fbpx

Human Progress Logo Human Progress

01 / 05
How the World’s Biggest Plane Would Supersize Wind Energy

Wall Street Journal | Air Transport

How the World’s Biggest Plane Would Supersize Wind Energy

“Mark Lundstrom, an MIT-trained rocket scientist and Rhodes scholar, has spent more than seven years with an engineering team designing the WindRunner, a gargantuan cargo plane. If completed, it will be the largest plane by length and cargo volume.

The plane’s purpose is to carry wind turbine blades the length of football fields. The blades, among the world’s longest, are currently used only for offshore projects because of transportation limitations onshore. Opening vast swaths of land to the largest turbines could transform wind energy, which has seen a slowdown in new U.S. onshore projects and price turmoil for offshore projects.

The result would be land-based wind power installations with a blade tip reaching about 300 feet higher than the current average.”

From Wall Street Journal.

News | Energy Production

Fusion Breakthrough Could Reduce Cost of Future Power Plant

“TAE Technologies, a private fusion energy company developing the cleanest and safest approach to commercial fusion power, has achieved a first-of-its-kind breakthrough that fundamentally advances the performance, practicality and reactor-readiness of the company’s proprietary fusion technology.

Experimental results published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications prove TAE has invented a streamlined approach to form and optimize plasma that increases efficiency, significantly reduces complexity and cost, and accelerates the company’s path to net energy and commercial fusion power.”

From TAE.

Reuters | Energy Production

World Bank’s Banga Intends to End Ban Loans for Nuclear Power

“World Bank President Ajay Banga on Wednesday doubled down on his push to revamp the bank’s energy strategy to end a ban on lending for nuclear power projects and enable more natural gas projects, saying he will seek executive board approval in June.

The changes would mark a shift from the bank’s focus only on renewable energy projects, save for consideration for some gas projects in the poorest countries.”

From Reuters.

Interesting Engineering | Energy Production

US Loads Most Powerful Nuclear Fuel to Boost Electricity Output

“Southern Nuclear has become the first company to load and test nuclear fuel enriched above 5 percent in a U.S. commercial reactor, marking a major milestone in advanced nuclear energy.

The advanced fuel – aimed to improve fuel cycle safety and reduce operational costs – was developed under the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Accident Tolerant Fuel Program.

According to the Alabama-based nuclear energy power company, the higher enrichment levels make it possible for the fuel to last for a significantly extended period of time while simultaneously operating at increased power levels.

This, in turn, could lead to a substantial increase in reliable power production at nuclear power plants across the country.”

From Interesting Engineering.

MIT Technology Review | Energy Production

This Texas Chemical Plant Could Get Its Own Nuclear Reactors

“Nuclear reactors could someday power a chemical plant in Texas, making it the first with such a facility onsite. The factory, which makes plastics and other materials, could become a model for power-hungry data centers and other industrial operations going forward.

The plans are the work of Dow Chemical and X-energy, which last week applied for a construction permit with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency in the US that governs nuclear energy.”

From MIT Technology Review.