The World Needs to Crack Battery Recycling, Fast

Europe is slowly catching up, both in terms of battery production and recycling, with car manufacturers leading the charge to reclaim the valuable materials.The IEA forecasts that recycling could meet up to 12 percent of the EV industry’s demand for lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt by 2040. The Volkswagen Group—which includes Audi, Porsche and other […]

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The Transport Companies Leaving Fossil Fuels Behind

Cleaner, greener transport is on its way—from delivery to air travel—but government action on incentives and infrastructure is needed to make it work fast and at scale. “It’s a bit frustrating sometimes in the UK, with the government delaying targets and support,” says Murvah Iqbal, co-CEO and founder at all-electric delivery network Hived. Hived counts […]

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The Boeing 737 Max Crisis Reignites Arguments Over Infant Safety on Planes

As terrible as that tradeoff is, it’s worth noting that the risk of death on a commercial airliner to anyone, lap-held infants included, remains vanishingly low—so let the pangs of guilt subside if you’ve flown holding your baby on your lap. “Commercial aircraft accidents are still extremely rare, and the logistics of having infants in […]

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The Real Problem With the Boeing 737 Max

Spirit AeroSystems, the Wichita-based aerospace manufacturer that manufactured the door plug that blew out on the Alaska Airlines flight, declined to comment on the incident. However, in a statement published on its website, Spirit says its “primary focus is the quality and product integrity of the aircraft structures we deliver.” The company’s parts have caused […]

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Missing Sub Passengers Believed Dead After Debris Found From Likely Implosion

On Sunday, a 22-foot submersible called Titan went missing on a trip to explore the wreck of the Titanic. Five people were aboard. As the sub’s supply of oxygen dwindled, authorities launched a desperate search of the seafloor, covering an area the size of Massachusetts. Rescue ships pinged the ocean with sonar in the hopes […]

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How Airports Catch Illicit Radioactive Cargo

Arktis’ detectors can also be installed in doorways or used in luggage-handling locations. They work entirely passively but are different from Geiger counters, the best-known radiation detectors. Special material inside Arktis’ devices reacts when it is exposed to the subatomic particles emitted by radioactive substances. This reaction produces a tiny amount of light—scintillation—which is measured by […]

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It’s Time for Cities to Ditch Delivery Trucks—for Cargo Bikes

And when you factor in a van’s price, the cost of fuel, insurance, and depreciation, plus parking fines and congestion charges, the cost-effectiveness calculation swings even further in cargo bikes’ favor—so there would also appear to be an economic incentive for companies to make the switch. This, though, is where it becomes tricky. A traditional […]

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It’s Time for Cities to Ditch Delivery Trucks—for Cargo Bikes

And when you factor in a van’s price, the cost of fuel, insurance, and depreciation, plus parking fines and congestion charges, the cost-effectiveness calculation swings even further in cargo bikes’ favor—so there would also appear to be an economic incentive for companies to make the switch. This, though, is where it becomes tricky. A traditional […]

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Electric Vehicles Could Rescue the US Power Grid

But utilities will likely play the biggest role in ushering in a new era of electricity grids, says Max Baumhefner, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. One easy way they can encourage EV drivers help the grid is by offering “time-of-use” rates, which make it cheaper for owners to charge at times […]

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E-Scooter Rentals Aren’t as Green as You Think

As a balmy spring evening descended on western Paris, I needed to make my way across town to my apartment, roughly three kilometers away. The streets were congested, so I was hesitant to take a cab, and I didn’t feel like taking the Metro because it was hot and the station was far away. So […]

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Escooter Rentals Aren’t as Green as You Think

As a balmy spring evening descended on western Paris, I needed to make my way across town to my apartment, roughly three kilometers away. The streets were congested, so I was hesitant to take a cab, and I didn’t feel like taking the Metro because it was hot and the station was far away. So […]

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The World Can’t Wean Itself Off Chinese Lithium

Lithium projects outside China have been at the mercy of the markets, slowing and expanding as the price of lithium ebbs and flows. But domestic investment has been almost constant. As a result, China is the only country that can take lithium from raw material through to finished batteries without having to rely on imported […]

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The Rise and Precarious Reign of China’s Battery King

The headquarters of battery giant CATL tower over the coastal Chinese city of Ningde. To the untrained eye, the building resembles a huge slide rising out of the urban sprawl. It is, in fact, a giant monument to the company’s raison d’être: the lithium-ion battery pack. You may have never heard of CATL, but you’ve […]

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This Is Where Dirty Old Cars Go to Die

With each passing year, emissions from cars keep rising. Global carbon emissions from passenger road vehicles measured 2.5 gigatonnes in 2000. By 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, that had increased to 3.6 gigatonnes. The reason? People keep buying gas-guzzlers. Around 15 million new vehicles were sold in the United States […]

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Wait, So Where Will Urbanites Charge Their EVs?

So you’ve got a nice house with a garage where you can charge your electric vehicle—you’re living in the future. You’re also—sorry!—far from original: 90 percent of US EV owners have their own garages. But woe to the urbanites. Chargers built into apartment parking lots are few and far between. And as if parking in […]

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To Make an Eco-Friendly EV Battery, Think From the Inside Out

The premium for pure cathode material is expected to widen as battery makers switch to designs using cheaper raw materials. Among them are LFP batteries, which contain lithium, iron, and phosphorus in the cathode, and forgo pricey metals like nickel and cobalt. Kyburz has long used LFP batteries for its vehicles, and bigger manufacturers including […]

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Cars Are Going Electric. What Happens to the Used Batteries?

Hans Eric Melin, the founder of Circular Energy Storage, a consultancy that focuses on battery life-cycle management, agrees. Time will solve multiple problems. As more batteries die, the economies of scale will drive down costs. Another key, Melin says, is locating battery makers and battery recyclers closer to each other. He notes that the most […]

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These Batteries Can’t Power a Car—but They Can Light a City

One question: Who owns the reused batteries, and who’s responsible if something goes wrong? Automakers know they may be blamed if one of their old batteries is involved in a fire. GM recently recalled every Chevrolet Bolt because flawed batteries made by the Korean company LG Chem led to fires. “It’s legally a bit of […]

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