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U of Birmingham, Bentley and partners in rare-earth recycling project; RaRE

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The University of Birmingham is working with Bentley Motors and others on a three-year research project to deliver a sustainable source of rare earth magnets for electric and hybrid vehicles. Rare earth magnets are found in almost every appliance that uses electricity to generate motion. million (US$3.6-million) million (US$3.6-million)

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Tsinghua University provincial-level lifecycle study finds fuel-cycle criteria pollutants of EVs in China could be up to 5x those of natural gas vehicles due to China’s coal-dominant power mix

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Consumption-based power mixes and NG transmission distances by Chinese province in 2010. In regions where the share of coal-based electricity is relatively low, EVs can achieve substantial GHG reduction, the team reports in a paper in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology. Credit: ACS, Huo et al. Click to enlarge.

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Duke study finds China’s synthetic natural gas plants will have heavy environmental toll; 2x vehicle GHG if used for fuel

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Coal-powered synthetic natural gas (SNG) plants being planned in China would produce seven times more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional natural gas plants, and use up to 100 times the water as shale gas production, according to a new study by Duke University researchers published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

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CATARC and UC Davis establish China-US ZEV Policy Lab to accelerate adoption of plug-in and fuel cell cars in US and in China

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The University of California, Davis, and the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) have entered a new agreement to work together to help speed the commercialization of plug-in and fuel cell electric cars in China. Major international and Chinese automotive and energy companies will also be invited to participate.

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Renewable-methanol fueled Geely cars in fleet testing in Iceland; 70% reduction in WTW CO2 compared to gasoline

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According to Sigurbjörnsson, the data collected supports the conclusion that methanol fueled cars will also be economically competitive with both fossil fueled cars, hybrids and electric cars. Unlike methane gas and hydrogen, there is no need to install expensive infrastructure in order to store and distribute methanol as a fuel.

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Taking the Measure of the Earthquake That Destroyed Tokyo

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The violent vertical thrusts of the quake ruptured gas lines and water mains. In the second century CE, the Chinese scientist Zhang Heng developed an “earthquake weathercock.” When the ground shook, the mercury would close an electrical circuit and stop an attached clock. Great Kanto Earthquake Memorial Museum The estimated 7.9-magnitude

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5 Big Ideas for High-Temperature Superconductors

Cars That Think

In 1911, Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes plunged a mercury wire into liquid helium and noticed that the wire’s electrical resistance vanished. HTS induction heaters promise to halve energy use, along with greenhouse gas emissions. The wire had become a “superconductor.”

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