Today’s Solutions: April 23, 2024

Transportation

From autonomous EVs to electric planes, from hydrogen trains to biofuel transportation, check out the most recent developments on how we’re moving transportation towards a more sustainable future in the good news section below.

Three-masted schooner sailing at sea on clear sunny day

How a century-old cargo schooner is bringing back emissions-free shipping

The shipping industry is responsible for 2.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions — putting about 940 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere every year. Before 1960, however, when containerization started to take off, cargo schooners were transporting goods around the world Read More...

Transportation across states

US cities work together to create network of abortion safe havens

After a draft of a US Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe V. Wade was leaked, people across the country now worry about the future of their ability to access safe abortions.  A collective of city and state leaders across the United States are working together to create a facilitative network Read More...

Electric Vehicle Battery

US announces $3 billion electric vehicle battery production

We at The Optimist Daily are enormous electric vehicle fans, and we’re not the only ones. Demand for electric vehicles has risen so sharply around the world that manufacturers and supply chains are struggling to keep up.  To help things along, state and federal governments are stepping up to Read More...

Assembly of giant wind turbine in Utah

Wind turbine components to be 3D printed on-site soon

When it comes to the design of wind turbines, the bigger they are, the better — at least in terms of cost savings and energy efficiency. However, one of the hurdles of building larger wind turbines is the challenging task of transporting these giant pieces of machinery to the site of Read More...

MIT scientists develop accurate behavior-predicting model for autonomous cars

How autonomous cars may predict road behavior in the future

To safely deploy autonomous vehicles on our roads, we first must ensure that they can accurately predict the movement of pedestrians, cyclists, and other fellow drivers. With so many people and vehicles on the roads today, though, behavior prediction can be a really daunting task. MIT researchers Read More...

California Freeways

California unveils strategy to take gas-powered cars off the road

California is well-known for frustrating traffic gridlock and making green leaps forward. With growing wildfires, Californians know too well the importance of switching to renewable energy and electrical cars, and it’s with this in mind that the state’s taken on its newest Read More...

Shipping container lifted by crane at port

This startup proves that electric cargo ships actually make sense

Designing solutions targeting the shipping industry’s humongous carbon footprint is key to ensuring a sustainable future for sea transport. While we’ve seen such solutions in ships that replaced fossil fuels with hydrogen, most experts argue that it’s not feasible to design electric cargo Read More...

sales man shows young client how to plug in electric car

Last month, the UK saw more EV sales than ever before

It’s no secret that if we are to prevent the most devastating effects of climate change, we have to make big changes to our consumption-driven lives. One change that will help drive down CO2 emissions is the large-scale abandonment of conventionally fueled vehicles in favor of electric Read More...

Carbon Crusher vehicle that crushes old roads for recycling

This startup uses a plant-derived material to make roads carbon negative

Similar to building new roads, repairing existing ones is not an environmentally friendly endeavor. One of the main problems is bitumen, a fossil fuel-derived binder that holds asphalt together. A startup in Norway is recycling old roads using a plant-based binder instead, a process that could Read More...

The Red Planet

Refueling on Mars: making biofuel from astronaut wastewater

As space exploration develops further, scientists and engineers are innovating more outlandish ways for humans to survive beyond our planet. What was once magic becomes science as experts think outside the box and brilliantly repurpose resources in closed environments, such as growing lettuce in Read More...