Plus: 19.5 GW in microgrids globally; Carbon taxes added in 4 Canadian provinces; NYC adds congestion pricing
Hi Everyone,
I have to start you with this: 10 myths about carbon pricing in Canada. It offers lessons for other jurisdictions considering pricing carbon.
Among the April fools jokes on Monday was one by Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos announcing he was going to start building electric vehicles driven autonomously by Alexa, who would listen to your directions, but would take you to other “recommended destinations”. Nice one.
On a more serious note, a Tesla was tricked to drive into the wrong lane by placing 3 interference stickers on the road. Telsa intends to show off the capabilities of a new computer to improve autonomous driving on April 19. The roll-out of 5G cellular technology is also said to help make leaps for autonomous vehicles too.
Consider forwarding this on to others who’d be interested.
Thanks,
Peter
Citing climate differences, Shell walks away from U.S. refining lobby | Reuters
It was just a matter of time before Shell picked from the 19 industry associations it’s a part of to choose its target for making this statement. For Shell and other progressive companies, the debate will be: on balance, is it better to influence from within industry associations or take your membership fees and use them in other channels?
A collection of other stories from this week:
- Sorry, graphene—borophene is the new wonder material that’s got everyone excited – MIT Technology Review
- ‘World first’ grid-scale lithium-vanadium hybrid project will be in the UK | Energy Storage News
- B.C. premier says final pieces of massive LNG Canada project now in place | CTV News
- GRIDSERVE unveils £1 billion ‘Electric Forecourt’ EV infrastructure programme | Current±
- 75% of Scotland’s Electricity Now Green; All Cars Electric by 2032 | Common Dreams
- Duke Energy Proposes Southeast’s Largest Utility EV Initiative Yet | Energy Manager Today
- Electric cars set sales record in Norway with 58% market share | The Independent Barents Observer
- Dutch to introduce corporate CO2 tax as climate plans fall short | Reuters
- Amsterdam’s Plan to Eliminate 11,000 Parking Spots | CityLab
- MHI Vestas To Supply 9.5 Megawatt Turbines For Kincardine Floating Offshore Wind Park | CleanTechnica
- Idaho sets record low solar price as it starts on shift to 100pct renewables | RenewEconomy
- Germany Awards 505 Megawatts At €0.065/kWh In First Large-Scale Solar PV Tender | CleanTechnica
Renewable energy is on the rise, but so is demand for fossil fuels | Engadget
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reported that renewables now make up about a third of global power production, yet the International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that fossil fuel demand continues to grow, with natural gas representing 45% of the growth in energy demand.
Investors ramp up pressure on Exxon over climate change | Axios
It’ll be interesting to see if the SEC rules in the same fashion as it did for similar calls on EOG Resources and Devon – that such resolutions micro-manage the company and are therefore not permitted.
More US cities go with contactless transit payment systems
Cities are trying to make it easier for people to pay for their transit fare using contactless payment systems, smoothing a barrier in the hopes of getting more people on mass transit. Critics argue these forms of payment are not accessible to all – such as those with low income. Here are two recent stories highlighting the trend.
- Apple to launch contactless transit fare systems in 3 US cities | Smart Cities Dive The offering will first launch in Portland, OR, followed by Chicago and New York City.
- Dallas, Miami-Dade to introduce Mastercard ‘tap-and-go’ transit fare system | Smart Cities Dive The contactless payment systems will be rolled out in several cities this year, helping to reduce reliance on a dedicated transit card.
Canadian provinces vow to resist Trudeau’s landmark carbon tax | Reuters
Excerpt: Canada on Monday imposed a landmark carbon tax on four provinces which had defied Ottawa’s push to combat climate change, prompting unhappy premiers to say they would challenge the measure.
Comment: The armchair economist in me says taxing things society does not want (pollution) is a good way to go. I’d rather have a carbon and sales tax than income tax. That way, I have more control over how the money I earn gets spent. Yet so many are opposed to the concept, often pointing to the details how carbon is priced and where the revenue goes. While many schemes are not perfect, myths about carbon taxes abound.
BlackRock Beefs Up Its Bet on Renewables With Small-Scale Solar | Bloomberg
Whereas previously big investors went for the big long term deals with utilities, BlackRock is now teaming up with CleanCapital, a company that is now aiming to further invest in smaller renewable solar and energy storage projects, including a focus on Canada.
“World’s first working thermal battery” promises cheap, eco-friendly, grid-scalable energy storage | Energy.Storage-news
The technology, now being tested at a commercial scale uses renewable electricity to heat silicon to 1400C (2550F) and fits in a 20 foot shipping container. It purports to store six times more energy at 60-80% of the cost compared to lithium-ion batteries, with a longer life – 20 years. Sounds promising, but we’ll need to wait on the results of the piloting.
New York adds congestions pricing
With a signature from Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York will become the first US city to implement this policy tool to reduce traffic congestion. Plenty of other North American cities will be watching closely. The cost for a car to enter the zone: $11-12; a delivery trucks:$25.
- 5 lessons for New York’s congestion pricing plan | Fast Company
- Lawmakers finalize congestion pricing plan for NYC | Smart Cities Dive
New control technologies lower microgrid costs, ease renewables integration | Utility Dive
Globally, Navigant identified 2,258 microgrids comprising 19.5 GW of planned or installed capacity. And the list keep growing as costs continue to come down. Among the costs are master controllers that average $155,000/MW. At least one microgrid demonstrated how it could eliminate the need for a master controller by using decentralized, autonomous control algorithms in order to the different parts of the system to operate in coordination.
Oil-rich sovereign funds look to renewables alongside fossil fuels | Reuters
An in-depth piece that includes insights into the principles and frameworks these fund managers have committed to – and more importantly how these have evolved over the last decade to see more emphasis on climate risk. Ask yourself: given the shift seen over the last 10 years, what changes will the next 10 hold?
Excerpt: Total sovereign wealth fund investments within the oil and gas industry have dwarfed those within renewable energy in the past decade. But data on private equity investments with sovereign wealth fund participation suggests this balance might be shifting. In 2018, $6.36 billion went into hydrocarbons, compared to $5.81 billion in renewable energy, one of the narrowest margins in the past decade, according to PitchBook, a data and research firm. …more from Reuters