Browsing: Americas

Chile’s ongoing energy transition gained new momentum as Colbún, one of the country’s largest power generation companies, inaugurated its first industrial-scale green hydrogen plant integrated into a thermoelectric power station.

The fossil fuel industry’s communication strategy has undergone multiple iterations over three decades, moving from outright denial of climate science to promoting the premise that oil and gas extraction can coexist with climate stabilization efforts—a shift that former ExxonMobil climate scientist Lindsey Gulden characterizes as the sector’s “last narrative” after previous approaches lost credibility.

Europe’s race to decarbonize its energy system has intensified under mounting geopolitical pressures. This week, the European Commission approved sanctions banning new gas and LNG imports from Russia, reinforcing the urgency to diversify supply and accelerate the green transition.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has canceled $700 million in federal battery and manufacturing grants, marking the second wave of funding reversals this month and signaling a more stringent approach to industrial subsidies.

Tesla has issued a recall for 12,963 vehicles in the United States after identifying a potential battery connection defect that could cause sudden power loss while driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

VSPARTICLE’s nanoporous catalyst layer technology has passed peer-reviewed validation, confirming performance benchmarks that could mitigate one of the most pressing bottlenecks in proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer scaling—the scarcity of iridium.

MIT researchers have achieved a tenfold increase in the energy storage capacity of electron-conducting carbon concrete (ec³), a material capable of turning buildings, bridges, and pavements into functional energy storage units.

In addressing the increasing need for efficient energy storage solutions, a recent study introduced an offline lithium-ion battery repair system that employs a dynamic strategy and hybrid topology, aiming to tackle common issues such as battery inconsistency, high costs, and single control methods in lithium battery packs.

As renewable energy penetration rises, balancing intermittent generation with reliable grid services remains a pressing challenge. Subsurface pumped energy storage (SPES) is emerging as a versatile solution, offering kilowatt-to-megawatt-scale power output from a single well while achieving storage densities over 30 times greater than conventional pumped hydro storage.

In a move that could test the commercial viability of natural hydrogen exploration in Canada, MAX Power Mining Corp. has defined the first deep-drilling target specifically designed to locate naturally occurring hydrogen gas within the country’s subsurface.