Plus: New EV maker Rivian launches Truck and SUV; energy storage incentives in Australia
Hi Everyone,
Guilty pleasures…at Christmas we tend to cut ourselves some slack and indulge in some extra chocolate or Christmas cookies. I love Christmas and our house has no shortage of decorations inside and out. This year, I’m feeling a sense of guilty pleasure at a new level. Yes, it’s all our Christmas lights. I’m as guilty as the next person – LED means we can have more lights, right? Now if we could just have them powered with renewables…sigh. Can we stop talking about this now?
There were stories from all over the globe this week. Check them out. Please feel free to forward this on to others who’d be interested.
Thanks,
Peter
British Columbia to mandate 100% zero emission vehicle sales by 2040
Comment: Besides EV sales targets, check out the complimentary investments the government intends to make in incentives and enablers.
Excerpt: The provincial government of British Columbia intends to introduce legislation next spring requiring all light-duty cars and trucks sold in the province to be electric or zero-emissions by 2040. The ZEV sales targets will be phased in on a schedule of 10% by 2025, 30% by 2030 and 100% by 2040. …more from Smart Cities Dive
Germany Greenlights 8GW of Additional Onshore Wind and Solar Capacity
Excerpt: Germany’s governing coalition recently agreed on supplemental tenders to add 4 gigawatts of onshore wind and 4 gigawatts of solar through 2021. …more from Greentech Media
France turns to wind and solar as it plans to exit coal, and phase down nuclear
Excerpt: French President Emmanuel Macron has finally outlined the mid and long term energy plans for the country, announcing that it will close all its coal plants by 2022, shutter 14 nuclear reactors by 2035 and invest massively in wind and solar. The country plans to boosts its solar capacity five fold from 8.5GW to 45GW, and to treble its wind capacity. …more from RenewEconomy
LG is investing half a billion in its Polish battery factory to increase production
Excerpt: Now, LG Chem’s board has reportedly approved a new $571 million investment to increase the production capacity to 70 GWh, which they believe will support the production of 300,000 electric vehicles per year. …more from Electrek
Charge! A look at all the battery storage incentive programs around Australia
Excerpt: Especially encouraging is the fact that a number of these schemes go beyond simply incentivising batteries for homes, taking steps to ensure that batteries (and other devices) can be controlled and coordinated to provide grid services or to participate in energy markets – services that we can help to support. …more from OneStepOffTheGrid
NYC council members move to legalize e-bikes, scooters
Excerpt: E-bike speeds would be capped at 20 miles per hour while scooter speeds would be capped at 15 miles per hour, and scooter riders will be subject to the same traffic laws governing cyclists. …more from Smart Cities Dive
Nissan advances vision to integrate electric cars with buildings and grids
Excerpt: Japanese carmaker Nissan is making plans to capitalise on its innovative vehicle to grid (V2G) technology, announcing on Wednesday three new initiatives to allow electric vehicles to supply, share and store power. …more from the Driven
GM Restructuring Reveals a ‘Disconnect’ Between SUV Sales Today and an EV Future
Comment: When we think of all the automakers out there in a mad dash to convert their vehicles to electric, we forget the human cost and casualties of the transition, no doubt felt helplessly by the GM workers in Oshawa, Ontario and at the other plants being closed. I confess I am no expert in this area, but a strong North American bias to buying SUVs and trucks likely didn’t help for a plant making cars.
Excerpt: General Motors announced Monday that it will undergo a major corporate restructuring that includes plant closures and job cuts, in response to declining consumer demand for traditional gasoline-powered sedans. Going forward, the top-ranked U.S. automaker said it will continue to support the growth of its crossovers, trucks and SUVs, while prioritizing future vehicle investments in its next-generation of battery-electric architectures. …more from Greentech Media
Vattenfall pilots high temperature steel with up to 48hrs energy storage duration
Excerpt: “Steel storage is well suited for providing the ‘heavy lifting’, i.e. to quickly absorb large amounts of renewable energy when the production peaks occur, to store those peaks for two cents per kWh or less, and then provide the energy continuously for many hours or even days. Batteries, on the other hand, provide the precision round the edges – frequency regulation, voltage control, black start capability and the rest.” …more from Energy-Storage.News
The naked truth about clothing rental
Comment: Moving from buy-use-toss, to more ‘circular’ economies will be important to help address climate change as more than 35% of global emissions come from making stuff. Talk about a tough habit to break, hey? This piece includes links to the many companies offering clothing rental-type services.
Excerpt: Apparel rental may not be a fit for every consumer — or apparel company — but there seems to be no shortage of brands willing to try it on for size. …more from GreenBiz
Rivian launches pickup truck and electric SUV with 650km of range
Excerpt: We are talking about quad electric motors, 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds, battery packs from 105 kWh to 180 kWh for up to 410 miles of range, and more. …more from Electrek
Excerpt: First of all, the truck is a 5-seater and it has a ton of enclosed storage space. The frunk is absolutely huge and Rivian also designed another storage space behind the back seat called a “gear tunnel”: …more from Electrek