You can get a bunch of Anker charging products for up to 40 percent off on Amazon for today only. The e-commerce website has added several Anker-branded devices to its deal of the day offerings, including a wireless power bank, a charging station, wall chargers, a car adapter and a power cord. If you're looking for a portable wireless charger, Anker's PowerCore 10,000mAh is now available for $25.19, down almost $11 from its usual price of $36. It's compatible with Qi-certified devices — simply place them on the center of the pad to get a 5W wireless charge. You can also use the powerbank for wired charging through its USB ports if you need more power in a short span of time.

If you don't need wireless charging, you can also get Anker's PowerCore Slim 10000mAh Portable Charger in green for $20. It has a USB-C port capable of 18W in output and a USB-A port, giving it the capability to charge two devices simultaneously. The sale also includes a GaN wall charger with a 30W output that can be used with all USB-C devices, including the now-defunct 12-inch MacBook. It's powered by GaN, which it means it uses gallium nitride instead of silicon. Anker says that made it possible to make the device so small, since GaN enabled it to create a higher efficiency charger that generates less heat. The product is now on sale for $21, down from its usual price of $30.

The other products in the list include a 36W USB Type C car adapter that you can use for in-vehicle charging. It comes with Anker's PowerIQ 3.0 technology to make it capable of speedy charging and will set you back $24, or $14 less its usual price. There's also a 3-in-1 Multi-Device Wireless Charging Station, which you can use to charge a phone wirelessly while also charging two other devices via its USB ports. It will set you back $30, down from $43. You can grab a couple of cables and an extension cord from the sale, as well — just take note that the promo ends in 18 hours or so, as of this writing.

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Many efforts are underway to reduce the environmental impact of cars, but what about the tires those cars ride on? Continental thinks it might help. Roadshowreports the company has introduced the Conti GreenConcept (yes, a concept tire) where more than half of the materials are "traceable, renewable and recycled." You can even renew the natural rubber tread with little trouble — not a completely new idea, but refreshable treads have generally been reserved for large commercial trucks. Three renewals would be enough to ensure the material used for casing is cut in half relative to the total mileage.

About 35 percent of the materials are renewables, including dandelion rubber, silicate made from rice husk ash and a string of vegetable oils and resins. Another 17 percent is polyester yarn made from recycled PET bottles, reclaimed steel and recovered carbon black.

The design should improve the efficiency of the cars themselves, Continental added. New casing, sidewall and tread patterns make the GreenConcept about 40 percent lighter than a conventional tire at about 16.5lbs, That, in turn, leads to 25 percent lower rolling resistance than the highest-rated tires in the EU. Continental estimates you'd get six percent more range from an electric vehicle.

While you might not outfit your car with these exact tires any time soon, this is more than just a thought exercise. Continental plans to gradually deploy its recycling technology starting in 2022, including the production of tires using recycled bottles. 

Efforts like the Conti GreenConcept are partly meant to burnish Continental's public image. It wants to be the most environmentally responsible tire company by 2030, and become completely carbon-neutral by 2050 "at the latest." However, it also hints at a more holistic approach to eco-friendly cars where many components, not just the powertrain, are kinder to the planet.

Europe might be making progress on reducing emissions, but its largest utility company doesn't think officials are moving quickly enough. Reutersreports Enel has issued a study warning Europe could be late on reducing greenhouse gas emissions if it continues at its "current pace." The European Union wants to reduce those emissions by 55 percent by 2030, Enel said, but it reportedly won't reach that target until 2051 without substantial changes.

The continent also wouldn't meet its 40 percent renewable energy goal (also set for 2030) until 2043, according to the study.

The utility suggested the EU would need to invest roughly €3.6 trillion (just under $4.3 trillion) to meet the 2030 emissions goal. Officials would also need to institute governance better-suited to the challenge, with an ability to quickly turn plans into "concrete action." This would included tighter coordination between EU member states as well as a more regional strategy to foster better market integration.

There was little doubt the Union would need to rethink its strategy. The 55 percent emissions reduction goal was a significant leap from the earlier 40 percent target. Enel also has a strong incentive here — additional spending would likely help Enel's renewable energy business. The findings might help quantify just how much work needs to be done, however, and the EU may well listen to a major energy supplier when it asks for more aggressive clean energy adoption.

Working since 2017 with Tokyo’s Waseda University, Nissan says it has developed and recently started testing a new recycling process that represents a more efficient and cost-effective way of recovering rare-earth metals from electric motors.

The process itself involves heating a used motor to 1,400 degrees Celsius (approximately 2,552 degrees Fahrenheit) so that it melts down. The company then adds an iron oxide to the mixture to oxidize the rare-earth metals, followed by a borate-based flux. The latter substance causes the molten mixture to separate into two liquid layers, with the rare-earth metals floating to the top of the mixture where they can be easily removed.

In testing, Nissan claims it’s been able to recover 98 percent of a motor’s rare-earth elements using the new recycling process. The entire procedure also takes about half as much time as manually disassembling a motor, which is what Nissan currently does to recycle rare-earth metals. The company hopes to implement the process by the mid-2020s.

Nissan

If we’re to have any chance to address the climate crisis, finding new and novel ways to recycle and reuse rare-earth metals will be vital. The 17 minerals that make up the rare-earth group are critical to making electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines. A 2018 study by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure found a shortage of rare-earth metals is likely to limit the world’s ability to meet the emission reduction targets set out by the Paris climate agreement.

Safaris can help you see nature, but they also tend to disrupt nature — the loud, smelly vehicles involved can disturb animals and hurt the environment in the process. They're quickly becoming less intrusive, however. Reutersnotes that the Kenyan-Swedish firm Opibus is converting diesel and gas safari vehicles in Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve into electric models. 

The converted EVs are not only quieter, but don't rumble or spew foul odors that might alarm animals. Many of the other benefits of electric cars apply here, too. Opibus' conversions don't produce CO2 emissions, and the company claims that electric motors cut operating costs in half by ditching fuel (and, we'd add, the quirks of combustion engines).

Opibus is the only company performing these conversions in Kenya, and it has only electrified 10 vehicles so far. There are also practical challenges to deploying safari EVs. African electrical grids aren't always reliable, and charging an EV in a nature reserve isn't as simple as finding a public station. There's also the simple matter of range — safari companies can't necessarily afford hours of downtime to recharge vehicles in between tours.

Even so, it's easy to imagine EVs finding widespread adoption in Kenya, South Africa and other countries where safari tourism is vital. The less intrusive the vehicles are, the more likely it is that wildlife will continue unimpeded. That's good for both the animals and the tourists hoping to spot elephants and lions that might otherwise stay away.

It's no longer possible to prevent the planet from heating over the next 20 to 30 years, and some of the changes global warming is bringing about are now impossible to undo in the short term, according to a new report from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The document represents the most comprehensive analysis of the physical science behind climate change ever amassed in human history. The 284 scientists who worked on the project spent eight years examing data from more than 14,000 studies. They say human activity is "unequivocally" behind the Earth's rapidly changing climate.

Since the mid-19th century, the planet's temperature has increased by 1.1 degrees Celsius, or 2 degrees Fahrenheit, as a direct result of greenhouse gas emissions related to humans burning coal, oil and other fossil fuels for energy. We've already seen the effects a warmer planet can have on humans. It was only earlier this summer that parts of Canada and the US Pacific Northwest suffered through a sweltering and unprecedented heatwave that melted power cables, buckled roads and killed people.

"Many of the changes observed in the climate are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years, and some of the changes already set in motion — such as continued sea level rise — are irreversible over hundreds to thousands of years," the IPCC said.

Unless governments commit to sharply reducing emissions, limiting warming to the targets established in the Paris Climate Agreement will be "beyond reach," the report warns. With a 1.5 degree Celsius increase in global temperatures, there will be more frequent and life-threatening heat waves, droughts that leave millions struggling to find water and continued sea level rise that will likely displace coastal communities across the globe.

"We can expect a significant jump in extreme weather over the next 20 or 30 years," Piers Forster, one of the climate scientists who contributed to the report, told The New York Times. "Things are unfortunately likely to get worse than they are today."

Reiterating past UN reports, the IPCC also warned a 3 degree or even 4 degree Celsius increase in global temperatures would be catastrophic. With every additional degree of warming, there's a greater risk of the planet passing specific tipping points that could lead to even dramatic changes to the climate. According to the IPCC, drastic reductions in emissions can limit the worse effects of climate change and keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. However, it could take between 20 to 80 years to see global temperatures stabilize.

The report will be front and center when diplomats travel to Glasgow, Scotland, to attend the UN's COP26 summit on climate change. As one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases globally, the US can play a significant role in what happens next. After rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, President Biden pledged America would cut its greenhouse emissions in half by 2030. Now more than ever, it's time to take action.

President Biden is throwing more of his weight behind electric cars. Biden is signing an Executive Order that sets a target for half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 to have some form of zero-emissions driving, whether it's a pure EV, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The move is meant to not only promote clean transportation and limit climate change, but help the US "outcompete" a Chinese car industry that's quickly shifting toward electrified vehicles.

In sync with the order, the EPA and NHTSA will outline how they plan to undo the Trump administration's rollbacks of emissions and fuel efficiency standards. The two agencies will collaborate using standards built on the "momentum" from an agreement between California and automakers BMW, Ford, Honda, Volvo and VW. The EPA's proposed rules would take effect in the 2023 model year, while the NHTSA's would arrive in the 2024 model year. The team-up would have the standards mesh until model year 2026.

The Biden administration has rallied support from domestic brands for the effort. Ford, GM and Stellantis have declared a "shared aspiration" to meet the 2030 target and otherwise support Biden's vehicle electrification policies.

It's a significant goal. EVs have represented about 2 percent of US car sales for the past three years, according to the International Energy Agency and Pew Research. While the pandemic might have played a role in limiting 2020 sales, meeting the 2030 target would fundamentally transform the US car market, not to mention the charging infrastructure needed to support it.

However, it might drag behind some states, not to mention car makers. California and Massachusetts will ban all sales of new gas-based cars by 2035. GM also plans to exclusively sell EVs by that year, while Ford will go completely electric in Europe by 2030. Brands like Volvo and Stellantis' Fiat badge have also committed to full electrification by 2030. However ambitious the Biden plan might be, it could seem relatively modest in some respects.

Heatworks has at long last opened pre-orders for the Tetra, a countertop dishwasher the company unveiled to some fanfare at CES 2018. Since the Tetra doesn't require any plumbing, the only thing you need to connect it to is an electrical outlet. The appliance has a three-liter tank you fill with water manually. Once the cycle (which takes less than an hour on the shortest setting) is complete, you disconnect the greywater tank and pour out the used water.

The dishwasher can wash and dry three place settings worth of dishes per load. On the surface, it might seem wasteful compared with cleaning those plates, cups and utensils manually, not to mention the counter space the machine will hog. However, Heatworks claims the machine requires less water than handwashing and rinsing the dishes. 

There are several settings, including a "fruit" one for washing produce. In addition, the dishwasher uses recyclable cartridges with concentrated detergent in an attempt to reduce waste.

The Tetra also requires less power than a standard dishwasher, according to the company. To heat up water, Heatworks uses Ohmic Array Technology, as Gizmodo notes. The Tetra takes a microwave-style approach to heating water rather than harnessing traditional metal elements. It uses graphite electrodes and "advanced electronic controls" to excite natural minerals in water. That setup allows the Tetra to efficiently heat water and maintain precise temperature control, according to Heatworks.

While there are other countertop dishwashers that don't need a plumbing connection, the Tetra has a smaller water tank than many of its rivals. Farberware's FDW05ASBWHA model (which is currently $340) has a five-liter capacity. The Tetra may heat water more efficiently than other models as well.

The Tetra will typically cost $499, but Heatworks is offering a $100 discount to those who lock in a preorder now. The detergent cartridges will cost around $6 each and they should be good for 20 loads depending on the setting and load capacity. Heatworks expects to start shipping the Tetra by May 18th, 2022, which is No Dirty Dishes Day.

The lifetime emissions of an electric car versus a gasoline vehicle has become an intensely debated topic for governments. A new study that compares the climate impact of passenger cars could play a pivotal role in the argument. The report claims that electric cars produce far fewer greenhouse gas emissions "from the cradle to the grave" than their gas-guzzling counterparts. According to the study, the core result is the same globally, even when applied to countries like China and India, where the majority of the electricity to recharge an EV comes from coal.

The findings are a rebuke for voices in the automotive and oil lobbying industries that still claim that electric cars are no cleaner than gas-powered vehicles. It arrives as governments are trying to cement their environmental policies in line with the Paris Agreement. Finalized in 2015, the climate change accord saw 143 countries, including the US, agree to limit global temperature increases to less than 2 degrees Celsius. To help meet that target, Washington state and California have proposed banning the sale of new gasoline cars from 2030 and 2035, respectively.

The study conducted by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) examined the entire life-cycles of EVs and gasoline cars, from extracting raw materials to production to their eventual disposal. Researchers examined the greenhouse gas emissions from the vehicle and fuel types in four territories that together account for 70 percent of new car sales worldwide: the US, the EU, China and India.

For cars registered in 2021, the report found that lifetime emissions for a medium-sized EV in Europe are between 66 and 69 percent lower compared to that of a gasoline vehicle in the same category. In the US, an EV produces between 60 to 68 percent fewer emissions. In China, an EV results in between 37 to 45 percent fewer emissions. In India, it’s between 19 to 34 percent lower.

By 2030, the gap between EVs and gas-guzzlers is tipped to increase to 74 percent to 77 percent in Europe, 62 percent to 76 percent in the US, 48 percent to 64 percent in China, and 30 percent to 56 percent in India. 

Notably, the researchers assume that a vehicle will be on the road for around 18 years. They also state that the gap between the figures reflects the uncertainty around how the energy mix in each region develops, which itself is tied to future policies.

“One important result of the analysis is to show that life-cycle emissions trends are similar in all four regions, despite the differences among them in vehicle mix, grid mix, and so on. Already for cars registered today, [battery electric vehicles] have better relative [greenhouse gas] emissions performance everywhere than conventional vehicles,” said ICCT deputy director Rachel Muncrief.

There are still caveats, however. Though EVs cut back on carbon emissions over time, they inevitably take a toll on the environment. By one recent estimate, you'll need to drive a new EV thirteen and a half thousand miles before you're doing less harm than a gas-guzzling saloon.

With the US back in the Paris climate accord, President Joe Biden has the lofty goal of decarbonizing the US power grid by 2035. As part of that plan, the Department of Energy (DoE) has announced that it's rolling out a new tool that will make it much easier and faster to get a permit for a rooftop solar installation. 

The cost of solar has plunged 90 percent over past decade, but permit-related costs can take up to a third of the price of a rooftop installation. On top of that, with solar permitting varying widely around the US, some customers must wait months to get approval, the DoE wrote. 

The Solar Automated Permit Processing (SolarAPP+) platform will supposedly solve those issues, becoming the standard portal for local governments to process permit applications. It automatically checks codes to ensure safety while generating a standardized inspection checklist that installers and inspectors can use to verify compliance in the field. 

We have 3 million households today that have solar on their roofs, but the potential is so much greater.

The government piloted the SolarAPP+ program in four communities around Arizona and California: Tucson and Pima County in Arizona, and Menifee and Pleasant Valley in the California. "In Tucson, for example, SolarAPP+ reduced permitting reviews from approximately 20 business days to zero," according to the DoE. 

"We have 3 million households today that have solar on their roofs, but the potential is so much greater," DoE's solar energy director told Reuters. "Having streamlined processes and an automated permitting platform that can make it faster, easier and cheaper for homeowners to go solar promises to really help expand the residential solar sector."

Local governments and installers can now sign up to get started with the app, or attend webinars listed on the DoE's blog. All of that is part of the DoE's Summer of Solar campaign which includes research by the agency aimed at lowering soft costs (design, siting, permitting, installation, etc.) associated with rooftop solar power.