By the end of June, a large 1-megawatt plant that burns iron fuel will fire up, producing the heat needed to brew beer at the Swinkels brewery near Eindhoven, Netherlands, in a test lasting for several months. The plant, named IRON , is a joint venture between three companies and built on technology first demonstrated […]
Whenever new technologies are introduced into the power grid, there’s always a chance they could disrupt the system, possibly even leading to blackouts. Finding ways to deal with the impact on the grid caused by incorporating renewable energy has been the focus of Vijay Vittal’s research for nearly 20 years. He is a professor of […]
The world emits 51 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year. To solve the climate crisis, we need to cut this in half by 2030, and get to zero by 2050. For electricity generation, this means the United States alone needs to increase renewable-energy capacities by 10 times over the next 12 […]
Electric-vehicle batteries may help store renewable energy to help make it a practical reality for power grids, potentially meeting grid demands for energy storage by as early as 2030, a new study finds. Solar and wind power are the fastest growing sources of electricity, according to climate think tank Ember. However, the variable nature of […]
For several months now, 20 teams of Australian high-school students have been designing fuel-cell cars to compete in the country’s inaugural Hydrogen Grand Prix. They’ve been studying up on renewable energy, hydrogen power, and electric vehicles, preparing for the big day in April when their remote-controlled vehicles will rumble for 4 hours in Gladstone, a […]
“A third of the projected world population could face un-livable conditions by 2070, if the current rate of global warming persists.”* Today, humanity has access to sustainable energy technology that is fairly mature. It is cheaper to generate electricity by solar or wind power than fossil fuels, which begs the question – why isn’t uptake […]
I live in Manitoba, a province of Canada where all but a tiny fraction of electricity is generated from the potential energy of water. Unlike in British Columbia and Quebec, where generation relies on huge dams, our dams on the Nelson River are low, with hydraulic heads of no more than 30 meters, which creates […]
The United States is home to the world’s largest biofuel program. For the past decade and a half, the U.S. government has mandated that the country’s government-operated planes, trains, and automobiles run on a fuel blend partly made from corn- and soybean-based biofuels. It’s a program with decidedly mixed results. Now, it might get a […]
The Big Picture features technology through the lens of photographers. Every month, IEEE Spectrum selects the most stunning technology images recently captured by photographers around the world. We choose images that reflect an important advance, or a trend, or that are just mesmerizing to look at. We feature all images on our site, and one […]
The vast majority of electric vehicle owners currently charge their cars at home at night. However, a new study finds this might gravely burden the grid as more EVs hit the road. Instead, a much better strategy in the future is a greater emphasis on daytime charging, scientists say. The number of electric passenger cars, […]