The process by which the fuel is made is also quite simple, using a combination of CO2 filters, wind turbines and an electrolyser.
How to make fuel out of fresh air
Sustainable tyres in production
Soybean oil, rice husks and plastic bottles: these aren’t materials that you would expect a tyre to be made from, but Goodyear has found a way to make it work.
Made of 90% sustainable material, the firm’s demonstration tyre replaces petroleum-based ingredients for plant-based oil, pyrolysis oil, soybean oil and, tellingly, CO2.
The resins involved in production are no longer petroleum-based, switching to more environmentally friendly pine resin.
Much still needs to be done to put the tyre into production, but it might not be that far away.
At the beginning of 2022, Goodyear announced success in constructing rubber made of 70% sustainable materials, and that has gone into production this year.
Sustainable tyres pass a new milestone
EV solar panels
Solar panels on an electric car might not be a new idea (even those as obscure as the Fisker Karma dabbled in battery regeneration via the sun’s rays), but the tech has never been taken seriously – until now.
German tuner ABT has developed panels to sit on slab-sided vehicles like the Volkswagen ID Buzz you see above. When fitted, ABT’s panels generate 0.6kW of energy and give the Buzz an additional estimated range of 1860 miles each year.
Side panels are also under development, which will hopefully take the total energy generation to 1kW.
And it’s not just ABT: the new Toyota Prius has the option of solar panels that can add up to 776 miles of range per year.
In fact, such is the spiralling appeal of this tech that Sono, a manufacturer of solar panels for EVs, has signed a purchase order with “one of the 10 largest (car makers) in the world”. Watch this space!