Plus: Half of EV owners will go back to ICE; Grid batteries get bigger; US offshore wind tenders; EV orders slow; Billions pledged for green hydrogen
Hi everyone,
I barely found the time to pull this together for you given how busy the last couple of weeks have been – so I hope you enjoy it.
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Thanks,
Peter
Peter’s take: Why are we still building so car-dependent cities?
I listened to a podcast recently from The Urbanist Agenda. Jason from Not Just BIkes is the host, with guest Steffen Berr, an American Traffic Engineer turned Transportation Engineer who now lives in the Netherlands. In the podcast, Steffen mentions his op-ed from January. So I looked it up. See below. I recommend you read it. In answering my own question, I think Steffen hits on at least part of the problem – we have traffic (car) engineers, not transportation (cars, buses, trains, bikes, etc) engineers. “Transportation” also ought to extend to good old walking – and designing neighborhoods to encourage everything but cars.
So, what does this have to do with energy? Because a city designed to keep us car dependent is one that is far less climate friendly than one that makes good use of mass transit, buses, bike lanes, and walkability. To make those modes of transport work, we need to be building with the right kind of density in mind. That kind of density is also more energy efficient.
America Has No Transportation Engineers | Next City
Op-ed: The American “transportation engineer” is a really a civil engineer who has received a little exposure to the transportation sector. If all a nation can provide are civil engineers who are given a crash course in transportation studies, what do we get?
Finance & Sentiment
Half of EV owners will go back to an ICE vehicle (not counting you, Tesla drivers) – study | Electrek
[Excerpt] A new study from S&P Global Mobility revealed that EV owners switching back to ICE vehicles had three classic arguments: pricing, infrastructure, and range anxiety, and other consumers just felt better having an ICE or hybrid vehicle in the garage as a backup plan.
[Comment] Traditional technology adoption curve have a distinctive ‘S’ shape – some steep, some more tilted. Slow at first, a rapid expansion phase, and finally the slowing of growth to approach maximum market saturation. One thing I have been wondering about is whether for perhaps the first time, we will see a kink in the ‘S’ for electric vehicles – where there is a mid-way pausing of growth. There are a number of forces at play that could cause such a kink: charging infrastructure fails to meet EV owner experience by either not present where they want to go, the chargers don’t work when they get there, or are already being used by others. Tesla was aiming to address the latter through a software offering to compute the likelihood of a charger being available to a driver enroute to one, presumably using algorithms based on other vehicles that may get there before you, the status of charging at that location, etc. This is not to say there won’t be the eventual resumption of growth of EVs, just that we could be seeing the beginning of a slowing of growth.
Climate Tech Investing Slides More Than 40% Over Past 12 Months | Energy Now
[Excerpt] Yet funding to address the highest-emitting industrial sectors, which include cement and steel manufacturing, continues to be a relatively small share of overall climate tech funding, despite their outsized contribution to overall emissions. Only 14% of recent overall climate tech investment went towards those sectors, which are not only a major source of carbon emissions but emissions that are hard to bring down.
Banks Told to Review Clients Amid Historic ESG Crackdown in EU | BNN Bloomberg
Banks in Europe will need to adjust the risk assessments they conduct of their clients to reflect new ESG requirements enforced by their watchdog. [Excerpt] For banks, the regime means they’ll have to review default and loss probabilities, as well as the risk weights that go into determining how much capital they set aside for each client account. The development may have major implications for high-emitting sectors such as oil, gas, cement, steel and mining.
Nestle, Volvo among 130 companies urging COP28 agreement to ditch fossil fuels | Reuters
[Excerpt] The 131 companies, which have nearly $1 trillion in global annual revenues, wrote in a letter published on Monday that attendees at the COP28 summit must commit to reach 100% decarbonised power systems by 2035 for richer economies, and help developing countries financially so they can ditch fossil fuels by 2040 at the latest.
Technology
Hydrogen
Unique way of transporting hydrogen and a China plant to make the material | China Hydrogen
[Author’s title: 10,000 ton magnesium-based hydrides manufacturing plant under construction in China]
Photo: HyFun’s solid-state hydrogen storage and transportation vehicle
[Excerpt] This hydrogen storage vehicle has about three times capacity of high-pressure gaseous hydrogen storage, and the storage state is at normal temperature and pressure. It can realize safe, efficient and economical hydrogen storage and transportation.
Indian state-owned financier pledges $3.7bn to two green hydrogen and ammonia projects at Tata Steel site | Hydrogen Insight
Indian state-owned finance company REC has pledged to provide 41bn rupees ($3.72bn) of funding to two green hydrogen and ammonia projects at a Tata Steel facility in Odisha state, east India.
Queensland solar farm locks in supply deal for Australia’s biggest green hydrogen project | RenewEconomy
The government owned Stanwell Corp has signed a long term off-take agreement for the proposed Aldoga solar farm, in the second major solar supply deal for a large green hydrogen project in Queensland this month.
EU promises €1bn public and private finance for Namibia’s green hydrogen and raw materials ambitions | Hydrogen Insight
Namibia’s ambitions to become a green hydrogen powerhouse took a step closer to realisation today (Wednesday) with the EU’s promise to mobilise €1bn ($1.05bn) of public and private investment to enable renewable hydrogen and raw materials infrastructure in the African state — although the bloc has not given any details on how it will raise the funds.
Carbon Capture
An Oil Giant Quietly Ditched the World’s Biggest Carbon Capture Plant | BNN Bloomberg
[Excerpt] A Bloomberg Green investigation has revealed that Century never operated at more than a third of its capacity in the 13 years it’s been running. The technology worked but the economics didn’t hold up because of limited gas supplied from a nearby field, leading to disuse and eventual divestment. Oxy quietly sold off the project last year for a fraction of the build cost.
First CCS project in the Netherlands launched | Offshore Technology
The Dutch Government has announced the final investment decision for the Porthos carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, marking a significant step towards the CCS facilities needed for European decarbonisation. The Porthos infrastructure will require an investment of €1.3bn ($1.37bn) and the company will now award the necessary contracts for realising the project. The system is expected to be operational by 2026.
The Grid
US invests $3.5 billion to bolster power grid, deploy clean energy | Reuters
President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday announced $3.5 billion in grants for projects to protect the aging U.S. power grid from extreme weather and fires and to connect transmission systems with more electricity from renewable energy sources. The funding for 58 projects across 44 states comes from the bipartisan infrastructure law Biden signed in 2021, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said, and is the largest-ever direct investment in the grid.
Geothermal
Geothermal Energy Tech Startup Eavor Raises $182 Million | ESG Today
Clean energy solutions startup Eavor Technologies today announced the successful completion of $182 million in financing, with proceeds aimed at accelerating the company’s development and deployment of its geothermal energy technology.
Energy Storage
LG is the latest to debut a modular home energy storage system in the US | Electrek
[Excerpt] What’s neat about modular ESSs is that if your home needs more battery backup, then you can add more modules to boost your battery storage. So if you install a home EV charger and your current ESS system doesn’t have enough capacity to support it in a blackout, then you can add another module.
Battery storage is now Tesla’s most profitable product, but the solar business is tanking | RenewEconomy
Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the company’s battery storage division – including household Powerwall and utility scale Megapack products – has recorded its highest quarterly deployment and has become the group’s highest margin business.
Plus Power completes US$1.8 billion financing for 2.76GWh of Arizona and Texas BESS | Energy Storage News
BESS developer and operator Plus Power has completed a US$1.8 billion financing for five projects in Arizona and Texas, including over US$400 million in tax equity and US$700 million for a single standalone project, the largest to-date.
TotalEnergies turns on solar-plus-storage project in Texas with 255MWh BESS | Energy Storage News
Oil and gas major TotalEnergies has put a 380MW solar PV, 255MWh battery storage project into commercial operation in the ERCOT, Texas market.
Solar and Wind
South Australia grid operates at 99.8 per cent wind and solar over past seven days | RenewEconomy
[Excerpt]This is what that looks like. Vast amounts of solar in the daytime hours, wind dominating when it is dark, and a thin orange line illustrating the small role that gas is now playing – apart from the times when low wind output obliged the state to switch on more gas plants and import from Victoria.
Australian company launches 3 GW wind, solar tender | pv magazine
CleanCo, a Queensland government-owned energy company, wants to add 3 GW of clean energy capacity to support the Australian state’s renewable energy targets, which aim for 50% by 2030, rising to 70% by 2032 and 80% by 2035.
Rhode Island Launches 1.2 GW Offshore Wind Solicitation | offshoreWIND.biz
[Excerpt] According to the utility, the 1,200 MW RfP is the largest renewable energy solicitation ever sought for Rhode Island. Proposals can be submitted by the end of January 2024, with winners planned to be announced in the summer of that year.
New York just made the largest state renewables investment in US history | Electrek
[Excerpt] The 6.4 GW is made up of three offshore wind farms and 22 onshore clean energy projects, and it’s going to be enough to power 2.6 million New York homes and deliver around 12% of the state’s electricity needs once it’s all online.
Xcel seeks 1.2 GW of new Minnesota wind resources to replace retiring coal plant | Utility Dive
[Excerpt] Xcel Energy is seeking about 1,200 MW of new wind projects located in southwest Minnesota, the utility announced Thursday. The request for proposals is “one of Minnesota’s largest-ever calls for clean energy projects,” the utility said.
Masdar to roll out 1 GW of PV, wind in Azerbaijan | pv magazine
REC commits over $3.7 billion for Acme, Avaada green hydrogen projects in Odisha, India | pv magazine
REC Ltd, a non-banking finance company under the power ministry, announced this week that it has signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) totaling INR 31,000 crore (over $3.7 billion) to support and finance two green hydrogen projects in the Indian state of Odisha.
Canada’s largest behind-the-meter solar project | pv magazine
The 81 MW Scotford project is expected to be the largest behind-the-meter solar project in Canada. Additionally, the 101 MW Saddlebrook project includes the future addition of a flow battery energy storage system, projected to be one of the first of its kind in North America.
Chinese wind giant unveils plan for world’s biggest 22MW offshore turbine | RenewEconomy
Chinese wind turbine manufacturing megalith MingYang Smart Energy has unveiled plans to build a 22MW offshore wind turbine, the world’s most powerful turbine that would stand nearly as tall as the Eiffel Tower.
[Comment] WOW! 22MW – in one turbine. The last “biggest” reported previously was 18MW.
Transportation
Big in Japan: Here’s why this tiny electric kei car is all the rage | Electrek
Nissan Sakura mini EV (Source: Nissan)
The Sakura, an unassuming microcar from Nissan and Mitsubishi which launched last year, has become the top-selling EV in Japan, beating out global rival Tesla. In a country that has been dragging its heels in going electric, this neat little car meets an obvious need that connects to consumers: It’s cheap and insanely practical.
DHL Signs Deal for 668 Million Liters of Sustainable Aviation Fuel | ESG Today
Logistics giant DHL Express announced today a new long-term agreement with clean energy and renewable fuels provider World Energy for the purchase of roughly 668 million litres of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) via sustainable aviation fuel certificates (SAFc).
Tesla’s Slowing Growth Is Sending a Warning to All EV Makers | BNN Bloomberg
[Excerpt] Tesla is the leading EV maker globally, and its cautious stance is bad news for EVs broadly, Jonas said. Other companies, whether startups or established carmakers, are still a long way behind Tesla in the electric vehicle race, according to an analysis from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Volkswagen says EV orders are down 50% in Europe | Electrek
After releasing its results for the first nine months of the year, Volkswagen’s CFO said EV orders are down 50% in Europe. VW’s order intake fell short, attributed to a slowdown in the overall market.
NIO finds early success with solid-state batteries, files to expand the tech to 11 more EVs | Electrek
Less than six months after filing with the Chinese government to add solid-state batteries to three of its EV models, NIO has just filed to include the potentially game-changing technology to 11 more. With dozens of EVs powered by the lighter, safer, and more energy-dense cells, the automotive landscape overseas could soon look very different in that drivers can go further and charge faster.
[Excerpt] When NIO first unveiled its ET7 sedan back in January of 2021, it also showcased a new 150 kWh solid-state pack developed with WeLion, vowing to eventually implement the technology in its vehicles.
[Comment] That 150kWh battery, in the ET7 was reported to enable 1000km of range. If the tech makes its way to North America, batteries that deliver more power for the same weight could help with range anxiety for the longer distances driven here. I’ll be curious to see how these batteries perform in cold climates.
Umicore finalizes $2.1B cathode factory deal with Ontario, federal government | Electric Autonomy
[Excerpt] Umicore’s plant is receiving financial support from both the federal and provincial governments, with each contributing up to $551.3 million and $424.6 million, respectively, for a total of as much as $1 billion.
Swedish Electric Vehicle Maker Volta Trucks Files for Bankruptcy | BNN Bloomberg
[Excerpt] The decision comes roughly two months after Volta’s battery supplier Proterra Inc. failed, causing the truckmaker to fall short of production targets. The collapse “negatively affected our ability to raise sufficient capital in an already challenging capital-raising environment for electric-vehicle players,” Volta’s board said in a statement.
Half of EV owners will go back to an ICE vehicle (not counting you, Tesla drivers) – study | Electrek
[Excerpt] A new study from S&P Global Mobility revealed that EV owners switching back to ICE vehicles had three classic arguments: pricing, infrastructure, and range anxiety, and other consumers just felt better having an ICE or hybrid vehicle in the garage as a backup plan.
Toyota signs deal with Tesla for NACS and Supercharger access | Electrek
[Excerpt] With Tesla opening the NACS connector as a standard, automakers don’t really need an agreement with Tesla to adopt the connector, but such an agreement is still necessary to use Tesla’s proprietary Supercharger network, which is a big incentive to adopt the standard.
This Japanese city is piloting EV wireless charging at traffic lights | Electrek
[Excerpt] recast charging coils are embedded into the road’s surface in front of traffic lights. A current only passes through the wireless chargers when a vehicle is detected. EVs and PHEVs that have special devices installed near the tires to receive the electricity get a charge when they slow down – 10 seconds of rolling over the coils provides about 1 km (0.6 miles) of range.
Toyota, Idemitsu tie up to mass-produce all-solid-state batteries | Reuters
Toyota and oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan announced a tie up on Thursday to develop and mass produce all-solid-state batteries, in another example of new partnerships being forged amid the disruptive shift to electric vehicles.
Hyundai to build car plant in Saudi Arabia | electrive
The South Korean company and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF (Public Investment Fund) have signed an agreement for a joint venture that provides for the construction of a production facility for 50,000 cars per year. Both electric cars and combustion engines are to be produced there.
Toronto votes “yes” to decarbonize vehicles-for-hire | Electric Autonomy
Toronto City Council has voted to move forward with city staff recommendations to require all taxi and ride-share vehicles be zero-emission by 2031. The decision, made by City Council this month, leans into the city’s broader TransformTO Net Zero Strategy, which aims to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions in Toronto to net zero by 2040.
Circular Economy
The zero-waste city: what Kiel in Germany can teach the world | The Guardian
[Excerpt] Aust, the president of Kiel city council, says many people are so focused on recycling they haven’t thought about reusing or reducing what they buy. “They simply don’t think about it any further.” A survey from the German Packaging Institute, an industry lobby group, found 76% of people thought recycling was the best way to deal with used packaging. Just half of the respondents said reuse.
[Comment] Waster sorting in my city of Calgary is not much different than Germany: green bin for organics; blue bin for paper, cardboard, plastic, and glass, black bin for everything else; electronics have drop-offs. This article left me somewhat unsatisfied with really understanding what makes Keil stand out. The excerpt above demonstrates that, broadly speaking, the entire economy is still mostly linear. If I missed something here, send me a note please.
Costco Commits to Plastic Reduction Plan Following Shareholder Engagement | ESG Today
Warehouse club retail giant Costco has committed to provide new disclosures into its plastic footprint and to release a plastic reduction action plan, according to environment and social-focused investor Green Century.
Solar panel waste is not a significant problem | pv magazine
Solar panel waste will not be a problem because there is so little of it. However, there is a short-term problem in some places because panel deployment is growing fast and recycling is playing catch up.