This week in cleantech and energy news, Goodyear introduced carbon absorbing tires, Chinese engineers tinkered with a solar cell capable of generating electricity from rain drops, banks began to take on deforestation risks, and EV charging infrastructure became even sleeker!
What news have you been reading this week? Share with us @GreentownLabs!
Futurism – Goodyear’s Moss-Filled Tires Are Here to Save the Environment
- Goodyear debuted a type of tire that uses moss to power the tires’ internal sensors and absorb carbon dioxide from the air.
“The concept behind new tires, named Oxygene, is unique — it involves embedding living moss within the tires’ sidewalls. The moss-filled tires not only absorb moisture from roads while in motion, but can also pull carbon dioxide out of the air to fuel the moss’ photosynthesis. A byproduct of photosynthesis? Clean oxygen.”
New Atlas – Hybid solar cell captures energy from the sun and raindrops
- A team of Chinese engineers have developed a hybrid solar cell capable of generating electricity by harnessing both the sun and the rain, using the triboelectric effect to harness the energy created by the movement of water over the surface of the cells.
“Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) create a charge from the friction of two materials rubbing together, which you may recognize as static electricity. It could find eventual practical uses in harvesting energy from movement or vibrations through clothing, car wheels, floors, or touchscreens.”
CTBR – GE launches new battery storage platform Reservoir
- General Electric has launched a new energy storage platform, Reservoir, that supports the integration of renewable energy into the grid, reduces costs, and enables distributed generation.
“GE Power president and CEO Russell Stokes said: ‘The energy landscape is undergoing an unprecedented paradigm shift, as the growth of renewables, decentralization of power and digitization create both new challenges and opportunities in how power is generated, transmitted and distributed. GE’s Reservoir delivers the new type of energy system that customers are looking for to help manage electricity’s next chapter.”’
GreenBiz – Banks branch out to take on deforestation risks
- The NGO Global Canopy has just unveiled a Soft Commodity Risk Platform (SCRIPT) that helps financial institutions understand and lesson the harm of deforestation risks associated with financing companies that rely on soft commodity supply chains.
“As environmental costs stack up and are linked with other issues such as climate change we are going to see greater regulatory, reputational and operational risks, which I think will begin to affect credit risk or market value if the companies are failing to transition.”
Greentech Media – US Energy Storage Market Tops the 1 GWh Milestone in 2017
- According to GTM Research, the U.S. energy storage market is expected to double in 2018, with more than 1,000 megawatt-hours projected to be deployed this year.
“According to GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association’s newly released U.S. Energy Storage Monitor 2017 Year in Review, 100 megawatt-hours of grid-connected energy storage were deployed in the fourth quarter of the year, marking 1,080 cumulative megawatt-hours deployed between 2013 and 2017.”
Cleantechnica – Ionity Introduces Stunning New Architecture For EV Charging Infrastructure
- Ionity, the partnership between Daimler, BMW, Volkswagon, and Ford, has announced plans to install 400 high power (350 kW) charging stations across major European transportation routes by 2020, and their architecture plans resemble technology featured in movies like A Space Odyssey.
“The chargers are lithe and pure white. They virtually scream “modern.” The charging stations themselves feature panels that float above the earth and soar toward the sun. (They may or may not have solar panels embedded in them.) They make you want to run out and buy an electric car just so you can plug it in to an Ionity charger.”