Do you agree Eric Klien.
Ag-tech startup Plenty’s vertical farm produces 400 times more food per acre than a flat farm. Learn about the future of farming here.
Category: sustainability – Page 490
SpaceX will attempt to ‘catch’ Starship’s Super Heavy rocket booster instead of landing it
Tesla will need a landing platform to catch the rocket as it lands. According to Elon Musk its to save mass/weight and speed up the rockets readiness for its next launch.
This is for Tesla’s reusable rocket program.
SpaceX aims to develop a fully reusable Starship and Super Heavy launch vehicle, capable of performing multiple flights per day. Musk shared that not adding landing legs to the Super Heavy rocket “Saves mass & cost of legs & enables immediate repositioning of booster on to launch mount — ready to refly in under an hour,” he said. When asked if the decision to eliminate the legs is due to the high stress the vehicle would experience upon landing Musk responded, “Legs would certainly work, but best part is no part, best step is no step,” he wrote via Twitter.
Saves mass & cost of legs & enables immediate repositioning of booster on to launch mount — ready to refly in under an hour— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 302020
Legs would certainly work, but best part is no part, best step is no step— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 302020
Electric airplanes are getting tantalizingly close to a commercial breakthrough
For $140000, you can fly your own electric airplane. The Slovenian company Pipistrel sells the Alpha Electro, the first electric aircraft certified as airworthy by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2018. It’s a welterweight at just 811 pounds (368 kilograms), powered by a 21 kWh battery pack—about one-fifth the power of what you’d find in a Tesla Model S. For about 90 minutes, the pilot training plane will keep you and a companion aloft without burning a drop of fossil fuel.
Those of us without a pilot license will have to wait longer for emissions-free flight—but not much. For all its challenges, 2020 has proven to be a milestone year for electric aviation. Electric aircraft set new distance records, replicated short commercial flight paths, won over the US military, and attracted buyers from big airlines.
And in June, European regulators granted another of Pipistrel’s aircraft, the Velis Electro, the world’s first electric “type certification,” deeming the entire aircraft design safe and ready for mass production (airworthiness only certifies individual aircraft).
Swiss Firm Engineers Hybrid Electric eVTOL/eSTOL Prototype
A Swiss firm has engineered a one-third scale model of a hybrid-electric aircraft capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) or efficient short take-off and landing (STOL) operations. The nifty vehicle will soon be performing its first test flight.
RELATED: NEW EVTOL VERTICAL ROTOR AIRCRAFT JOINS THE AEROSPACE RACE
The firm, called Manta Aircraft, says their new model combines the best features of a helicopter and a plane.
Volkswagen’s vision of Mobile EV-Charging Robot becomes a reality
Volkswagen shows mobile charging robot for fully autonomous charging of electric vehicles.
A year ago, Volkswagen unveiled its mobile charging station concept in which an autonomous robot facilitates the charging of the battery of electric cars. And now, after spending a year making the concept a reality, the automaker gives us a first glimpse of the prototypes of its mobile charging robot.
The first working prototypes, able to revolutionize the world of electric cars, has always been linked to the current scarcity of charging infrastructures. Its task – fully autonomous charging of vehicles in restricted parking areas, like underground car parks.
The concept consists of two modules – an energy storage device trailer with a charger and a mobile robot that can tow the trailer unit to a vehicle for charging.
Scientists turn CO2 into jet fuel
Researchers may have found a way to reduce the environmental impact of air travel in situations when electric aircraft and alternative fuels aren’t practical. Wired reports that Oxford University scientists have successfully turned CO2 into jet fuel, raising the possibility of conventionally-powered aircraft with net zero emissions.
The technique effectively reverses the process of burning fuel by relying on the organic combustion method. The team heated a mix of citric acid, hydrogen and an iron-manganese-potassium catalyst to turn CO2 into a liquid fuel capable of powering jet aircraft.
Tesla Model Y Police Car Makes World Debut in New York
It seems even police cars are moving to Tesla. 😃
Tesla Model Y enters the world of crime-fighting, commissioned by the Hastings-on-Hudson Police Department, Westchester County, New York. This is the first Model Y that has already been purchased and equipped as a police department vehicle in the world.
On December 21, the Hastings-on-Hudson Police Department shared the great news with the community via their Facebook. The PD has acquired and has already received their first electric car—Tesla Model Y. Police Chief David Dosin said the Westchester County Department was the first in the county to receive delivery of the all-electric police car, as the department is committed to alternative fuels and clean technologies.
Hastings PD introduces the first police outfitted Tesla Model Y in the US!!
The Hastings PD took delivery of a brand new Tesla Model Y today! It will serves as the police car assigned to the Detective Division.