Researchers at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia have developed a sodium-ion battery that could make renewable energy technologies more affordable. The salt battery can be used in place of more expensive lithium ion batteries to store solar and wind energy so as to provide continuous power even on cloudy or windless days. According to project leaders Drs Manickam Minakshi and Danielle Meyrick, the battery "has excellent potential for large-scale use, including storing energy from wind turbines and solar farms for later feeding into local electricity grids, as well as use in industry". As we look to transition to renewable energy sources such as solar energy and wind power we are faced with a number of problems. Currently wind turbines and solar panels are dependent on weather conditions; wind turbines don't operate on a still day, while solar panels can't be used at night or during cloudy weather. It can leave the electricity demand unbalanced with the energy supply generated by renewables. These limitations require the storing of excess energy where possible so as to remain entirely off-the-grid, and the new water-based sodium-ion battery is the most affordable, low-temperature energy storage created so far. Previous storage batteries have been using rare and expensive compounds like molten sulfur and liquid metals, making the price too steep for commercialization. Unlike its predecessors, the new battery is based on globally abundant and affordable sodium, whose chemical properties are similar to the widely-used lithium. The next challenge was to find a material for cathodes and anodes capable of accommodating sodium's ionic size. After extensive testing, Drs Manickam Minakshi and Danielle Meyrick have found that using manganese dioxide as the cathode and a novel olivine sodium phosphate as the anode gave best results. Claiming that this breakthrough will make renewable energy more accessible in developing countries, Dr Manickam Minakshi states that the "research has reached the stage where we're ready to move beyond our lab towards larger-scale commercialization".

Nowadays, it is very popular to transform non residential sites into residential facilities, especially, if the transformation is very cheap. In particular, lighthouses, windmills, space stations, churches, railway stations, water towers, platforms are converted into residential complexes. But architects from Pinkcloud Danish architectural studio went a step further. They have come up with a design that could transform 400 oil refineries around the world into giant energy positive communities. According to official website of the company, When the planet hits peak oil and there is no longer any use for the 49,000 silos that are used to store reserves, these spherical structures could make the perfect solar-powered homes. Their shape optimizes sunlight capture and they are also airtight, waterproof, and structurally bulletproof. An individual silo can be turned into a single family day-lit home, or whole refineries can be converted into interconnected communities that share resources. PinkCloud studio recycled oil silos have everything we expect from a 21st century home, but first they have to be cleaned out. Detoxing the silos involves using in situ bioremediation - soil microbes that eat up harmful toxins. Once it is suitably cleaned, one or more families can move in. These 100 percent self-sustaining buildings have a green roof and green wall that absorb carbon dioxide and improve air quality, high-quality insulation, photovoltaic panels, a rainwater harvesting system and even a basement-level water storage area. The house is heated with radiant flooring, and water with solar power. Energy efficiency is achieved through passive design, and each level of the home is reached by way of a pneumatic elevator. It's possible to connect up whole communities of these recycled silos that would share underground heating and all other infrastructure necessary to run an off-grid home on renewable sources of energy. Earlier, The Inhabitat reported, that the architectural studio KEG Apartments from Athens has a great idea to recycle old trucks into apartments that can either remain stationary or stay attached to the truck and be mobile. Hopefully the containers could be cleaned well enough to eliminate any past toxins to ensure safe air quality. Perhaps this is very efficient design for small houses, as a human population increases at an exponential rate, but the aforementioned two projects are still on paper.