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Scientists now know why solid-state batteries have repeatedly failed. Two separate studies have identified the physical processes responsible for the short circuits that have delayed commercialization for years, turning one of the industry’s biggest unknowns into a defined engineering problem. For years, engineers knew how solid-state batteries were failing, but not why. The batteries repeatedly developed internal short circuits as microscopic lithium structures formed inside the cell and eventually pierced the barrier separating the battery’s…
When Hurricane Maria flattened Puerto Rico's power grid in 2017, one building in the mountain town of Adjuntas never went dark. Casa Pueblo, a local environmental group, had already wired its headquarters with solar panels and batteries. That system kept the lights on while the rest of the island waited close to a year for power. It also became the seed for one of the country's most closely watched community microgrids. Nine years and several storms later, microgrids have moved well past the disaster-recovery story. They're showing up on military…
The world is turning toward nuclear power as a solution to the increasingly dire energy trilemma – the tricky issue of sourcing energy that is simultaneously affordable, sustainable, and secure. As the artificial intelligence boom pushes energy demand into the stratosphere in rich nations, and back-to-back oil shocks and soaring temperatures leave poor nations scrambling for alternative energy sources, the nuclear option is looking increasingly appealing for a broad range of national contexts. “With energy security now ranking alongside…
Global oil demand could decrease for the first time since 2020, following months of oil trade restrictions in the Middle East and ongoing geopolitical turmoil, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on 10th July. This expectation is echoed in OPEC's most recent 2026 global oil demand growth forecast. The global demand for oil is expected to fall by around 1 million bpd year-on-year in 2026, which would be the first annual decline since that which was experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, according to a recent IEA report. The IEA…
The newly released 2026 Statistical Review of World Energy reinforces a point that sometimes gets lost in political discussions about energy: the United States remains the world’s largest oil producer. But the size of the U.S. lead depends on what is being counted. When most people talk about “oil production,” they generally mean crude oil and condensate. That is the narrow measure most closely aligned with what the public thinks of as oil. But another important measure is total liquids, which includes natural gas liquids, or…
