Cement is considered one of our hardest challenges, as Brimstone CEO and 2024 innovator Cody Finke will let you know. I wrote about Brimstone and different efforts to reinvent cement earlier this 12 months.
One other factor
We’d like a complete lot of metals to handle local weather change, from the copper in transmission traces to the nickel in lithium-ion batteries that energy electrical automobiles. Some researchers assume vegetation would possibly be capable of assist.
Roughly 750 species of vegetation are so-called hyperaccumulators, which means they naturally take in and tolerate comparatively excessive concentrations of steel. A brand new program is funding analysis into how we’d use this trait to assist supply nickel, and doubtlessly different metals, sooner or later. Learn the complete story right here.
Maintaining with local weather
A hurricane that just lately shaped within the Gulf of Mexico is headed for Louisiana, ending an eerily quiet few weeks of the season. (Scientific American)
→ After forecasters predicted a very energetic season, the lull in hurricane exercise was shocking. (New Scientist)
Rising sea ranges are one of many signs of a altering local weather, however nailing down precisely what “sea stage” means is extra sophisticated than you would possibly assume. We’ve gotten higher at measuring sea stage over the previous few centuries, although. (New Yorker)
The US Division of Power’s Mortgage Applications Workplace has almost $400 million in lending authority. This 12 months’s election may shift the main focus of that workplace drastically, making it a bellwether of how the outcomes may have an effect on power priorities. (Bloomberg)
What if fusion energy finally ends up working, but it surely’s too costly to play a big function on the grid? Some modelers assume the know-how will stay costly and will come too late to make a dent in emissions. (Heatmap)
Electrical-vehicle gross sales are up total, however some main automakers are backing away from objectives on zero-emissions automobiles. Although gross sales are growing, uptake is slower than many thought it will be, contributing to the nervous power within the business. (Canary Media)
It’s a tricky time to be within the enterprise of next-generation batteries. The woes of three startups reveal that tough instances are right here, doubtless for some time. (The Data)