TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
Energy and Climate
A roundup of recent advances in engineering technology. In this issue, a look at some innovative applications in sustainable energy.
TAIL-INSPIRED TIDAL POWER
Oxford spinout Caudal Energy has raised £4.3 million ($5.7 million), led by Oxford Science Enterprises and Empirical Ventures, to scale its fin-based tidal generator. Rather than using a turbine, the system converts tidal flow into electricity through an oscillating foil modeled on the hydrodynamics of marine mammal tails. The company says this lets it operate efficiently in flows of 3 knots and above, which is far more common than the 5+ knot extreme-flow sites that traditional tidal turbines require. This innovation could expand the U.K.’s viable tidal resources from 11 gigawatts to 60 gigawatts, according to Caudal’s estimates.
The funding will support full-scale testing at Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland, with commercial deployment targeted for 2028.
“We founded Caudal to challenge the assumption that tidal energy has to remain complex, costly and niche,” said CEO John Kennedy in a press statement. “By unlocking the potential of mid-flow tidal sites, we believe Caudal can dramatically expand where tidal energy can be deployed.”
Photo: Caudal Energy
From left, in front of the AirJoule Prime system on June 26, 2026: President & CEO of New Castle County Chamber of Commerce Yvonne Deadwyler; New Castle County Council President Monique Williams-Johns; New Castle County Council Member Valerie George; Delaware Governor Matt Meyer; AirJoule Chief Commercialization Officer Bryan Barton; U.S. Senator Chris Coons; Senior Manager for Innovation at Delaware Prosperity Partnership Erica Crell; Director of Economic Research at Delaware Prosperity Partnership Chris Kelley; and AirJoule Executive Chairman Pat Eilers. Photo: AirJoule Technologies
HARVESTING WATER FROM WASTE HEAT
On June 26, 2026, AirJoule Technologies unveiled AirJoule Prime, the largest atmospheric water generation system it has released to date. The system has been operating at the company’s Newark, Del., site since May, producing up to 2,000 liters of pure distilled water per day by converting low-grade waste heat into usable water through AirJoule’s sorption technology.
Built through the company’s joint venture with GE Vernova, Prime targets data centers, industrial facilities, military operations, and water-scarce communities.
AirJoule recently won the Water Tech Innovation of the Year in the 2026 CleanTech Breakthrough Awards for its platform that extracts pure distilled water from atmospheric moisture. The system uses metal-organic frameworks inside a vacuum-chamber process powered by low-grade waste heat.
“With AirJoule Prime, we are not simply unveiling a new product. We believe we are launching a new category all together,” said Bryan Barton, chief commercialization officer of AirJoule Technologies and president of its 50/50 joint venture with GE Vernova, in a press statement. “Prime takes low-grade waste heat, something industries produce every day, and transforms it into one of the world’s most valuable resources: pure distilled water. It is an entirely new way to think about how water infrastructure can produce high-quality water on a distributed basis, exactly where it is needed.”
The company is planning to deploy a version of Prime in Europe through its collaboration with the Net Zero Innovation Hub for Data Centers.
AirJoule has deployed earlier versions of its system in Texas, Arizona, California, and Dubai, and is pursuing data-center water-purchase agreements.
SOLID-STATE BATTERIES DEBUT
Donut Lab unveiled the world's first all-solid-state battery ready for OEM production at CES 2026. The battery is already powering Verge Motorcycles’ current TS Pro and Ultra lineup on the road. And these bikes are available to order already.
“Donut Lab waited to announce our solid state battery breakthrough until the technology was fully tested, validated, and already operating in vehicles. These batteries are real, in production vehicles, and represent the future of electric mobility,” said Donut Lab CEO Marko Lehtimäki in a press statement.
Each Donut battery delivers 400 Wh/kg of energy density, charges fully in five minutes, and supports up to 100,000 charge cycles with minimal capacity fade. It retained more than 99 percent capacity in testing at both -30 °C and above 100 °C, with no flammable electrolyte and no thermal runaway risk. Built from abundant, non-rare materials, the company says it costs less than lithium-ion to produce.
Photo: Donut Lab
Inside tozero’s Gendorf facility. Photo: tozero
EUROPEAN BATTERY RECYCLING
In March 2026, Munich-based startup tozero opened its first industrial demonstration plant at Chemical Park Gendorf in Bavaria. The company built it in just six months and can process more than 1,500 tonnes of battery waste annually. tozero’s process recovers high-purity lithium carbonate, equivalent to 6,000 EVs worth of batteries, along with graphite and a nickel-cobalt mix, all at industrial scale.
“Europe doesn’t yet have the critical raw materials it needs to build and scale its own energy transition and battery industry,” said tozero CEO Sarah Fleischer in a press statement. “Our technology changes this by enabling us to recycle end-of-life batteries and extract these materials at industrial scale for the first time.”
According to the announcement, tozero’s proprietary acid-free hydrometallurgical process recovers materials pure enough to feed directly back into battery manufacturing, which tozero has already qualified with cathode and anode producers. The company points out that Europe currently imports 99 percent of its lithium and is almost entirely dependent on China for graphite. This plant will serve as the blueprint for another full commercial-scale facility planned for 2030.
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