Editor Blogs

June 2021

Reducing Energy, or Dumping the Problem on Others?

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

Sometimes you don’t realise the progress that is being made until you take a step back and compare it with what has gone before. This week, I received an announcement about how an innovation in OLED technology could save energy for almost any device with a screen. It made me wonder how much more efficient our co

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Date:

06/29/2021

To protest the alleged treatment of China's ethnic Uyghur Muslim minority, President Biden has barred the import of solar products made in the Xinjiang region.

U.S. Bans Import of Solar Panels from China's Xinjiang Region

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

The U.S. is taking further punitive economic measures against The People’s Republic. President Biden has barred the import of solar products made in China’s Xinjiang region, where the nation’s ethnic Uyghur Muslim minority suffer alleged human rights abuses. This isn’t the first time the U.S. has used

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Date:

06/28/2021

Amazon scraps 130,000 items a week at one fulfilment centre

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

Here in the UK, one of our national news channels ran an expose on Amazon’s waste policies this week and it really made grim watching.In a decent bit of investigative reporting, ITV found that Amazon was disposing around 130,000 items a week at the company’s fulfilment centre in Dunfermline in Scotland. Du

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Date:

06/23/2021

Porsche

Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche, announces the joint battery venture Cellforce Group.

Porsche Forms new Battery Joint Venture

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

What do you do for an encore when your high-tech electric sports car, at $80K+, breaks sales records during a global pandemic? You bring battery production closer to home. Because of course you do. Last year, Porsche introduced its luxury EV, the Taycan, and the German automaker shipped over 20,000 un

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Date:

06/22/2021

AI makes chips its own way

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

AI has the potential to change the world that we live in completely. One of those major changes that AI is forecast to alter dramatically is in the jobs we do. It’s a subject I try to follow closely online, especially the social aspects. Many people think the jobs that we will lose will mainly be low-level re

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Date:

06/16/2021

Tesla to Resume Taking Bitcoin when its Mining uses Clean Energy

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

Elon Musk has an interesting history with Bitcoin – mere months after allegedly engaging in a “pump and dump” scheme with the famed cryptocurrency, Tesla’s CEO is refusing to take Bitcoin as payment until clean energy is used in its “mining.” The alleged scheme occurred back in February when Tesl

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Date:

06/14/2021

A completely new way to generate electricity

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

It is not often you get to write a title like the one above. The main methods of generating electricity have been know for years, decades or even centuries. Over that time they have been refined, redesigned, rebuilt with better materials and more accurate construction, but the basic principles behind the energy gener

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Date:

06/10/2021

Waabi's CEO, Raquel Urtasun. The autonomous vehicles startup just raised $83.5 million.

Female-led AV Startup Raises $83 Million, Focuses on Trucking

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

The race is on to deploy safe and reliable autonomous vehicles on the world’s roads, with no shortage of hiccups along the way. But an innovative company that uses efficient testing methods to introduce AVs to the most receptive atmosphere – highways – has just raised $83.5 million. Oh, and their CEO just ha

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Date:

06/08/2021

New Energy Scavenging Technique Lights the Way

National University of Singapore

A chip embedded with about 50 spin-torque oscillators.

New Energy Scavenging Technique Lights the Way

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

I’ve always had a bit of a fascination about energy harvesting. Reclaiming microjoules of energy from the environment to convert into electrical energy to power small circuits, such as sensor clusters, seems very futuristic. It is also the definition of environmentally friendly - taking things we normally consider as

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Date:

06/02/2021

Electric School Bus Could Cut Fuel Costs by 60%

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

The transportation sector is the top cause of greenhouse-gas emissions – accounting for 28% of GHGs – so it makes sense that schools would convert their buses to electric. And Chinese automaker BYD aims to help make that happen. BYD (Build your Dreams) has a broad portfolio ranging from all-in-one energy

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Date:

06/01/2021