Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: energy

Humanity’s infinite energy solution might be in space

The full structure, if it is ever built, will likely take centuries. But the first pieces could be deployed within the next hundred years. Like the construction of cathedrals or transcontinental railroads, this is the kind of project that begins with a vision and takes shape slowly, across generations.

A Dyson sphere is not only about energy. It is about how we think. It challenges us to plan at the scale of a civilization rather than a single generation. It asks what kind of future we are trying to build, and whether we are willing to imagine a world of abundance rather than scarcity. It may take centuries to complete, but the mindset that makes it possible can start right now.

A new traveling-wave Josephson amplifier with built-in reverse isolation

Traveling-wave parametric amplifiers (TWPAs) are electronic devices that boost weak microwave signals (i.e., electromagnetic waves with frequencies typically ranging between 1 and 100 GHz). Recently, many engineers have been developing TWPAs based on superconductors, materials that conduct electricity with a resistance of zero at low temperatures.

Superconductor-based TWPAs can process signals with high efficiency, typically adding little noise to amplified signals. However, conventional amplifier designs lack directionality, which essentially means that electromagnetic energy can propagate backward towards the input, adversely impacting their performance.

Researchers at University Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Silent Waves and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology recently developed a new TWPA based on nanoscale superconducting components known as Josephson junctions. This device, introduced in a paper published in Nature Electronics, can shift backward-traveling waves to higher frequencies, preventing the backward propagation that typically degrades the performance of TWPAs.

Durable catalyst shields itself for affordable green hydrogen production

An international research team led by Professor Philip C.Y. Chow at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has unveiled a new catalyst that overcomes a major challenge in producing green hydrogen at scale. This innovation makes the process of producing oxygen efficiently and reliably in the harsh acidic environment used by today’s most promising industrial electrolyzers.

Spearheaded by Ci Lin, a Ph.D. student in HKU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, the team’s work was published in ACS Energy Letters.

Green hydrogen is seen as a clean fuel that can help reduce carbon emissions across industries like steelmaking, chemical production, long-distance transportation, and seasonal energy storage. Proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers are preferred for their compact design and rapid response, but they operate in acidic conditions that are exceptionally demanding on the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst.

Blue jean dye could make batteries greener

Sustainability is often described in shades of green, but the future of clean energy may also carry a hint of deep blue. Electric vehicles and energy storage systems could soon draw power from a familiar pigment found in denim.

Concordia researchers have found that indigo, the natural dye used to color fabrics for centuries, can help shape the future of safe and sustainable batteries. In a study published in Nature Communications, the team revealed that the common substance supports two essential reactions inside a solid-state battery at the same time. This behavior helps the battery hold more energy, cycle reliably and perform well even in cold conditions.

“We were excited to see that a natural molecule could guide the battery chemistry instead of disrupting it,” says Xia Li, the study’s lead author and associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering. “Indigo helps the battery work in a very steady and predictable way. That is important if we want greener materials to play a role in future energy systems.”

Precise catalyst design boosts hydrogen gas production efficiency and affordability

A recent advance in the science of hydrogen fuel production could enable higher output and more sustainable production of this renewable energy source, researchers with Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology report.

The findings result from unprecedented atomic-scale observations of how catalysts perform in the slow and expensive process of water splitting, or breaking the bond of oxygen and hydrogen. Using a unique set-up, they were able to produce hydrogen gas at rates comparable to or faster than state-of-the-art conventional catalysts.

What’s more, the catalyst remained in good condition after extended operation—a positive sign for commercial viability.

Argon ion treatment increases carbon nanowall electrode capacitance fivefold

Researchers from Skoltech, MIPT, and the RAS Institute of Nanotechnology of Microelectronics have achieved a five-fold increase in the capacitance of carbon nanowalls, a material used in the electrodes of supercapacitors. These are auxiliary energy storage devices used in conjunction with conventional accumulators in electric cars, trains, port cranes, and other systems.

A key characteristic of these devices, the capacitance of carbon nanowalls could be enhanced by treatment with an optimal dose of high-energy argon ions. The research is published in Scientific Reports.

High-energy-density barocaloric material could enable smaller, lighter solid-state cooling devices

A collaborative research team from the Institute of Solid State Physics, the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has discovered a high-energy-density barocaloric effect in the plastic superionic conductor Ag₂Te₁₋ₓSₓ

“This material shows a volumetric barocaloric performance far beyond that of most known inorganic materials,” said Prof. Tong Peng, who led the team, “Its high energy density makes it well-suited for smaller and lighter cooling devices.”

The findings were published online in Advanced Functional Materials.

DARPA moves to decentralize critical nitric acid production

A top-secret US government body called the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched a new solicitation seeking proposals for a high-rate, energy-efficient method of producing nitric acid directly from air and water.

The initiative, known as the High-Efficiency Nitrogen Oxidation, or HNO3 program, is aimed at protecting critical U.S. defense-industrial supply chains and reshaping how energetics are produced in contested environments.

According to DARPA, the agency is requesting “innovative proposals in the foundational technologies to enable high-rate, energy efficient, decentralized nitric acid manufacturing to protect critical supply chains in the defense industrial base.”

Bridging the gap between molecules and materials in quantum chemistry with localized active spaces

Emerging materials between molecules and materials demand new modeling approaches. Here, the authors present a localized active space approach that enables accurate and efficient band structure calculations to capture long-range charge and energy transfer in correlated materials.

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