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#renewablesnow — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #renewablesnow, aggregated by home.social.

  1. #Aotearoa / #NewZealand - #MakerFestival

    12 - 13 Sept 2026
    10:00 am – 6:00 pm

    148 Durham Street, #Tauranga 3110, New Zealand

    "Innovate. Create. Electrify the Future.

    #STEM #WanaTrust proudly presents our first ever #MakerFest ! A #SustainableTech event that aims to inspire #innovation and #EnvironmentalResponsibility by developing and showcasing #RenewableEnergy and electrification projects to a broad audience.

    Maker Festival will also have a dedicated #RepairCafé over the 2 event days.

    Registration: Register for this event and find out more by heading to the learn more button or here

    Audience: While the festival is about hands-on learn by doing, #MakerFest is suited to older rangatahi and young adults. We welcome all ages, but some activities will be unsuitable to those under 12 years of age. Please check our programme for the day for more info on what to expect to avoid disappointment.

    Accessibility: Public transport, #WhānauFriendly and #Mobility #accessible

    Cost: Free entry
    Venue: 148 Durham Street, Tauranga 3110
    Maximum Capacity: 1600"

    FMI and to register:
    repairnetworkaotearoa.org.nz/r

    #SolarPunkSunday #RepairCafes #RepairNetworkAotearoa
    #RepairReuseRestore #STEMWanaTrust #ZeroWaste #FixIt #RepairFestival #RenewablesNow #SolarPunk #RepairFestival2026 #BuildingCommunity #SustainableTechnology

  2. #Trump admin abandons fight against #WindEnergy as clean energy output surges

    Legal victories have dampened the Trump admin’s efforts to halt #wind and #SolarPower.

    Aman Azhar, Jun 16, 2026

    Excerpt: "Environmental and wildlife advocacy groups applauded the move. #NancyPyne, a senior advisor to the #SierraClub, said renewable energy continues to prevail and grow in spite of Trump’s relentless attacks.

    " 'While everyday Americans face soaring bills and unstable prices,' she said, 'renewable energy offers an affordable, common sense solution to lower costs and protect our health and our environment.' "

    Read more:
    arstechnica.com/science/2026/0

    #USPol #TrumpSucks #WindEnergy #SolarEnergy #RenewablesNow

  3. From 2013: Ten Most #Radioactive Places on Earth Mapped Out [GRAPHIC]

    "Do you know the dirty side of the #NuclearIndustry? After researching this article by brainz.org, we were shocked to find out how truly awful our radioactive waste problem is and how it is going to be hurting us all, for a long time to come. Please take the time to read the links below, share this with your friends, and discuss solutions to these problems. ~ Jim Lee, #ClimateViewer News

    "This list is not a definitive TOP TEN, it is simply ten very disgusting examples of nuclear warfare against the citizens of this world."

    Read more:
    climateviewer.com/2013/11/24/1

    #Hanford #Sellafield #Chernobyl #Fukushima #Mediterranean #Mayak #SomalianCoast #Kazakhstan #Chernobyl #Kyrgyzstan #EnvironmentalRacism #IndigenousPeoples #SiberianChemicalCompound #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #RenewablesNow #NuclearDumping #NuclearColonialism

  4. SimplyInfo.org: 15th Anniversary Report #FukushimaDaiichi

    March 2, 2026

    Excerpt: "This TV Asahi investigative report from March 2025 [linked below] paints a sobering picture of the enormous challenges still facing the decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi, fourteen years after the accident. While #TEPCO achieved a milestone the previous November by extracting roughly 0.7 grams of #NuclearFuel debris for the first time, experts interviewed for the piece emphasized that debris removal is just one piece of a far more complex puzzle. Around 1,000 fuel assemblies
    still remain in the spent fuel pools of Units 1 and 2, untouched since the accident, and officials from the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation (#NDF) described clearing these pools as the single most urgent priority — in part because another
    #earthquake or #tsunami could strike at any time.

    "Before large-scale debris removal can even begin, the area around the reactor buildings must be cleared of heavily contaminated structures and exhaust stacks to make room for the massive equipment required. Because humans cannot safely approach the highly radioactive debris, all removal work must be done remotely. Radiation levels outside the buildings remain dangerously high — a dosimeter near #Unit2 showed particularly elevated readings — and contaminated water continues to be generated at a rate of roughly 80 tons per day as #rainwater and #groundwater contact radioactive materials on site, despite TEPCO having already released about 80,000 tons of treated [but still radioactive] water into the ocean.

    "Perhaps the most troubling concern raised in the article is what happens to the debris and #RadioactiveWaste after it is removed. Hiroshi Miyano, chairman of the Decommissioning Review Committee of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, was blunt in his criticism, saying no serious thought has been given to managing this waste over the coming century or two.

    "The Fukushima debris is uniquely complicated because it is a mixture of melted nuclear fuel and structural materials, and experts warned that removal may not even be possible until a concrete disposal plan is in place. General decommissioning superintendent Toyoshi Fukada warned that without proper storage facilities ready in advance, the entire decommissioning effort could eventually grind to a halt simply because there would be nowhere to put the waste."

    Read more:
    simplyinfo.org/2026/03/simplyi

    Asashi investigative report [pdf]:
    dropbox.com/scl/fi/ysaf6a7hj62

    #FukushimaIsntOver #TEPCOLies #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #RenewablesNow #WaterIsLife #OceansAreLife #NuclearPlants #NuclearDisaster #Remember311

  5. Alas, starting to wind down this #SolarPunkSunday... TY to @MaQuest , @jblue , @BrambleBearGrrrauwling and everyone who used the hashtag and/or boosted the posts! I'll re-post a few articles from yesterday before returning to the "Doom and Gloom" posts. Please join us next week for the 1 year anniversary of SPS! We hope you'll share your stories, art, helpful hints, and tales of hope and community! #InformationIsPower!

    #ABetterWorld is possible!

    #SolarPunk #SolarPunkArt #SolarPunkMusings #StabilizedWorld #LtG #BuildingCommunity #Decolonize #DeGrowth #SolarPunkSunday
    #HopePunk #DeCapitalize
    #RightToRepair #NatureRocks #ClimateChange #RenewablesNow
    #GrowYourOwnFood #ClimateAdaptation

  6. #French #NuclearPower production expected to be reduced on Wednesday

    By Reuters
    August 12, 2025

    PARIS, Aug 12 (Reuters) - "Power production at France's #Bugey3 #nuclear reactor in the east of the country is expected to be reduced by 500 megawatts (MW) on Wednesday, data from operator #EDF showed on Tuesday, as high river temperatures reduce the plant's ability to intake cooling water.

    "A #heatwave throughout #France has led to multiple warnings of power reductions at a number of #NuclearPlants, particularly on the #RhoneRiver in the east and the #GaronneRiver in the west.

    "The #Bugey 3 reactor has a maximum capacity of 910 MW, which will be reduced to 410 MW from 2:30 p.m. (1230 GMT) to midnight on Wednesday as the reactor is required to meet environmental safety measures, EDF's data showed.

    "The high water temperature warnings for the #SaintAlban plant - down river of the Bugey site - and the #Golfech site in the west were moved to August 14, but restrictions have not yet been issued.
    Average temperatures in the country are expected to continue to peak throughout the week, reaching a high of 28.5 degrees Celsius (83.3°F) on Saturday, LSEG data showed.

    "#NuclearPower accounts for about 70% of total French power consumption annually, but August is the main holiday season throughout the country and electricity demand is often limited."

    Source:
    reuters.com/sustainability/cli

    #EuropeHeatWaves #France #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #NuclearPowerNoThanks #NuclearWasteIsForever #NuclearPowerPlants #ExtremeHeat #RenewablesNow #RenewableEnergy #RethinkNotRestart
    #LeNucléaireNonMerci

  7. #Jellyfish Shut Four French #NuclearReactors as #HeatWave Builds

    By Eamon Farhat
    August 11, 2025

    " #ElectriciteDeFrance SA [#EDF] was forced to shut four #AtomicReactors after a swarm of jellyfish clogged up filter drums at its #Gravelines power plant.

    "The 'massive and unforeseen' [um, not if you read my posts -- very much FORESEEN] presence of jellyfish in the filter drums of pumping stations closed four out of six reactors at Gravelines on the north coast of France, EDF said in a statement on Monday. Pumping stations for coastal #NuclearPlants usually draw in sea water for cooling, sometimes exposing them to marine life.

    "A #MarineHeatWave is intensifying off the west coast of France, with unusually warm waters in the English Channel near Gravelines, data from #Copernicus Marine Service show. Jellyfish populations can 'bloom' at such times, and France has closed several beaches in recent weeks due to invasions of the eight-legged molluscs, according reports compiled by the beach information app Meduseo."

    Read more:
    bloomberg.com/news/articles/20

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/bahil

    #EuropeHeatWaves #France #Jellyfish #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #NuclearPowerNoThanks #NuclearWasteIsForever #NuclearPowerPlants #ExtremeHeat #RenewablesNow #RenewableEnergy #RethinkNotRestart
    #LeNucléaireNonMerci #ClimateChange #WarmingOceans

  8. The #HeatWave of late June threatens French #nuclear production

    Written by Justine Dumont, Energy Renovation Expert Editor on 24 June 2025 at 08:00

    "#EDF plans to reduce the production of its nuclear fleet, in particular that of the #Bugey power plant in Ain, as of Wednesday 25 June, due to the expected high temperatures. This decision comes at a time when Météo-France has placed 16 departments in orange-heat-wave vigilance since Friday 20 June."

    Read more (en Français):
    france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/

    #EuropeHeatWaves #NuclearPowerPlants #NuclearPlants #NoNukes #NuclearPowerNoThanks #NuclearWasteIsForever #NuclearPlants #Heatwaves #ExtremeHeat #RenewablesNow #RenewableEnergy #RethinkNotRestart
    #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #LeNucléaireNonMerci

  9. HT @PariaSansPortefeuille

    Invasion of #jellyfish, heat, water too hot: #GlobalWarming threatens the functioning of #NuclearPowerPlants

    Several reactors are regularly forced to stop to protect river #biodiversity. While cuts in periods of high heat still have a very limited impact on supply, electrification of uses and #ClimateChange could make a difference.

    Marie Toulgoat , Published 11 August 2025

    "When nature paralyses the French nuclear park. Four units of the Gravelines nuclear power plant (northern) are at a standstill on Monday 11 August due to the 'mass and unforeseeable presence of jellyfish; at the water pumping stations used for the cooling of the reactors, EDF announced.

    "These automatic stops of units 2, 3, 4 and 6 'have had no consequences on the safety of the installations, the safety of personnel or on the environment', #EDF assures on its site. The plant is thus temporarily completely shut down, as its other two production units 1 and 5 are currently under maintenance.

    "On Sunday, 29 June, no steam volutes escaped from the chimneys of the Gulf nuclear power plant (Tarn-et-Garonne). Due to the intense #HeatWave in #France, the reactor in operation at the site was shut down. In the middle of the summer of 2024, the nuclear power plant had already been forced to reduce its production."

    Read more (en Français):
    humanite.fr/environnement/cani

    Archived version (en Français):
    archive.ph/zNGD2

    #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #NuclearPowerNoThanks #NuclearWasteIsForever #NuclearPowerPlants
    #NuclearPowerNoThanks
    #NuclearPlants #Heatwaves
    #ExtremeHeat #RenewablesNow #RenewableEnergy #RethinkNotRestart
    #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #Atomkraft #AtomkraftNeinDanke #LeNucléaireNonMerci

  10. [Paywall] From 2021: Increase in frequency of nuclear power outages due to changing climate

    by Ali Ahmad

    Nature Energy volume 6, pages 755–762 (2021)

    Abstract:

    "Climate-related changes have already affected operating conditions for different types of energy system, in particular power plants. With more than three decades of data on changing climate, we are now in a position to empirically assess the impact of #ClimateChange on power plant operations. Such empirical assessments can provide an additional measure of the resilience of power plants going forward. Here I analyse climate-linked outages in #NuclearPowerPlants over the past three decades. My assessment shows that the average frequency of climate-induced disruptions has dramatically increased from 0.2 outage per reactor-year in the 1990s to 1.5 in the past decade. Based on the projections for adopted climate scenarios, the average annual energy loss of the global nuclear fleet is estimated to range between 0.8% and 1.4% in the mid-term (2046–2065) and 1.4% and 2.4% in the long term (2081–2100)."

    nature.com/articles/s41560-021

    #NuclearPlants #NuclearPowerNoThanks #ClimateChange #Heatwaves #ExtremeHeat #RenewablesNow #RenewableEnergy #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI

  11. We’re having a #heatwave...

    And #NuclearPower can’t cope. Worse still, it’s actually a liability under ever more extreme climate conditions, write Karl Grossman and Harvey Wasserman

    Posted on July 27, 2025, by #BeyondNuclear

    "At the core of the latest attempted 'renaissance' of nuclear power is the big lie that #AtomicReactors are an answer to #GlobalWarming. In fact, they are significant sources of heat.

    "There are more than 400 nuclear power plants in the world today that fission atoms at 300 degrees Centigrade, (572 degrees Fahrenheit). More are under construction or proposed. As the International Atomic Energy Agency states, 'water-cooled reactors offer heat up to 300 degrees Celsius. These types of reactors include pressurized water reactors (PWRs), boiling-water reactors (BWRs), pressurized heavy-water reactors, and light-water-cooled graphite-moderated reactors (LWGRs).'

    "Some heat is absorbed in the water—drawn from water bodies—used to cool these nuclear power plants and then returned, still with considerable heat, to #rivers or #seas.

    "The heatwave going on in recent weeks in Europe, in combination with this discharge of heated water from nuclear plants, has caused #NuclearPlants there to shut down.

    "Consider these headlines from recent days:

    " '#France and #Switzerland shut down nuclear power plants amid scorching heatwave,' was the July 3rd headline on Euronews. As the piece explained: “To cool down, nuclear power plants pump water from local rivers or the sea, which they then release back into water bodies at a high temperature. However, Europe’s ongoing heatwave means that the water pumped by nuclear sites is already very hot, impacting the ability of nuclear plants to use it to cool down. On top of this, nuclear sites run the risk of posing a dangerous threat to local #biodiversity, by releasing water which is too hot into rivers and seas.'

    "A New York Times article, also dated July 3rd, related how in Europe, 'operators shut down one of the two reactors at the #Golfech nuclear power plant in southern #France after forecasts that the #GaronneRiver, from which it draws water and then discharges it after it is used in the plant as coolant, 'could top…82 degrees Fahrenheit.' The Times continued: 'The #Beznau Nuclear Power Plant in #Switzerland, built along the #AareRiver followed suit, shutting down one of its reactors on Tuesday and the other on Wednesday.' "

    Source:
    beyondnuclearinternational.org

    #ExtremeHeat #ClimateChange #NuclearPowerPlants #NuclearPowerNoThanks #RenewablesNow! #WaterIsLife #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI

  12. Four days ago: #Spain Signals Openness to Keeping #NuclearPowerPlants Open

    By Daniel Basteiro and Thomas Gualtieri
    April 24, 2025

    "Spain is signaling for the first time that it’s open to reconsidering the shutdown of #NuclearPlants over the next decade amid a global revival of #AtomicEnergy.
    While that’s not the plan agreed with nuclear plant operators, and it would be up to them to present concrete proposals, extensions are not ruled out, Environmental Transition Minister Sara Aagesen said in an interview.

    " 'Nuclear energy will be present in our mix at least until 2035' but could go beyond that if companies propose extensions, which hasn’t happened yet, she said prior to an International Energy Agency summit on the future of energy security. 'We’re not considering anything because there is no specific proposal on the table.' "

    Today [April 28th] "Spain's nuclear power plants automatically stopped, but diesel generators were activated to keep them in 'safe condition', officials said."

    Sources:
    bloomberg.com/news/articles/20

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/cJiGM

    msn.com/en-us/news/world/panic

    #RethinkNotRestart #RenewablesNow #Hydropower #Solar #Geothermal #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #ExtremeHeat #ExtremeFlooding #NuclearMeltdowns #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #Blackout

  13. HT @btschumy
    And this is why we need to #RethinkNotRestart and #ShutDownAllNuclearPlants -- especially the aging ones! This article outlines a very possible #Doomsday scenario -- but it could be a number of things, including a large #SolarFlare...

    2030 Doomsday Scenario: The Great #Nuclear Collapse

    A timeline of the #EndGame for human civilization

    "Humanity has constructed a doomsday Deadman switch that threatens civilization. Climate destruction will make it increasingly difficult to avoid the looming global nuclear catastrophe we've created.

    "Here's how our future might unravel:
    Late 2020s: Climate Red Alert and Infrastructure Strain

    "By the late 2020s, Earth’s climate is in unprecedented turmoil. Global average temperatures are consistently 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Each year brings record-breaking heatwaves, “freak” floods, and droughts that batter infrastructure. Coastal cities flood more frequently, roads buckle in extreme heat, and power grids strain under surging demand for cooling.

    "This cascade of climate disasters sets the stage for a systemic collapse: as societies grapple with runaway warming, the resilience of #Criticalnfrastructure (power, water, transit) erodes.

    "Energy systems enter a crisis even before 2030. Nuclear power, which in 2025 still provided about 9% of the world’s electricity from ~440 reactors, becomes increasingly unreliable. Many nuclear plants struggle with climate stresses: cooling water sources heat up in summer, forcing reactors to reduce output or shut down to avoid unsafe temperatures. For example, a 2028 European #heatwave pushes river and sea temperatures above 25 °C, triggering emergency shutdowns at multiple reactors that cannot be cooled effectively.

    "At the same time, stronger storms and floods threaten reactor safety. Dozens of reactors worldwide are unprepared for #ExtremeFlooding, meaning a dam failure or #StormSurge could lead to a Fukushima-scale accident. Worrisome reports emerge of power plants in #floodplains and #coasts where defenses are overtopped by #RisingSeas and torrential rains.

    "By 2029, global carbon output remains high, and natural feedback loops are kicking in. In the Arctic, permafrost thaws and releases methane creating a vicious warming cycle where initial warming triggers more emissions, leading to even more warming. Scientists caution that a tipping point is near, beyond which climate change becomes self-perpetuating (a true “runaway” scenario).

    "Society approaches 2030 in a precarious state: aware of looming catastrophe yet unprepared for its speed. The stage is set for the coming collapse, with power grids and nuclear facilities - the backbone of the industrial world - already under severe strain.

    Early 2030s: Blackouts and the First Reactor Crises

    "2030 marks the breaking point.

    "A confluence of climate catastrophes collapses power grids across multiple continents. A severe global heatwave in the summer of 2030 brings record electricity demand while many power plants (nuclear and coal alike) are derated or offline due to overheating coolant water.

    "Then powerful Category 5 storms strike in succession: one hurricane inundates the U.S. Eastern seaboard, while an unprecedented typhoon swamps Southeast Asia. These #disasters knock out transmission lines and flood key substations, leading to prolonged blackouts in dozens of major cities. Emergency systems are overwhelmed. With communications down and transportation paralyzed, manpower shortages become acute - many operators and engineers cannot reach their stations.

    "Nuclear power plants are among the first to feel the emergency. Grid failure triggers automatic reactor SCRAMs (rapid shutdowns) at plants from Florida to France. Control rods halt the fission reactions, but decay heat in reactor cores still needs cooling for days to prevent meltdown.

    "Normally, backup diesel generators would power the cooling pumps, but the scale of the #blackout means diesel resupply is uncertain and some generators fail in flooded facilities. In a grim reflection of 2011’s Fukushima disaster, several coastal reactors lose all power as storm surges drown their backup generators.

    "Within hours to days, the first meltdowns occur.

    "In 2031, a reactor in South Asia becomes a flashpoint: its cooling pumps falter after the grid collapse, leading the core to overheat. The reactor’s heart melts through containment in a matter of days, releasing a plume of radioactive steam and debris.

    "Nearby, an even greater danger unfolds: the plant’s spent fuel pool, packed with years of highly radioactive spent rods, boils dry without cooling. Exposed to air, the zirconium cladding of the fuel ignites, triggering a fire that belches long-lived radioisotopes directly into the atmosphere. This nightmare scenario - once narrowly avoided at #Fukushima by heroic ad-hoc measures - now plays out in full."

    Read more:
    collapse2050.com/2030-doomsday

    #NoNukes #RenewablesNow #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Radiation #NuclearMeltdowns #Polycrisis #NoMoreFukushimas #NoNukesForAI #CivilizationCollapse #NuclearFuture #ARadioactiveWorld

  14. #Palisades power plant will restart. Here's where on the #GreatLakes #NuclearPlants operate

    Story by Sarah Moore, Lansing State Journal, 2/27/2025

    "Owners of Michigan's Palisades nuclear energy plant this week announced a new five-year program aimed at restarting the power station while adding two smaller, modular reactors to the existing facility.

    "Holtec has launched 'Mission 2030,' a program to build America’s first small modular reactors — Holtec’s SMR-300 — at the Palisades site in Covert Township, Michigan, with a target of 2030 for first commercial operation.' Holtec International said in a release. "The new SMR-300s will be co-located with the existing 800-megawatt Palisades plant, which is on track to restart after an extended outage following shutdown in 2022.'

    "The program was discussed at a ceremony Feb. 25, at which #Holtec said it has joined forces with #Hyundai Engineering & Construction to build a 10-gigawatt fleet of SMR-300s in North America, the release said.

    "Nuclear energy production is seeing growing interest for power generation because it requires no fossil fuels and can help reduce greenhouse gases. The systems, however, generate tons of highly #RadioactiveWaste that has to be stored. In #Michigan, waste is stored within a short distance of the #GreatLakes in some locations."

    msn.com/en-us/news/us/palisade
    #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #Renewables #RenewablesNow #WaterIsLife #RadioactivePollution #HoltecLies

  15. From 2022. I'm guessing it was #RussianDrones

    #Sweden #drones: Sightings reported over #NuclearPlants and palace

    18 January 2022

    "Days of sightings of drones over key Swedish sites including nuclear plants have prompted the country's security service to take the lead in an investigation.

    "Three nuclear sites have been targeted and sightings have been reported over airports and the royal palace.

    "Authorities have not speculated on who is behind the mysterious drones.

    "Police and the coastguard are searching the sea and islands around Stockholm, local media reports say.

    "The latest sightings on Monday evening involved a drone above the #ForsmarkNuclearPlant, but security agency Sapo said it was also investigating earlier drone flights near the #Ringhals and #Oskarshamn power plants. Police appealed to the public to come forward with information.

    "Sapo said the drones were suspected of 'grave unauthorised dealing with secret information'.

    "'The security service is conducting the investigation regarding the drone flights over our nuclear plants. Regarding other drone observations it's so far a matter for the police,' Sapo official Fredrik Hultgren told the BBC.

    "He refused to give details about the type of drone, but they have been widely described as military-style and as having large wings.

    "Swedish TV reported that a police helicopter was following a drone flying above it at a height of up to 1,000m (3,280ft) to the south-west and north-west of the capital Stockholm.

    "According to the Aftonbladet news site, a drone was seen over the weekend circling the parliament and government buildings, as well as the royal palace in Stockholm. Drones were earlier spotted near Kiruna and Lulea airports.

    "Prosecutors are keeping an open mind over who is behind the drone flights. They come at a time of increased military alert in Sweden because of tensions between #Russia and the West over the Russian military build-up near the borders of #Ukraine.

    "Sweden has recently deployed troops to the Baltic island of Gotland in what officials describe as a signal that Sweden's military forces are ready to defend their territory.

    "Sweden is not a member of the Nato defence alliance but said it was responding to three Russian landing craft moving into the Baltic Sea through Denmark's Great Belt Strait."

    Source:
    bbc.com/news/world-europe-6003
    #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearPlants #NuclearPowerPlants #SecurityRisk #NoNukes #RenewablesNow

  16. #IronAir Batteries Are Here. They May Alter the Future of Energy.

    Battery tech is now entering the Iron Age.

    By Darren Orf
    Published: Jan 17, 2023

    "Each iron-air battery is about the size of a washer/dryer set and holds 50 iron-air cells, which are then surrounded by an electrolyte (similar to the Duracell in your TV remote). Using a principle called 'reverse rusting,' the cells 'breathe' in air, which transforms the iron into iron oxide (aka rust) and produces energy. To charge it back up, a current reverses the oxidation and turns the cells back into iron.

    "NASA first started experimenting with iron-air batteries back in the late 1960s, and it’s obvious why this next-gen storage system has engineers excited. For one, iron-air batteries solve a few of lithium’s biggest shortcomings right off the bat. As their name suggests, these batteries use primarily #iron, the fourth most abundant element on Earth, and ... well ... air. This tech’s adoption could help curtail the large amounts of water used to mine #lithium (not to mention alleviating the potential for #GroundwaterContamination

    "Secondly, and most importantly, iron-air batteries would be 10 times cheaper, perform better, and last 17 times longer. Right now, these batteries’ primary task would be to bridge the gap when utilities need more power during peak hours, and as green energy eats up a bigger share of the energy pie, they could also crucially store excess energy on sunny days to shore up supply when the clouds roll in. Lithium-ion only provides approximately four hours of storage, whereas iron-air could deliver up to 100 hours—a full four days to bridge those energy gaps.

    "The downsides to iron-air batteries? They’re big and also slow to recharge, which is likely why lithium-ion will remain the battery of choice for electric cars and smartphones. #FormEnergy also says these iron-air batteries will form 'power blocks' where iron-air batteries handle long load times, while lithium-ion batteries take care of spikes in demand."

    popularmechanics.com/science/e

    #RenewablesNow #IronAirBatteries
    #SolarPower #WindPower #EnergyStorage #NoLithiumMining #RecycleLithium #LincolnMaine