The world's first conference on energy independent electric vehicles took place at the Technical University of Delft 27-28 September. It was well timed because many major new versions are about to hit the market addressing major global challenges.

Cast your mind back a few years and you will find a conductive ink business that appeared very mature and slow moving. Then everything began to change...

New Zealand leads the world in zero emission renewable grid electricity now at 85%. With a nice balance between geothermal, hydroelectric, unusually continuous wind power and some solar, the country has less intermittency of green power than most.

As the world's first conference on Energy Independent Electric Vehicles approaches on September 27-28 in the Technical University of Delft Netherlands, key players, all of whom are speaking at the event, have been announcing some remarkable new developments.

Analyst IDTechEx has long appraised the auto industry as consisting of those leading the move to pure electric powertrains such as Tesla, Renault + Nissan, Yutong and BYD of China, those only recently giving it major emphasis such as Toyota, Jaguar Land Rover, Volkswagen (under duress) and Daimler and those almost in denial such as Fiat Chrysler, Mazda and Suzuki, their pure electric activity being more of a gesture than a serious activity.

While grid load from electric vehicles is expected to rise in the near future. Engineers are already looking for solutions to make electric vehicles function independently of the grid.

Once we had rows of ugly stalks along the roadside that took your coins for parking - or more often failed to take your coins for parking. Unloved, they have now largely gone and no one mourns their passing. Unfortunately, in

Ceramic Metal Composites (CMC) and Metal Matrix Composites (MMC) are not new concepts, but they have never reached their potential.

This article covers the challenges companies involved in thermoelectric energy harvesting have faced and possible areas of development in the future.

After several years of excitement, investment and growing interest in thermoelectrics and their potential in energy harvesting applications, it's now time to clearly look at what's hype and what's reality, and the technology developers in the field know that well.

Off-grid power has been in decline. Widely seeing it as the poor man's option, users have aspired to get beyond it to the more secure, "troublefree" world of on-grid - or so they believed.

Electric vehicles are the future and ones that make their own electricity are the end game for these.

This article works through the issues facing the development of thermoelectric harvesting, including high power, modular thermoelectric technology and turnkey thermoelectric generators.

All the publicity currently goes to the race to make regular and premium cars have longer range

There is more energy to harvest at sea. True, water craft have stronger resistance to overcome but on balance, it means that energy independent electric boats are more common than their equivalents on land or in the air and they have lessons for both.

IDTechEx's free, expert led webinars provide up-to-date insights on the latest emerging technology trends. You can now access these at a time that suits you, for up to one month.

This article charts the development of water vehicles towards energy independence.

IDTechEx is hosting a free webinar on Tuesday 22 August.

RethinkX and Barclays Research have issued carefully prepared research concluding that the global peak for cars will be in only a few years. Analysts IDTechEx say around 2030. Most experts see it as inevitable.

It is now becoming clear that the appalling emissions from ships that cause global warming and local injuries can be virtually eliminated.