The 35-nation Iter project has a groundbreaking aim to create clean and
limitless energy but it is turning into the ‘most delayed and cost-inflated
science project in history’
It was a project that promised the sun. Researchers would use the world’s most
advanced technology to design a machine that could generate atomic fusion, the
process that drives the stars – and so create a source of cheap, non-polluting
power.
That was initially the aim of the International Thermonuclear Experimental
Reactor (Iter) which 35 countries – including European states, China, Russia and
the US – agreed to build at Saint-Paul-lez-Durance in southern France at a
starting cost of $6bn. Work began in 2010, with a commitment that there would be
energy-producing reactions by 2020.
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Tag - Energy
As demand for the tin ore cassiterite soars, special forces units of Brazil’s
Ibama environment agency must play a cat and mouse game with the thousands of
illegal miners pouring into Yanomami reserves
In the back yard of the federal police headquarters in Roraima, the northernmost
state of Brazil, giant sacks lie strewn and overflowing with a jet-black,
gravel-like mineral: cassiterite. Although less high-profile than other items
seized during a crackdown on illegal mining in this Amazon state – including a
Sikorsky S-76 helicopter painted in the colours of the Brazilian flag –
cassiterite has become so sought-after that it is nicknamed “black gold”.
Cassiterite is the chief ore of tin, a less heralded but critical mineral for
the energy transition. It is used in coatings for solar panels, lithium-ion
batteries and solder for electronics, including wind turbines, mobile phones,
computers and industrial alloys.
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Electric vehicles are ‘batteries on wheels’ that can put energy back into the
National Grid when solar panels and windfarms do not provide much power
Electric cars make some people afraid of the dark. While the batteries produce
much less carbon, they require much more electricity to run. This has prompted
ominous warnings that Great Britain and other wealthy countries set on banning
new petrol and diesel cars risk plunging their populations into darkness.
In recent months British net zero-sceptical newspapers have warned that the
shift to EVs would “risk overwhelming the grid, and threaten catastrophic
blackouts” when intermittent sun and wind fail to provide the necessary power.
Another article claimed: “It won’t take an enemy power to put us all in the dark
– just energy customers doing normal things on a normal winter’s evening.”
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It’s a hot topic for scientists all over the world
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Exclusive: Experts say Tesla should be excluded from rebates for disabling
function on its batteries in Australia that would let users alter power usage
remotely
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Australian owners of Tesla batteries could miss out on lucrative revenue streams
because the US energy giant restricts the devices’ ability to interact locally
with third parties and authorities continue to dither over setting and enforcing
standards.
An increasing number of products from air conditioners to hot water heaters and
solar panels can be controlled remotely, and consumers can sign deals rewarding
them for altering power usage during peak load periods, including supplying
electricity to grid.
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New computing infrastructure means big tech is likely to miss emissions targets
but they can’t afford to get left behind in a winner takes all market
The artificial intelligence boom has driven big tech share prices to fresh
highs, but at the cost of the sector’s climate aspirations.
Google admitted on Tuesday that the technology is threatening its environmental
targets after revealing that datacentres, a key piece of AI infrastructure, had
helped increase its greenhouse gas emissions by 48% since 2019. It said
“significant uncertainty” around reaching its target of net zero emissions by
2030 – reducing the overall amount of CO2 emissions it is responsible for to
zero – included “the uncertainty around the future environmental impact of AI,
which is complex and difficult to predict”.
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Nuclear power? Really!?
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