Cogention

03/28/2022

More options for carbon-free energy.

Ammonia can be burned directly or it can be “cracked,” that is, decomposed over a catalyst, back to hydrogen. Because there are no carbon atoms in ammonia, there is no CO2 released when it is burned in either case.



https://www.powermag.com/how-ammonia-could-help-the-world-transition-to-clean-energy/

03/26/2022

The notion of food shortages has moved from tertiary media sources to Reuters. The issue has "become real".

Sky-high fertilizer prices have farmers worldwide scaling back its use and reducing the amount of land they're planting, fallout from the Ukraine-Russia conflict that has some agricultural industry veterans warning of food shortages.

02/18/2022

A UK-based AI firm has now trained a deep reinforcement learning algorithm to control the superheated soup of matter inside a nuclear fusion reactor, which will potentially speed up the arrival of an unlimited source of clean energy.

The prospect of unlimited clean energy is still a long way off, but this is another example of DeepMind tackling hard real-world problems.

02/17/2022

U.S. shale drillers will be eager to boost production as oil prices near $100 per barrel, but a looming frac sand shortage may stop them.

Combined with rising labor costs, a potential trucker shortage, and inflation, a frac sand shortage could become a major headache for shale producers.

U.S. oil production is sure to increase over the year, but if these cost problems aren’t solved then expectations will have to be tempered.

As oil prices climb towards $100 observers are expecting U.S. shale production to increase, but rising frac sand costs could hinder production

01/13/2022

Be on the lookout. We are ready for suspicious emails, but what about a well-done USB Trojan horse?

A cybercrime group has been mailing out USB thumb drives in the hope that recipients will plug them into their PCs and install ransomware on their networks, according to the FBI.

One type contained a message impersonating the US Department of Health and Human Services and claimed to be a COVID-19 warning. Other malicious USBs were sent in the post with a gift card claiming to be from Amazon.

Don't insert USB drives from unknown sources, even if they're addressed to you in the post.

01/10/2022

An innovative way to store kinetic energy in places that are otherwise unproductive and unseen.

Ocean Battery is a new design for an energy storage system that functions a bit like a hydroelectric dam at the bottom of the sea.

As useful as renewable energy sources are, they need to be backed up by storage systems that hold energy for times when the Sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. Ocean Battery is a new design for an energy storage system that functions a bit like a hydroelectric dam at the bottom of the s...

01/09/2022

The right approach. Work for the day when there are no more "recycling bins". All waste is examined and sorted for recycling, regardless of where it comes from.

"We can now tell the difference between a wide range of plastic types and thereby separate plastics according to their chemical composition. This is absolutely ground-breaking and it will increase the rate of recycling of plastics immensely."

We can now tell the difference between a wide range of plastic types and thereby separate plastics according to their chemical composition. This is absolutely ground-breaking and it will increase the rate of recycling of plastics immensely. The technology has already been tested at pilot scale and i...

12/27/2021

Ethanol has not gotten the spotlight as of late, in lieu of electric and biodiesel, but it seems to be economically viable enough for continued work.

The Renewable Fuels Association has a goal to get to carbon-neutral ethanol by 2035.

Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer is partnering with a Chicago-area company to reduce harmful emissions from its equipment by replacing diesel fuel with ethanol. Quad Cities-based John Deere is working with ClearFlame Engine Technologies of Geneva, Illinois, where CEO B.J. Johnson says their i...

12/17/2021

New learning in the fight against cancer.

Depleting copper levels may reduce the production of energy that cancer cells need to travel and establish themselves in other parts of the body by a process referred to as metastasis, according to a new study by investigators from Weill Cornell Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK).

Depleting copper levels may reduce the production of energy that cancer cells need to travel and establish themselves in other parts of the body by a process referred to as metastasis, according to a new study by investigators from Weill Cornell Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (M...

12/11/2021

It is encouraging that the UFO/UAP issue is being formally recognized, and will be studied in a public way.

The latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2022 includes a provision that would mandate the formal establishment of a federal office, organizational structure, and authorities to confront unidentified aerial phenomena, the Defense Department’s modern term for UFOs.

The legislation calls for details on reported health issues connected to UAP sightings, ‘transmedium objects,’ those that hover near military nuclear sites—and more.

12/09/2021

A milestone of innovation. Has to be cost-neutral to traditional fuels, in order to scale up.

United has announced that they are the first commercial carrier to fly an aircraft full of passengers while using 100% sustainable fuel. The flight transported more than 100 individuals from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., powered with 500 gallons of sustainable aviation fuel.

United Airlines has invested heavily in new technology in 2021 while also focusing on sustainability. In June, the company committed to purchasing 15 Overture supersonic aircraft from Boom Supersonic, which will have the capacity to fly on 100% sustainable aviation fuel. United also announced in Feb...

12/07/2021

Plant-based leathers have the potential to revolutionize the fashion industry. Now, MycoWorks, a California-based biotech company, has created a new eco-friendly, vegan leather derived from fungi.

Currently marketed as a luxury fabric, Fine Mycelium is carbon-neutral and can be grown to order