Latest news with #Pornainen
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Week in Review: Meta reveals its Oakley smart glasses
Welcome back to Week in Review! Lots in store for you today, including Wix's latest acquisition, Meta's new smart glasses, a look at the new Digg, and much more. Have a great weekend! Smart specs: Meta and Oakley have teamed up on a new pair of smart glasses that can record 3K video, play music, handle calls, and respond to Meta AI prompts. They start at $399 and have double the battery life of Meta's Ray-Bans. A $499 limited-edition Oakley Meta HSTN model will be available starting July 11. Unicorn watch: Wix bought 6-month-old solo startup Base44 for $80 million in cash after it quickly gained traction as a no-code AI tool for building web apps. Created by a single founder and already profitable, Base44's rapid rise made scooping it up irresistible. Sand to the rescue: Finland just turned on the world's largest sand battery — yes, actual sand — which stores heat to help power the small town of Pornainen's heating system and cut its carbon emissions. The low-tech, low-cost system is built from discarded fireplace soapstone, is housed in a giant silo, and can store heat for weeks, proving you don't need fancy lithium to fight climate change. You just need a pile of hot rocks. This is TechCrunch's Week in Review, where we recap the week's biggest news. Want this delivered as a newsletter to your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. We're back, baby: VanMoof is back from the brink with the S6, its first e-bike since bankruptcy — and it's sticking to its signature custom design, despite that being what nearly killed the company. Backed by McLaren tech and a beefed-up repair network, the new VanMoof promises smoother rides, smarter features, and (hopefully) fewer stranded cyclists. Space lasers: Baiju Bhatt, best known for co-founding Robinhood, is now building lasers in space. His new startup, Aetherflux, has raised $60 million to prove that beaming solar power from orbit isn't a fantasy, with a demo satellite set to launch next year and early backing from the Department of Defense. Oh no: One of SpaceX's Starship rockets exploded during a test in Texas, likely pushing back the vehicle's next launch, which had been tentatively set for June 29. SpaceX says the blast, caused by a pressurized tank failure, didn't injure anyone, but it's yet another setback in a rocky year for the company's ambitious mega-rocket program. That lossless feeling: Spotify's long-awaited lossless audio tier still hasn't launched, but fresh hints buried in the latest app code suggest that it's under active development and could be closer than ever. But with years of delays and no official timeline, fans might want to temper their excitement until Spotify confirms the rollout. I can Digg it: Digg's reboot has entered alpha testing with a fresh iOS app aimed at becoming an AI-era Reddit alternative. The app offers a clean, simple design with curated communities, AI-powered article summaries, and gamified features like 'Gems' and daily leaderboards. We want you: The U.S. Navy is speeding up how it works with startups, cutting red tape and zeroing in on real wins like saved time and better morale. Department of the Navy CTO Justin Fanelli says it's leading with problems, hunting for game-changing tech in AI, GPS, and system upgrades. And with Silicon Valley finally paying attention, the Navy's becoming a go-to partner for innovators ready to shake things up. Cash ain't king: Mark Zuckerberg is throwing out massive cash — up to $100 million — to lure top AI talent from OpenAI and DeepMind. But OpenAI's Sam Altman says none of his key people have bitten, praising his team's mission over money. Meanwhile, OpenAI keeps pushing ahead with new AI models and even hints at launching an AI-powered social app that could outpace Meta's own shaky attempts. San Francisco's latest startup saga? Cluely's after-party for YC's AI Startup School blew up on Twitter, drawing 2,000 party crashers, but it became the 'most legendary party that never happened' after getting shut down by cops before a single drink was spilled. Founder Roy Lee's viral marketing may have promised chaos, but the real party's waiting. Maybe once the weather warms up?
TechCrunch
21-06-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Week in Review: Meta reveals its Oakley smart glasses
Welcome back to Week in Review! Lots in store for you today, including Wix's latest acquisition, Meta's new smart glasses, a look at the new Digg, and much more. Have a great weekend! Smart specs: Meta and Oakley have teamed up on a new pair of smart glasses that can record 3K video, play music, handle calls, and respond to Meta AI prompts. They start at $399 and have double the battery life of Meta's Ray-Bans. A $499 limited-edition Oakley Meta HSTN model will be available starting July 11. Unicorn watch: Wix bought 6-month-old solo startup Base44 for $80 million in cash after it quickly gained traction as a no-code AI tool for building web apps. Created by a single founder and already profitable, Base44's rapid rise made scooping it up irresistible. Sand to the rescue: Finland just turned on the world's largest sand battery — yes, actual sand — which stores heat to help power the small town of Pornainen's heating system and cut its carbon emissions. The low-tech, low-cost system is built from discarded fireplace soapstone, is housed in a giant silo, and can store heat for weeks, proving you don't need fancy lithium to fight climate change. You just need a pile of hot rocks. This is TechCrunch's Week in Review, where we recap the week's biggest news. Want this delivered as a newsletter to your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. News Image Credits:Rebecca Bellan We're back, baby: VanMoof is back from the brink with the S6, its first e-bike since bankruptcy — and it's sticking to its signature custom design, despite that being what nearly killed the company. Backed by McLaren tech and a beefed-up repair network, the new VanMoof promises smoother rides, smarter features, and (hopefully) fewer stranded cyclists. Space lasers: Baiju Bhatt, best known for co-founding Robinhood, is now building lasers in space. His new startup, Aetherflux, has raised $60 million to prove that beaming solar power from orbit isn't a fantasy, with a demo satellite set to launch next year and early backing from the Department of Defense. Techcrunch event Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW Oh no: One of SpaceX's Starship rockets exploded during a test in Texas, likely pushing back the vehicle's next launch, which had been tentatively set for June 29. SpaceX says the blast, caused by a pressurized tank failure, didn't injure anyone, but it's yet another setback in a rocky year for the company's ambitious mega-rocket program. That lossless feeling: Spotify's long-awaited lossless audio tier still hasn't launched, but fresh hints buried in the latest app code suggest that it's under active development and could be closer than ever. But with years of delays and no official timeline, fans might want to temper their excitement until Spotify confirms the rollout. I can Digg it: Digg's reboot has entered alpha testing with a fresh iOS app aimed at becoming an AI-era Reddit alternative. The app offers a clean, simple design with curated communities, AI-powered article summaries, and gamified features like 'Gems' and daily leaderboards. We want you: The U.S. Navy is speeding up how it works with startups, cutting red tape and zeroing in on real wins like saved time and better morale. Department of the Navy CTO Justin Fanelli says it's leading with problems, hunting for game-changing tech in AI, GPS, and system upgrades. And with Silicon Valley finally paying attention, the Navy's becoming a go-to partner for innovators ready to shake things up. Cash ain't king: Mark Zuckerberg is throwing out massive cash — up to $100 million — to lure top AI talent from OpenAI and DeepMind. But OpenAI's Sam Altman says none of his key people have bitten, praising his team's mission over money. Meanwhile, OpenAI keeps pushing ahead with new AI models and even hints at launching an AI-powered social app that could outpace Meta's own shaky attempts. Before you go Image Credits:Cluely San Francisco's latest startup saga? Cluely's after-party for YC's AI Startup School blew up on Twitter, drawing 2,000 party crashers, but it became the 'most legendary party that never happened' after getting shut down by cops before a single drink was spilled. Founder Roy Lee's viral marketing may have promised chaos, but the real party's waiting. Maybe once the weather warms up?
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Finland warms up the world's largest sand battery, and the economics look appealing
It doesn't look like much, but Finland recently flipped the switch on the world's largest sand-based battery. Yes, sand. A sand battery is a type of thermal energy storage system that uses sand or crushed rock to store heat. Electricity — typically from renewable sources — is used to heat the sand. That stored heat can later be used for various ends, including to warm buildings. The economics are compelling, and it's hard to get any cheaper than the crushed soapstone now housed inside an insulated silo in the small town of Pornainen. The soapstone was basically trash — discarded from a Finnish fireplace maker. Though it might not be as visually impressive as a large lithium-ion battery pack, the 2,000 metric tons of pulverized rock inside the 49-foot-wide silo promises to slash Pornainen's carbon emissions, helping the town eliminate costly oil that currently helps power the town's district heating network. Like many Scandinavian towns, Pornainen operates a central boiler that heats water for homes and buildings around town. Polar Night's battery can store 1,000 megawatt-hours of heat for weeks at a time, enough for a week's worth of heating in the chilly Finnish winter. From storage to recovery, only about 10% to 15% of the heat is lost, and the temperature at the outlet can be up to 400°C. The town's district heating system also relies on burning wood chips, and the sand battery will reduce that consumption by about 60%, according to Polar Night. Heat from the battery could also generate electricity, though the process would sacrifice some efficiency. As renewables have gotten cheaper, interest in thermal batteries has grown. Beyond Polar Night, numerous startups are pursuing thermal batteries. Scotland-based Sunamp is building one that relies on the same material that gives salt-and-vinegar potato chips their flavor. Electrified Thermal Solutions, TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield 2023 runner-up, has created a type of brick that can produce heat approaching 2,000°C. And Fourth Power is making graphite blocks that store electricity as 2,400°C heat. Pornainen's battery is charged using electricity from the grid, and its massive storage capacity allows the operator to draw power when it's cheapest. Finland's grid is mostly renewables (43%) and nuclear (26%), meaning its electricity is pretty clean. It's also the cheapest in Europe at just under €0.08 per kilowatt-hour — less than half the EU average. Polar Night didn't disclose the project's cost, though the raw materials are cheap and the structure itself isn't particularly complex. A much smaller prototype built a few years ago cost around $25 per kilowatt-hour of storage, the company estimated at the time. It's likely the new version is cheaper. Lithium-ion batteries cost around $115 per kilowatt-hour. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
TechCrunch
16-06-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Finland warms up the world's largest sand battery, and the economics look appealing
It doesn't look like much, but Finland recently flipped the switch on the world's largest sand-based battery. Yes, sand. A sand battery is a type of thermal energy storage system that uses sand or crushed rock to store heat. Electricity — typically from renewable sources — is used to heat the sand. That stored heat can later be used for various ends, including to warm buildings. The economics are compelling, and it's hard to get any cheaper than the crushed soapstone now housed inside an insulated silo in the small town of Pornainen. The soapstone was basically trash — discarded from a Finnish fireplace maker. Though it might not be as visually impressive as a large lithium-ion battery pack, the 2,000 metric tons of pulverized rock inside the 49-foot-wide silo promises to slash Pornainen's carbon emissions, helping the town to eliminate costly oil that currently helps power the town's district heating network. Like many Scandinavian towns, Pornainen operates a central boiler that heats water for homes and buildings around town. Polar Night's battery can store 1,000 megawatt-hours of heat for weeks at a time, enough for a week's worth of heating in the chilly Finnish winter. From storage to recovery, only about 10% to 15% of the heat is lost, and the temperature at the outlet can be up to 400 degrees Celsius. The town's district heating system also relies on burning wood chips, and the sand battery will reduce that consumption by about 60%, according to Polar Night. Heat from the battery could also generate electricity, though the process would sacrifice some efficiency. Techcrunch event Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW As renewables have gotten cheaper, interest in thermal batteries has grown. Beyond Polar Night, numerous startups are pursuing thermal batteries. Scotland-based Sunamp is building one that relies on the same material that gives salt-and-vinegar potato chips their flavor. Electrified Thermal Solutions, TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield 2023 runner-up, has created a type of brick that can produce heat approaching 2,000 degrees Celsius. And Fourth Power is making graphite blocks that store electricity as 2,400 degree Celsius heat. Pornainen's battery is charged using electricity from the grid, and its massive storage capacity allows the operator to draw power when it's cheapest. Finland's grid is mostly renewables (43%) and nuclear (26%), meaning its electricity is pretty clean. It's also the cheapest in Europe at just under €0.08 per kilowatt-hour — less than half the EU average. Polar Night didn't disclose the project's cost, though the raw materials are cheap and the structure itself isn't particularly complex. A much smaller prototype built a few years ago cost around $25 per kilowatt-hour of storage, the company estimated at the time. It's likely the new version is cheaper. Lithium-ion batteries cost around $115 per kilowatt-hour.
Zawya
26-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Oman: Exploring the potential of sand batteries for the Gulf
In the global quest for sustainable energy, the spotlight often shines on solar panels, wind turbines, and lithium-ion batteries. But in the quiet town of Kankaanpää, Finland, a modest silo packed with sand is rewriting the rules of energy storage; offering a promising solution to one of renewable energy's most stubborn challenges: what to do when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing. The world's first commercial sand battery became operational in July 2022, the result of a collaboration between Finnish startup Polar Night Energy and local utility Vatajankoski (Polar Night Energy, 2022). The installation, a 7-meter-high steel container filled with around 100 tons of coarse sand, uses excess renewable electricity to heat air, which is then circulated through the sand, raising its temperature to about 600°C. The stored thermal energy is later used to supply the town's district heating network, warming homes and even a municipal swimming pool (BBC Future, 2022). Unlike conventional batteries, which store electricity, sand batteries store heat - a key advantage in cold climates where heating demand exceeds electrical use. The Kankaanpää system delivers 100 kW of heating power with a thermal storage capacity of 8 MWh, allowing energy to be held for days or weeks with minimal loss (Polar Night Energy, 2022). A second installation in Pornainen, southern Finland, is currently under development. Slated for commissioning in 2025, this larger unit will store up to 100 MWh using 2,000 tons of crushed soapstone, a byproduct of fireplace manufacturing. The system is expected to cut the town's oil-based heating use by over 60% (PV Magazine, 2024). The simplicity and sustainability of sand battery technology make it especially appealing. Sand is abundant, affordable, and thermally stable. Unlike lithium-ion systems, sand batteries involve no toxic materials or rare earth elements and operate without moving parts—minimizing long-term maintenance and degradation (NREL, 2024). Although the concept remains new, it is attracting global attention. The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has confirmed sand's potential for long-duration thermal storage, capable of maintaining high temperatures with minimal heat loss over time (NREL, 2024). Meanwhile, researchers in the United Arab Emirates have demonstrated that local desert sand can store solar energy at temperatures of up to 1,000°C, proving its viability for regional adaptation (Masdar Institute, 2017). So far, no sand battery projects have been deployed in the Gulf. Energy storage in the GCC remains dominated by lithium-ion systems, such as Saudi Arabia's 1,000 MWh battery at the Red Sea Project (Red Sea Global, 2023) and the UAE's Masdar-led 5 GW solar-battery hybrid system (Financial Times, 2024). Yet the Gulf's abundant solar radiation, readily available desert sand, and commitment to decarbonization position it well for future sand battery implementation. If adapted to local needs -particularly cooling- sand batteries could complement existing renewable strategies in the GCC. For example, thermal storage could be linked to concentrated solar power (CSP) systems or used in district cooling networks. These adaptations would support the region's goal of net-zero energy systems without relying heavily on imported battery materials. While commercial use remains limited to Finland, sand batteries offer an elegant, low-cost path forward, particularly for regions seeking seasonal energy storage solutions without the footprint of chemical battery farms. As Polar Night Energy's team puts it, 'the future of clean energy may not only be in the sky, but beneath our feet.' 2022 © All right reserved for Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising (OEPPA) Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
