Tesla Now Powers this Island with Solar Energy

13.06.2017

solar-cells-796700_960_720 — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

American automaker Tesla has recently built a solar energy project in Kauai in Hawaii, The Verge reported.

The Kauai project consists of a 52 megawatt-hour battery installation plus a 13 megawatt SolarCity solar farm, it said.

Tesla and the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC), the power company that ordered the project, believe the project will reduce fossil fuel usage by 1.6 million gallons per year, the report said.

Islands like Kauai have traditionally generated electricity by shipping in many barrels of diesel fuel.

There’s no natural gas pipeline or rail line to haul in coal in Kauai and has many residences and businesses possessing installed solar power, so there is greatly reduced need to burn fossil during the day — but at night, the generators kick in, the report said.

Tesla wants to change all that, with a massive new solar farm and energy storage project on the island.

According to the report, like with the solar/battery microgrid installed on the island of Ta’u in American Samoa last year, the KIUC project uses Tesla’s Powerpack 2 battery system, built at Tesla’s Gigafactoryin Nevada.

KIUC didn’t purchase the solar panels and battery system from Tesla outright, instead, KIUC has contracted with Tesla to purchase electricity.

There’s a 20-year contract in place to buy the solar-generated power for 13.9 cents per kilowatt hour — in effect, Tesla is now in the power generation business.

It’s the first major solar-plus-storage project for Tesla since its $2.6 billion acquisition of SolarCity last year.

“Will work with energy providers around the world seeking to overcome barriers in the way of building a sustainable, renewable energy grid of their own,” the report said quoting Tesla as saying in a statement.

The report further quoting Tesla CEO Elon Musk said stationary storage is “something I think will probably be as big as the car business long term.”

“And will actually have a growth rate probably several times that of what the car business is per year. The growth in stationary storage is really under appreciated. That’s a super-exponential growth rate,” Musk said.

Source: zeebiz.com

Oil Giants Need to Invest Heavily in Renewables by 2035, Says Analysis

13.06.2017

More than a fifth of investment by the largest oil and gas companies could be in wind and solar power in just over a decade, according to analysis of how global changes in energy will reshape the sector.

Slowing demand for oil and forecasts of rapid growth in renewables posed both a threat and and opportunity BP, Shell and Total among others cannot ignore, said research group Wood Mackenzie.

“The momentum behind these [renewable] technologies is unstoppable now,” said Valentina Kretzschmar, director of research.

“They [the oil companies] are recognising it is a megatrend; it’s not a fad, it’s not going away. There is definitely a risk to their core business.”

The commodities analysts found the major energy companies would need to spend more than $350bn (£275bn) on wind and solar power by 2035 to take a market share similar to the 12 per cent they have in oil and gas.

Wood Mackenzie admitted that such spending was high even for oil companies and therefore an “unlikely scenario”, but forecasted that renewables could still be more than a fifth of capital allocation beyond 2030.

Most of the oil and gas giants are slowly beginning to transform in the face of climate change policies and slowing demand.

Norway’s Statoil is to deploy the world’s first floating offshore windfarm later this year off Scotland to buoy its existing portfolio of offshore turbines. Shell spent several hours of its annual general meeting in May boasting of its commitment to tackling climate change and to renewable power projects, such as windfarms off the coast of the Netherlands.

Wood Mackenzie said most oil and gas companies realised renewables posed an existential risk to them and needed to hedge against the threat by diversifying.

“Capturing the growth opportunity in this growing market is a driver, but let’s not also forget there is investor pressure,” said Kretzschmar, citing the 62 per cent of shareholders who voted at Exxon’s AGM to force the company to be more transparent on climate change.

Like BP, Wood Mackenzie predicted demand for renewables would grow faster than oil in the next two decades: the analysts forecasted annual growth rates of six per cent for wind and 11 per cent for solar, compared with 0.5 per cent for oil demand.

Offshore windfarms are probably the most attractive individual technology because of the comparable in scale to drilling for oil and gas, Wood Mackenzie said. But “dramatic reductions” in costs for solar and wind meant that in some places both technologies were now subsidy-free, it added.

Kretzschmar said the European oil and gas companies had embraced renewables much more eagerly than US rivals such as Exxon and Chevron because the US firms had lower cost oil and gas production.

Statoil said it now employed about 100 people in its energy solutions division, which includes wind and carbon capture. The gas and renewable power division of France’s Total, which includes solar, biofuels and batteries as well as gas, employs 13,000 people and accounted for $4.7bn of capital expenditure in 2016.

Anglo Dutch firm Shell has said its new energies unit will spend $1bn a year on biofuels, hydrogen and renewables by 2020, up from the $200m it spent last year, mainly on R&D.

Wood Mackenzie said returns for renewables were about half those of oil and gas production, but the long-life of cashflow from assets such as windfarms could help firms support their dividends.

The analysts warned that companies that delayed diversification could risk finding themselves left behind – “at a structural disadvantage” – if wind and solar grow even more rapidly than expected.

Revenues from oil and gas are 33 times the level of renewables, but expected to narrow to 13 times by 2035.

Campaigners said Total was the only European oil and gas major taking renewables seriously.

“It has ambitious plans. For BP and Shell, renewables are nice for PR, but they are not doing anything significant on it. So the idea all the majors could be doing 20 per cent [of capital expenditure on renewables] is quite bold,” said Greg Mutitt of Oil Change International.

However, he said that even a fifth of investment was incompatible with the goals of the Paris climate deal. “Twenty per cent of Capex doesn’t even come close [for Paris]. You could put it the other way, that 80 per cent of Capex is still causing the problem.”

Source: businessgreen.com

Germany and California Bolster Climate Cooperation as US Backs Off G7 Statement

13.06.2017

Germany and California have agreed to bolster their cooperation on tackling climate change, as international criticism continues to mount over the US government’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement.

Just days after agreeing a climate cooperation pact with China, California Governor Jerry Brown met with Germany’s environment minister Barbara Hendricks over the weekend in San Francisco.

In a further sign of defiance against President Trump’s decision to back away from global climate action, Brown and Hendricks issued a joint statement underscoring the importance of the two economic powerhouses working together with other global governments and regions to provide leadership on international climate action.

The statement emphasised that tackling climate change “is not only a necessity but also an opportunity for growth”.

In addition it publicly backed the work of the Under 2 Coalition of 175 global cities and regions, which is working to keep worldwide average temperature increases below 2C.

“China and Germany – two of the most powerful countries in the world – are working with California and with other states to deal with climate change,” said Governor Brown in the statement. “The current withdrawal from the Paris Accord by the Washington administration is being overcome and countermanded by people throughout the whole world.”

The move is part of a raft of efforts from regional and national governments – as well as businesses – to solidify international support for the Paris Agreement and decarbonising the global economy in the wake of President Trump’s decision on quit the pact.

“The United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement underscores the significance of subnational actors in particular in our joint efforts to achieve the overall objective and goals,” Germany’s environment minister Hendricks added in the statement. “Together with California, Germany will provide strong leadership for the Under2 Coalition in the COP23 in Bonn this November.”

The bilateral agreement comes as the US administration refused to add its name alongside other countries to a G7 communique on climate change issued yesterday following a two-day meeting of environment ministers in Italy.

The summit was attended by US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt, but he is said to have left the meeting early to return to the US.

The 15-page communique issued at the close of the summit includes a section on climate change, in which the environment ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the EU Commission reaffirmed their “strong commitment to the swift and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement, which remains the global instrument for effectively and urgently tackling climate change and adapting to its efforts”.

However, having announced its intention to pull out of the Paris accord earlier this month, the US refused to join its fellow G7 members in backing sections of the communique covering climate change and Multilateral Development Banks.

In a footnote to the communique, the US government emphasises that it continues “to demonstrate through action, having reduced out CO2 footprint as demonstrated by achieving pre-1994 CO2 levels domestically”.

“The United States will continue to engage with key international partners in a manner that is consistent with our domestic priorities, preserving both a strong economy and a healthy environment,” the footnote states. “Accordingly, we the United States do not join those sections of the communiqué on climate and MDBs, reflecting our recent announcement to withdraw and immediately cease implementation of the Paris Agreement and associated financial commitments.”

Elsewhere, the US did endorse sections of the communique covering the UN Sustainable Development Goals and tackling marine litter, among other issues.

Source: businessgreen.com

Smart City: Mayor Sadiq Khan Promises Funding Boost for 100 Clean Tech Firms

13.06.2017

Mayor Sadiq Khan yesterday unveiled a new fund promising to provide £1.6m of funding to 100 London-based clean tech firms, in support of his vision to make the capital the “world’s leading ‘smart city'”.

Speaking at the launch of London Tech Week, Khan called on the global tech industry to step up efforts to tackle environmental and social challenges, including air quality, climate change, housing, and the future of the transport sector.

“My ambition now is to harness the new technologies that are being pioneered right here to transform London into the world’s leading smart city,” he said. “The potential for cutting-edge technology to tackle a host of social, economic and environmental challenges is immeasurable. From air pollution and climate change to housing and transport, new technologies and data science will be at the heart of the long-term solutions to urban challenges.”

In support of the new ambition, the Mayor officially launched the Better Futures Clean Tech Incubator, which will aim to support 100 London-based small businesses in delivering “low-carbon and clean-tech products to tackle the causes and effects of climate change”. The Mayor’s Office said the funding would help kick start the development of a clean-tech cluster for London, developing a hub for low-carbon industries in the capital.

Khan said recruitment was also under way for the post of London’s first Chief Digital Officer, who would be tasked with supporting the roll out of a new generation of smart city technologies.

And he reiterated his commitment to ensuring that post-Brexit the UK retains its position as Europe’s leading city for foreign direct investment into the technology sector.

As such, the Mayor used the start of London Tech Week to open Plexal, a new innovation hub at Here East with capacity for supporting up to 800 technology start-ups and global corporations.

“Plexal will become a truly unique innovation destination not only for London but the rest of the World,” said Claire Cockerton CEO of Plexal. “The success of London’s technology sector has been built on a strong culture of collaboration and entrepreneurial spirit. At Plexal, our mission is to become the beating heart of inventive enterprise; connected, intelligent and dynamic – where people join forces, ideas spark and new business is born.”

Source: businessgreen.com

IRENA To Work With State Grid Of China To Accelerate Energy Transition

13.06.2017

The International Renewable Energy Agency and the State Grid Corporation of China announced their intention last week to increase their cooperation with the intent to advance China’s energy transition.

The State Grid Corporation of China is the world’s largest utility, and China has already proven itself as the world leader in clean energy technology deployment, so it is no surprise that the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has partnered to enhance existing cooperation to further advance China’s energy transition under global and regional initiatives — including the Paris Climate Agreement and China’s own Belt and Road Initiative. More specifically, the framework of the agreement signed by the two entities provides for opportunities to collaborate on activities related to integrating higher shares of wind and solar capacity, better grid integration — a significant issue in China, which casts a pall over the massive capacity numbers they achieve each year — interconnection, and smart grids.

“As the world’s largest renewable energy market, China is at the forefront of renewable energy and it is State Grid that provides the electricity backbone for over 1 billion people,” explained IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin. “Providing more electricity — and more renewable electricity — than any other utility in the world, State Grid’s extensive experience with grid infrastructure and integrating renewable energy into power systems will help improve understanding of how we can bring larger shares of renewable power online. We look forward to working together to accelerate the transition to a sustainable energy future both in China and around the world.”

“As the largest utility in the world, State Grid Corporation of China is dedicated to the interconnection of world power infrastructure to realize efficient, clean and sustainable development of global energy and contribute to the Belt and Road Initiative,” said State Grid Chairman Shu Yinbiao. “Based on the consensus of advancing the energy transition towards a low-carbon and green energy future, State Grid will implement extensive win-win cooperation with IRENA in terms of power grid technology, equipment and international standards.”

The framework also provides initiating technical in the context of IRENA’s Africa Clean Energy Corridor initiatives, and renewable energy capacity building activities throughout developing countries. Specifically, the Africa Clean Energy Corridor initiative “aims to transform the continent’s energy mix by promoting the development of clean, indigenous, cost-effective renewable power options.” Given the vital need for reliable electricity across Africa — and the lack of existing infrastructure, which means traditional fossil fuel-based energy generation technology is simply economically and logistically unviable — renewable energy stands as the number one means to solve energy poverty.

“Africa is endowed with abundant renewable and non-renewable energy resources,” said the authors of an IRENA report aimed at examining the electricity infrastructure of Eastern and Southern Africa. Two-thirds of these regions nevertheless still live without access to modern energy, “such as electricity and non-solid cooking fuels.”

Eliciting the support of more economically stable countries such as China to involve themselves in the development of developing countries will serve to enhance the speed at which these countries can acquire access to modern energy services, while also providing experience and economic benefits to those countries involving themselves.

Source: cleantechnica.com

General Mills Signs Wind Power Pact

12.06.2017

Global food giant General Mills said last week it has signed a virtual 15-year power purchase agreement with Renewable Energy Systems (RES) for 100 megawatts (MW) of power from its Cactus Flats wind farm.

The project will produce renewable energy credits for General Mills that can be applied toward the company’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, Kallanish Energy learns.

“As we help mitigate the impacts of climate change, investing in wind energy is the right thing to do,” said John Church, executive vice president of Supply Chain at General Mills. “This investment is another step towards reducing our energy footprint and achieving sustainable emission levels — in line with scientific consensus — by 2050.”

General Mills’ investment will help fund the construction of the 150 MW Cactus Flats wind project being developed in Concho County, Texas, by RES.

“RES is proud to support General Mills in reducing its energy footprint and reaching its sustainability goals,” said Brian Evans, chief development officer, RES in the Americas.

Source: kallanishenergy.com

Red States Lead on Renewables

12.06.2017

A sweeping bipartisan bill to reform energy policies and encourage the growth of renewable energy was introduced by conservative lawmakers in the North Carolina legislature this week. The consensus bill, the result of months of negotiations, would grant utilities’ request to reform various renewable energy laws, but includes incentives for the solar industry, including solar rebates and third-party leasing.

The bill will go to a full vote in the House this week, where it could face blowback from climate change skeptics despite its significant Republican support. North Carolina isn’t the only red state pushing the envelope on renewable energy: as a new piece in the New York Times points out, “some of the fastest progress on clean energy is occurring in states led by Republican governors and legislators, and states carried by Donald J. Trump in the presidential election.”

The measure passed House Finance Tuesday, shortly before Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement supporting it:

“This legislation will help North Carolina stay ahead with lower cost renewable energy that protects our environment and grows our economy. I urge the Legislature to pass it and I commend everyone who worked so hard to get this agreement,” Cooper wrote.

Over the last four years, North Carolina has become the nation’s second largest solar market, with California first.

As reported by WRAL:

“Among other things, the measure would lift the state’s ban on third-party leasing, allowing customers to rent the equipment for rooftop and community solar arrays, substantially reducing the upfront cost. It would also promote net metering, which gives the owner of a residential or commercial property with solar panels a bill credit for the retail cost of energy he or she puts back onto the grid, and it would include a solar rebate program for residential customers. And it would mandate a study on energy storage technology for intermittent sources like solar and wind.”

Source: ecowatch.com

Energia Opens Ireland’s Largest Ever Wind Farm in Donegal

12.06.2017

Ireland’s largest ever windfarm officially has opened following a €145m investment by Energia at Meenadreen in south Donegal.

Ireland’s leading competitive energy provider Energia will use power from Meenadreen to supply green electricity to homes and SMEs all over Ireland. Energia is already well established as the most competitive dual fuel (electricity and gas) provider in Ireland’s home energy market. The company is now also one of the country’s leading providers of sustainable green energy and 25% of all wind generated electricity in Ireland is provided through Energia.

Energia has invested over €500m in wind farms since 2008. Its new Meenadreen windfarm is among the most technologically advanced generating facilities in the world with 38 turbines producing 95 Megawatts (MW) of electricity.

Each turbine stands 115 metres high with a rotor diameter of 90 metres generating power from strong wind pathways in the area. As Energia’s newest windfarm, Meenadreen alone can power up to 50,000 homes using wind energy which will reduce Ireland’s carbon dioxide emissions by up to 100,000 tonnes each year.

Energia has also successfully completed a pilot project for autonomous drone inspections through predetermined flight paths around the turbines. The new drone capability has the potential to automatically identify snags or defects and helps to enhance overall efficiency and safety on site.

The new windfarm was formally opened by Ian Thom, Group Chief Executive of Energia’s parent company Viridian Group and Peter Bailie, Managing Director of Energia Renewables, together with the Mayor of Donegal Town, Patricia Callaghan.

Energia Renewables is one of Ireland’s leading providers of sustainable green energy providing 25% of Ireland’s overall wind power to homes and businesses nationwide. Energia currently supplies its customers from over 1,000 MWs (1GW) of renewable energy capacity, with an additional €125m ongoing investment in wind farm developments where 4 further windfarms are currently being built by the company, bringing our total investment to €625m.

Over 250 children from local primary schools will tour the new facility marking Global Wind Day 2017. Energia also announced the funding of €95,000 for a third phase of its Meenadreen Community Fund, which has already invested €45,000 to date in projects of benefit to local communities throughout the surrounding region. The fund is independently administered by Community Foundation Ireland.

Ian Thom, Group Chief Executive of Viridian, said “Energia is one of Ireland’s leading energy investment partners underpinning national competitiveness and the long term sustainability and security of energy supply for the future. We’re helping to achieve Ireland’s renewable energy targets through our major renewable energy portfolio where we provide electricity from wind farms all over Ireland.

“We are proud to bring Ireland’s largest windfarm onto the national grid to power homes and businesses all over the island with naturally and sustainably produced electricity.”

Energia expressed its strong appreciation to the local community for their support and co-operation with the company as it set about developing the new windfarm.

Peter Baillie, Managing Director of Energia Renewables said, “This is an internationally prestigious development which is contributing to economic growth and the wellbeing of communities across the island of Ireland through the clean and efficient production of renewable energy. We look forward to our continuing partnership with our neighbouring communities through the Meenadreen Community Fund. We will also be a continuing contributor of local authority rates for the lifespan of the windfarm which will be a minimum of 25 years.”

The Meenadreen windfarm has 38 Nordex N90 2.5MW turbines. Taking just over 2 years to complete, its development by Energia Renewables was financed by loans from NordLB supported by Euler Hermes. Construction was carried out by Denis Moriarty “The Kerries” Limited and electrical works by Kirby Group limited. Engineering services were provided by Wind Prospect and Jennings O’Donovan, with legal support from Arthur Cox.

Source: yourrenewablenews.com

2 Million Electric Cars Now Trolling Pollution, IEA Reports

12.06.2017

The number of electric cars in the world has increased 60% since this time a year ago, according to the International Energy Agency. That’s the good news. The not so good news is that electric cars still only account for 0.2% of all the cars in the world. The rest are conventional vehicles that flit along the highways and byways of the world, spewing who knows what out of their tail pipes.

Let’s get back to the good news. Sales of electric cars are accelerating and anyone who understands exponential growth can see that it won’t be long before the total number of electric cars in the world begins to shift from negligible to significant.

The latest IEA report says, “China was by far the largest electric car market, accounting for more than 40 percent of the electric cars sold in the world and more than double the amount sold in the United States. It is undeniable that the current electric car market uptake is largely influenced by the policy environment.”

The number of electric cars available to consumers is also experiencing dramatic growth. Automakers from Mercedes, to Volkswagen, to Hyundai are working furiously to bring more cars with plugs to market. Emissions regulations are spurring growth as well.

Just a few years ago, car companies thought they could meet tough new emissions rules in Europe with clean diesel technology. That idea exploded in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal that washed over Volkswagen in September of 2015.

Since then, prosecutors in Germany, France, and South Korea have begun investigating diesel cheating by other manufacturers, including Mercedes-Benz. It is now apparent that only adding electric motors will allow cars intended for sale in Europe to meet those emissions standards.

Tesla also deserves tremendous credit for making electric cars cool. It has at least 500,000 reservations worldwide for its Model 3 midsize sedan that goes into production in a few weeks. Countries like India are toying with laws prohibiting the sale of cars with internal combustion engines as early as 2030.

The electric car revolution is gathering speed. It’s time to get on board or get left behind.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Germany, Denmark, & Belgium Plan 5-Fold Increase In Offshore Wind Power

12.06.2017

Germany, Denmark, and Belgium have entered into an agreement that will increase the amount of offshore wind power in the world 5-fold, from 13.8 gigawatts today to more than 60 gigawatts within 10 years.

The governments of the 3 nations have pledged to work with more than 25 private companies — including Dong Energy, which is the world’s leading offshore wind farm developer — to increase investment in offshore wind and reduce costs.

Prices for offshore wind have tumbled in the past decade and were down 22% in 2016 alone. This trend may sound familiar to you, as it’s one we’ve seen with onshore wind, solar power, and electric vehicle as well as stationary storage batteries. Wind power in Germany passed a milestone in April when new bids for offshore wind fell below the cost of conventional power for the first time without the benefit of government subsidies.

A group of 10 European countries entered into an agreement to boost offshore wind power last year. Trade association WindEurope will work to get the 7 nations that were absent from this week’s signing ceremony to add their names to the document as soon as possible.

The UK is one of those countries, but its participation is up in the air as results from the general election on June 8 are unexpected. Support for renewable energy has waned in the British Isles recently. In the wake of the Brexit vote, the British government has begun giving the cold shoulder to solar and wind initiatives.

However, the voting results are such that the Tories, the ruling party at the moment, have lost a significant number of seats in Parliament. There are even suggestions that Prime Minister May could be forced to step aside if she is unable to form a new government. If that happens, the UK could see yet another shift in its energy policies.

“With this joint statement, leading businesses and governments are taking the next step by committing to cooperate on the deployment of big volumes for offshore wind energy,” said Giles Dickson, chief executive officer of WindEurope. “Today’s statement is a clear recognition of the strategic importance of offshore wind as a clean, competitive and reliable energy source for Europe.”

Source: cleantechnica.com

AMSTERDAM: Mobilize for a Clean, Prosperous Future

11.06.2017

amsterdam2 — Foto - ilustracija: Pixabay

Amsterdam has ambitious aspirations to slash its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), phase out fossil fuels, and usher in a clean energy future.

The city’s sustainability vision is panoramic in scope, encompassing the management of public space as well as how energy, water, and material resources can be used more efficiently.

City leaders are convinced that the same steps that Amsterdam must take to reduce and ultimately eliminate fossil fuels will also improve air quality, reduce traffic, make buildings more comfortable, and render the workforce more productive, all while saving citizens money.

As its leaders are drawn toward a vision of Amsterdam as a clean, prosperous, and sustainable city, they are also motivated by a desire to avoid the problems that fossil fuel dependency entail. These include air and water pollution, price volatility, and limited fuel reserves, hence the looming threat of eventual fuel shortages and price increases.

The Netherlands has been drawing down its once-abundant natural gas supplies for some time. It is projected that the country will have to start importing natural gas by 2025, as will much of the European Union.

In Groningen province, where most of the Netherlands’ natural gas is extracted, gas wells are being blamed for severe earthquakes over the past four years. Groningen residents have demanded a halt to gas production. If that happens, the Netherlands would become more dependent on Russian natural gas, a dependency which is politically unpopular.

In Amsterdam: A Different Energy: 2040 Energy Strategy, the city outlines its strategy for becoming sustainable by 2040, and for cutting GHG emissions 75 percent from 1990 levels. If Amsterdam succeeds, its emissions goal would surpass the European Union’s 60 percent emissions-reduction goal for 2040.

Municipal officials see the city’s 2040 GHG target as an important milestone that must be attained if the city is to reach its even more exacting goal of an 80 to 90 percent reduction in GHG by 2050. Achieving that, however, will be a lengthy process requiring broad cooperation, patience, and perseverance.

That’s one reason city officials have made it a practice for almost a decade to reach out to the business sector, government, and civil society groups to build a broad social consensus in favor of the city’s new energy and climate strategy.

So how did Amsterdam formulate its ambitious climate and energy planning programs, stealing a march on many other cities?

Origins of the City’s Sustainability Strategy

Amsterdam has had a municipal climate agency since 2006, long before most other cities. With that, the city also embarked on its first intensive studies of climate and energy. Those studies culminated in Amsterdam: A Different Energy. 2040 Energy Strategy, published in 2010.

Over the next four years, the city council and vice mayors led the city in creating and implementing a clean energy strategy that included goals for energy efficiency, as well as for solar and wind power.

During a wide-ranging interview in Amsterdam, Peter Paul Ekker, spokesman for Amsterdam Alderman Abdeluheb Choho, Vice Mayor for Sustainability, discussed the city’s ambitious sustainability goals and why Amsterdam is so receptive to innovative climate-protection programs.

A Culture of Openness

Ekker believes Amsterdam has high sustainability aspirations in part because, “there’s a lot of creativity and entrepreneurship2 in Amsterdam, and also because the city has universities, a high-tech community, and “people with bright ideas.”

“If you come with a new idea” in Amsterdam, Ekker explains, “everybody is open to it. This is also why the city council has quite unanimously supported working on climate change and climate mitigation.”

Since 2014, the city has begun to hit its stride, scaling up programs and, according to Ekker, focusing on getting results across the board while developing and refining policy instruments. To an observer, the city also appears to be blessed with competent, dedicated leadership.

Securing Popular Support

A big reason why climate mitigation has strong public support in Amsterdam, Ekker explains, is that the municipality rallies support for climate mitigation not by trying to debate the impacts of climate change or scare the public, but by calling its climate policies “sustainability measures” and underscoring their economic and public health benefits. “Our analysis is that the public in general doesn’t need convincing on the need for mitigation measures,” he says. “But it does need examples and solutions on how to become a sustainable economy.”

The city therefore talks about what is technologically possible and cost-effective along with the co-benefits of sound climate policies, including cleaner air, fewer respiratory problems, and a more livable environment.

Thus, for example, the city’s policies on electric vehicles (EVs) are not specifically climate change-driven, Ekker notes. Support for those policies is borne of concern about public health. Of course, the net results benefit the climate, too.

Moving away from fossil fuels also has real economic benefits, and “we are not afraid to celebrate that,” Ekker says. These benefits include attracting large companies, like Tesla, to Amsterdam. The electric auto maker now has its European headquarters in the city, and Ekker attributes this in part to the fact that, “we are frontrunners in electric cars and electric transport.”

Carrots and Sticks for Sustainable Mobility

Amsterdam is also discouraging the use of inefficient fossil fuel vehicles by establishing restricted environmental zones in which older, less efficient vehicles are banned. “Dirty trucks, dirty cars, [and] motorcycles in the future, will not be allowed to enter the city anymore,” Ekker asserts.

Apart from imposing progressively tighter regulations on polluting vehicles, the city also provides incentives to encourage the switch to EVs.

“Public transport is going to be totally electric by 2025,” according to Ekker. Some businesses have already opted to have their delivery trucks drive to the edge of the city using fossil fuels and then transfer to an EV, as it’s cheaper to enter the city in an EV. This, Ekker believes, could be a model for other cities.

The city is also currently changing from diesel to electric buses, and has 40 electric buses on order for delivery within three years. Ultimately, all of Amsterdam’s public transport will be emission-free.

By 2025, all the city’s taxis will also have to be electric. The city’s taxi fleet will have gradually worn out by then, and will be replaced by electric taxis. “Technology is coming to our aid,” Ekker observes. “In two or three years, you’re going to have a fine Tesla for US$35,000 [that will be] comparable to any taxicab that you buy now.” EVs, however, will be cheaper to maintain and operate than fuel-burning cars.

Amsterdam also has a subsidy program for EVs, providing €5,000-6,000 to a business buying an electric van, and up to €40,000 to a business buying a large, heavy electric truck.

In addition, EV owners in Amsterdam receive tax credits and avoid the increasingly onerous regulations being applied to fossil fuel vehicles in the city. In fact, those with the dirtiest vehicles are not granted city parking permits at all.

Finally, fuel costs in the Netherlands and Europe are far higher than in the U.S., which makes EVs even more attractive economically. Gasoline in the Netherlands now costs US$1.80 per liter, or US$6.80 per gallon.

Moreover, as part of a city noise abatement policy, commercial vehicles are not allowed to come into the city center on Sundays, unless they are electric, as EVs make less noise than fossil fuel vehicles.

So, while climate change may be a significant factor, what truly motivates people to make the switch to EVs in Amsterdam and the Netherlands? “Even if you don’t believe in climate change,” Ekker notes wryly, “you still can believe in a great Tesla car.”

Clean Power

The city has therefore been working with the owners of large factories and commercial buildings to arrange for them to lease their roofs to residents for solar energy generation. The city has even arranged for the siting of residential solar collectors on the roof of a metro station.The city plans to increase the number of households with rooftop solar generators from 5,000 to 80,000 by 2020, while it expands the city’s wind power generating capacity from 67 MW to 85 MW. The challenge Amsterdam faces in this regard is that whereas many residents are interested in solar, relatively few have suitable roofs to support rooftop generators.

The people of Amsterdam are also solicitous of their next generation. “All schools will have green roofs, solar panels, [and] good insulation,” according to Ekker. Green roofs insulate buildings, reducing heating and cooling needs. They thereby improve air quality along with occupants’ comfort. “It’s a win-win situation.”

Simultaneously, the city plans on becoming more flood-proof with the help of green roofs and better storm water management.

The Circular Economy

Amsterdam became a strong proponent of the “circular economy” once the city realized that it could replace a third of the building materials it used every year by recovering and reusing old building materials. “But to do that,” Ekker says, “you need to build smart,” by which he means constructing buildings so that they can be more easily recovered once the building has reached the end of its useful lifespan.

In addition, all concrete that the city uses in the future is going to be recycled. That will be “a huge CO₂reduction,” Ekker says. In contracting with developers for buildings in Amsterdam, 30 percent of a prospective project’s rating is based on its sustainability score. High-risk projects get loans from the city’s new €50 million sustainability fund.

Amsterdam is already reusing municipal waste to co-generate heat and power for residents in the northern and western quadrants of the city. The waste is collected and delivered to a central incinerator with advanced pollution controls. Heat from the plant is distributed to households in large insulated pipes, replacing individual gas furnaces.

Excess heat from a gas-fired power plant on the east side of Amsterdam in Diemen serves residents in the city’s southern and eastern quadrants. Meanwhile, the city plans to create a region-wide heat network, extending from its Tata Steel smelter on the North Sea shore in Ijmuiden, 25 km west of Amsterdam to the city of Almere, 25 km east of Amsterdam.

The Amsterdam waste management company AEB, which converts 99 percent of the 1.4 million tons of municipal and industrial waste it receives annually into sustainable energy and raw materials.

In total, Amsterdam plans to have 102,000 homes on district heating by 2020 and 240,000 by 2040. Geothermal heat sources and surplus heat from urban greenhouses where flowers and vegetables are grown will provide heat throughout the region.

The city also strongly supports recycling and has ambitious city-wide recycling goals. Amsterdam seeks to more than double its 2015 recycling rate by separating 65 percent of urban waste by 2020 into resource flows of glass, paper, plastics, and even textiles.

City leaders believe that accomplishing its climate, energy, and recycling goals will make Amsterdam a more prosperous, cleaner, quieter, safer, more pleasant, and more affordable place to live. These improvements will also help make Amsterdam a more socially diverse, inclusive, and sustainable city.

Amsterdam has built a public consensus favoring its ambitious energy and climate program by emphasizing its health and economic benefits. Rather than focusing on the problem of climate change and emphasizing the severity of climate impacts, city leaders focus on the opportunities that ambitious solutions offer, particularly the money that could be saved or earned.

As Ekker says,”Solutions are where we can make an impact.”

Source: www.thesolutionsjournal.com

LEGO Builds Bolder Climate Targets

11.06.2017

The LEGO Group today announced new 2020 targets to further reduce its manufacturing and supply chain greenhouse gas emissions as part of an extended partnership with environmental campaign group WWF.

The Danish toy giant said it is aiming to further increase its carbon efficiency per LEGO brick by an additional 10 per cent by 2020, as well as further engaging with its key suppliers to reduce CO2 emissions throughout its supply chain.

The company also said it would continue to ensure 100 per cent of its energy consumption “is balanced by renewable energy sources”, a target the firm revealed it had reached last month following the opening of the 258MW Burbo Bank Extension wind farm – in which Lego’s parent company owns a 50 per cent stake.

Marjorie Lao, who as chief financial officer is responsible for LEGO’s sustainability strategy, said climate change was a “major challenge” facing the world and the firm still had considerable work to do to minimise its impact on “the planet out children will inherit”.

“We have made solid progress balancing 100 per cent of our energy consumption with renewables, but we know there is more to do to make the production of Lego bricks more sustainable, especially in reducing CO2 emissions from our factories and the entire supply chain,” said Lao.

The new targets build on LEGO’s achievements through its membership of WWF’s Climate Savers programme, which it joined in 2014. Since then, the company has improved the energy efficiency of producing LEGO bricks by 12 per cent and invested 6bn Danish Krone in two offshore wind farms.

In setting the new climate goals today, LEGO and WWF have now agreed to extend the partnership. Lao said the environmental NGO would “challenge us to think differently about how we operate” and inspire the company to set ambitious climate targets.

Bo Øksnebjerg, CEO of WWF Denmark, said the partnership demonstrated how businesses and NGOs can work together towards environmental goals.

“We urgently need to take action to pursue sustainable development now and in the future – simply because the planet is under huge pressure,” he said.”Impacts of climate change are already being felt by many communities and ecosystems worldwide, and we need to mitigate those impacts to secure a better living for our children and generations after them.”

Source: businessgreen.com

The New Colors of Solar Energy

10.06.2017

colorful solar cells_5_0 — Foto: seas.yale.edu

The technology of solar energy has progressed dramatically in the last few decades, as it operates with increasing efficiency and at lower costs.

But the matter of how solar panels look remains an obstacle. Most photovoltaic panels are blue or black and cover large portions of buildings with a monotone hue. That might not jibe with your personal taste – or that of your homeowners’ association. It’s a limitation that has hindered the integration of solar energy into some commercial applications. In fact, architects and designers have long requested a wider choice of colors for solar cells to allow them to seamlessly blend into a building’s façade or an electronic system.

Up to now, however, expanding the palette of colors that solar energy engineers can work with has proven notoriously difficult. That could be changing, though, with work from the lab of Andre Taylor, associate professor of chemical & environmental engineering. Researchers there have developed a solar cell that widens the choice of colors without decreasing its power conversion efficiency. Their findings are published in Nano Energy.

Researchers have previously tried a few methods to vary the colors of solar panels. One approach involved adjusting a layer of the solar cell so that it would reflect different colors – this has proved to be costly and with limited results, however. Another method introduced what’s known as a “dye molecule” to allow for more colors. This approach, however, diminishes the efficiency at which the system converts sunlight to energy.

The research team in Taylor’s Transformative Materials and Devices Lab also used a dye molecule, but this one doesn’t diminish the power conversion efficiency. Jaemin Kong, a post-doctoral associate and lead author of the paper, explains that this is because the molecule – a squaraine known as ASSQ – acts not only as a color agent, but as an energy transfer donor. It works in conjunction with two polymers – one that serves as an electron donor and the other as a non-fullerene electron acceptor. By changing the ratios of those three elements, the researchers were able to make adjustments that allowed for a gradual color variation from blue-green to purple-red.

“I think that’s a pretty impressive part of this paper – there was no major sacrifice of the power conversion efficiency,” Taylor said. “And the nice thing about this is that the dye can be used at low concentrations, so it doesn’t necessarily affect the overall mechanism.”

Other authors of the paper are Megan Mohadjer Beromi, Marina Mariano,Tenghooi Goh, Francisco Antonio, andNilay Hazari.

Source: seas.yale.edu

ISRAEL: The Revolutionary Electric Car Battery that Can Be Fully Recharged in just Five Minutes (VIDEO)

10.06.2017

Battery-5min — Photo: Youtube / Print Screen / Store Dot

Israeli nanotech firm StoreDot has unveiled a radical ‘ultra-fast-charge’ battery it claims can bring an electric car to full charge in just five minutes – and power it for up to 300 miles.

At the CUBE Tech Fair in Berlin, StoreDot demonstrated a proof of concept of the technology it says is a ‘radical improvement over the traditional lithium ion battery structure.’

The FlashBattery combines organic compounds with nano-materials to slash charging time down to a fraction of that achieved by current methods, and the firm says it will be available in the next three years.

According to a video on the technology, a car running on StoreDot’s modules would be equipped with forty ‘pouches’ – each containing the FlashBattery technology.

These pouches contain nano-dots made from short chains of amino acids, called peptides, arranged in a layered structure.

The peptides are chemically synthesized organic molecules of non-biological origin, according to StoreDot. When combined, these pouches make up a charging module.

‘The FlashBattery Technology allows for unprecedented charging rate’, the video says.

‘Within five minutes of charging, the car is fully charged and ready to go – five minutes that just bought you an average of 300 miles.’

Source: dailymail.co.uk

In Germany, Solar Panels are Transforming Home Life and Offering Energy Independence

09.06.2017

solar-cells — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

In Germany, something of an energy transition is taking place. In 2016, renewables made up 29 percent of gross electricity generation, with wind power, biomass and solar photovoltaics leading the way.

Now, a number of German households are looking to harness the power of the sun and gain energy independence by combining solar photovoltaic (PV) panels with ‘smart’ battery storage.

According to its makers the sonnenBatterie, combined with a PV system, could help users meet around 75 percent of their annual energy needs with self-produced, clean energy.

Markus Grillinger is one such user. His home has solar panels on its roof and a sonnenBatterie system inside. “It takes the electric power right from our roof – we get it over the panels – and then it is saved within the sonnenBatterie,” he said.

Having a storage system enables flexibility. “We… can use the electric power during the whole day, and save it here and use it also by night,” Grillinger added.

SonnenBatterie’s offering is just one of many domestic storage systems being developed. Much like the sonnenBatterie, Tesla’s Powerwall, for example, enables users to store solar in the day and then use it during the night, when the sun has gone down.

Back in Germany, sonnenBatterie’s Philipp Schroder sought to highlight the potential energy transformation that could take place over the coming years, in which homeowners become ‘mini utilities’.

“In Germany we have 1.7 million solar systems, they are all owned by citizens,” he said. “So what we see is that consumers become producers,” he added.

“If you become a producer, why should you pay for your electricity? You’re your own producer… all we do is we link them together to become a sustainable and effective utility.”

Source: cnbc.com

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