Using Ice to Store Solar Energy

Storing solar energy between sunset and sunrise is a huge challenge. 

Lithium-ion batteries are the prevailing technology for storing solar energy and assuring grid stability. Still, they cannot be a lasting solution because the resulting mountains of lithium waste are hard to mitigate.

Israeli startup Nostromo Energy decided to meet that challenge by using an unlikely substance: water.

Nostromo has R&D projects with Royal Dutch Shell and the Israel Electric Corporation and partnerships with several American engineering companies. 

Under a 20-year agreement with the Hilton Beverly Hills, the 1.4 megawatt-hour energy storage system IceBrick has been installed inside the luxury hotel Beverly Hilton; this system will also serve the adjacent Waldorf Astoria. It is set to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 150 to 200 metric tons annually – more than 5,000 metric tons for the lifetime of the system – as well as supply energy for cooling at less than half its current cost.

An IceBrick was installed on the roof of Medinol, a Jerusalem-based cardiac stent developer and manufacturer. The 600-kWh system contains 48 cells of encapsulated ice connected to the charging chiller, providing critical backup to Medinol’s clean rooms cooling system.

Thanks to Nostromo's acceptance into the Anheuser-Busch InBev 100+ Accelerator in 2021, it will have the opportunity to pilot its solution in about 20 countries. The company won one of 36 spots from a field of 1,300 applicants.

Source: Israel21c

In Groundbreaking Research, Tel Aviv U Team Records Plants "Talking" For First Time

Scientists have known for quite some time that plants communicate with each other.

But here's what they didn't know...until now. 

Israeli scientists as Tel Aviv University discovered that plants have actual words they use, and they speak to each other in different languages, depending on their species.

It's been commonly known that plants communicate in various ways when they're stressed. They may wilt, turn yellow, become bitter to taste, and even emit detectable smells. They can also respond to sound by increasing the sugar concentration in their nectar to lure nearby pollinators. 

But this Israeli study is the first time plants have been detected talking with a series of sounds they emit.

It's presumed that these sounds are detected by nearby animals, such as bats, and that plants communicate about water scarcity or injury.

For instance, tomato plants were recorded making sounds after being watered, as they started to dry up.

Turns out that a luscious field of roses in bloom can be a rather noisy place...who knew?

 

 Read more about it here.

Off to water my own plants so they don't scream, till next time!

J

Israeli Police Response to Animal Rights a Stark Contrast to That of B.C. Police: Kelowna Activist

A Kelowna-based animal rights activist who was charged and found guilty of breaking and entering after being placed under arrested at a hog farm protest in Abbotsford was granted permission to fly to Israel, where she participated in another animal rights protest.

During her stay in Israel, Soranno partook of a protest at a chicken hatchery that practices a cruel, but widely used (and legal) technique to eliminate unfit chicks.

On Christmas Day, approximately 100 activists with Meat the Victims Israel broke into and occupied a hatchery in Gan HaShomron at approximately 6 a.m. Soranno did not personally enter the hatchery.

Soranno said that some members of the group quickly grabbed approximately 20 chicks and passed them over the fence where they were “rushed to safety.” She said that another group of protesters entered the building and staged a sit-in, some gluing themselves to the machine used to kill unfit chicks, called the macerator. The remaining activists stood outside the hatchery to protest and draw attention.

Their protest did manage to temporarily halt the scheduled killing of day-old baby chicks, who are too small or weak to be grown for meat.

Soranno has a criminal record for breaking into a hog farm for a protest, but she said that she feels a deep sense of responsibility to keep fighting for the rights and well-being of animals. 

She also said that she has begun exploring options for non-violent activism internationally because of the “aggressive nature of Canada’s legal and political reaction to animal activists.”

Yet in Israel, Soranno said only two police officers responded to the hatchery protest and worked hard to facilitate productive negotiations between Meat the Victims and the hatchery employees. This discussion resulted in the hatchery releasing 35 chicks that had been scheduled to be killed, and no arrests were made.

She went on to say that Israeli law enforcement’s ability to keep a non-violent protest from escalating is a very stark contrast to the Abbotsford police’s response to similar protests in Canada, where all available officers were called to the Abbotsford farm and Soranno, together with other activists, were arrested. She said that in Canada, she has also been placed under arrest for planning a protest before it even began.

Meat the Victims left the facility with 55 chicks that were scheduled to be macerated. These chicks will be raised at a sanctuary for the remainder of their natural lives.

Protest to protect the lives of animals is permitted and respected in Israel in a way that it really is not in Canada, according to Soranno.

Read all about it here.

 

Off to gather some whole grain bread and treats to feed the seagulls and pigeons at the beach, till next time!

J