Costs of building large-scale solar installations in India fell by 27 per cent in 2018
Around the globe, prices are falling and India is now producing the world’s cheapest solar power, according to an IRENA survey.
Technology & innovation
This archive covers technology and innovation breakthroughs that improve lives, protect the environment, and expand human possibility. From medical devices to clean energy tools, the stories here focus on what’s working and who’s making it happen.
Germany tests its first ‘electric highway’ for trucks
Germany is testing a eHighway system with a hybrid truck receiving power from cables to keep it from using its combustion engine.
Scientists claim to have created an environmentally friendly alternative to Styrofoam
Scientists at Washington State University say they have developed an experimental foam made primarily from nanocrystals of cellulose – the most abundant plant material on earth.
Scientists invent 100% recyclable plastic
Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have created a recyclable plastic that can be disassembled into its constituent parts and reassembled without loss of performance or quality.
Inexpensive ‘first-of-its-kind’ device can generate electricity from snowfall
UCLA researchers have developed a first-of-its-kind device that can generate electricity from falling snow. The inexpensive device scientists is small, thin, and flexible like a sheet of plastic.
Global cost of batteries drops 35% in 2018, paving the way for faster transition to low-carbon energy
The benchmark levelized cost of electricity, or LCOE, for lithium-ion batteries has fallen 35% to $187 per megawatt-hour since the first half of 2018.
Finnish innovation boosts EV battery recycling rate to over 80%
Present recycling solutions for EV batteries are not able to recover these scarce metals. To combat this, Fortum has a unique recovery process, involving chemical precipitation methodology that allows these minerals to be recovered and delivered to battery manufacturers to be reused in producing new batteries.
In ‘world first’, blind people in Scotland have vision restored thanks to stem cells
Thanks to the pioneering tissue transplant, eight patients with a common condition that destroys vision have had the affected area repaired –and two were able to read again after having severe macular degeneration.
World’s first water-free system dyes fabrics with CO2
DyeCoo uses a machine that dyes fabrics with pressurized CO2, which allows dyes to quickly dissolve and penetrate the textile — all without the use of water or chemicals.
Biotech firm treats first patient in Western world with CRISPR technique for blood disease
A Switzerland-based startup called CRISPR Therapeutics just used gene-editing name to treat someone with the blood disease beta thalassemia. It marks the first time CRISPR gene editing has been used in a Western clinic.