And article of Wall Street Journal reports on the latest scientific advances in electric batteries. American scientists claim to have produced the first material that would eliminate energy loss when electricity moves; a breakthrough that might translate into longer-lasting batteries, more efficient power grids and more efficient high-speed trains.
Materials capable of conducting electrical currents without any loss – called superconductors – generally need to be cooled to extreme temperatures, down to regarding minus 195 degrees Celsius, and subjected to very high pressure to function. But a group of researchers from the University of Rochester announces that they have created a new superconductor capable of operating at room temperature and at a much lower pressure than previously discovered superconducting materials.
According to Ranga Dias, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and physics at the University of Rochester, who led the work, the breakthrough might lead to lossless power grids and better performing, less expensive magnets for use in future reactors. nuclear fusion, among others. In particular, he states that “we might magnetically levitate trains above superconducting rails, change the way electricity is stored and transferred, and revolutionize medical imaging”.
Superconductors operating at normal temperatures and pressures will notably make it possible to produce telephones, computers but also electric cars requiring less electricity to operate; the low loss of energy will also allow them to have greater autonomy.
A superconducting network can also store energy for an indefinite period and transfer it over great distances without loss. This would put an end to significant waste: the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated that electricity was lost during transmission and distribution in the country at 5% between 2017 and 2021. Superconductors also open up the way to nuclear fusion, which in addition to generating more energy, generates no waste.
This revolutionary progress would be a considerable advantage for reducing CO2 emissions and should relegate ecological degrowth to oblivion.
