Atlas Copco has launched QHS integrated hybrid generators that combine battery storage and a diesel genset in a single canopy unit, capable of grid charging, self-charging via the engine, and optional solar panel input. The system automatically manages multiple energy sources to minimise engine runtime, claiming up to 80% fuel and CO₂ reductions and more than 95% less engine operating time versus diesel-only sets at low or variable loads. Rental-focused features include multiple socket configurations, external fuel connections, a terminal board and FleetLink telemetry for remote monitoring, diagnostics and fleet management.

Australian researchers led by CSIRO have built the world’s first proof‑of‑concept quantum battery, using entangled quantum states to charge multiple cells collectively rather than individually. The lab‑scale device, fabricated in CSIRO’s clean quantum battery engineering lab, is designed to scale to solid‑state architectures compatible with grid‑scale storage and electric vehicles. If commercialised, the technology could sharply increase demand for high‑purity critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements, with tighter specifications on impurity control and crystal defect behaviour.

Legrand is now supplying cable management systems made with 34% green steel, targeting high‑demand data centre projects that can require hundreds or thousands of kilometres of cabling. The green steel uses at least 75% scrap in electric arc furnaces powered by certified renewable electricity, cutting embodied carbon from about 2.38t CO2e to as little as 799kg CO2e per tonne of finished cold‑rolled steel, a 70% reduction versus blast furnaces. This shift is already lowering Legrand’s Scope 3 supply‑chain emissions and offers contractors a straightforward route to reduce project embodied carbon.