Global ESG funds see highest inflows on record
Equity funds suffered a second consecutive month of outflows in July, while fixed income funds enjoyed another month of strong inflows, according to the latest Fund Flow Index from Calastone, the largest global funds network.
HSBC Singapore launches first AI-powered equity index structured note
HSBC Singapore has launched the AI Powered US Equity 5 Index (AiPEX5) and the bank’s first index-linked Structured Note to utilise artificial intelligence (AI) as a method for equity investing.
IPO mistakes, fintech results and the Zenefits ‘mafia’
One of the most interesting disconnects in the market today is how VC Twitter discusses successful IPOs and how the CEOs of those companies view their own public market debuts.
Energy-efficient tuning of spintronic neurons
The human brain efficiently executes highly sophisticated tasks, such as image and speech recognition, with an exceptionally lower energy budget than today’s computers can. The development of energy-efficient and tunable artificial neurons capable of emulating brain-inspired processes has, therefore, been a major research goal for decades.
The historical partnership that revolutionized battery research at Argonne
Researchers around the world are on the hunt to find cheaper, better lithium-ion battery materials to power large scale machines, such as electric vehicles. One of their goals is to find alternative lithium-metal-oxide electrodes to those containing cobalt, an element common within phone and laptop batteries but too expensive and short on capacity to propel electric vehicles over long distances.
Transparent solar panels for windows hit record 8% efficiency
In a step closer to skyscrapers that serve as power sources, a team led by University of Michigan researchers has set a new efficiency record for color-neutral, transparent solar cells.
Countries transitioning to zero carbon should look at more than technology cost
A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to producing cleaner energy based on cost alone could create social inequalities, finds a new study. The Paris Agreement aims to keep global temperature rise this century well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. One major route to achieving this is for countries to reach ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2050—either producing no emissions or removing the same amount that they produce.
Can Onsite Generation With Microgrids Help Zap Widespread Blackouts?
Is it more efficient for electricity to be centrally generated before sending it over high-powered transmission lines or is it better for the power to be produced onsite and then delivered by localized microgrids?
Home Energy Management Advances Open Electricity Ratemaking Opportunities
Utilities have long sought subscription rates for electricity as revenue stabilizers; however, they have faced implementation challenges in the area of generating cost and energy savings. Home energy management (HEM) technologies are greatly improving the capabilities of residential demand response (DR) and energy efficiency programs utilities would use to generate these savings.
Rolling Back Obama’s Methane Rules May Give Trump A Bump But It Could Burn Natural Gas
The Trump administration has, ironically, just bucked the wishes of Big Oil by acting today to roll back regulations on methane emissions — the most potent greenhouse gas of them all.
Cloud Computing Needs A Garbage Collection Service
In environmental terms, disposable products are not good. In the age of climate change enlightenment, inconvenient truths and Greta Thunberg, disposable products are generally regarded as wasteful and bad news for polar bears (and everyone else for that matter).
Future energy systems need to be climate proof
Climate policy for future energy systems typically focus on the challenge to make them carbon neutral to avoid climate change. However, it will also be critically important to make them climate proof to ensure that they are resilient to future climate change.
Incorporating solar harvesting into the side of buildings could enhance energy sustainability
If builders could incorporate solar harvesting into the siding of a building, the amount of energy from the grid that a structure would need may significantly decrease.
Flexible management of hydropower plants would contribute to a secure electricity supply
Researchers from the UPV/EHU’s Institute of Public Economics and BC3, the Basque Centre for Climate Change, have been cooperating for several years on the study and projection of so-called security of electricity supply in Spain. The country is regarded as an ‘electricity island’ owing to its scant interconnection with neighboring countries.
Analysis of renewable energy points toward more affordable carbon-free electricity
As more states in the U.S. push for increased reliance on variable renewable energy in the form of wind or solar power, long-term energy storage may play an important role in assuring reliability and reducing electricity costs, according to a new paper published by Caltech researchers.