From Android Authority:
Singapore-based BMX has announced that its SolidSafe magnetic power bank lineup, first showcased at CES 2026, is now available for purchase through its website and Amazon US, with prices starting at $59. What sets these power banks apart is their use of semi-solid-state batteries. Traditional lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries rely on liquid electrolytes to move energy between electrodes. Semi-solid-state batteries significantly reduce the amount of flammable liquid inside the cell, improving thermal stability and lowering the risk of overheating, swelling, or fire...
BMX says the power banks are designed to remain stable under extreme conditions and show greater resistance to physical damage and thermal stress than conventional battery packs. The company has also launched the SolidSafe Air, a 5,000mAh magnetic power bank that it claims is the world's thinnest semi-solid-state Qi2 power bank... BMX is positioning the device as a travel-friendly alternative for users who want added safety and the convenience of a magnetic battery pack without the bulk.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader destinyland for sharing the article.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Just over a year ago, the Trump Administration issued an executive order meant to accelerate the development of nuclear power in the US. While an entire startup ecosystem has developed around the use of different -- and typically smaller -- reactor designs, only one of them has been fully licensed so far, and there are no plans to actually build any instances of that design.
The executive order directed the Department of Energy to have three different reactor designs reach criticality in a bit over a year. On Thursday, a startup called Antares announced that a test reactor it had placed at the Idaho National Laboratory had reached criticality, making it the first new design to cross this threshold. Criticality means that the nuclear reactions inside the hardware had become self sustaining; it does not mean the reactor had started to generate power. [...]
At the moment, Antares is just testing what it calls a Mark 0 reactor, which is not connected to the power-generation portion. Instead, it's being used to validate the company's modeling of the physical conditions in its reactors and generate safety data that can be used during licensing applications. Attempts to run the entire system, including electrical generation, are expected to happen next year. While the work was done at a Department of Energy Lab, the company is working with the Department of Defense's Project Pele program for developing a mobile nuclear reactor. The company has also received support from NASA.
Waymo and B2U Storage Solutions have struck a "strategic supply agreement" to repurpose used batteries from Waymo's electric robotaxi fleet into stationary storage for California and Texas power grids. The arrangement could give robotaxi batteries a second life storing renewable energy after they're no longer suitable for vehicle use. It will also "support B2U projects in regions where Waymo's autonomous robotaxis operate -- meaning the used Waymo batteries could bolster the local power grids that Waymo vehicles rely upon for charging," reports Ars Technica. From the report: Waymo's "proactive maintenance" for its autonomous vehicles includes identifying opportunities to "refresh the battery to improve efficiency overall for our fleet," Adam Lenz, head of sustainability and environment at Waymo, told Ars. "That's when we look to these second-life applications, because there's still a lot of life left in the battery," he said.
Waymo did not specify the average mileage at which it swaps out batteries or retires vehicles from service. But Waymo robotaxis drive around much more each day than the typical EV, which means the Waymo fleet is likely to experience faster usage-related degradation of battery capacity over time. The company confirmed to Ars that "some of these vehicles have now been serving riders for years and have mileage beyond what a normal consumer drives."
[...] "Put a little haircut on that in terms of degradation and the effective capacity that would be left in those batteries when they're suitable for repurposing, and we're still talking about pretty significant capacity per battery," Hall said. The growing Waymo robotaxi fleet could lead to "pretty large numbers in terms of megawatt hours of capacity that can be deployed pretty quickly" for stationary energy storage supporting power grids, he suggested.
The agreement gives Waymo discretion over when and how many used batteries will be turned over to B2U. But the companies confirmed that B2U has "already started receiving smaller initial quantities of batteries" from the Waymo fleet. Over time, the agreement could give B2U "hundreds of megawatt-hours" of additional storage capacity from Waymo's thousands of electric vehicles, Lenz said.
New EU battery rules taking effect early next year are pushing tech makers toward user-replaceable batteries in products like headphones, e-readers, handheld consoles, laptops, and possibly earbuds. But carve-outs for smartphones and tablets may mean replaceable batteries won't necessarily return to phones in the way many users remember. The Verge's Dominic Preston reports: Since the upcoming law doesn't actually come into force until February 18th, 2027, companies still have plenty of time to get their ducks in a row. Still, it's likely that before then we'll see more and more manufacturers launch products with user-replaceable batteries, across audio, e-readers, gaming handhelds, and more. Only time will tell whether most of those products are EU only, or whether the new European laws shape the nature of tech worldwide.
It's likely that some product categories will move slower than others. Tech companies will have breathed a sigh of relief that wearables look likely to be exempt, but if wireless earbuds aren't carved out as well then there may be a scramble to adapt the miniature designs for easy replaceability. "The in-ear form factor demands extreme miniaturization, to fit the driver, antenna, processor, microphones and battery," notes a recent report from consultants Futuresource, going on to suggest that meeting the requirements will make earbuds both bigger and more expensive to manufacture.
There also remains uncertainty about how some elements of the law will be interpreted. The law requires that user repairs be possible using "commercially available tools," which are "tools available on the market to all end-users." Right to Repair Europe's Alberico points out that this is a broad definition, likely to include a lot of tools not found in most houses, so there will likely be nothing to stop manufacturers requiring the sorts of less common screws that require dedicated electronics tool kits. There's also no strict definition of the "reasonable" price that manufacturers are required to set for spare parts. "That will likely take time -- and possibly litigation -- to clarify in practice," Alberico says. "But without fair access to affordable spare parts, repair will struggle to become the simplest and most attractive option for consumers."
The big disappointment is that the separate phone and tablet legislation means we won't see any real changes there, so long as manufacturers make their batteries and devices durable. "This creates a false tradeoff between durability and repairability," Alberico says. "Robust, waterproof devices should not have to come at the expense of user-replaceable batteries. While the ecodesign legislation requirements meant an improvement in battery durability and replaceability, at Right to Repair Europe we'll continue to advocate for all products to be designed with user-replaceable batteries." Whether the EU will listen remains to be seen. Otherwise, the main product people seem to want to replace the battery in may remain one of the only ones where they can't.
Texas is adding another large solar project as ERCOT electricity demand rises. According to Electrek, Vesper Energy has secured $236 million in financing for its 201 MW Nazareth Solar farm in Swisher County, which will be capable of generating enough electricity for about 53,000 homes. The project is expected to begin construction in June 2026 and come online in fall 2027. From the report: Nazareth Solar will sit on more than 2,400 acres of private land and generate enough electricity to power around 53,000 homes annually. The project will neighbor Vesper's Hornet Solar (pictured above), another large solar farm the company developed. ERCOT faces growing demand from population growth, industrial expansion, and power-hungry data centers. And despite political attacks on renewables, solar continues getting built in this red state because it's one of the fastest and cheapest ways to add new electricity to the grid.
Vesper says the project will bring new tax revenue to local schools, infrastructure, and emergency services, along with construction jobs and long-term operations roles. Participating landowners are also expected to receive long-term lease income from the solar farm.
Almost a fifth of the earth's population lives in Africa. And Africa's next generation of power projects "is increasingly being built around solar and wind power and battery storage," reports the Associated Press, "as governments and investors shift away from coal and large hydropower dams in search of cheaper, faster and more reliable electricity."
The shift is visible in a $1.5 billion energy agreement between China and Zambia announced in early May that includes three separate 300-megawatt projects spanning solar, wind and coal-fired power. While the inclusion of coal underscores the continent's continuing need for stable baseload electricity, African countries facing rising fuel import bills as a result of the Iran war, unreliable grids and growing industrial demand are increasingly turning to renewable energy projects that can be deployed faster and more cheaply than traditional plants.
Of the 322 energy projects announced across Africa in 2025, 173 were solar projects, followed by hydropower at 46, wind at 34, gas at 22 and hybrid energy projects at 14, according to the energy research firm Electron Intelligence... Utility-scale solar power costs have dropped by nearly 90% globally since 2010, while onshore wind costs have fallen around 70%, making renewables the cheapest source of new electricity generation in many African markets...
Much of the growth is through distributed solar and battery systems installed directly in mines, factories, telecom towers and homes. "Most official statistics still measure the energy transition the old way, by counting megawatts connected to national grids," [said Matt Tilleard, CEO of CrossBoundary Energy, which invests in renewable energy in Africa]. "But solar and batteries don't need central utilities." Data from the Africa Solar Industry Association shows 23.4 gigawatts of operational solar projects had been tracked across Africa by the end of 2025. But Chinese export figures indicate 58.1 gigawatts of solar panels have been shipped to African countries since 2017, suggesting solar adoption may be growing far faster than official figures capture.
Investor Tilleard says "Renewable energy is now unequivocally the fastest, cheapest, and most bankable way to connect people, companies and economies to the megawatts they need to grow."
And the article also includes this quote from Mugwe Manga, climate finance lead at FSD Kenya. "Africa is not on the periphery of the global energy transition, it is sitting at its center. The continent holds the world's best renewable resources, and the economics have now decisively turned in favor of clean energy."
The Trump administration is planning to provide Cold War-era plutonium from dismantled nuclear warheads to nuclear startups that want to convert it into reactor fuel, arguing it could help address a looming fuel shortage for advanced reactors. Critics warn the idea raises serious nonproliferation, security, cost, and technical concerns. The New York Times reports: The plan has generated debate and some unease among nonproliferation experts. If finalized, it would mark the first time the U.S. government has made weapons-grade plutonium available to private companies. The Energy Department has more than 50 tons of surplus plutonium left over from nuclear weapons programs, and the agency had previously been planning to dilute much of that material and bury it. Some of the nuclear start-ups trying to obtain that plutonium say that transforming the waste into fuel is a better way to dispose of it.
On Tuesday, the Energy Department said that it had selected five companies to enter into "advanced negotiations" to potentially receive some surplus plutonium. That includes Oklo, a California-based nuclear power company, which plans to partner with Newcleo, a European developer of advanced nuclear reactors. Using plutonium for fuel, Oklo and Newcleo said, could solve a looming problem: Energy firms want to build a new wave of nuclear reactors, but the United States can't yet make enough conventional fuel from uranium to supply the plants. Harvesting old plutonium stockpiles could provide a short-term fix. "A lack of fuel is one of the biggest choke points in expanding nuclear power right now," said Jacob DeWitte, the chief executive of Oklo, which is developing a novel type of small reactor intended to run on plutonium. "This will help us get more nuclear power online faster."
[...] The plan is not yet final, and companies will still have to negotiate with the federal government over how to secure and transfer the plutonium. In addition to Oklo, the Energy Department said it had also selected four other companies -- Standard Nuclear, Exodys Energy, SHINE Technologies and Flibe Energy -- to enter into advanced negotiations to receive the material under its Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program, which was established last year. The program "is anticipated to help companies unlock the next level of private funding to broaden domestic nuclear fuel supplies, spur innovation on American recycling technologies, and unlock private sector funding to fuel the nation's nuclear renaissance," said Michael Goff, the principal deputy assistant secretary of nuclear energy, in a statement.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from MIT News: Currently, lithium hard rock extraction involves baking the rock at over 1,000 Celsius and chemically leaching it to extract lithium. The rest of the rock is discarded. Now, a team of researchers from MIT and elsewhere has developed a low-temperature process for extracting battery-grade lithium from the most common type of lithium-bearing mineral. The process uses a liquid reagent to dissolve the rock into the useful forms of its constituent parts: not just battery-ready lithium salts, but also smelter-grade alumina and cement-ready silica. After the minerals are extracted, the solvent and reagent can be recovered and used again so waste levels approach zero. The researchers estimate the closed-loop process is half the cost of traditional lithium hard rock extraction and could make it cost-competitive with extracting lithium from brine water. "We believe this approach is the lowest-energy, lowest-cost way of getting lithium not only out of hard rock, but period," says Yet-Ming Chiang, MIT's Kyocera Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. "That's what's motivating us to scale this. It will enable the energy transition through batteries that use lithium. This was one of the goals of The Climate Project at MIT -- to work on projects that, within a short number of years, could transition from the lab to commercialization and impact."
A paper describing the process has been published in the journal Science.
Last month saw a world first, reports Electrek. Wind and solar generated more power globally than gas:
According to new analysis from independent energy think tank Ember, wind and solar produced 22% of the world's electricity in April 2026, compared to 20% from gas. Together, the two renewable sources generated a record 531 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity during the month, 54 TWh more than gas plants generated globally, at 477 TWh...
Five years ago, in April 2021, gas generation was almost identical to today's level at 476 TWh. But back then, wind and solar combined generated just 245 TWh — less than half of what they produced this April...
Wind and solar generation increased across nearly every major market reporting April data... April tends to be the strongest month for this kind of milestone because spring weather in the Northern Hemisphere usually brings a combination of strong wind generation, rising solar output, and lower electricity demand between heating and cooling seasons. Still, the broader trend is clear. Ember's recent Global Electricity Review found that wind and solar met all global electricity demand growth in 2025.
"Governments around the world are also ramping up renewable energy targets to reduce dependence on volatile fossil fuel imports..."
An anonymous reader shared this report from Electrek:
A Nevada utility just told 49,000 Lake Tahoe residents that it's redirecting 75% of their electricity supply to data centers, and they have less than a year to find a new power source. It's one of the starkest examples yet of the AI boom's impact on everyday Americans... NV Energy needs the capacity for data centers being built by Google, Apple, and Microsoft around the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center east of Reno, according to Fortune... Data centers drove half of all US electricity demand growth last year....
That dynamic — small residential customers losing out to massive industrial electricity buyers — is exactly what's driving the broader shift to distributed solar and storage. When the grid becomes unreliable or unaffordable because of data center demand, the homeowners who have solar panels and a battery in the garage are the ones with options.
"The shift is measurable," they argue:
Third-party ownership models (leases and power purchase agreements), which still qualify for the [U.S.] commercial investment tax credit through 2027, are projected to grow 25% in 2026 and capture up to 69% of residential installations, up from roughly 45% in 2025. Homeowners aren't waiting for incentives to come back — they're finding new ways to get solar on their roofs... [A] battery that can store cheap solar energy and deploy it during peak hours is increasingly essential. California utility customers alone are adding roughly 8,000 new home batteries per month — about 100 MW of new storage capacity. Municipal programs are accelerating the trend. Ann Arbor, Michigan, recently became the first US city to directly deploy solar and battery systems on 150 homes through its city-owned utility. Vermont's Green Mountain Power is offering home batteries at little to no upfront cost. These programs signal that utilities themselves recognize the value of distributed energy.
Si je vous dis voitures suédoises, la majorité d’entre vous penseront instantanément à Volvo ! Néanmoins, il ne faudrait pas oublier que l’industrie automobile suédoise comptait également un autre constructeur prestigieux : Saab. L’ex constructeur de Trollhättan sera à l’honneur pour cet épisode. Pour ce 24ème opus, nous conter l’histoire de la première génération de 9-5.
Le difficile remplacement de la 9000
La Saab 9000 partageait sa plateforme avec la Fiat Croma, la Lancia Thema et l’Alfa Romeo 164 – (C) Saab
Lancée en 1984, la Saab 9000, qui partageait de nombreux éléments avec la Fiat Croma et la Lancia Théma, commençait à accuser le poids des années lorsque la firme de Trollhättan a enfin songé à son remplacement. Néanmoins, la santé fragile du constructeur suédois ne lui permettait plus de poursuivre l’aventure seul. C’est dans ce contexte que General Motors a pu faire l’acquisition de 50% du capital de Saab en 1990.
Le projet 640, visant à remplacer la 9000, n’a débuté qu’en 1993 sous la houlette d’Olle Gandlund. Engagé par Saab en 1964, l’homme a fait ses preuves et s’est imprégné de l’ADN de la marque. Si en interne, on veut sortir une vraie Saab s’inspirant de la 99, outre-Atlantique on songe plutôt à rationaliser les coûts. Et pour se faire, il fallait piocher dans la banque d’organe de la marque. Les Américains ne faisaient pas dans le sentimental. Ils étaient prêts à sacrifier l’identité de la marque sur l’autel de la rentabilité !
La 9-5 : vraie Saab ou une GM maquillée ?
Bienvenue à bord de la Saab 9-5. La clé de contact est bien entre les deux sièges avant – (C) Saab
Fort heureusement, les Suédois sont parvenus à imposer leur identité et à conserver des éléments indispensables à toutes Saab qui se respecte !
La clé de contact était toujours placée entre les deux sièges avant. Le black panel, hérité de l’aéronautique, était aussi de la partie. L’auto affichait également un caractère et charme typiquement scandinave avec son long capot et une ligne particulière !
La Saab 9-5 à l’assaut du Premium allemand
La Saab 9-5 a fait ses débuts lors du Salon de Francfort – (C) Saab
Cette nouvelle Saab 9-5, entendait chasser sur le terrain des BMW Série 5 E39 et des Mercedes-Benz Classe E W210. En toute logique, elle a fait sa grande première à l’occasion du Salon de Francfort, là où ses principales rivales matchaient à domicile.
Afin de se faire une place au soleil, la nouvelle berline statutaire suédoise a apporté avec elle quelques innovations, comme les sièges avant ventilés ou encore les appui-têtes actifs qui permettent d’éviter le fameux coup du lapin ! Sur le plan technique, la 9-5 est également la première Saab à adopter un train arrière multibras. A l’avant, la marque a retenu une solution plus classique avec un élément de type MacPherson.
Née sous l’ère GM, la Saab 9-5 a conservé un charme typiquement Suédois – (C) Saab
La nouvelle berline statutaire se déclinait en 4 finitions. Le ticket d’entrée se faisait via la version Pack tandis que la SE offrait plus d’équipements supplémentaires. En haut de gamme, les amateurs de sport pouvaient se tourner vers la finition Aero tandis que la Griffin se voulait plus luxueuse. Sous le capot, l’arrivée des Américains dans le capital du constructeur Suédois s’est traduite par l’utilisation de motorisations provenant de la banque d’organes General Motors.
Des moteurs connus des Saabistes
A son lancement, il y avait 4 niveaux de finition – (C) Saab
C’était notamment le cas du V6 Opel de 2962 cm3. Il n’était néanmoins pas question de le monter sans un petit traitement maison ! Comme tous les moteurs montés sur la 9-5, ce V6 se devait recevoir un turbo. Et pour faire original, ce turbo n’a été placé que sur un seul banc de cylindres ce qui en faisait, le seul V6 asymétrique au monde ! Fort de 200 ch, cette motorisation ne pouvait s’associer qu’à la transmission automatique à 4 rapports fournie par Aisin. En réalité, ce V6 n’était pas réellement une nouveauté ! Il était déjà présent sous le capot de la 9000 CS. Il sortait alors 210 ch.
La 9-5 proposait également des motorisations à 4 cylindres turbo compressés bien connus des amateurs de la marque. L’entrée de gamme était assurée par un 1985 cm3 de 150 ch que l’on pouvait associer à une transmission manuelle à 5 rapports ou une boîte auto à 4 vitesses. Suivait ensuite, le fameux 2290 cm3 et ses 170 ch. Comme pour le V6 et le 2.0t, cette motorisation laissait le choix entre deux boîtes de vitesse.
La Saab 9-5 s’est également déclinée en Break – (C) Saab
En 1998, ce fut au tour de l’Estate de faire son entrée dans l’arène. Cette version break de la Saab 9-5 se déclinait avec les mêmes motorisations et les mêmes finitions que la berline tout en offrant un volume de chargement allant de 416 à 1490 litres. Durant l’année 1999, la 9-5 a hérité d’une version plus sportive. En effet, une seconde version du 2.3 turbo, forte de 230 ch, a fait son apparition.
La Saab 9-5 cède adopte le diesel
La Saab 9-5 a été habilement restylée en 2001 – (C) Saab
Le Saab 9-5 a reçu son premier restylage en 2001. Relativement subtil, celui-ci apporte quelques petites modifications qui permettent de moderniser la voiture. Les phares sont devenus à glace lisse comme le voulait la mode des années 2000 tandis que sur les versions Aero ont adopté un bouclier spécifique avec des antibrouillards ronds ! La calandre a également évolué tout comme le bouclier arrière. La partie anthracite des feux arrière est également devenue de couleur cristal. Ce restylage a également apporté un moteur utilisant un carburant impur ! En effet, la marque suédoise a pioché un V6 turbo diesel dans la banque d’organes de « GM ». Fort de 176 ch, ce V6 à 60°, peu fiable, avait été conçu par Isuzu.
D’autres évolutions mécaniques ont accompagné cette remise à niveau esthétique ! Toutes les boîtes automatiques disponibles, toujours fournies par Aisin, ont gagné une 5ème vitesse. Le petit 2.3 turbo a également vu sa puissance passer de 170 à 185 ch. Les finitions ont également gagné de nouvelles dénominations. La gamme s’articulait désormais autour des finitions Linear, Arc, Vector, Aero sans oublier la Griffin qui faisait toujours office de porte étendard.
Ce premier restylage a été marqué par l’adoption de moteurs diesel – (C) Saab
L’année suivante, une seconde motorisation diesel a fait son arrivée sous le capot de la 9-5. Il s’agissait d’un 2171 cm3 de 120 ch. Ce 2.2 TiD était identique au 2.2 dti de l’Opel Vectra C. En 2004, une version à 220ch du 2.3 turbo a fait son apparition, vraisemblablement afin de remplacer le V6 turbo qui a tiré sa révérence. A noter que l’ESP était désormais proposé en série sur toute la gamme. Bien que vieillissante, la Saab 9-5 a connu un restylage assez profond en 2005.
Un restylage au goût de ketchup
Le second restylage – au style trop américain – a défiguré la 9-5 – (C) Saab
Réalisée par le responsable du design de General Motors, Anthony Lo, cette remise à niveau a totalement défiguré la 9-5. La face avant a été enlaidie avec des nouvelles optiques peu esthétiques cerclées d’un jonc chromé et une calandre qui ne respectait pas les canons de la marque. La poupe arrière n’était pas en reste avec notamment des feux, totalement rouges aux formes triturées. L’habitacle a également subi des modifications afin de recevoir plus d’éléments piochés au sein de la maison mère. L’objectif était clairement de réduire le nombre d’éléments spécifiques pour réduire les coûts de production.
Un moteur Fiat dans la Saab 9-5
Les feux arrière ont été redessinés aussi bien sur la berline que l’Estate – (C) Saab
Là encore, ce restylage s’est accompagné d’une remise à niveau mécanique. Et encore une fois, c’est le diesel qui a été au centre des attentions. Il faut dire que ce carburant était alors particulièrement prisé par les automobilistes. Cette fois-ci, la 9-5 a adopté un 1910 cm3 turbo à rampe commune afin de remplacer son 2.2 TiD. Ce moteur – connu dans les automobiles du groupe Fiat sous le nom de 1.9 JTD – offrait une puissance respectable de 150 ch et une fiabilité accrue !
En essence, un 2.0 Turbo de 180 ch a fait son apparition. Ce moteur, qui affichait une cylindrée de 1985 cm3, était presque identique à celle de 150 ch qui subsistait au catalogue. Néanmoins, cette nouvelle offre se distinguait par sa bicarburation puisqu’elle pouvait rouler aussi bien à l’essence qu’à l’Ethanol !
Biopower : le label vert de la Saab 9-5
La Saab 9-5 a été l’une des premières à rouler à l’Ethanol (E85) – (C) Saab
La gamme 9-5 a commencé à se réduire en 2006. En effet, en diesel l’offre se limitait au 1.9 tid de 150 ch tandis qu’en essence il ne restait que les versions 2.0 turbo (150 ch ou 180ch Biopower) et 2.3 turbo (185 ou 260 ch). L’année suivante, la gamme Biopower a évolué avec l’arrivée d’un 2.0 t 150ch tandis qu’une version à 185 ch a fait son apparition sur la base du 2,3 t.
2009 a été la dernière année de production pour la 9-5. La 9-5 n’était plus disponible qu’en finition Griffin avec le 2.0 turbo 150ch ou le 2.3 turbo 260ch ainsi que les Biopower 180 ou 185 ch, Le 1.9 TiD était également toujours de la partie et pouvait désormais profiter d’une petite cure de vitamine proposée par Hirsch. Au menu 25 chevaux supplémentaires et 30 Nm de couple en plus.
La dernière berline a quitté les chaînes de montage le 4 juillet 2009. La production de l’Estate a pris fin le 1er février 2010. Cette première génération de Saab 9-5 a été produite à 483 593 unités dont 47,8% en carrosserie break. Cela peut sembler peu mais c’est tout de même 2,86 fois plus que le nombre de Peugeot 607 fabriquées.
Les petites histoires de la Saab 9-5
Une Saab peut en cacher une autre – (C) Saab
Maintenant que vous en savez plus sur la carrière de la Saab 9-5, il est désormais temps de vous raconter quelques petites anecdotes !
Le V6 Isuzu de la Saab 9-5 est une mécanique bien connue et largement diffusée. Elle s’est notamment retrouvée dans les Renault Vel Satis et l’Espace 3.0 dci ainsi que sous le capot de l’Opel Signum.
Hirsch proposait une cure de vitamine pour la Saab 9-5. Dès 2002, le préparateur proposait de booster les versions 2.3 turbo à 305 ch. Cette puissance a même grimpé à 310 ch en 2006. En fin de carrière, une préparation a été concoctée pour le 1.9 TiD permettant ainsi de porter sa puissance à 175 ch.
Saab est une marque écolo ! Avec sa gamme Biopower, le constructeur suédois a été l’un des premiers constructeurs à développer une gamme fonctionnant à l’éthanol. Un carburant qui se voulait plus propre et plus respectueux de l’environnement.
Le black panel est une fonctionnalité, provenant de l’aéronautique, qui permettait d’éteindre tous les éclairages superflus de l’habitacle afin de ne laisser que l’essentiel, le compteur de vitesse.
Et aussi… la Saab 9-5 chinoise
La Senova D70 était une Saab 9-5 recarossée. Elle a été produite de 2013 à 2018 – (C) Senova
La Saab 9-5 a connu une seconde vie après sa fin de carrière européenne. En effet, une Saab 9-5 chinoise a été produite par BAIC. Les C71 et C71EV avaient été présentés au salon de Pékin de 2010. Le constructeur avait fait l’acquisition des outils de production mais ce n’est finalement qu’en 2013 que la version définitive, baptisée Senova D70, a fait ses débuts commerciaux. Entre-temps, l’ex-berline suédoise a reçu une petite cure cosmétique chez Pininfarina.
Microsoft and G42's planned $1 billion AI data center in Kenya has stalled amid disagreements over power commitments, with President William Ruto saying the country would need to "switch off half the country" to support the project at full scale. Tom's Hardware reports: The project, announced in May 2024 during Ruto's visit to Washington, was supposed to bring a geothermal-powered data center to the Olkaria region in Kenya's Rift Valley. G42 was to lead construction, with the facility running Microsoft Azure in a new East Africa cloud region. The first phase targeted 100 megawatts of capacity and was expected to be operational by this year, with a long-term goal of scaling to 1 gigawatt.
President Ruto isn't exaggerating about shutting off half the country's power. Kenya's total installed electricity capacity sits between 3,000 and 3,200 megawatts, and peak demand reached a record 2,444 megawatts in January, according to data from KenGen, the country's government-owned electricity producer. The full 1 gigawatt build would therefore have consumed roughly a third of the country's total capacity, and even the first 100 megawatts would have required a significant share of the Olkaria geothermal complex's output, which currently generates around 950MW across all its plants.
John Tanui, principal secretary at Kenya's Ministry of Information, told Bloomberg that the project hasn't been withdrawn and that talks are continuing, adding that the "scale of the data center they [Microsoft] wanted to do still requires some structuring." A separate 60-megawatt project with local developer EcoCloud is also still under discussion. [...] Microsoft is spending $190 billion on capex in 2026, and the company adds approximately 1 gigawatt of data center capacity every three months globally. But power constraints are proving to be a universal bottleneck: nearly half of planned U.S. data center builds this year have been delayed or canceled due to shortages of electrical infrastructure.
To upgrade its grid for data centers, PJM Interconnection (which serves 13 states) plans to spend $22 billion — and charge nearly $2 billion of that to customers in Maryland, argues Maryland's Office of People's Counsel. The money "will be recovered in rates for decades" and "drive up Maryland customer bills by $1.6 billion over the next ten years alone," they said Friday, announcing an official complaint filed with America's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Extra demand is expected from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Illinois "where demands driven by data centers are projected to grow substantially by 2036," they explain. But that means that Maryland customers "are subsidizing data center-driven transmission buildout by virtue of geographic proximity..." Tom's Hardware explains:
That means an extra $823 million for residential (approx. $345 per customer), $146 million for commercial (approx. $673 per customer), and $629 million for industrial customers (approx. $15,074 per customer)... "Maryland customers have neither caused the need for these billions in new transmission projects nor will they meaningfully benefit from them," [according to Maryland People's Counsel David S. Lapp]....
This is one of the biggest reasons why many AI hyperscalers are facing pushback from the communities where they intend to place their data centers. At the moment, around 69 jurisdictions have passed some sort of moratorium on projects like these, and a survey has shown that nearly half of Americans do not want a data center in their neighborhood. Debates around these projects are passionate, with a few cases turning violent and even resulting in shootings (thankfully, without any casualties), especially as many feel that the construction of these power-hungry assets is threatening their lifestyles and quality of life.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader noshellswill for sharing the news.
NewtonsLaw writes: According to Realtor.com, a California startup called Span plans to partner with Nvidia, PulteGroup, and other homebuilders to equip new homes with mini-data centers, so as to relieve the need to build and power much larger traditional centers. The article states the company "can install 8,000 XFRA units about six times faster and at five times lower cost than the construction of a typical centralized 100 megawatt data center of the same size." Could this be the solution to at least some of the problems hindering the rollout of greater data-center capacity for AI systems? "One big reason the XFRA model works is that the average American home only uses about 40 percent of its electrical capacity," Span said. "As big data center developers struggle to find power sources and distribution capacity, XFRA uses capacity that's already available."
The startup says they will launch a 100-home proof of concept within the year to see if the idea is viable.
"The war in Iran has sent oil-starved countries scrambling for fuel," CNN reported this week. And many of those countries now want renewable fuels, the article points out, "leaving them turning to the renewables king of the planet: China."
Chinese exports of solar technology, batteries and electric vehicles all reached record highs in March, according to energy think tank Ember, a sign that the historic oil supply shock is accelerating the adoption of clean energy around the world... A Thursday report from Ember said China exported 68 gigawatts of solar technology in March, surpassing the previous record set in August by 50%. Fifty countries set new records for Chinese solar imports, with the most significant growth coming from emerging markets in Asia and Africa hit hardest by the energy crisis, according to the think tank. "Fossil shocks are boosting the solar surge," said Euan Graham, senior analyst at Ember, in the report. "Solar has already become the engine of the global economy, and now the current fossil fuel price shocks are taking it up a gear."
Ember said exports of solar, batteries and EVs in total rose 70% in March year over year, according to Chinese customs data... China's battery exports reached $10 billion in March, with particularly high growth rates in the European Union, Australia and India, Ember said. Uncertainty over when the Strait of Hormuz will reopen has spurred deeper regional anxieties about energy securi"ty, helping to hasten the transition to clean energy, analysts said.
The article notes how different countries are reacting to fuel
Asian nations that depend on the Middle East for energy imports "are trying to mitigate fuel shortages by encouraging energy conservation and shortening work hours."
The UK's Energy Secretary said this week that the country needed to reduce its reliance on gas for electricity. "As we face the second fossil fuel shock in less than 5 years, the lesson for our country is clear: The era of fossil fuel security is over, and the era of clean energy security must come of age."
Pakistan "has been spared some of the impact from the war, since it began drastically importing cheap Chinese solar panels a few years ago. Using solar energy rather than costly oil imports is estimated to save the country billions of dollars each year."
"According to the China Passenger Car Association, Chinese exports of electric vehicles and hybrids hit a record high in March, increasing 140% compared with the same period a year ago."
Thanks to Slashdot reader AleRunner for sharing the article.
"Nuclear AI startup" Fermi had hoped to build power plants generating 17 gigawatts of electricity, remembers Bloomberg, "three times the amount typically consumed by New York City."
Hyperscalers could install their data centers on the site itself and tap directly into that power, which would come first from natural gas turbines and later from nuclear reactors. The pitch ticked so many boxes — artificial intelligence, nuclear energy, political connections — that some investors found it irresistible. Fermi went public in October worth more than $19 billion in market value, despite reporting no revenue or signed customers.
Now, the startup's board has fired its top executive, Toby Neugebauer, after months of negotiations failed to secure a single client. Chief Financial Officer Miles Everson left as well... Fermi's stock, meanwhile, has tumbled 84% from its peak. The company's more than 5,000-acre site in the Texas panhandle — dubbed Project Matador, or the President Donald J. Trump Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus — remains mostly unfinished. And some analysts see a cautionary tale of the market's AI enthusiasm running ahead of reality, with investors betting on companies whose grand projects may never get built...
The idea of giving data centers their own, dedicated power supply not dependent on the grid may sound tempting, but former US Department of Energy official Jigar Shah said banks don't want to finance it. The grid, drawing power from many sources, is more reliable than a handful of expensive, on-site plants, he said. He considers Fermi a failure "of monumental proportions" and says similar, off-grid data center projects elsewhere deserve more skepticism than they've received... "We're allowing these types of projects to continue to be viewed as viable when they most certainly are not," said Shah, who ran the department's Loan Programs Office during the Biden administration....
"It was a piece of dirt with a dream," an investor who visited the site in February told the short sellers, Fuzzy Panda Research.
Belgium plans to buy its seven aging nuclear reactors from French power giant Engie in a "full takeover" aimed at securing domestic energy supplies, extending reactor operations, and developing new nuclear capacity. "The move would also mean suspending plans to decommission nuclear operations in Belgium," reports the BBC. From the report: The move would reverse the phase-out of nuclear energy legislation approved in the early 2000s amid safety concerns prohibiting the building of new nuclear power plants and limiting the operating lifetimes of existing ones to 40 years. Only two of Belgium's seven nuclear reactors are operational - located at plants in Doel and in Tihange - and their operating licenses were recently extended until 2035. The other five reactors were shut between 2022 and 2025 and plans to dismantle them will now be suspended.
Engie and the government said they aim to reach an agreement on the takeover of the nuclear stations by October 1st. In a joint statement with Engie, the Belgian government said the move also highlights its aim to extend operations of existing nuclear reactors and to develop "new nuclear capacity" in Belgium. "By doing so, the Belgian Government is taking responsibility for Belgium's long-term energy future, with the objective of building a financially and economically viable activity that supports security of supply, climate objectives, industrial resilience and socio-economic prosperity," the statement adds.
The Trump administration says it will reimburse energy companies $885 million to cancel two planned offshore wind farms, with the firms in turn agreeing to put money into oil and gas projects instead. "The deals are modeled after a similar agreement last month with the French energy giant TotalEnergies," notes the New York Times. "TotalEnergies forfeited its leases for two wind projects planned off the coasts of New York and North Carolina, while committing to a range of fossil-fuel investments." From the report: [...] The first new agreement affects Bluepoint Wind, a wind farm in the early stages of development off New York and New Jersey. The project was proposed by Global Infrastructure Partners, a part of asset manager BlackRock, and Ocean Winds, which is itself a joint venture between Engie and EDP Renewables, two European clean-energy firms. The second deal would cancel Golden State Wind, another early-stage venture off California's central coast. Golden State Wind is a 50-50 partnership between the developers Ocean Winds and Reventus Power.
Both Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind agreed not to pursue any new offshore wind projects in the United States, although that pledge would not necessarily apply to the companies behind the ventures. Ocean Winds has also been developing another giant wind farm known as SouthCoast Wind, off Martha's Vineyard, Mass., that is much further along in the planning and permitting process. That project is not affected by Monday's announcement, although it has essentially been paused since Mr. Trump took office last year. [...] It is also unclear how much the companies will actually invest in new fossil fuel infrastructure. In documents released this month, Interior revealed that it would count investments that TotalEnergies made before the deal toward its pledge, raising questions over whether the company had any obligations to make additional investments.
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Associated Press:
The 1986 Chernobyl disaster fueled global fears about nuclear power and slowed its development in Europe and elsewhere. Four decades later, however, there's a revival around the world, a trend that has been given a big boost by war in the Middle East. Over 400 nuclear reactors are operational in 31 countries, while about 70 more are under construction. Nuclear power accounts for producing about 10% of the world's electricity, equivalent to about a quarter of all sources of low-carbon power.
Nuclear reactors have seen steady improvements, adding more safety features and making them cheaper to build and operate. While Chernobyl and the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan diminished the appetite for such power sources, it was clear years ago that there probably would be a revival, said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency. With the war in the Middle East, "I am 100% sure nuclear is coming back," he added...
The United States is the world's largest producer of nuclear power, with 94 operational reactors accounting for about 30% of global generation of nuclear electricity. And it is increasing efforts to develop nuclear energy capacity with a goal to quadruple it by 2050... China operates 61 nuclear reactors and is leading the world in building new units, with nearly 40 under construction with a goal to surpass the U.S. and become the global leader in nuclear capacity. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has acknowledged that it was Europe's "strategic mistake" to cut nuclear energy and outlined new initiatives to encourage building power plants. [In 1990, nuclear energy accounted for roughly a third of Europe's electricity, the article points out, but it's now only about 15%.] Russia, meanwhile, has taken a strong lead in exporting its nuclear know-how, building 20 reactors worldwide...
Japan has restarted 15 reactors after reviewing the lessons of the earthquake and tsunami that damaged the Fukushima plant, and 10 more are in the process of getting approval to restart. South Africa has the only nuclear power plant on the African continent, although Russia is building one in Egypt, and several other African nations are exploring the technology... With 57 reactors at 19 plants, France relies on nuclear power for nearly 70% of its electricity.
The article includes an interactive graphic that shows the growth in the world's nuclear capacity slowing down soon after the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown — with that capacity broken down by country. But it's still increased by roughly 50%.
Even Ukraine — the site of the accident — now "still relies heavily on nuclear plants to generate about half of its electricity," the article points out. But Germany "switched off its last three nuclear reactors in 2023."
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: New gas projects linked to just 11 data center campuses around the US have the potential to create more greenhouse gases than the country of Morocco emitted in 2024. Emissions estimates from air permit documents examined by WIRED show that these natural gas projects -- which are being built to power data centers to serve some of the US's most powerful AI companies, including OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and xAI -- have the potential to emit more than 129 million tons of greenhouse gases per year. As tech companies race to secure massive power deals to build out hundreds of data centers across the country, these projects represent just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential climate cost of the AI boom.
The infrastructure on this list of large natural gas projects reviewed by WIRED is being developed to largely bypass the grid and provide power solely for data centers, a trend known as behind-the-meter power. As data center developers face long waits for connections to traditional utilities, and amid mounting public resistance to the possibility of higher energy bills, making their own power is becoming an increasingly popular option. These projects have either been announced or are under construction, with companies already submitting air permit application materials with state agencies. [...] The emissions projections for the xAI and Microsoft projects, and all the others on WIRED's list, were pulled directly from publicly-available air permit documents in state databases as well as public air permit materials collected by both Cleanview and Oil and Gas Watch, a database maintained by the Environmental Integrity Project, an environmental enforcement nonprofit. Actual greenhouse gas emissions from power plants are usually lower than what's on their air permits. Air permit modeling is based on the scenario of a power plant constantly running at full capacity. That's rarely the reality for grid-connected power plants, as turbines go offline for maintenance or adjust to the ebbs and flows of customer demand.
"Permitted emission numbers represent a theoretical, conservative scenario, not the actual projected emissions," Alex Schott, the director of communications at Williams Companies, an oil and gas company that is building out three behind-the-meter power plants in Ohio for Meta, told WIRED in an email. Internal modeling done by the company, Schott added, shows that actual emissions could be "potentially two-thirds less than what's on paper." The projections involved, however, are still substantial. Even if the actual emissions from these power plants end up being half of the emissions numbers on the permits, they still could create more greenhouse gas emissions than the country of Norway emitted in 2024. This number is, according to the EPA, equivalent to the emissions from more than 153 average-sized natural gas plants. (WIRED's analysis does not include emissions from backup generators and turbines on the data center campuses themselves, which create smaller amounts of emissions.)
Energy researcher Jon Koomey says the data center boom has created a shortage of the most efficient gas turbines, pushing some developers toward less efficient models that would need to run longer and produce more emissions. "[Data center operators'] belief is that the value being delivered by the servers is much, much more than the cost of running these inefficient power plants all the time," he said.
Michael Thomas, the founder of clean energy research firm Cleanview, has been tracking gas permits for data centers across the country. He calls behind-the-meter power "a crazy acceleration of emissions." He added: "It's almost like we thought we were on the downside of the Industrial Revolution, retiring coal and gas, and now we have a new hump where we're going to rise. That terrifies me in a lot of ways."
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