryptography, communications and sensors." Perrin's research has married...
Metal Tech News Q&A with Oliver Gunasekara, CEO Impossible Metals. As an entrepreneur and business development executive, Oliver Gunasekara has left his mark on the tech world over the past 30-plus years. His latest project, Impossible Metals, is poised to be a real game-changer in the quest of deep sea mining for minerals critical to clean energy – which can and should maintain equal ESG standards to land-based mining. Rather than dredging the seafloor for precious p...
