Tesla’s New Gigafactory. Coming to a Community Near You?

Elon Musk is a man of vision. As CEO and CTO of SpaceX, founder of SolarCity and CEO and chief product architect of Tesla Motors, he has launched technology, exploration and transportation into the stratosphere. His latest plans for a massive TESLA factory that would revamp the global supply chain for lithium-ion batteries and then sharply reduce their cost, is equally ambitious, but he still does not have an official location for this Gigafactory. California was not even on the radar, as rumor had it the Reno, Nevada area was the frontrunner to land this factory that promises to employ up to 6,500 people - in fact, excavation of a proposed site has already been completed. Arizona, New Mexico and Texas were also frontrunners in the event negotiations. But suddenly California is making the charge to woo Tesla Motors. According to the Los Angeles Times, California lawmakers would exempt Tesla, Panasonic and other potential partners from some of the state’s environmental…
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  • August 16, 2014
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Tree-Power? Scientists Test Battery Made Of Wood

Beth Buczynski for Earthtechling Get ready to throw all of your assumptions about how to make a battery right out the window. Scientists at the University of Maryland are working on a powerful new battery that could help reduce hazardous waste usually associated with power storage. The main ingredient? Wood. A thousand times thinner than a piece of paper, the battery is made of a sliver of wood coated with tin. Researchers say the low cost of these relatively abundant materials would make the new battery ideal for storing huge amounts of energy at once – such as solar energy harvested at a power plant. Image via Nano Letters According to researchers Liangbing Hu, Teng Li and their team, the inspiration for the wood battery came from the trees themselves. “Wood fibers that make up a tree once held mineral-rich water, and so are ideal for storing liquid electrolytes, making them not only the base but an active part of the battery,” said Hu, an assistant professor of m…
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  • July 31, 2013
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