According a new analysis from Wood Mackenzie on the levelized cost of electricity for the Asia Pacific region, the cost of renewables reached a historic low in 2023. Renewable energy costs in Asia last year were 13% cheaper than coal and are expected to be 32% cheaper by 2030. Utility solar is now the cheapest power source in 11 out of 15 APAC countries. New-build solar project costs are expected to fall by another 20% by 2030.
Electric vehicles sales in China, the world’s largest automotive market, are surging. All plugin models accounted for 37% of the market in 2023, up from just 6% at the end of 2021. Full electrics (BEVs) alone accounted for 25%. Plugins are expected to cross the 50% mark for plugins and electric by 2026, with BEVs likely to account for over a third of sales, if current trends persist.
Biotech researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) say the new method could feed livestock much more efficiently than natural plants, while using a1/1000th as much land as farming.
Although sodium-ion battery technology has a lower density (and is less mature) than lithium-ion, its lower costs, more abundant supplies and superior cold-weather performance could help accelerate mass EV adoption worldwide.
The scientists from Shanghai’s Fudan University implanted new genetic code into a harmless virus and then injected the viruses into the children’s cochlea. They say the experiment has sparked hearing in four out of five children who received the treatment.
Hong Kong’s Court of Appeals ruled in favor of two same-sex couples in separate cases involving their rights to own and rent public housing. While same-sex marriage is not legal in the city, the rulings follow other decisions that have firmly established same-sex couples’ rights to equal treatment under the law.
Now, half of the world’s economy has already reached peak gasoline and diesel demand while electric vehicle deliveries in every segment are shooting through the roof.
“For the first time, it is possible for water, produced by sunlight, to be even cheaper than tap water,” said Lenan Zhang, a research scientist from the team from MIT and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. “This opens up the possibility for solar desalination to address real-world problems.”
The experiment from the Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health experiment grew humanized kidneys in pig embryos. It represents a key step toward building an inexhaustible source of organs for transplants.
While the life expectancy has risen on average 2.2 years since 2013, some cities have seen far more drastic increases. Citizens living under the new “Beijing Blue,” are predicted to live 4 more years, while those 11 million in Baoding are predicted to gain 6 years.
