Technology Trending: Cyber protection for space data, battery passport, battery for hot climates

Protecting satellite imagery from fraud, Citopia network for a global battery passport and a high performance non-flammable battery option for warm climates are on the week’s technology radar.

Protecting satellite imagery from fraud

Satellite imagery is becoming increasingly important as a source of data for energy and water utilities, as for other sectors also. But with the emergence of new AI-based techniques that could change such data concern is growing about its cyber protection.

To address this issue the European Space Agency (ESA) has engaged the French-Slovak blockchain startup 3IPK and space solution provider Thales Alenia Space to develop a solution for managing traceability and ensuring the integrity of Earth observation data under its FutureEO programme.

Until now, no solution has been capable of incontestably proving the provenance and integrity of such data. Furthermore, the increasing use of satellite data to support operational services and their global distribution calls for a robust solution to assure their traceability and thus guarantees their origin, reliability and use.

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The two companies intend to develop a blockchain-based solution that will ensure the traceability and integrity of the data through unique digital signatures, with an initial version of the solution to be delivered to ESA in the first half of 2024.

The blockchain technology will be adapted and tested on Thales Alenia Space’s Earth-observation processing chains including the production line for data from the Copernicus programme’s Sentinel-2 satellites, which are collecting various land monitoring and other data.

Citopia – a network for a global battery passport

The MOBI consortium, an alliance of vehicle manufacturers and others on mobility standards, has launched ‘Citopia’ as a decentralised marketplace on which in future global battery passports could be issued.

The Web3 based marketplace is built on self-sovereign identity standards to provide data privacy and other user protections, along with interoperability.

The requirement for a battery passport, which is mandated in the EU Battery Regulation and set to come in others, is based on the need for a standardised traceability framework to promote circularity, efficiency and resilience in the supply chain as batteries proliferate, particularly with their use in electric vehicles.

Information that would be included would be on the battery’s composition, its state of health, history and more. For example, the Battery Pass initiative has identified no less than 90 data attributes that could be included in a battery passport.

MOBI’s Circular Economy and Global Battery Passport working group is co-chaired by DENSO, Honda and Nissan and is focussed on creating the standards and developing a cross-industry interoperable global battery passport.

A high performance non-flammable battery option for warm climates

With concerns – some anecdotal at least – of battery fires on the increase a battery passport may be useful for monitoring – but an alternative is now being offered by the Massachusetts-based Alsym Energy, which has developed what it calls the industry’s first high performance, non-flammable battery storage technology suitable for warmer climates.

Such climates generally have abundant sun or wind and are thus ideally suited to renewable energy production. However, expensive, fire-prone battery technologies are serious impediments to ambitious plans for rapid growth.

“When it comes to lithium-ion batteries, the level of fire risk increases as the mercury rises,” says Alsym Energy CEO and co-founder Mukesh Chatter.

“Recent battery storage fires in Australia, France, and the US have required evacuations and shelter-in-place orders, and some cities are considering significant restrictions and even bans.”

Alsym Energy hasn’t divulged much information on its technology, beyond saying it is lithium and cobalt free and takes advantage of readily available materials that are inherently non-flammable and non-toxic, reducing the costs and increasing safety and sustainability.

Alsym Energy is targeting initially Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia but prime opportunities would include much of Africa, central America and for example India.