Energy news

A new era of energy or a pipe dream?

Japan has announced plans to send solar energy from space to Earth in 2025, two years after a similar achievement by American engineers. This development is a step towards a potential space-based solar power plant that could contribute to the abandonment of fossil fuels.

Space power plant projects face a range of engineering challenges. One of them is the transfer of energy collected by solar panels in geostationary orbit to Earth. The British company Space Solar not only offered a concise technical solution, but also successfully tested its reduced prototype.

Andrey Shitov — on whether nuclear war should be imagined more often

In his February message to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Russian President Vladimir Putin recalled "the fate of those who once sent their contingents to the territory of our country." "But now the consequences for possible interventionists will be much more tragic," he warned. "They must eventually understand that we also have weapons... that can hit targets on their territory."

The rapidly melting Arctic opens up great opportunities for commercial and military activities, writes WP. In addition to the United States, Russia and China claim its resources. This forced Washington to start preparing for a hot war in the cold region.

Experts: Strikes on Russian refineries will not bring success to Ukraine, but may harm the United States

The United States sided with Russia and called on Ukraine to stop attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. Of course, Washington is acting out of its own interests here. What is the United States afraid of? And how exactly can Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries harm Americans?

Based in Colorado (USA), Radia has introduced the concept of a giant Windrunner transport aircraft for transporting equally large loads — for example, wind turbine blades. The fact is that for some offshore turbines they reach a length of more than 140 m, which completely eliminates the possibility of delivering them to the installation site by land.

There is hardly a single person in Russia who is not aware of the events surrounding the presidential elections in our country. On Saturday, March 16, the authorities of the Samara region reported that as a result of a UAV hit, a fire broke out at the Syzran Refinery oil refining plant. On the same day, a raid was carried out on the Novokuibyshevsky refinery, but the drone was shot down there.

Founded in 2022 in the USA, Interlune plans to mine the isotope helium-3 on the surface of the Moon for transportation to Earth and subsequent sale on commercial terms. This seemingly fantastic project has been under development by the company since the beginning of its creation.

They withstand the impact of shell fragments, small arms fire and control fuel consumption

Special mobile containers — gas stations have been supplied to equip Russian troops, sources told Izvestia in the Russian Defense Ministry.

Aydınlık: Turkey considers cooperation with Russia beneficial for itself

President Putin called Turkey the most reliable partner in the energy sector, writes Aydınlık. While the West is moving down, developing countries are rising. Ankara can also grow with them, and expanding cooperation with Moscow will accelerate this process, Turkish experts say.

The Arctic zone of the Russian Federation occupies an area equal to about a quarter of the area of our entire country. These are huge territories, the development of which still requires a lot of heroism and a lot of money. For example, all equipment for the northern expanses must meet increased requirements: be ready for severe frosts, exposure to sea water, etc. The development of Rostec enterprises helps sailors, oilmen, scientists and the military to conquer the harsh north.

A team from the University of California has developed a technology for processing lignin, which will increase the production of biofuels from plant raw materials. Before that, lignin was classified as waste – it is a durable substance that creates a "framework" of plants, it is difficult to recycle. They preferred to simply burn it in order to benefit at least from the heat received.

A few days ago, Minesto completed an ambitious and promising project in the field of alternative energy. Its 1.20 MW Dragon 12 underwater energy harvesting plant has not only been put into operation, but has also begun to supply energy to the Faroe Islands power grid. Unlike existing projects, the company has applied a non-standard approach, which has resulted in much better performance.

The leading Russian manufacturer of truck vehicles KAMAZ and the Russian investment company AFK Sistema have signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of hydrogen technology development. The document was signed by AFK Sistema President Tagir Sitdekov and KAMAZ CEO Sergey Kogogin.

A team of scientists from Northwestern University (USA) has developed the design of a new fuel cell based on the work of microbes. This technology has been known for more than a hundred years, but has not yet found practical application. Largely because there were no suitable consumers – devices with minimal energy consumption.

ZeroAvia, together with the startup Verne, has begun to develop a technology for using cryohydrogen in aircraft engines. Last year, Verne, together with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, managed to obtain cryovoltaics, which contains 27% more hydrogen in the same volume as conventional liquefied hydrogen.

Serial launches of reusable Falcon 9 rockets from SpaceX have reduced the cost of putting cargo into orbit to $1,500 per 1 kg. When the big Starship rocket starts flying, the price will drop by another third, and when these missiles can be used on a permanent basis, the price will drop to $232 per 1 kg. This is a threshold level that makes various daring experiments in space profitable, and the launches themselves are accessible to small private structures.

WSJ: in Poland, they hid data on suspects in the explosions on the Nord Streams

Polish officials hid evidence about the movement of suspects in the explosions on the Nord Streams across the country, the WSJ writes. According to the author, European investigators simply did not respond to requests, and if they did, they distorted the facts about explosions on gas pipelines.

Bench tests of the first prototype of the AL-41ST-25 gas turbine engine with a capacity of 25 MW have started in Ufa at the enterprise of the United Engine Corporation, part of Rostec. The engine is a key element of gas pumping units that provide the necessary pressure when transporting gas through gas pipelines. It is environmentally friendly and has a forecast life of at least 120 thousand hours. Equipment of this level has not been produced in Russia before.

infoBRICS: a new package of anti-Russian sanctions was threatened because of Ukraine

Greece supported Ukraine with money and weapons, and also boycotted Russia, the author of the article from infoBRICS recalls. Kiev repaid Athens by blacklisting its shipping companies. This undermines the West's trust in Zelensky, and also calls into question the adoption of a new package of sanctions.