Mayor Sadiq Khan Launches Cleaner Vehicle Checker

18.10.2017

London Mayor Sadiq Khan yesterday launched a new online Cleaner Vehicle Checker, designed to make it easier for motorists to assess the real world emissions released by new vehicles.

Launched just days ahead of next week’s introduction of a £10 Toxicity Charge, which will be levelled on the most polluting vehicles entering central London from next Monday, the new free online service is intended to help motorists who are considering buying a new car select the cleanest models.

The Mayor’s Office said the tracker would provide an independent rating of nearly all new Euro 6 standard cars and many of the vans being sold in UK showrooms. It will each model an A+ to H grade based on how they performed in independent, real world, on-road testing.

The auto industry has been under fire from campaigners since the so-called diesel-gate scandal revealed both the use of cheat devices by auto giant Volkswagen to game emissions tests and a wider disconnect between laboratory testing of new vehicle emissions and real world emissions.

“We are days away from the start of the new T-Charge in central London and with sales of diesel cars falling, motorists are more aware than ever about the pollution levels of the cars they drive,” said Khan. “Our toxic air is a shameful health crisis and London motorists deserve to know how much filthy emissions new cars may produce before they purchase them.

“The Cleaner Vehicle Checker will help provide the accurate and independent information Londoners need to make informed choices and opt for cleanest vehicles.”

The testing has been carried out by research firm Emissions Analytics using Portable Emissions Measurement Systems (PEMS) and the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) using roadside testing.

Nick Molden, chief executive of Emissions Analytics, said the move to use PEMS and real-world emissions data to rate the cleanest cars was “a hugely important step in tackling the issue of urban air quality”.

“London is leading the way in taking this common-sense approach and… will help car buyers make informed decisions, rather than simply replying on inaccurate official figures,” he added.

Source: businessgreen.com

Local Politicians Throwing India Solar Power Plans Into Chaos

17.10.2017

Never underestimate the power of small-minded people to totally disrupt a carefully thought out plan. India is taking bold steps to transition to a low-emissions economy by promoting solar and wind power. It is also contemplating a ban on the sale of conventional cars starting in 2030. Solar power is especially appealing in India because of its abundant sunshine and the steep decline in the price of solar panels in recent years.

But customs officials are threatening to put the kibosh on India’s solar power plans. 90% of the solar panels used in India are imported. Until now, they have entered the country duty free. But the customs officials at the port of Channai have begun demanding that the panels in 1,000 containers waiting to enter the country pay an import duty of 10.5%. The new charges are the result of the customs service reclassifying the solar panels as ““electrical motors and generators,” something they clearly are not.

“It is a matter of wrong classification,” said Anand Kumar, secretary in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. “They are sorting out the matter. I’ve talked to the board member concerned.” Developers fear the tariffs will make it impossible to meet installation targets, which will have a negative impact on cash flow. They say customs authorities in other ports have also misinterpreted rules for solar equipment in the past.

“It is simple arm-twisting,” said a leading developer. “Billions of dollars worth of solar modules must have been imported over all these years without attracting any import duty. Suddenly, some spirited customs officials have decided to reinvent the wheel. We have millions of dollars worth of goods which are stuck with a duty implication of over $1,500,000. It is sheer harassment with ulterior motives.”

Customs officials have told importers to pay the fees and apply for a refund later. Some have done so, but others have elected not to. “On the one hand, the government insists we meet our deadlines and on the other this is happening. This will turn our loans into non-performing assets. If we knew this was going to happen, we would have bid differently at solar auctions, pricing this charge into our modules,” one solar developer says. One presumes the government of Prime Minister Modi, who is a tireless champion of solar power, will resolve this situation — which has all the earmarks of a bribery scheme — quickly.

The fossil fuel interests never seem to run out of new and creative ways to hang on to the lucrative ways of the past. In the US, the Trump administration is pondering new tariffs on imported solar cells. With confirmed climate deniers who are in thrall to fossil fuel interests in charge of the EPA and the Energy Department, what are the odds that the US government will do the right thing? Somewhere between slim and none would be a reasonable guess.

Source: cleantechnica.com

ABB makes EV charging easier than ever by supporting Autocharge functionality

17.10.2017

Autocharge enables a charge session to be automatically started after a driver connects their vehicle to the charger without requiring the use of an RFiD card, payment card or mobile app. The charger will automatically recognize the vehicle based on its unique vehicle identifier, allowing simpler, faster and more secure user interaction. This superior user experience gives commercial charging station operators much greater flexibility to offer their customers a seamless and intuitive interaction with a charging station.

ABB is first to implement Autocharge, which is based on a unique identifier called EV-ID that is passed on by a CCS vehicle after plugging in the vehicle. After a first-time registration by the charging station operator, all chargers in their network will instantly recognize a customer’s vehicle. With this automatic ‘handshake,’ the station can automatically start charging while the transaction is being processed in the background, through the end of the session.

Backwards and forwards compatibility The Autocharge function works with older, recent and new vehicles with a CCS charging connection. Extensive tests have shown that most electric vehicles manufactured since 2012 can communicate their unique ID, and are capable of benefitting from the Autocharge feature. As of today, vehicles equipped with a CCS charging port are capable of Autocharge. When vehicles equipped with other charging standards offer this functionality, ABB will include them into the functionality.

Easy to implement – Based on open standards (OCPP, CCS) The Autocharge concept is developed within the open standards community and is based on standard OCPP communication and the default properties of the CCS protocol. Therefore the implementation is simple and fast as it only requires minimal adaptations to standard OCPP based backoffices.

Available now The Autocharge feature is available immediately for testing with charging station operators and OCPP back-offices. After successful testing, the software can be made available via over-the-air-update to the installed base of ABB chargers.

As an innovator in the charging infrastructure market ABB is continuously focussing its efforts to provide the best user experience with its chargers. ABB has provided charging solutions as part of its drive to promote sustainable mobility since 2010, and has sold more than 6,000 DC fast-chargers with related services such as cloud connectivity worldwide.

ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a pioneering technology leader in electrification products, robotics and motion, industrial automation and power grids, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure globally. Continuing more than a 125-year history of innovation, ABB today is writing the future of industrial digitalization and driving the Energy and Fourth Industrial Revolutions. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 136,000 employees.

(www.abb.com)

European Spending On Energy Efficient Building Technologies In 2026 To Near $112 Billion

17.10.2017

Already a global leader in building sustainability legislation and initiatives, the European market for energy efficient building technologies is expected to grow from $83.5 billion in 2017 to $111.9 billion in 2026.

A new report from Navigant Research examining the market for energy efficient building technologies in Western and Eastern Europe was published last week, providing a market forecast for the sector through to 2026. Europe already stands as a global leader when it comes to implementing legislation and initiatives to increase building energy efficiency and bringing in new technologies. The European Union already has two key pieces of legislation — the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) — through which European countries are delivering their 2020 emissions reductions goals.

The next step for Europe is the Clean Energy for All Europeans legislation which was proposed in November 2016 and agreed upon by the European Energy Council in June of this year. However, according to Navigant Research, “this legislation is regarded by many as a compromise” and that “Original energy efficiency targets of 40% by 2030 have been reduced to 30% and energy savings targets of 1.5% per year have been reduced to 1% per year from 2026 through 2030 based on the results of positive progress reports in 2024.” The primary concern for opponents of these revisions is that Europe will fade away from its 2050 goals and its Paris Climate Agreement commitments.

Navigant Research explains that if Europe is to hold on to the tremendous gains it has already made, it will need to make use of the tremendous advancements in building technologies which “are evolving toward an integrated ecosystem of components and sensors that work together as a platform for optimizing facility operations.”

The importance of energy efficiency developments across Europe is highlighted in the energy efficient building technology spending across the next decade through 2026, which is expected to grow in Western and Eastern Europe from $83.5 billion in 2017 to $111.9 billion in 2026.

“Europe has been a global leader in sustainability legislation and initiatives, with commercial buildings playing an essential role in meeting ambitious targets set for 2020,” explained Tom Machinchick, principal research analyst at Navigant Research. “Intelligent digital building technologies will be necessary for Europe to continue toward its long-term goals of significantly increasing efficiency while reducing overall carbon emissions. A certain level of efficiency can be attained with relative ease, but as future efficiency targets get deeper, so must the building efficiency projects and the technologies that support those efforts.”

Source: cleantechnica.com

Vattenfall Begins Moving Forward On 1.8 Gigawatt Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm

17.10.2017

Swedish power company Vattenfall has announced it has begun moving forward on developing the mammoth 1.8 gigawatt Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm, which is expected to be completed and operational sometime in the mid-2020s.

We first heard word of the Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm back in March of 2016, when Vattenfall announced the start of development on two wind farms in what used to be the northern half of the East Anglia Offshore Wind Farm development zone. The two wind farms, each set to have a mammoth capacity of 1.8 gigawatts (GW), are the Norfolk Vanguard and the Norfolk Boreas, located 47 kilometers off the Norfolk Coast.

“Vattenfall wants to work with Norfolk to capture the benefits of offshore wind,” said Ruari Lean, Vattenfall’s Project Manager for Norfolk Vanguard, said at the time. “There is an opportunity for Norfolk business and securing Norfolk jobs. There is also an opportunity to make a telling impact in the UK’s contribution to tackling climate change.”

Norfolk Vanguard on its own is expected to provide electricity for the equivalent of 1.3 million UK homes, which accounts for around 5% of current UK household electricity demand — not bad for a single project.

Announced last week, Vattenfall revealed that it was finally moving forward on its official autumn consultation on the anticipated environmental impact of the 1.8 GW Norfolk Vanguard project.

Vattenfall is also moving forward with consultation with around 30,000 Norfolk households to ensure all are up to date on Vattenfall’s thinking for onshore infrastructure. Specifically, Vattenfall confirmed that no part of the 60-kilometer export cable will run under any house.

Currently, the specifics of Norfolk Vanguard hinge on future development decisions, including the environmental impact study. Vattenfall currently predicts that the project will use between 90 to 257 wind turbines with a generating capacity of between 7 megawatts (MW) and 20 MW — obviously banking on tremendous technological innovation and growth between now and construction.

“What we are setting out in detail in our statement of community consultation is our engagement plan to discuss and get feedback on what is called preliminary environmental information,” said Ruari Lean, Vattenfall’s Norfolk Vanguard Project Manager. “The PEI report sets out our latest layout of the offshore and onshore parts of the project, what we think will be the impacts and how we will go about minimising them.

“We will consult according to the SoCC, which means we will do what we say we will do.

“We ask everyone who is interested to tell us what they think of the information that we have published. We have already received a high volume of detailed feedback on residents’ concerns but also how people think Norfolk can benefit from what will be a significant inward investment in the region. The quality of feedback so far has been excellent and we thank those that have taken the time to engage in this process for nationally significant infrastructure projects.”

Source: cleantechnica.com

Milan Belin: The Advantage of Renault Electric Cars is Its Multiple Purpose

17.10.2017

Renault, Milan Belin — Foto: Privatna arhiva

The company Renault is the first car company to devote itself to the development of cars with zero emission of CO2. At the beginning of the current decade, the first electric cars – models Zoe, Twizy, Kangoo Z.E., Fluence Z.E. – arrived and expanded the Renault’s assortment.

Given the fact that they are equally recognisable, as well as other Renault’s vehicles, they are quickly becoming popular on the old continent. However, they still haven’t arrived in Serbia, and why that is the case we got the explanation from General Manager of “Renault-Nissan Srbija“, Milan Belin.

EP: The company Renault has not even one electric car on the Serbian market. Why is that so?

Milan Belin: Business model that company Renault presented when launching electric vehicles on the world marker is “electrical vehicles available to everyone”. This implies that the company’s goal is that each customer gets an electrical vehicle at the price of a similar one with a diesel engine. In order to achieve this it is necessary to fulfill two conditions: satisfactory subsidy of the government when purchasing an electric vehicle and good coverage of charging stations.

EP: What are the things that the developed countries offer to the importers and buyers of the electric vehicles? What condition should be fulfilled in order for the Renault’s electric cars to appear in showrooms of some country?

Milan Belin: In addition to subventions and availability of chargers, which are the basic conditions for placing of Renault models on the market, almost all developed countries give additional benefits to the owners of electrical cars: free tolls, free parking places, free electricity… Until the Republic of Serbia does not invest in the development of charging network and does not help the purchase by introducing subsidies, there are no adequate conditions for commercialization on our market.

EP: Renault Zoe was at the top of Europe’s top-selling electric car list in the past few months as well as in the last two years. So far, have you been contacted by the interested buyers of Renault’s electric cars on domestic market?

Milan Belin: The interest is growing every day, not only for Zoe, but also for Kangoo and Twizy. Aside from individuals, the interest is shown by legal entities, who would like to add this type of vehicles to their fleet.

EP: What is the primary reason why customers decide to buy exactly Renault’s electric cars? When you compare with the giant such as Tesla, what would be your advantage?

Milan Belin: The models which our company produces are multifunctional – from family through city to delivery vehicles, so the possibility to satisfy the wider population is higher.

EP: What the fans of Renault’s brand like most is certainly the design. The same applies to electric cars such as Zoe and especially model Twizy. What is the secret?

Milan Belin: It is very simple – Renault’s electric vehicles are fully followed by innovative designer’s solutions that are also offered in our other models. During 2016, the number of sold Renault models of electric vehicles exceeded 100,000 in Europe, which means that every fourth electric car on this continent is Renault’s. In the share of sales, model Zoe is involved with more than 50 per cent, and it is at the same the best-selling model of this kind in Europe in the last two years.

– The situation with the placement of Nissan cars in Serbia is similar to the one with the Renault brand. The first Nissan’s electric car will appear on the domestic market when the conditions for that are fulfilled – said Mr Belin

EP: What features possess the most popular among Renault’s electric vehicles – Zoe, Twizy, Kangoo? What feature is the biggest trump card?

Milan Belin: Kangoo has a range of up to 200 km, Twizy up to 100 km. Of course, these are factory data, since the real range depends on the variety of factors (driving style and conditions…) The last modification of Zoe model has a range of up to 400km.

EP: On what technical and technological characteristics is the Renault’s development sector currently focused?

Milan Belin: Renault has decided to develop exclusively electric vehicles in the future and that development is currently going in the direction of cheaper batteries with greater autonomy.

EP: For the end, do you have a message for drivers – polluters?

Milan Belin: We have only one planet and it depends on us how much will the nature be able to withstand the pollution we create. Look into the future, because we are the ones who influence what kind of planet we will leave to our kids and the future generations.

Interview by: Marija Nešović and Vera Rakić

This interview was originally published in the eighth issue of the Energy Portal Bulletin, named ECOMOBILITY.

Lancaster (California) Is “Solar Power Capital Of The Universe”

17.10.2017

Lancaster, California, produces more solar power per capita than any other city in the state. Devastated by the recession of 2009, when unemployment rose to 17%, the city has made its commitment to solar the basis of its economic rebirth. Today it is home to the BYD truck and bus factory, which just finished an expansion that tripled its original size.

Lancaster mayor Rex Parris calls his city “the solar capital of the universe.” Described by some as “an arrogant bully and an unstoppable control freak,” the three-term Republican has been an unflagging champion of solar power. “Had it not been for his leadership, we would not be on this journey,” said Lancaster city manager Mark Bozigian.

Today, housing prices have rebounded and unemployment is less than 6%. Parris says his clean energy policies have created 1,000 new jobs within the city, which sits north of Los Angeles and south of Bakersfield. “I think Lancaster is a fantastic story about clean energy and job creation, and it’s a great American story about reinventing,” said Jeff Tannenbaum, chair of sPower, a solar developer that has worked with Lancaster on several large-scale solar projects. “The Republican mayor has reinvented Lancaster as a clean energy capital.”

SolarCity, the company started by Elon Musk’s cousins and which was subsequently purchased by Tesla, has partnered with Lancaster to install rooftop solar systems on virtually all municipal buildings and schools in the city. Lancaster also changed its building code to require that new homes include rooftop solar, the first city in America to take that bold step. Not only is BYD the largest employer in the city, it also partnered with KB Home to build affordable homes that feature solar panels, battery storage, and LED lighting.

City manager Bozigian believes that local governments have all the tools they need to address climate change. “The mayor is in charge of building permits. Not the federal government,” he says. When Mayor Parris speaks about the city’s clean energy campaign, he does so with a photo of Donald Trump nearby. He points to the photo and tells his audience, “He doesn’t issue building permits. I do.”

The permitting process for rooftop solar systems can be lengthy with lots of delays built in. Not in Lancaster. Today, approvals take about 15 minutes. “It’s so business friendly here, it’s not even funny,” says Jim Cahill, a vice president at SolarCity.

The city made a decision to buy its electricity from solar power plants built within the city itself. That not only provides jobs for local workers, it also lowers the cost of electricity for city residents. That initiative has been so successful, Lancaster is helping other Southern California cities set up similar programs. Now Mayor Parris has his sights on creating a regional market for locally produced solar power. Together with several surrounding communities, Lancaster is planning to build a transmission like to deliver clean energy to Los Angeles.

“If other cities, or this state, had leaders like Mayor Parris and the Lancaster City Council, they would all be doing it,” said Bozigian. “You need to have guts, and you need to be decisive. You need to know what’s right, get the information you need, make a decision and do it.”

Parris may be unusual for someone who calls himself a Republican, but he is not alone. Halfway across the country, Georgetown, Texas, is committed to being a city that runs entirely on renewable energy. Republican mayor Dale Ross says it’s not about ideology or politics. Ross, who is a trained CPA, says it’s about dollars and cents.

“The revolution is here,” he says. “And I’m a good little Republican, a right-wing fiscal conservative, but when it comes to making decisions based on facts, that’s what we do. How is anybody going to compete with wind and solar?” he asks.

When the city started considering its options for long-term electricity in 2015, coal was simply too expensive and natural gas providers were only willing to lock in prices for 7 years. Wind farm suppliers, though, were willing to make a 25 year commitment. Now city residents pay about 25% less for their electricity than they did before.

Ross says Donald Trump was his 8th or 9th choice among the Republican candidates for president. “When Trump was campaigning, he was talking about clean coal and we’re going to bring coal jobs back? That is a mirage, that is not going to happen,” he says. “Coal is one of the most expensive forms of fossil fuels to produce. And those jobs are never going to come back, ever. They’re done.”

His opinions about the EPA dismantling the Clean Power Plan are equally acerbic. “Isn’t that sort of like putting a Band-Aid on somebody that has terminal cancer?” Ross said. “I’m not the smartest guy in the room but it’s not that complicated, OK? How’s fossil fuels going to compete in the next five years? They’re not going to be able to compete,” he tells The Guardian. “We were on the frontier of the fossil fuel business, oil and gas,” Ross says. “And now Texas again is on the frontier of the new energy that’s going to be the future.”

Back in Lancaster, city manager Bozigian also emphasizes economics over politics. “Mayor Parris says that the mistake that advocates make is to make it a politicized issue, which means everyone looks at it through a political prism. This is an issue that’s more important than that. It’s common sense.”

Source: cleantechnica.com

Norway Proposes Major Cuts to Carbon Capture and Storage Budget

17.10.2017

Termoelektrana, Ugalj, Zagađenje — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

On the same day at the UK government finally unveiled new funding support for the carbon capture usage and storage sector (CCUS), the Norwegian government proposed cutting its own support for the technology by 90 per cent.

Norway, which is seen as a leader in CCUS research, has proposed cutting funding for the technology from 360 million kroner ($45m) to just 20 million kroner ($2.5m) next year, according to Norwegian NGO Bellanova.

The move would put in jeopardy the development of carbon capture technology at three sites around the Oslo fjord where experiments are underway – a cement producer, an ammonia producer and waste incineration plant – as well as further research into the transport and storage of carbon dioxide.

Bellanova claimed the proposed cuts are “incomprehensible”. “By taking such steps, the government sows doubt amongst all the actors involved in CCS activities in Norway,” Olav Øye, Bellona adviser for CO2 capture and storage, said. “The technology is ripe and industry is ready. This budget risks undermining all other policies and investments on climate change.”

He vowed to work with the opposition and the government’s supporting parties to reverse the cuts before the budget is finalised later this year.

The move from Norway came on the same day as the UK government unveiled its long-awaited Clean Growth Strategy, which set out plans for £100m of funding for CCUS technologies, the first new funding since the government unexpectedly scrapped a £1bn competition in 2015.

Campaigners now fear Norway’s decision could undermine confidence in the technology and disrupt plans by the UK government to use Norway’s approach to R&D as a blueprint for its own CCUS innovation programme.

“The budget sends a signal that Norway is no longer serious about CCS,” Øye warned.

Source: businessgreen.com

What Can Carbon Dioxide Levels 50 Million Years Ago Tell Us About Climate Change Today?

16.10.2017

Scientists at Dartmouth College engage in climate change research have found a way to determine what the carbon dioxide level was in the Earth’s atmosphere during the early Eocene period that began about 60 million years ago and ended about 40 million years ago. During the Eocene, global average temperatures were 10º Celsius higher than today.

The early Eocene was characterized by five periods of extreme warmth — known as hyperthermals. They occurred between 56 and 52 million years ago and featured average temperatures that were up to 8º C warmer still. Add 10 degrees and 8 degrees and you get temperatures that were 18º C hotter than today, which equates to 32º Fahrenheit. If it is 70 degrees F where you are today, imagine it is 102 degrees outside instead. Big difference, right?

Until now, the scientific community believed that carbon dioxide levels were as high as 2000 parts per million during the Eocene era. But the research done by the Dartmouth scientists suggests carbon dioxide levels at the time were only half that high — about 1000 ppm. Today, CO2 levels in the atmosphere are around 400 ppm. The message is, disastrous consequences can flow from much lower concentrations of carbon dioxide than previously thought.

“This research provides important information about the planet’s climate past and adds an important chapter to the Earth’s history book,” said Ying Cui, Obering Postdoctoral Fellow at Dartmouth College. The research into a period of known high temperatures will help scientists understand how the earth has responded to changes in carbon dioxide levels in the past. That information should assist them in refining their predictions for climate change in the future.

The researchers used data regarding concentrations of carbon 12 and carbon 13 isotopes derived from sediment samples found in terrestrial and deep-sea drilling sites. The question the wanted to answer was where did the extra carbon dioxide that raised the earth’s temperature so high come from? The answer appears to melting permafrost during the period studied.

Uh, oh. Houston we have a problem. Permafrost melting is occurring right now this very moment in northern Canada and Siberia. As Bill McKibben explains in his book Oil And Honey, once the permafrost begins to melt, it begins a cascading feedback loop leading to climate catastrophe. Melting releases more carbon dioxide with warms the earth more and causes more melting. Lather, rinse, repeat.

“This changes our understanding of what the concentration of carbon dioxide should be in relationship to global temperature as well as how we should revisit climate models in order to better project future climate change,” Cui says. “The challenge is to reconstruct what the past carbon dioxide concentration is and to utilize these geochemistry proxies the best we can — essentially, how can we best interpret these records using geological archives,” said Cui.

While the Dartmouth research finds that the carbon was most likely released by permafrost thaw, there is still question as to what triggered the warming that caused the release of extra carbon into the atmosphere. Separate research points to the roles of extreme volcanic activity and water vapor during Earth’s earlier warming periods.

Although focusing on a timeframe that is over 50 million years ago, Cui says the research relates directly to efforts to understand the Earth’s current warming trend, and to project how human activities and other natural dynamics could impact future warming.

“The geologic past can provide a useful insight into our understanding of current and future environmental change,” said Cui. “Policy makers, economists and others who study projections on temperature can utilize this information to see how ecosystems recover after rapid change of climate and use it as lessons for the future.”

Of course, if you are one of those people, like Vice President Mike Pence, who believe the Earth is only 7,000 years old and that humans and dinosaurs coexisted at one time, none of this matters. The idea that anything happened 60 million years ago is to absurd to even consider. Which is why humanity will likely miss its last best chance to avoid extinction.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Paris Wants No Conventional Cars On Its Streets By 2030

16.10.2017

paris-843229__340 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Paris is known for taking progressive measures to fight climate change. In December of 2015, delegates from every nation gathered in the City of Light to create the historic COP21 climate accords. But in March of this year, the city suffered through a period of intense smog, during which the air over the city was dirtier than the air over Beijing and blotted out the view of the Eiffel Tower. Much of that smog was attributable to the exhaust emissions from conventional cars.

In response, the city of Paris put aggressive new procedures in place to limit the number of cars powered by internal combustion engines on its streets and eventually move beyond polluting cars. It has banned cars more than 20 years old, which have rudimentary pollution controls, from entering the city and instituted a plan that prohibited cars with license plates ending in even or odd numbers on alternating days. It also converted streets that used to run along the banks of the Seine into pedestrian walkways and bike paths.

October 1 was proclaimed “a day without cars” (something the city has trialled before), a move designed to make Paris “less polluted, more pleasant and more peaceful.” Nitrogen dioxide levels dropped 25%, and noise levels dropped an average of 20%. On the Champs-Élysées — one of the world’s busiest thoroughfares — noise levels dropped by 54%.

“Sensitizing residents to the need to modify their behavior towards the car was part of the objectives of this day,” the mayor’s office said in a statement, adding that it was also meant to be a symbol “that cities can and must invent concrete solutions to fight air pollution caused by traffic.”

Now the mayor of Paris has announced a plan that seeks to remove all gasoline and diesel powered vehicles from its streets by 2030. The plan is not a ban. Instead, it involves a series of investments and incentives designed to encourage citizens to leave their old fossil fuel–burning vehicles behind and switch to walking, bicycling, and using electric cars. The objective is to make Paris a carbon neutral city by 2050.

“We are seeing a revolution in terms of mobility and on the issue of climate,” Christophe Nadjovski, Paris deputy mayor in charge of transport and public space, told France Info Radio on Tuesday. “We can’t wait. This is about planning for the long term with a strategy that will reduce greenhouse gases. Transport is one of the main greenhouse gas producers … so we are planning an exit from combustion engine vehicles, or fossil-energy vehicles, by 2030.”

The mayor’s office released a statement after initial reports incorrectly labeled the new plan as a ban on conventional cars. “No measure of prohibition or sanction is included,” it said. “In order to achieve the goal of an end to the thermal engines in 2030, the City has decided to invest in the development of alternatives and in the reinforcement of financial aids that allow individuals and professionals to buy clean vehicles.” The proposed climate plan will be submitted to the Council of Paris for approval next month.

Most Paris residents do not own private automobiles. Instead, the rely on a comprehensive system of public transportation, bikesharing programs, carsharing, and taxis. The city’s plan is focused on convincing residents to rethink their commitment to getting around the city by car and adopt a lifestyle that contributes much less atmospheric pollution to their daily lives.

Source: cleantechnica.com

LG to Support the Production of 100,000 Electric Cars per Year with New Battery Factory

15.10.2017

LG is trying to position itself as an important new auto supplier for the transition to electric vehicles. The Chevy Bolt EV helped them recently since they manufacture several of the most important systems for the electric car, especially the battery pack through its LG Chem division.

Now the company announced that it will support the production of 100,000 electric cars per year with new battery factory in Poland.

When they announced the project for the new factory near Wroclaw, Poland in 2015, they were planning for 50,000 electric car battery packs per year.

Today, LG Chem said in a joint statement with the Polish development ministry (via Reuters) that it actually doubled the capacity of the plant to 100,000 battery packs – ~6 GWh of annual capacity.

That’s an over 50% increase in LG Chem’s battery capacity for electric vehicles for a total annual capacity of 280,000 EVs with its other factories: Ochang plant in South Korea, Holland plant in the United States, and Nanjing plant in China.

UB Lee, the President of Energy Solution at LG Chem, added:

“We will turn the Poland EV battery plant into a mecca of battery production for electric vehicles around the world. As LG Chem’s Poland EV battery plant is the first large-scale automotive lithium battery production plant in Europe, it will play the role of vitalizing the electric vehicle industry across the whole Europe. We will put all our efforts into making the plant into a main production hub for EV batteries.”

The new Wroclaw factory is due to be completed next year. LG says that the battery packs will go to “major automakers” without disclosing names.

While there are several other large battery factory projects in Europe, it should be the biggest one by the time it is completed next year. It will employ 2,500 people.

Among those projects, Northvolt is also planning a major battery factory in Europe, Tesla is also planning several more factories, including at least one in Europe, and Daimler recently unveiled its own new battery Gigafactory for electric vehicles in Germany.

(ElecTrek)

Costa, Greggs, McDonald’s and Starbucks Among Coffee Giants to Sign Cup Recycling Deal

15.10.2017

Some of the UK’s largest coffee shops have joined forces to battle Britain’s cup waste mountain, announcing plans to develop a nationwide recycling system they hope will curb the numbers of takeaway cups ending up in landfill.

Fourteen organisations, including Caffe Nero, Costa Coffee, Greggs, McDonald’s UK, Pret A Manger, and Starbucks, will help fund a new programme to add more than 400 more paper cup recycling facilities across the UK and drive efforts to get paper cups more widely accepted through kerbside collections, in an attempt to create the first comprehensive recycling network for takeaway cups.

The scheme will be run by the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE UK). The group hopes to boost cup recycling to similar levels as beverage cartons, which are collected by 92 per cent of local authorities either through kerbside collection or recycling banks.

Around seven million paper cups are thrown away every day in Britain, totting up to a waste mountain of around 2.5 billion cups each year. While they are technically recyclable, the combination of cardboard and thin film plastic means the must be sent to specialist facilities. With no nationwide recycling system in place to handle this kind of collection, the vast majority of cups in practice end up in landfill.

“The paper cup industry is facing very similar recycling challenges to the ones the beverage carton industry faced when we started our programme 10 years ago,” ACE UK chief executive Richard Hands said in a statement.

“Whilst our primary focus will remain on increasing beverage carton recycling, we believe our expertise, experience and existing relationships can help the paper cup industry create a step change in cup recycling. Whilst it is early days, we have a clear measured plan agreed and expect to see significant progress in cup recycling over the next two years and beyond.”

From January all ACE UK’s 382 collection locations across the UK will have specialist cup collection points, with an extra 33 points planned for phase two of the scheme. Cups from these sites will be taken to ACE UK’s recycling facility in Halifax.

Meanwhile, ACE UK said it will lobby local councils to get cups included in more kerbside collections to boost at-home recycling rates.

Participants are also hoping a knock-on effect of the ACE UK programme will be to grow the market for coffee cup recycling to make it viable for streetside collection points to be installed in city centres.

The full list of companies participating in the scheme is: Benders Paper Cups, Bunzl Catering Supplies, Caffe Nero, Costa Coffee, Dart Products Europe, Greggs, Huhtamaki, International Paper, McDonald’s UK, Nestlé, Pret A Manger, Seda Group, Starbucks, and Stora Enso.

The move follows a flurry of individual efforts by coffee shop chains to cut the numbers of takeaway cups heading for the trash. For example, Costa has already begun offering coffee cup recycling at its UK stores, while Selfridges is collecting leftover coffee cups from its in-house restaurants to turn back into its iconic yellow shopping bags. Meanwhile, environmental charity Hubbub has been running a successful campaign to collect used cups in the City of London.

Source: businessgreen.com

Geneva Airport to Ramp up Solar Energy Production

14.10.2017

Aerodrom u Ženevi — Foto: Wikimedia/Porsche 997 Carrera

Geneva’s Cointrin airport is to install solar panels across 50,000m2 of roof space in a new project announced by officials on Thursday.

Around a dozen roofs on airport buildings have been marked out for solar panels, the airport’s director André Schneider told the press.

Together, the proposed surface area is the equivalent of eight football pitches. The energy produced would be enough power 2,500 households for a year, though it will actually be used within the airport itself, said news agency ATS.

Cointrin already has solar panels covering 10,000m2, producing one gigawatt hour of energy a year. The first of the new panels will appear in 2020-21 on the roof of a new airport building.

The airport is collaborating with Geneva’s industrial services department (SIG) on the project. SIG will cover the estimated 12-13 million franc costs and own the solar cells for a 25-year period.

Solar energy is an important part of Switzerland’s gradual shift away from nuclear power and towards renewable energy.

In May the country voted in support of the government’s energy strategy 2050, which will gradually decommission the country’s nuclear reactors and ramp up hydropower – historically, Switzerland’s most important source of renewable energy – as well as other renewables including solar, wind and geothermal.

The strategy will also focus on increasing energy efficiency by offering tax incentives and tightening emissions rules.

According to the Swiss energy office, by 2050 it should be possible to produce around 20 percent of Switzerland’s electricity needs through solar power.

(The Local)

Yellowstone Supervolcano Could Power The Entire Planet Twice Over

14.10.2017

Geothermal energy is definitely an underrated resource. Fair enough, not every country in the world has access to it, because not every single country sits atop a magma chamber that can be tapped for thermal juice, so to speak. Nevertheless, those that have really seem to take advantage of it.

Take Iceland, for example. This beautiful song of ice and fire sits atop an upwelling mantle plume, which means that it is riddled with active volcanoes, and a central rift which is slowly but surely tearing the country apart. The admittedly small nation uses these molten fingers to get 13% of its electricity, with the rest coming from hydroelectric power. It’s pretty much 100% renewable in this regard.

Then you’ve got Indonesia. One of the world’s most populous and most densely populated countries on Earth, it’s also kickstarting new national projects to get more energy out of the hellish caverns beneath its soil. Indonesia is home to a bewildering array of strange and deadly volcanoes, so it’s no surprise that the government wants to expand its geothermal energy sector by 500% by 2025.

If it manages to do this, it would generate around 7,200 megawatts of electricity this way per year, making it the planet’s primary producer of this clean energy source. Right now, the country’s 250 million people get 88% of their electricity from fossil fuels, which makes it a major greenhouse gas producer. If the geothermal initiative works, this would not just benefit the nation, but the planet.

So how much geothermal energy would you need, hypothetically speaking, to power, say, half the planet? If we imagine a rather lovely future in which climate change nightmares were averted because the world invested heavily in wind, solar, hydroelectric and nuclear power – enough that 50% of the electricity generated comes from those four sources – could we get the other 50% from volcanic heat?

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world in 2012 used around 21 petawatt-hours of electricity. A quick explainer: a watt is a measure of power, and it’s measured in units of energy (joules) per second. A megawatt is a million watts, and a petawatt is a quadrillion (1015) watts. A petawatt-hour, then, is how many quadrillions of watts have been consumed in an hour.

I hate this unit, and mush prefer joules. One joule is equal to one apple from a tree to the ground – much easier to visualize. So in this sense, in 2012, the world consumed 75.2 quintillion joules (1018). This may sound like a lot, but nature is far more powerful than we often give it credit.

For example, the average hurricane unleashes around 600 trillion joules per second, which means that in a day, it will have released 52 quintillion joules of energy, almost enough to power the entire planet. Harnessing that energy is technically impossible though, so what about volcanoes?

NASA recently released a plan to freeze the magma chamber beneath America’s Yellowstone supervolcano. The plan – which could very well just be a thought experiment – would pump cool water around the magma chamber, which would sap off more heat that is being supplied to the magma, and which could eventually cause it to solidify into a harmless, solid geological jigsaw.

Although in practice, this would take millennia to achieve, the heated water around the magma chamber would be a rather excellent geothermal heat source. So how much heat energy could be released by Yellowstone’s fiery belly?

Let’s make it simple – or as simple as science would allow it. Say we were able to harness all the heat energy we wanted from the chamber with no heat lost to the environment as any other form of energy. This is impossible, but it’s a useful approximation to make for now. If we wanted to cool the chamber down by 1,000°C, how much thermal energy would that release?

Well, by my calculations, the volume of Yellowstone’s two-step magma chamber is around 10,667 cubic kilometers – enough to fit several cities inside. Based on the average density of the lava there, that equates to a mass of 170 quadrillion kilograms of magma.

Now, thanks to something known as the specific heat capacity equation, we know how much energy it would take to heat up or cool down that much basalt by 1,000°C, and it turns out that it’s a lot – around 1.43 x 1020 joules. That’s enough to power the world nearly two times over, based on 2012’s stats.

Obviously, this heat energy wouldn’t be all extracted in a single year, and we’d lose a lot of thermal energy in the transmission from subsurface to surface. We’d also have to transmit the electricity generated across the entire planet. So it’s not feasible in this sense.

It does demonstrate, though, that geothermal power is underappreciated. There’s a huge renewable resource beneath many of our feet just waiting to be tapped, at least for any country that is volcanic. We should endeavor to use it more.

(Robin Andrews/Forbes)

Reconditioning Wind Farms Can Extend Their Lives

14.10.2017

Around 40% of Germany’s wind turbines will soon be 15-years old. The French, Italian, Spanish, and British fleets are also aging. More than 86 gigawatts of Europe’s wind capacity is scheduled to be decommissioned by 2030. A new report from New Energy Update describes an alternate solution, which is reconditioning wind farms.

I particularly enjoyed the insights this study gave me into the long term considerations and finances of this industry.

“As the cost of maintaining the farm increases and your margins get tighter and tighter anything you can do to reduce those maintenance costs on the back half is very good. When we look at life extension we look at extending the life of the actual component to take it out to a 25 or 30 year life,” says Kevin Alewine, Director of Marketing at wind electrical machinery repair and maintenance services company Shermco Industries.

According to Rubén Ruiz de Gordejuela, Chief Technology Officer at Spanish life extension service provider Nabla Wind Power, the cost of extending turbine life is often a tenth of what it would take to build a new turbine.

However this is not always feasible.

“In Germany you need an independent expert report outlining the structural stability of your wind turbine based on an analytical calculation and technical inspection,” says Philipp Stukenbrock of wind consultancy firm 8.2 Consulting AG.

There are many components to examine, Blades may be damaged by ice, lightning strikes, or operations during high wind events. Moving parts such as bearings, yaw and pitch mechanisms, the gearbox if fitted, and generator may need to be replaced. Electronics, control and safety systems may require updating or replacement.

The availability of replacement parts may be crucial when it comes to deciding whether to continue a wind turbine’s life.

Operators also need to review their consents, leases, power purchase agreements, and grid connection to determine the viability of continuing operations.

Yet there is much to gain if a wind farm’s life can be extended.

“In Germany around 7,000 turbines are reaching the end of design life by the end of 2020. This corresponds to a capacity of 5,000 MW,” says Stukenbrock.

Source: cleantechnica.com

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