ENGINEERING AROUND THE WORLD

The power of solar energy in China

1-SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING

SERGI ALBET Consultor digital Col·legiat 14.416 @sergialbet Researchers and engineers from Harvard, with other universities, have found that solar energy could cover 43.2% of the demand for electricity in China from 2060 at a cost of less than two and a half US cents per kilowatt/hour. In comparison, the cost of coalpowered energy in China varied between 3.6 and 6.5 cents per kilowatt/hour in 2019. This study highlights a critical point for the energy transition when solar power and storage systems become cheaper than alternatives powered by coal and other fossil fuels.

Source: Harvard John A. Paulson https://bit.ly/3xayt3W

© Harvard John A. Paulson

3-ROBOTIC ENGINEERING Bubble robots

Engineers at Princeton University have created a new robotic system. It involves injecting bubbles into a liquid polymer, allowing the material to solidify and inflating the resulting device to make it bend and move. Traditional robots are rigid and not designed to operate with soft objects. The new robots are more flexible and are more suited to picking up fragile or delicate objects, perform surgery or provide medical treatment.

© Universitat de Princeton

Source: Princeton University https://bit.ly/3FAQPyh

© Universitat de Cambridge

2-VENTILATION ENGINEERING

New system of air filtering that kills viruses

Scientists and engineers at the University of Cambridge have developed a new filtering carbon based nano-material that is capable of capturing and destroying various viruses, including the animal variant of coronavirus, a close relative of SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. The filter is equipped with ultrafine carbon nanotubes that are electrically conductive. Resistive heating enables the simultaneous filtering and disinfection of viruses to render them inactive.

Source: University of Cambridge https://bit.ly/3czkAmM

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1. ENGINYERIA SOSTENIBLE

La Xina serà la gran potència mundial en la producció d’electricitat mitjançant l’energia solar. Segons un estudi d’investigadors i enginyers de l’Escola d’Enginyeria i Ciències Aplicades John A. Paulson de Harvard, el 2060 la Xina podrà produir el 43,2% de la demanda elèctrica a menys de 2,5 cèntims per quilowatt hora.

2. ENGINYERIA DE VENTILACIÓ

El desenvolupament d’un nou material de filtració d’aire basat en carboni pot capturar i eliminar diversos virus, incloent-hi el coronavirus animal, un parent proper del SARS-CoV-2, el virus que causa la covid. Aquest projecte de la Universitat de Cambridge és molt útil per combatre la propagació viral de malalties transmeses per l’aire.

3. ENGINYERIA ROBÒTICA

Una nova tecnologia robòtica, dissenyada per enginyers de la Universitat de Princeton, pot ajudar a treballar amb materials fràgils. El sistema consisteix a injectar bombolles a un polímer líquid, deixar que el material se solidifiqui i inflar el dispositiu resultant perquè es doblegui i es mogui.