Oklo, a Sunnyvale, Calif.–based nuclear energy startup, is hoping to revolutionize the power sector, providing a small-scale nuclear reactor that can provide a decade of emission-free energy. Founded in 2013 by MIT grads Jacob DeWitte and Caroline Cochran, Oklo eschews both traditional funding—favoring venture-capital backing over government grants—and the traditional nuclear energy formula of gigantic reactors built around moderators that slow neutrons to enable a constant rate of fission. Instead, Oklo has created a moderator-free system made possible by a fuel enriched with the uranium-235 isotope, “which fissions more easily than the more common uranium-238,” according to a MIT press release. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted Oklo’s application for an advanced nuclear reactor, giving the company permission to build its first reactor, a small A-framed structured named the Aurora, at the Idaho National Laboratory. There, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, the reactor will run on fuel left over from a shuttered experimental reactor at INL for a projected 20 years without refueling. [MIT]
Israel’s Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality has partnered with the Neurim, Israel–based e-mobility company ElectReon to create the first wireless electric road system in the country. For the pilot program, which began in September, ElectReon will embed a copper-coil infrastructure that transmits energy from the city grid under approximately 1,970 feet of the city’s e-bus lanes, creating an electric road that charges the shuttles as they follow their routes. “We are constantly working to reduce air pollution in the city, and our strategic action plan to prepare for climate change has placed the fight against pollution at the top of the municipality’s environmental agenda,” said Tel Aviv-Yafo mayor Ron Huldai in a government press release. “If the pilot is successful, we will evaluate—together with the Ministry of Transportation—its expansion to additional locations in the city.” [Tel Aviv-Yafo]
According to Bloomberg Green, shifting away from fossil fuels may not be the herculean task we might imagine. Although fossil fuels fulfill 80% of the world’s primary energy demands—such as “blocks of coal or crude oil”—they are responsible for only 60% of the world’s useful energy, or what we actually use to turn on a light or power a car. That’s a lot of wasted energy. Renewables thus met 20% of our primary energy demands and are responsible for 40% of our useful energy. As such, there’s actually not quite as much ground to make up. [Bloomberg Green]
Courtesy Autodesk
Autodesk BIM Collaborate project timeline feature
Autodesk University 2020 ends today, but the virtual format of the four-day conference didn’t slow the slate of product announcements that traditionally accompany the annual conference. The software developer announced three new products in its construction cloud portfolio and digital twin technology with Autodesk Tandem. Autodesk also made waves in the business world its acquisition of Spacemaker, Oslo, Norway–based generative design platform, for $240 million.” “We’re viewing this as a platform for us to grow and to create more use cases further downstream in the design process,” Amy Bunszel, Autodesk’s senior vice president of the AEC Design Solutions Group, tells ARCHITECT. [AU 2020 summary: ARCHITECT; Spacemaker acquisition: ARCHITECT]
Amazon-founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos is dipping into his $10 billion Earth Fund to address climate change, announcing that he will donate “$791 million to 16 groups fighting climate change,” according to the Washington Post. This first set of grants will head to organizations including the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy, the World Resources Institute the World Wildlife Fund, Dream Corps’ Green For All, the Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice, and the Solutions Project. [Washington Post]
Dror Baldinger, FAIA
AIA announced the 2020 winners of the COTE Top Ten Awards in the spring, and now ARCHITECT is taking a closer look at the winning projects, highlighting sustainable strategies that every firm can learn from, implement, and execute. For UpCycle, Gensler’s recycling center–turned-office was designed to reuse 95% of the original structure, studio director Travis Albrecht, AIA, defined his favorite lesson as “not to say ‘no.'” [ARCHITECT]