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EV battery recycling key to easing future lithium supply constraints, modeling study shows

Lightweight, powerful lithium-ion batteries are crucial for the transition to electric vehicles, and global demand for lithium is set to grow rapidly over the next 25 years. A new analysis from the University of California, Davis, published May 29 in Nature Sustainability, looks at how new mining operations and battery recycling could meet that demand. Recycling could play a big role in easing supply constraints, the researchers found.

“Batteries are an enormous new source of demand for ,” said Alissa Kendall, the Ray B. Krone endowed professor of Environmental Engineering at UC Davis and senior author on the paper.

Lithium is a relatively common mineral and up to about 10 years ago demand was relatively small and steady, with a small number of mines providing the world’s supply, Kendall said. Global demand for lithium has risen dramatically—by 30% between 2022 and 2023 alone—as adoption of continues.

Prototype sodium-air fuel cell could power electric planes and trains

Batteries are nearing their limits in terms of how much power they can store for a given weight. That’s a serious obstacle for energy innovation and the search for new ways to power airplanes, trains, and ships. Now, researchers at MIT and elsewhere have come up with a solution that could help electrify these transportation systems.

Instead of a battery, the new concept is a kind of fuel cell which is similar to a battery but can be quickly refueled rather than recharged. In this case, the fuel is liquid sodium metal, an inexpensive and widely available commodity.

The other side of the cell is just ordinary air, which serves as a source of oxygen atoms. In between, a layer of solid ceramic material serves as the electrolyte, allowing sodium ions to pass freely through, and a porous air-facing electrode helps the sodium to chemically react with oxygen and produce electricity.

Razor-thin solution makes fuel cells cheaper and more environmentally friendly

Fuel cells that run on hydrogen are efficient and emit water vapor instead of exhaust. But so far, the technology is still expensive and therefore not competitive with the electric motor alternative.

Norwegian researchers have now figured out how they can accelerate competitiveness by reducing two critical components. This could make fuel cells both cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

The technology has great potential to cut in the transportation sectors, especially in heavy transport, the maritime sector and—in a somewhat longer timeframe—also in aviation.

‘Lost City’ Deep Beneath The Ocean Is Unlike Anything We’ve Seen Before on Earth

Close to the summit of an underwater mountain west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a jagged landscape of towers rises from the gloom.

Their creamy carbonate walls and columns appear ghostly blue in the light of a remotely operated vehicle sent to explore.

They range in height from tiny stacks the size of toadstools to a grand monolith standing 60 meters (nearly 200 feet) tall. This is the Lost City.

‘Non-cuttable’ material shatters bullets and turns angle grinders back on themselves

Bike locks or lightweight armour that cannot be cut by any tool, even angle grinders or high-pressure water jets, sound like an unattainable dream.

They could be remarkably close, however, thanks to a new ‘non-cuttable’ material developed by engineers at Durham University and the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany.

Researchers took inspiration from shells to create the strong and lightweight material, named Proteus after the shape-changing mythical god. Another unusual inspiration was grapefruit, which have very high impact resistance – when dropped from a height, for example – with very lightweight peel.

The material resists cutting by turning the force of a cutting tool back on itself. It is made of ceramic spheres encased in a cellular aluminium structure, similar to the organic tiles interlinked by biopolymers in abalone sea creatures.


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Breakthrough could pave the way for green flying that soaks up CO2

A groundbreaking fuel cell could be the key to unlocking electric planes, according to a new study.

The researchers suggest that these devices could hold three times as much energy per kg compared to today’s top-performing EV batteries, providing a lightweight solution for powering not just planes, but lorries and ships too.

Rooftop solar and EV batteries could supply 85% of Japan’s electricity needs

A new study led by Tohoku University has revealed that rooftop solar panels, when combined with electric vehicles (EVs) as batteries, could supply 85% of Japan’s electricity demand and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 87%. The research provides a promising pathway for Japan’s local governments to achieve carbon neutrality by taking advantage of existing infrastructure—rooftops and vehicles—rather than relying solely on large-scale energy systems.