New power cables in Europe to make energy cheaper and more sustainable
EU researchers are looking to improve the electric grid to reduce energy waste, cut costs and curb emissions.
May 30, 2024
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30
Engineering
EU researchers are looking to improve the electric grid to reduce energy waste, cut costs and curb emissions.
May 30, 2024
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30
Engineering
Metals get softer when they are heated, which is how blacksmiths can form iron into complex shapes by heating it red hot. And anyone who compares a copper wire with a steel coat hanger will quickly discern that copper is ...
May 22, 2024
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Business
Copper cannot be mined quickly enough to keep up with current U.S. policy guidelines to transition the country's electricity and vehicle infrastructure to renewable energy, according to a University of Michigan study.
May 15, 2024
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43
Energy & Green Tech
Researchers have successfully transformed CO2 into methanol by shining sunlight on single atoms of copper deposited on a light-activated material, a discovery that paves the way for creating new green fuels.
Mar 25, 2024
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Energy & Green Tech
Copper smelting is a major source of copper production, generating significant amounts of slag. In 2022, China produced over 11,000 kilotons of refined copper, leading to 2.2 to 3 tons of slag per ton of copper produced. ...
Feb 26, 2024
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Energy & Green Tech
Thermometers are an under-appreciated marvel of human ingenuity built upon an understanding of relatively simple physical principles. Mercury and alcohol thermometers rely on the volume of liquids growing or shrinking in ...
Feb 22, 2024
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Energy & Green Tech
Chile is embarking on a European hunt for investors in solar, wind and green hydrogen technologies as it looks to decarbonize copper mines and other industries reliant on fossil fuels.
Feb 12, 2024
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1
Electronics & Semiconductors
Space comes at a premium on electronic chips: Powerful electronics need more and more connections, crammed into smaller and smaller spaces. Established technologies are reaching the limits of what is physically possible. ...
Jan 9, 2024
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3
Energy & Green Tech
Consumers discard or possess disused electronic goods containing raw materials critical for the green energy transition and worth almost $10 billion every year, the United Nations said on Thursday.
Oct 12, 2023
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40
Engineering
Water could play a crucial role in reducing global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, according to Johns Hopkins engineers.
Sep 5, 2023
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Copper (pronounced /ˈkɒpər/) is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (Latin: cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is rather soft and malleable and a freshly-exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy color. It is used as a thermal conductor, an electrical conductor, a building material, and a constituent of various metal alloys.
Copper metal and alloys have been used for thousands of years. In the Roman era, copper was principally mined on Cyprus, hence the origin of the name of the metal as Cyprium, "metal of Cyprus", later shortened to Cuprum. There may be insufficient reserves to sustain current high rates of copper consumption. Some countries, such as Chile and the United States, still have sizable reserves of the metal which are extracted through large open pit mines.
Copper compounds are known in several oxidation states, usually 2+, where they often impart blue or green colors to natural minerals such as turquoise and have been used historically widely as pigments. Copper as both metal and pigmented salt, has a significant presence in decorative art. Copper 2+ ions are soluble in water, where they function at low concentration as bacteriostatic substances and fungicides. For this reason, copper metal can be used as an anti-germ surface that can add to the anti-bacterial and antimicrobial features of buildings such as hospitals. In sufficient amounts, copper salts can be poisonous to higher organisms as well. However, despite universal toxicity at high concentrations, the 2+ copper ion at lower concentrations is an essential trace nutrient to all higher plant and animal life. In animals, including humans, it is found widely in tissues, with concentration in liver, muscle, and bone. It functions as a co-factor in various enzymes and in copper-based pigments.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA