New Master Roadmap Guides Industries To Invest in Low-Cost, Low-Energy Ways To Treat Salt Water & Recycle Wastewater
Agriculture accounts for about 90% of total water consumption in the western United States and around 80% in the rest of the country.
This year, droughts, ferocious wildfires, and extreme heat waves are turning farmlands dusty and ranchlands into grass stubble too short to feed livestock. Without adequate water supplies, farmers and ranchers are suffering, facing unprecedented restrictions on water supplies they have relied on for decades.
But even without historic droughts, growing demand for clean water will create shortages — and soon. Water managers in 40 U.S. states expect some portion of their community to experience shortfalls by 2024. But there is a solution waiting in runoff drains, farmlands, and even the ocean.
As water insecurity grows and populations continue to increase, the country could tap unconventional sources, like salt water and wastewater, for agriculture (including irrigation and animal management), thermoelectric cooling, mining, oil and gas extraction, industrial and manufacturing processes, care for city parks and cemeteries, and even drinking water.
Still, technological, economic, social, and cultural barriers staunch the flow of a circular water economy — where water can be recycled again and again. That is why the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) just published a master roadmap to help guide future national (and international) technology investments that will not only help keep crops watered and livestock well-fed but also make sure no one goes thirsty when devastating droughts sap our water supplies.
The U.S. Department of Energy formed NAWI in 2019 to accelerate the development of energy-efficient desalination technologies, which extract salts and other impurities from both salt water and wastewater. Their goal is for such devices to produce clean water with the same (or higher) quality as current water treatment methods for 90% of nontraditional resources within the next 10 years. Led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, the NAWI collaboration includes the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the National Energy Technology Laboratory, and more than 250 industry and academic partners.
Waste not. Growing demand for clean water will create shortages—and soon. Now, the National Alliance for Water Innovation’s new Master Technology Roadmap can guide industries to invest in the most promising technologies, so we can recycle salt water, wastewater, and other waste products again and again. Photo courtesy of the National Alliance for Water Innovation.
The master roadmap synthesizes the results of the 2020 NAWI Roadmapping initiative, which focused on technical challenges across five sectors: power, resource extraction (mining and oil and gas exploration and production), industrial, municipal, and agriculture. Though NAWI previously published individual roadmaps tailored to each industry, the master roadmap compiles research opportunities that span more than one industry and could speed the transition to a circular water economy.
“Sector-specific roadmaps gave us almost 90 different things we could focus on,” said Jordan Macknick, NREL’s lead energy-water-land analyst and NAWI’s topic-area lead for data, modeling, and analysis. “There’s no amount of money in the world that can address all those in one project in one coherent way.”
The master roadmap distills those 90 options into a smaller list of those with the greatest impact potential. One of those areas is cost.
Desalination devices that filter contaminants out of salt water or wastewater are not cheap. “We’re currently using these very big bulk separation technologies, like reverse osmosis, which use a lot of energy and are also very expensive, to remove trace contaminants,” Macknick said. “It’s almost like you’re using a sledgehammer to put a tack in a bulletin board.”
He and the broader NAWI team are researching ways to extract contaminants faster, cheaper, and smarter. For example, bulk separation technologies are not necessary to extract microscopic contaminants, like selenium or boron. Smaller, more precise technologies could perform the same job for less money and energy input.
Their goal is something called pipe parity. In Denver, Colorado, for example, if traditional water sources run out, what happens then? The city could pump water over the mountains, but that method gets expensive fast. If the NAWI team can design technology that makes recycled water the cheapest back-up option, that is a win.
But cost is not the only barrier.
“The traditionally conservative water industry is understandably risk averse,” Macknick said. “In general, that’s a good thing for our health. But it also makes the pace of innovation more challenging.” To incentivize the water industry to incorporate nontraditional water sources into their current infrastructure, Macknick and the cross-institutional team need to bring the costs down but also ensure the science is “bulletproof,” Macknick said.
And the water industry is not the only group that needs some convincing. Some consumers still balk at the idea of drinking recycled water.
“There’s a major perception issue when we talk about recycling or reusing water that, somehow, it’s not clean enough or as pure as the water we might get from a river and treat, when in fact, we’re oftentimes treating it to a higher standard than the water that we might pull directly from a river,” Macknick said.
Changing perceptions might take time, but, in the meantime, NREL can help speed the development of more efficient, cost-effective technologies that edge recycled water closer to widespread use. No single technologic breakthrough will get the job done; water treatment often uses a dozen different processes strung together. But with NREL’s deep knowledge of systems analysis, the laboratory’s researchers can analyze these processes as a whole and determine which changes might have the biggest impact.
NREL also previously led the development of an analytical tool called the Water Technoeconomic Assessment Pipe-Parity Platform (Water-TAP3), which evaluates water technology costs, energy use, environmental impacts, and resiliency trade-offs. NREL researchers also developed a data repository called the Water Data Analysis and Management System (Water DAMS), a national go-to for water technology and treatment data. And the laboratory does not just collect and analyze data. NREL’s advanced manufacturing researchers can help design entirely new materials to extract contaminants with greater speed and reduced cost.
NAWI’s new master roadmap will help guide future research at NREL and beyond. “The master roadmap is what is guiding our future investments,” Macknick said. “As the field advances, not only in the United States and with NAWI but also internationally, we want it to be a living document that changes as the sector advances and adapts.”
New technology, developed with guidance from the NAWI master roadmap, could allow farmers to reuse wastewater and even some of its extracted contaminants — phosphorous and nitrogen — as fertilizer. As climate change incites more droughts, wildfires, and extreme heat waves, farmers and ranchers could stay afloat with unconventional water sources.
Despite its name, wastewater need not be wasted.
Article courtesy of NREL.
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Inflation is back, with prices rising 2.7% compared to last year (and that doesn’t include food, fuel, or rent, which are up even more), which is objectively bad. But it’s not true that everything is getting more expensive. These inflation-busting EVs are heading into 2026 with prices that are lower than they were in 2025!
There’s plenty of reasons for prices to go up or down in a market – everything from tariffs and taxes and increased domestic production to changes in inflation or even just a manufacturerwillingness to take a smaller profit on per-unit sales in order to drive volume. There’s a little bit of all of that happening in the American EV market this year, especially in the face of the expiring Federal EV tax credit that kind of makes most EVs cost $7,500 more than they would have otherwise.
That said, as I was putting this list together, I realized there were plenty of ways for me to present these MY26 price cuts. “Best deals?” Too opinion-based. “Biggest discounts by percentage?” Too much math. In the end, I went with alphabetical order, by make. Enjoy!
Cadillac OPTIQ
Cadillac is the industry’s luxury EV leader these days – and for good reason. Its electric crossovers are good-looking, have long range, great acceleration, and ultra-fast charging. Heck, they can even power your home in a pinch.
Even so, the powers that be at GM are worried about how their EV sales will fare in an American without a $7,500 Federal EV tax credit, so they’re offering a rear-wheel-drive version of the OPTIQ crossover with 300 miles of range for the 2026 model year with a starting price that’s nearly $2,000 lower than the least-expensive 2025.
Chevy Silverado EV
Chevy is crushing it right now. After setting EV range records and surpassing Ford in EV sales this semmer, Chevy is now the fastest-growing domestic EV brand in the US – and they’re seemingly intent on keeping that momentum into 2026 with a more affordable WT trim level that starts at $54,895, compared to $57,095 for the ’25 WT Standard Range.
The financial picture is looking rosier at the top of the Silverado EV model range, too. The range-topping model for 2026 is the $88,695 Trail Boss, while the $97,895 RST Max Range topped the 2025 lineup.
Mercedes-Benz EQS
Despite being objectively capable, technologically-advanced, and supremely luxurious long-range electric vehicles, the Mercedes EQS and EQS SUVs were saddled with a somewhat anonymous, jellybean-like styling language that’s seen the flagship EVs struggle to find a foothold in the ultra-luxury segment they inhabit.
To that end, Mercedes kicked off its 2025 with big discounts on its in-stock EQS and EQS SUVs, and is responding to lower-than-expected market demand by reducing the cars’ MSRPs. In the case of the EQS SUV, by an inflation-busting $15,000 (!).
Toyota bZ
For 2026, Toyota has axed the bZ4X name and added a raft of both functional and cosmetic improvements to its five-passenger electric crossover, including body color fenders, up to 25% more range, and – thanks to a new thermal management system and battery preconditioning – a bigger battery that can charge from 10-80% capacity in about thirty minutes.
Even with those upgrades, the new and improved 2026 Toyota bZ is cheaper than the outgoing bZ4X, starting at $34,900 – or $2,170 less than the outgoing model.
Disclaimer: the prices above were sourced from CarsDirect, Motor1, and a number OEM websites. All offers were current as of 07SEP2025, and all links provided are from trusted affiliates. These prices may not be available in every market, with every discount, or for every buyer (the standard “with approved credit” fine print should be considered implied). Check with your local dealer(s) for more information.
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Sennebogen’s new 824 G Electro Battery material handler is being put through its paces at a recycling site in Munich’s Aubing district. And, thanks to its innovative grid-connected/battery system, it never has to stop to recharge!
With its emphasis on the recycling of stainless steel, ferroalloys, and superalloys, CRONIMET Alpha’s recycling operations are loud, and adding the ceaseless drone of diesel engines straining against the mass of all that metal as it’s sorted and fed into bailing presses. That’s why the company was so excited to test out Sennebogen’s new, all-electric 824 G Electro Battery material handler during an extensive trial at its Munich site.
So far, CRONIMET’s operators have been impressed with the new Sennebogen. “The battery-powered machine drives just like a diesel-powered one,” explains equipment operator Zoran Alexsic. “You don’t notice any difference in power – only that everything runs much more smoothly and quietly … you don’t have to take breaks to escape the noise.”
Quiet, but powerful
The Sennebogen 824 G comes standard with a 98 kWh battery, but operators can install up to four modular packs for a total of 392 kWh and roughly eight hours of runtime. Even with a single pack—good for 1.5 to 3 hours—the machine can keep CRONIMET’s operations running almost nonstop, thanks to its built-in dual power mode.
Sennebogen’s dual power mode enables the 824 G to run on battery while drawing power from the grid at the same time. When connected to grid power, the machine can recharge its batteries as it works, eliminating the downtime other BEVs need for charging and giving operators the freedom to reposition the machine on battery power, then plug back in when convenient.
Beyond flexibility, the electric handler is also cleaner, quieter, and more cost-effective than the diesel models it’s designed to replace. By seamlessly cycling between battery and grid power, it reduces both noise on the job site and energy costs during peak hours.
Electrek’s Take
We’ve seen grid-connected equipment assets like this before, and with good reason. Simply put, it takes many more kilowatts of energy to dig up tons and tons of dirt and rocks than it does to send an aerodynamically smoothed sedan down a road. That’s why you still see a push towards hydrogen and other energy-dense fuels in construction – but permanently grid connected assets, whether wired or inductive, could solve for some of the limitations of batteries on job sites that can support them.
If the 824 G Electro Battery is a commercial success, expect Sennebogen to roll out more grid-connected options in the years to come.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Sennebogen.
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MINI has partnered with lifestyle brand, Deus Ex Machina, to develop this. It’s called the Skeg, and it’s a high-performance, racing-inspired electric concept car that’s sure to lighten the mood – by shedding fully 15% of its mass in the quest for speed.
One of a pair of exclusive, one-off concepts based on MINI’s John Cooper Works cars. The Deus Ex Machina Skeg celebrates MINI’s storied racing history with what the company calls, “a clean, minimal, and quiet rebellion,” that draws on materials, technologies, and philosophies from the world of surfing.
The electric MINI JCW Skeg is stripped to its essentials, with much of the steel and aluminum bits replaced with lightweight fiberglass to maximize acceleration while driving the minimalist aesthetic home. The end result weighs 15% less than the standard car – but makes the same stout 190 kW (258 hp) as the production car.
Surf’s up
The interior is stripped back to the barest essentials, reflecting BMW’s vision of a surf culture that prioritizes function over form. MINI claims the end result resembles a mobile surf shop, with fiberglass trays for wetsuits, specially shaped bins, neoprene seats, and other touches that “bring the surf culture into the interior.”
For their part, the BMW and MINI styling team seems pretty proud of its minimalistic electric endeavor. “In this extraordinary collaboration … every single detail has been crafted with artisanal precision and expertise,” says Holger Hampf, Head of MINI Design. “This has resulted in unique characters that are clearly perceived as belonging together through their distinctive design language and use of graphics.”
The concept retains the production version’s 54.2 kWh li-ion battery pack, up to 250 of WLTP range with the production aero kit, sprints from 0-100 km (62 mph) in just 5.9 seconds. With 15% less mass, though, that should jump to more than 255 miles, with 0-60 times dropping below 5.5 seconds.
I dig it – but I’d skip the surf bits and just appreciate the raw composite, minimalist interior look for what it is. Take a look at the image gallery, below, then let us know what you think of MINI’s Skeg concept in the comments.
MINI Skeg concept | gallery
SOURCE | IMAGES: BMW MINI.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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