Top Climate Tech Stories of 2024

Those breathtaking views of the aurora borealis this year were a harbinger of dangerous electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) from solar storms. EMPs can destroy electronic systems and overload power grids, causing blackouts. They aren’t just generated by solar activity; human attackers could also generate EMPs, for example by detonating a nuclear weapon high in the atmosphere. Fortunately, researchers like Yilu Liu, who’s at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, are working on the problem. In a Q&A with IEEE SpectrumIEEE Spectrum, she explains the dangers of EMPs and how her lab is working on designing buildings that protect sensitive equipment inside.

In remote or inaccessible locations, where a wind turbine just isn’t feasible, there is a new option for renewable energy generation: Kites. Kitepower, based in the Netherlands, is working to implement an electricity-generating kite system, called the Hawk. As the wind pulls on their kites’ ground tether, it generates a force that is converted into electrical power. The 60-square-meter kites can fly as high as 350 meters (over twice the height of a wind turbine) to catch stronger and steadier winds. The kites come with a 400-kilowatt-hour battery, and the entire system fits into a standard shipping container. Kitepower hopes to send the Hawk to remote communities that currently rely on diesel generators, providing them with a cleaner source of power that takes up much less space than a wind turbine.