Plus: Equinor and Cenovus set ambitious targets; making EV batteries recyclable
Hi Everyone,
If you only have time for one article, check out the contenders for long duration energy storage. I expect 2020 to be another year with announcements of surprisingly large investments in piloting longer duration storage technologies. Did they miss any? Got a favourite? Let me know!
Next, I would point you to the ‘7 trends that will define smart cities in 2020’, with the 3 that I think are the most material. Also, here in Canada, Cenovus released an ambitious set of targets, including a long term ambition to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Lastly, the considerable efforts going into making electric vehicle batteries more recyclable is worth noting – see the ‘eight innovations set to shake up sustainability in 2020’.
Scan the rest for others you may be interested in. The funky Manta5 ‘bike’ that rides on water is pretty cool.
Thanks and have a great week. Continue forwarding on to family, friends and colleagues, encouraging them to subscribe.
Peter
Contenders: Long duration energy storage technologies, and who’s behind them | Energy Storage News
Comment: This is worth a read, even though a touch longer. You’ll note that the technologies span those that are being deployed at scale, some with demonstration pilots and others still in the research stage.
7 trends that will define smart cities in 2020 | Smart Cities Dive
Comment: Here are the ones that stood out for me as being more material:
- Mobility hubs and car-free zones will be more widely considered
- The climate wakeup call for greener (and bigger) investments will grow
- More cities will turn to building electrification
Bullard: 10 Charts That Can Help Predict the Year Ahead | BloombergNEF
Comment: I have to say I don’t think all of these charts are particularly noteworthy, but perhaps the one below is instructive, though not particularly surprising.
New US building codes require plugs for electric cars | Quartz
Comment: It is important to note these are voluntary, but it is an important signal being sent to the housing market to get on board and meet customer expectations. Apart from British Columbia, which has a great model for elevating building codes over time towards net zero, I wish the rest of Canada would finally get with the program on building codes.
Excerpt: Homes in the US are typically built with wiring for only a few 240W outlets in the garage, typically enough to handle a washer and dryer. But the ICC cites research (pdf) indicating the US will need 9.6 million new electric vehicle charging ports by 2030. Almost 80% of those will be in single and multi-family residential buildings. So the new voluntary guidelines call for installing panels, outlets, and conduits capable of charging at least one full-size EV in a single-family garage overnight.
Google strikes record solar-storage deal | E&E News
Excerpt: A white paper attached to the recent solar storage filing in Nevada said Google had signed over 50 renewable energy purchasing agreements since 2010 to procure the output of more than 5.5 GW of wind and solar energy on four continents — making it the world’s largest corporate buyer of renewable energy.
Equinor seeks 40% greenhouse gas reduction in Norway by 2030 | Reuters
Excerpt: Equinor and its partners plan to invest around 50 billion Norwegian crowns ($5.7 billion) by 2030 to cut emissions to an annual rate of about 8 million tonnes from 13 million tonnes recorded in 2018, the company said. The initial cuts will primarily come through replacing electricity from gas turbines with renewable energy at major installations, including offshore wind turbines and hydroelectric power via subsea cables.
Credit: Equinor
Utilities Have Big Plans to Cut Emissions, But They’re Struggling to Shed Fossil Fuels | Inside Climate News
Comment: worth a quick read. Here are a couple rather interesting visuals.
Horizon scanning: Eight innovations set to shake-up sustainability in 2020 | edie
Excerpt: On a startup scale, work is in progress to bring the world’s first modular EV battery assembled without glue or welding to market. And, in the corporate space, partnerships aimed at improving recycling infrastructure and designing batteries for longer life and ease of recyclability have been forged by the likes of Panasonic and Toyota, Formula E and Umicore, and BMW and Umicore.
Other headlines of interest…
Energy Storage
- Contenders: Long duration energy storage technologies, and who’s behind them | Energy Storage News
- Lithium-sulfur battery could cure range anxiety | Governor’s Wind and Solar Energy Coalition
Solar (& Battery)
- AB InBev to brew all beers with renewable electricity in Europe | Beverage Daily
Wind (& Battery)
- Equinor seeks 40% greenhouse gas reduction in Norway by 2030 | Reuters
Transport
- Blocking an EV charger in Ontario risks $125 fine with new law | CleanTechnica
- Volkswagen raises forecast for electric car production [1 million by 2023] | Boston.com
- JetBlue will be carbon neutral on all domestic flights by July 2020 | CNBC
- Okay, so even Sony is showing off electric concept cars now | Electrek
Transition
- Canada’s Cenovus Energy aims for 30% cut in emission intensity by 2030 | Reuters
- Oil Giant [Equinor] Reveals Survival Tactics in Age of Climate Anxiety | EnergyNow.ca
Finance
- $20B Danish fund won’t remove Equinor from blacklist | E&E News
Hydrogen
- Decade of ascendency: New hydrogen fuel cell capacity surpassed 1GW in 2019 | edie
Test riding Manta5: The unholy offspring of a boat, an airplane, and an e-bike | Digital Trends
Comment: Worth a look: an another wild example of a battery assist vehicle. Crazy looking, but it works! Sorry – I couldn’t figure out how to embed the video code – so check out the video on the Ditigal Trends website.
