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☆ How car buyers thinking hybrid over EV should make the decision
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-07 | by ( Cheryl Winokur Munk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

And what would the upfront costs be to upgrade your system to allow for faster charging, if desired? Do the math on upfront cost, EV vs. hybridIf it's still a toss up between an EV and a hybrid, next consider upfront costs. By contrast, the average starting price for a hybrid car is $33,214, according to iSeeCars.com, a car search engine. Search for available auto rebates and incentivesIf you're leaning toward an EV, but still find the upfront cost daunting, look for possible rebates. He points to a study by Argonne National Lab that shows scheduled maintenance costs per mile are significantly lower for an EV versus a traditional hybrid or plug-in hybrid.

Persons: you've, Aston Martin, Sandeep Rao, there's, Rao, Steve Christensen, Maxwell Woody, Woody, Albert Gore, ZETA Organizations: Ford, General Motors, Mercedes, Benz, Volkswagen, Jaguar, Rover, Gallup, New York, EV, Chevrolet, Department of Energy, Battery Coalition, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, of Michigan, University of Michigan, Argonne National Lab, Honda Locations: U.S, California, Florida, Texas

☆ Walter Massey, a Physicist With a Higher Calling
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Katrina Miller | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The day before Walter Massey turned 30, in 1968, the Rev. Dr. Massey, then a physicist at Argonne National Laboratory, watched the funeral on television, in tears, from his apartment in Chicago. At the time, Dr. Massey was a rising star in the study of theoretical condensed matter, how liquids and solids behave. But Dr. Massey was also a Black man born and raised in the Jim Crow South. Dr. Massey thrust himself into supporting Black students at a time when colleges around the country were adjusting to court-ordered integration.

Persons: Walter Massey, Martin Luther King Jr, Massey, Lev Landau, Jim Crow, “, ”, “ I’d, King’s Organizations: National Laboratory, National Society of Black Physicists Locations: Memphis, Chicago, America, Argonne, I’d

☆ A physicist says it's possible to determine if our universe is a giant simulation and has launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund his experiment
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Melvin M. Vopson | The Conversation | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

But another is that our universe is a computer simulation, with someone (perhaps an advanced alien species) fine-tuning the conditions. In a virtual reality, this limit would correspond to the speed limit of the processor, or the processing power limit. Similarly, virtual reality needs an observer or programmer for things to happen. AdvertisementIt is reasonable to assume that a simulated universe would contain a lot of information bits everywhere around us. Argonne National LaboratoryI have predicted the exact range of expected frequencies of the resulting photons based on information physics.

Persons: It's, Melvin M, Melvin, —, John A, Paice, John Archibald Wheeler, Nick Bostrom, Seth Lloyd, Elon Musk, Albert Einstein's, Stringer, –, John Barrow Organizations: Service, Physicists, Oxford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, Paramount, Space, Laboratory, University of Portsmouth, Creative Locations: Argonne

Steam feeding into the Unit 3 turbine generator of the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Waynesboro, Ga. “The United States is now committed to trying to accelerate the deployment of nuclear energy,” John Kerry, President Biden’s climate envoy, said in September. One recent Pew survey found that 57 percent of Americans favor more nuclear plants, up from 43 percent in 2016. A NuScale engineer gave a tour of a control room simulator, modeling the company’s plans for new nuclear reactors, in 2013. “The demand for clean energy is almost unprecedented,” said Maria Korsnick, president of the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry group.

Persons: Biden, ” John Kerry, Biden’s, “, ”, Jacopo Buongiorno, Jimmy Carter, Rosalyn Carter, Bruce Springsteen, Dan Reicher, Gavin Newsom, Reicher, Clinton, Jeffrey Collins, Arnie Gundersen, John Williams, “ It’s, Patty Durand, Julie Kozeracki, Kendrick Brinson, Jay Wileman, Bill Gates, Dow, Roger Blomquist, NuScale Power, Jose Reyes, Adam Stein, it’s, they’re, Ahmed Abdulla, Robert Taylor, Leah Nash, NuScale, David Schlissel, Joshua Freed, didn’t, Maria Korsnick Organizations: Unit, Republicans, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Associated Press, Madison, Natural Resources Defense, California Gov, Democrat, Associated, Fairewinds Associates, Components, Workers, Georgia, Southern Company, Georgia Power, Georgia Public Service Commission, Energy Department, The New York Times, GE, Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Vogtle . Ontario, Tennessee Valley Authority, Argonne, National Laboratory, Energy, Nuclear Regulatory, NuScale, ”, Breakthrough Institute, Carleton University, Soaring, Institute for Energy Economics, United, Nuclear Energy Institute Locations: U.S, Waynesboro, Ga, Savannah, Georgia, United States, ”, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Jenkinsville, Vogtle, South Carolina, South, Canada, Tennessee, Argonne, Chicago, Idaho, Wyoming, California, Alaska, Maryland, Pueblo County, Colo

☆ Biden's IRA Drives Surge in US Imports of Chinese Used Cooking Oil
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Andrew HayleyBEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. incentives to boost consumption of more environmentally friendly fuel has created a new market for used Chinese cooking oil, worth almost $390 million in the last 12 months and growing rapidly, China's customs data shows. In the first eight months of 2023, Chinese exports of used cooking oil (UCO) to the U.S. totalled almost 384,000 metric tons, customs data shows. Used cooking oil can be refined into fuels such as biodiesel and SAF, which can be blended with conventional fuels to reduce carbon emissions. State-run Chinese oil majors Sinopec and PetroChina, which are among those shipping UCO cargoes to the U.S., according to Kpler, did not respond to requests for comment. Used cooking oil can be one-third the price of fresh vegetable oil, and has lower carbon intensity than non-waste feedstocks such as palm or canola oil.

Persons: Andrew Hayley BEIJING, Biden, Kpler, Sophie Byron, Global's Byron, Andrew Hayley, Stephanie Kelly, Christian Schmollinger Organizations: U.S, SAF, P, Argonne National Laboratory, U.S . Department of Agriculture, Exports, European Commission, European Union Locations: China, U.S, California, Argonne, U.S . China, Europe, Germany

☆ AI startup SambaNova launches new chip designed for higher quality AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Max A. Cherney | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Argonne National Laboratory/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 19 (Reuters) - Artificial intelligence chip startup SambaNova Systems announced a new semiconductor on Tuesday, designed to allow its customers to use higher quality AI models at a lower overall cost. Security, accuracy and privacy are all areas that AI technology must be designed differently to be useful for enterprise customers. Nvidia (NVDA.O) dominates the market for AI chips, but a surge in demand triggered by interest in generative AI software made the coveted chips difficult for some companies to obtain. The new SambaNova chip is capable of powering a 5 trillion parameter model, and includes two advanced forms of memory. The company said that its combination of hardware enables customers to run larger AI models without trading size for accuracy.

Persons: ChatGPT, Rodrigo Liang, Liang, Max A, Michael Perry Organizations: U.S . Department of Energy’s, U.S . Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, REUTERS, Systems, Palo, Nvidia, Intel, Devices, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Thomson Locations: U.S . Department of Energy’s Argonne, Lemont , Illinois, U.S, Palo Alto , California, San Francisco

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Sept 19 (Reuters) - China is building two-thirds of the coal-fired electricity generation capacity currently under construction globally, and this may not be as disastrous for the climate as it sounds. The world's largest producer and importer of coal has 136.24 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired generation under construction, according to data released in July by the Global Energy Monitor. China's under-construction coal generation is about 12% of its existing capacity, and adding more coal-fired power would seem incompatible with the stated goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2060. It makes sense from an economic and geopolitical perspective to power China's vehicle fleet using domestic electricity rather than imported crude oil. While it would obviously be better for the environment for China to stop building coal-fired power plants and instead accelerate the deployment of renewables, there is some logic to the current policy.

Persons: it's, Christian Schmollinger Organizations: Global Energy Monitor, China Passenger Car Association, Reuters Graphics, ICE, U.S . Department of Energy's, U.S . Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LAUNCESTON, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, U.S . Department of Energy's Argonne

☆ Redwood Materials, run by ex-Tesla CTO, raises $1 billion to expand recycling operations in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Redwood Materials, the battery and e-waste recycling startup founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, announced Tuesday that it has closed a $1 billion funding round to expand operations in the U.S. The company takes spent electric vehicle batteries, breaks them down, and uses the metals from them —including nickel, copper, cobalt, and lithium — to produce new components that can go into electric vehicle batteries. One of Redwood's major goals is to produce battery components domestically to reduce some of the global trade and geopolitical risks around the electric vehicle industry. As CNBC previously reported, earlier this year Redwood locked in a $2 billion loan commitment from the Department of Energy. For its new growth funding round, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Capricorn's Technology Impact Fund, and other un-named funds advised by T. Rowe Price Associates led the deal, according to a company statement.

Persons: JB Straubel, Redwood, Straubel, Energy Jennifer M, Granholm, Goldman, Rowe Price Organizations: Materials, U.S, CNBC, Department of Energy, Energy, Energy Information Administration, Argonne National Laboratory, Asset Management, Technology, Fund, Rowe Price Associates, Caterpillar Inc, Innovation Fund Locations: U.S, Carson City , Nevada, Charleston , South Carolina . U.S, Argonne

☆ Superconductor claims spark investor frenzy, but scientists are skeptical
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The South Korean researchers last week said they found a superconductor that works at room temperature, which has long been considered a holy grail for scientists in the field. The South Korean researchers published two papers - one initial paper with three authors and a second, more detailed paper with six authors that included only two of the authors from the first paper. The gold standard for proof of discovery is other labs reliably replicating the South Korean researchers' findings. But another team, from Qufu Normal University, said they did not observe zero resistance, one of required characteristics of a superconductor. On Thursday, South Korean experts said they would set up a committee to verify the claims.

Persons: Read, Kelvin, Eric Toone, Bill Gates, Mike Norman, Norman, Sinéad Griffin, Lawrence, Griffin, apatite, Michael Fuhrer, Fuhrer, Argonne's Norman, Stephen Nellis, Joyce Lee, Brenda Goh, Krystal Hu, Kenneth Li, Deepa Babington Organizations: CEA, Nuclear Research, South, Reuters, South Korean, Huazhong University of Science, Technology, Qufu Normal University, Southeast University, Bill Gates ’, Energy Ventures, National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, . Department of Energy, Monash University, Thomson Locations: ., China, South Korea, Nanjing, Melbourne, Australia, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, New York

☆ RPT ANALYSIS For EV batteries, lithium iron phosphate narrows the gap with nickel, cobalt
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Paul Lienert | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Tesla Model 3 vehicles are seen for sale at a Tesla facility in Fremont, California, U.S., May 23, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File PhotoDETROIT, June 23 (Reuters) - As the auto industry scrambles to produce more affordable electric vehicles, whose most expensive components are the batteries, lithium iron phosphate is gaining traction as the EV battery material of choice. But technological advances have also reduced the performance gap with more widely used materials such as nickel and cobalt. Ford Motor (F.N) aims to open a $3.5 billion LFP cell manufacturing plant in western Michigan, leveraging technology licensed from China’s CATL (300750.SZ), the world’s largest EV battery maker. The rapidly increasing adoption of LFP by EV manufacturers including Tesla and Hyundai suggests those companies “are not ready to decouple from China," Meng said.

Persons: Carlos Barria, Tesla, ”, Stanley Whittingham, Mujeeb Ijaz, “ We’ve, China’s, Jim Farley, Shirley Meng, Meng, Lukasz Bednarski, Bednarski, LFP, Whittingham, “, Paul Lienert, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Tesla, REUTERS, DETROIT, EV, Toyota, Hyundai, U.S, Binghamton University, Ford, University of Chicago, Argonne, Laboratory’s, Center for Energy Storage Science, New Energy, Thomson Locations: Fremont , California, U.S, North America, New York, Michigan, Van Buren, China, United States, Norway, Israel, South Korea, EVs, Detroit

☆ Analysis: For EV batteries, lithium iron phosphate narrows the gap with nickel, cobalt
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Paul Lienert | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Tesla Model 3 vehicles are seen for sale at a Tesla facility in Fremont, California, U.S., May 23, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File PhotoDETROIT, June 22 (Reuters) - As the auto industry scrambles to produce more affordable electric vehicles, whose most expensive components are the batteries, lithium iron phosphate is gaining traction as the EV battery material of choice. But technological advances have also reduced the performance gap with more widely used materials such as nickel and cobalt. Ford Motor (F.N) aims to open a $3.5 billion LFP cell manufacturing plant in western Michigan, leveraging technology licensed from China’s CATL (300750.SZ), the world’s largest EV battery maker. The rapidly increasing adoption of LFP by EV manufacturers including Tesla and Hyundai suggests those companies “are not ready to decouple from China," Meng said.

Persons: Carlos Barria, Tesla, ”, Stanley Whittingham, Mujeeb Ijaz, “ We’ve, China’s, Jim Farley, Shirley Meng, Meng, Lukasz Bednarski, Bednarski, LFP, Whittingham, “, Paul Lienert, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Tesla, REUTERS, DETROIT, EV, Toyota, Hyundai, U.S, Binghamton University, Ford, University of Chicago, Argonne, Laboratory’s, Center for Energy Storage Science, New Energy, General Motors, Battery, Thomson Locations: Fremont , California, U.S, North America, New York, Michigan, Van Buren, China, United States, Norway, Israel, South Korea, EVs, Detroit

☆ Japan signed a critical minerals deal with the U.S. — but it's still losing the global EV race
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Audrey Wan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Tokyo in March signed the U.S.-Japan Critical Minerals Agreement, securing both countries' commitment to strengthen supply chains and promote EV battery technologies. Notably, the deal allows minerals from Japan to meet sourcing requirements for U.S. electric vehicle tax credits, unlocking up to $7,500 per vehicle. The critical minerals agreement was "negotiated in warp-speed time" when similar deals "usually take years," David Boling, Eurasia Group director for Japan and Asian trade, told CNBC. Hybrid EVs still account for 96.8% of new EV sales in the country, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. EV supply chain strainJapan depends on China for critical minerals essential to the production of EV components.

Persons: Yasuhide Mizuno, Kiyoshi Ota, David Boling, Boling, Eurasia's, BEV, China's, Kristin Vekasi Organizations: Sony Honda Mobility, Sony, Bloomberg, Getty, Japan, U.S, U.S ., EV, Eurasia Group, CNBC, U.S . Trade, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Japan Automobile Dealers Association, International Energy Agency, Argonne National Laboratory, IEA, University of Maine, Hitachi Metals, Nikkei Locations: Tokyo, Japan, U.S, China, Nikkei Asia

☆ Intel gives details on future AI chips as it shifts strategy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 22 (Reuters) - Intel Corp (INTC.O) on Monday provided a handful of new details on a chip for artificial intelligence (AI) computing it plans to introduce in 2025 as it shifts strategy to compete against Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.O). At a supercomputing conference in Germany on Monday, Intel said its forthcoming "Falcon Shores" chip will have 288 gigabytes of memory and support 8-bit floating point computation. Intel, by contrast, has essentially no market share after its would-be Nvidia competitor, a chip called Ponte Vecchio, suffered years of delays. Intel on Monday said it has nearly completed shipments for Argonne National Lab's Aurora supercomputer based on Ponte Vecchio, which Intel claims has better performance than Nvidia's latest AI chip, the H100. But Intel's Falcon Shores follow-on chip won't be to market until 2025, when Nvidia will likely have another chip of its own out.

☆ The used electric car market is starting to take off as prices slowly drop
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

At first glance, today's product pipeline might not paint a good picture for the future of the used EV market. "If what we've produced in the last couple of years has been a rich mix, when that goes into the used market, that keeps used prices elevated as well," Dziczek said. Overall declines for used vehicle prices also generally apply to used EVs. Used EVs remain more expensive than used gas-cars, and many might not yet qualify for the used EV tax credit based on its price cap. Dealers are starting to feel incentivized to drop used EVs priced close to the cap to just below it.

☆ Map: Which states will build the most EV batteries in 2030?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Georgia, Kentucky and Michigan are going to dominate electric vehicle battery manufacturing in the United States by 2030. Each of those three states will be able to manufacture between 97 and 136 gigawatt hours' worth of EV batteries per year by 2030, according to plans they have laid out. Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee will also be key players, with planned capacity for between 46 and 97 gigawatt hours' of EV battery production per year by 2030. This planned manufacturing capacity was highlighted by the U.S. Department of Energy on Monday, based on a November 2022 report from the Argonne National Laboratory in November. To keep up with increasing demand for EVs, the total build out of EV battery manufacturing capacity in North America will go from from 55 gigawatt-hours per year in 2021 to almost 1,000 gigawatt-hours per year by 2030.

☆ U.S. Argonne National Lab scales up startup SambaNova's latest AI system
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Jane Lanhee Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 14 (Reuters) - Silicon Valley artificial intelligence (AI) computing startup SambaNova Systems said on Monday it delivered eight units of its latest AI system to the U.S. Argonne National Laboratory, which is expanding its AI offering to researchers. With AI work taking center stage in research, Argonne National Laboratory has been testing out various AI chips and systems, Rick Stevens, associate lab director for computing, environment and life sciences at Argonne lab told Reuters. In addition to SambaNova, AI systems from startups including Cerebras Systems, Groq Inc, Graphcore, and Intel Corp (INTC.O) owned Habana Labs have been tested. "We're working with new emerging AI hardware architectures, and we get early hardware and then we play with it, we use it on our science applications," said Stevens. Steven said the lab was evaluating AI hardware for its next supercomputer to see if SambaNova and others can be included.

☆ U.S. funds projects to explore nuclear waste reprocessing
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Timothy Gardner | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E, aims to develop a dozen projects to recycle the waste, also known as spent nuclear fuel, with $38 million in funding. France and other countries have reprocessed nuclear waste by breaking it down into uranium and plutonium and reusing it to make new reactor fuel. President Joe Biden's administration supports development of advanced nuclear plants to help reach his goal of decarbonizing the U.S. economy by 2050. Recycling nuclear waste "can significantly reduce the amount of spent fuel at nuclear sites, and increase economic stability for the communities leading this important work," Granholm said. As a result, the waste is now stored at nuclear power plants across the country in spent fuel pools and in casks made of steel and concrete.

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