Advances and prospects for the energy metaverse, flexible solar panels coming to market, and edible rechargeable battery concepts feature on this week’s technology radar.
Energy metaverse – placing building blocks firmly in place
The metaverse may seem very conceptual to many at this stage, but according to a new report, the metaverse has arrived in the energy sector and is getting bigger. report According to Guidehouse Insights, over the next decade, global investment in core technology is expected to grow from just over $6 billion in 2022 to nearly $80 billion in 2031, at a compound annual growth rate of more than 33%. I’m here.
Core energy metaverse technologies include digital twins, AI and machine learning, unmanned aerial systems and drones, augmented reality, and blockchain-based applications.
“When the energy metaverse is fully realized, which is clearly more than a decade away, the concerns of utilities and O&G are the days when employees will be onboarded and trained via XR in metaverse-based training centers. You can imagine,” said Richelle Elberg, the company’s principal research analyst. Guidehouse Insights.
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“Just as it was hard to imagine how smartphones and the internet would change the way we do business in the early 1990s, in 2023 we will see how Metaverse technology will fundamentally change the energy industry’s operating dynamics. It can be difficult to understand how
Potential examples given by the guidehouse include a metaverse mall that could provide virtual customers with real-world benefits, such as comparing and buying products, analyzing energy usage, and assessing the suitability of a site for solar power. and utility stores.
An in-demand expert in a field can work in a virtual offshore rig and advise field workers on how to deal with problems. Drones can also conduct continuous inspections of critical assets and feed real-time data into advanced AI-powered digital twins to predict and prevent wildfires and methane emissions.
Flexible solar panels hit the market
Solar panels just a few millimeters thick, which they claim can be embedded into any kind of surface, are about to go on sale from Belgian startup EnFoil (derived from “energy-enabling foils”).
The panel is based on copper, indium, gallium and selenium technology and is the result of years of research within the Energyville partnership by the University of Hasselt and microelectronics research organization imec, of which EnFoil is a spin-off from both organizations.
Flexible, robust, with potential applications ranging from buildings to tents to pool covers, and can be manufactured in any shape or size, offering greater flexibility than the current mostly flat, fixed-size format. called a format.
“As a result, the technology has been largely limited to either dedicated construction projects or as an expensive add-on option for car roofs. With Enfoil, we are changing this,” said CTO Marc Meuris. say.
He said talks with industry to bring EnFoil’s solar film to market are “in full swing” and are now primarily focused on the logistics sector, integrating the material into truck roofs and sidewalls. He added that proposals have been made to power sensors and sensors using Track and trace system.
edible rechargeable battery
Children’s toys, gastrointestinal disease diagnosis and treatment, and food quality monitoring are all considered areas of potential interest for edible electronics.
As a step towards this, researchers at the Italian Institute of Technology have developed the first fully edible and rechargeable battery.
Inspired by the biochemical redox reactions that occur in the body and the substances consumed as part of the daily diet, the battery utilizes riboflavin or vitamin B2 as the anode, the plant pigment quercetin as the cathode, and activated carbon. A water-based electrolyte that increases conductivity with.
The separator was made of seaweed used for sushi.
The electrodes are then encapsulated in beeswax, from which two food-grade gold contacts (foils used by pastry chefs) on a cellulose-derived support are extracted.
The battery cells operate at 0.65V and can deliver 48uA for 12 minutes, or a few microamperes for over an hour, at a voltage that is safely low enough to be ingested. This is enough to power small electronic devices. , low-power LEDs, and more for a limited time.
Ivan Ilyich, a co-author of the study, said edible batteries are also of great interest to the energy storage community.
“As the demand for batteries soars, building safer batteries without the use of toxic substances is a challenge we face. Our edible batteries do not power electric vehicles. , is proof that batteries can be made with materials that are safer than current lithium-ion batteries.We hope that these studies will inspire other scientists to build safer batteries for a truly sustainable future. I believe I will encourage you to do so.”
