The only person to break the sound barrier on land just broke a new record — with a hydrogen engine
In 1997, British driver Andy Green drove a jet-powered car at 763 miles per hour in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert and became the first — and only — person to break the sound barrier on land.
Nearly a decade later, the retired Royal Air Force fighter pilot then set the land-speed record for driving a diesel-powered car, zooming through Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats at 350 miles per hour.
On Tuesday, August 11, he returned to the salt flats to drive a car powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines. In his latest run, Green reached 406 miles per hour, easily toppling the previous hydrogen combustion world record of 185.
Why is this good news? Although hydrogen cars aren’t currently poised to replace diesel or gasoline cars, this demonstrates that hydrogen combustion, which Green hailed as “the fuel of the future,” can deliver enormous amounts of power under extreme conditions. As the technology’s potential continues to be studied, test cases like this give engineers useful real-world data.
Australia saw its ‘best year yet’ for large-scale renewable energy projects completed
In the 2025-26 financial year, and after a surge in June, Australia saw a record level of new solar, wind, and battery projects completed and join the nation’s electricity market.
With a record 9.1 gigawatts of new generation and storage capacity completed, it was the country’s best financial year yet — more than double the 4.4 gigawatts delivered the prior year.
In the June quarter alone, 3.9 gigawatts of capacity came online across 14 different projects. It also saw 42% growth in its new connections pipeline, promising continued expansion of renewable energy.
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