It is a technological megatrend providing billion dollar business opportunities. The unique new IDTechEx Research report "Smart Materials as Structural Electronics and Electrics 2019-2029" explains how structural materials can be electronically, electrically, mechanically, magnetically and optically smart nowadays.

This article concerns TactoTek in Oulu Finland and how its technologies can scale up and create billion dollar businesses.

The key next iteration for fiber reinforced polymer products will be the concept of multifunctionality. This is the idea of making a structural part carry out additional role(s) beyond their current primary mechanical task - the market for smart composite material is forecast to exceed 5 kilotons by 2029.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Tuesday 2 October titled Fuel Cell Vehicles

This is a technological megatrend. Dumb load-bearing metal structures move to plastic and composite and incorporate energy harvesting and storage material - massless energy. Indeed you could call some of it negative mass energy. Goodbye components-in-a-box.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Thursday 20 September titled Smart City Opportunities.

IDTechEx Research has just published a new report 'Fuel Cell Vehicles 2019-2029'. Fuel cells are commercially successful in stationary applications but commercially unsuccessful in vehicles, beyond a few thousand purchased for material handling vehicles, notably forklifts.

There are two opposing views on storm survival by the new forms of sea power that are mobile and need no massive concrete and steel infrastructure unlike massive river dams, tidal barrages a offshore conventional wind towers.

AWE should be seen as part of a bigger picture. The next generation of zero emission electricity producing technologies has no huge steel and concrete infrastructure, so it can have much less cost and installation time and making it redeployable.

With most of the big players posting healthy figures in Q2, diesel genset revenues are showing continued growth throughout 2018. Are these results a sign of things to come or are they merely delaying an inevitable future decline?

Consumer batteries such as those used in power tools, mobile phones and laptops are normally recycled/disposed after their service life - that's what we normally refer to as the 'end-of-life' of the batteries. However, retired car batteries that are no longer suitable for electric cars could still hold sufficient capacity for second life applications. The 'end-of-life' of an electric car battery needs to be redefined as they could be further used, for example, for another 10 years or even longer in various post-vehicle applications before they are finally recycled/disposed.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Thursday 6 September titled Energy Harvesting Microwatt to Megawatt: New Objectives, New Solutions.

The Advanced Automotive Battery Conference (AABC) is a global series of conferences for companies and academics to present their latest research on Li-ion batteries for the auto industry. Every year it is held in Europe, the U.S. and Asia.

Magically, next generation electricity production continuous (base) electricity production can avoid the massive concrete and steel structures currently used for nuclear power stations with their 1000 year fuel rod problem.

There has been a resurgence in interest and activity surrounding fuel cell technologies for stationary storage applications in 2018. In this premium article, IDTechEx looks at the most suitable technologies for off-grid power and explores the chemistry behind the use of ammonia as an off-grid fuel source in more detail.

The term smart city originally meant little beyond using much more information technology IT. However, new IDTechEx report, "Smart City Opportunities: Infrastructure, Systems, Materials 2019-2029" reveals that much more dramatic changes are both required and possible and humans will be in the driving seat.

The lead acid battery industry repeats a mantra that almost all of them are recycled and they are by far the lowest cost solution for cars and much else besides. Many forces now question and begin to change this.

Organic photovoltaics were once considered the next generation of photovoltaic technology. They had huge hype because they had a seductive value proposition: R2R printing of high-performance, robust and flexible solar cells over large areas using low-cost materials and low CapEx high-throughput equipment. progress

IDTechEx is hosting a free webinar on Thursday 9 August titled - River, Wave and Tidal Power Reinvented: A Bright Future.

Cleantech Hub reports that a mere 13% of lead acid batteries are recycled in Nigeria. Yet there is a mini-grid revolution about to take off in Nigeria, such as the World Bank and the Rural Electrification Agency $350 million project as well as other investments into the sector, driving more batteries.