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Category: energy – Page 258

Future Is Here With This Exciting 2030 Ford Mustang EV Rendering

Although we expect the Ford Mustang Mach-E will be a hit, the reality that Ford emblazoned its all-electric crossover with a pony logo and the historic Mustang brand has turned off many fanatics. The answer is still out on whether the Mach-E will be a long-term plus or bad for the Mustang. Lichen Zhang, who regularly shares some cool-looking vehicle designs, has created this futuristic Ford Mustang EV. As a result, this design lacks the classic style we’ve come to anticipate from Mustangs in previous generations, while there are some clues of the past, notably in the front end. With a steeply sloped roof, huge haunches, and the kind of visage that reinforces the idea it’s after our lunch money, this 2,030 Ford Mustang EV “prototype” is surely a head-turner. The shape has a prominent beltline that leads to a somewhat narrow cockpit, making it difficult to seat two people side by side. Moreover, the rear end features an entirely new take on the Mustang’s renowned tri-bar taillights, which appear as if a wild animal has just scratched them somewhat. Nonetheless, this futuristic 2,030 Ford Mustang EV drawing signals a whole new trend in Mustang aesthetics, and we have to question if it’s a viable possibility. Anything is possible, considering The Blue Oval’s bravery in calling a battery-electric crossover a Mustang and the intrepid design of the current, third-gen Ford GT.Returning to reality for a moment, there is already a Ford Mustang EV in the form of the Mach-E, and we’re convinced that a hybrid will follow in the coming years. The hybrid, which will appear with the next-generation Mustang in 2,023 will, nevertheless, probably dominate much, if not all, of its gas-powered sibling’s appearance. We wouldn’t count out a major shift in automobile design as the industry switches to battery electric power.

Microwave and Laser Thermal Rockets

Parkin Research.

MICROWAVE THERMAL ROCKETS

AND

LASER THERMAL ROCKETS

Traditional rockets are marginal at launching things into orbit. Their chemical propellants do not carry enough energy (in the form of chemical bonds) to accelerate their own mass to orbit, let alone a tank and payload on top of that. As well as expelling propellant, traditional rockets also have to jettison parts (stages) as they ascend. The payload that is finally released into orbit is a tiny fraction of the rocket that lifts off from the ground.

Building with Hempcrete: Build Environmentally

Seeing the environmental crises rising particularly because of the construction sector, more conscious choices regarding building materials need to be considered. Since the beginning of our craft, architects and constructors have been trying to utilize natural materials in buildings—either used in their raw form, like bamboo, or processed and incorporated into different materials. Hempcrete is one type of concrete incorporating natural materials; it is energy-saving and durable.

Rust? Trains? Why clean energy is turning to exotic ideas to fix its storage problem

Energy storage ideas.

Mateo Jaramillo sees the future of renewable energy in thousands of iron pellets rusting away in a laboratory in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Jaramillo is chief executive of Form Energy, a company that recently announced what it says is a breakthrough in a global race: how to store renewable energy for long periods of time.

Honda launches low-cost U-GO electric scooter

Honda may have dragged its feet for years when it came to electric two-wheelers, but the company has now released a number of new and interesting designs. The latest is the ultra-affordable Honda U-GO electric scooter.

Honda launched the U-GO through its Chinese arm Wuyang-Honda as a follow-up to its other low-cost Chinese electric scooters designed purely for urban riding.

The company announced two versions of the U-GO with different speeds and power levels.

Converting tamarind shells into an energy source for vehicles

Shells of tamarind, a tropical fruit consumed worldwide, are discarded during food production. As they are bulky, tamarind shells take up a considerable amount of space in landfills where they are disposed as agricultural waste.

However, a team of international scientists led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has found a way to deal with the problem. By processing the tamarind shells which are rich in carbon, the scientists converted the waste material into carbon nanosheets, which are a key component of supercapacitors — energy storage devices that are used in automobiles, buses, electric vehicles, trains, and elevators.

The study reflects NTU’s commitment to address humanity’s grand challenges on sustainability as part of its 2025 strategic plan, which seeks to accelerate the translation of research discoveries into innovations that mitigate our impact on the environment.

Air Force Directed Energy Report Argues Defensive Force Fields May Be “Just On The Horizon”

The Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base has released a new analysis of the Department of Defense’s investments into directed energy technologies, or DE. The report, titled “Directed Energy Futures 2060,” makes predictions about what the state of DE weapons and applications will be 40 years from now and offers a range of scenarios in which the United States might find itself either leading the field in DE or lagging behind peer-state adversaries. In examining the current state of the art of this relatively new class of weapons, the authors claim that the world has reached a “tipping point” in which directed energy is now critical to successful military operations.

One of the document’s most eyebrow-raising predictions is that a “force field” could be created by “a sufficiently large fleet or constellation of high-altitude DEW systems” that could provide a “missile defense umbrella, as part of a layered defense system, if such concepts prove affordable and necessary.” The report cites several existing examples of what it calls “force fields,” including the Active Denial System, or “pain ray,” as well as non-kinetic counter-drone systems, and potentially counter-missile systems, that use high-power microwaves to disable or destroy their targets. Most intriguingly, the press release claims that “the concept of a DE weapon creating a localized force field may be just on the horizon.”

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