EV MUSINGS NEWSLETTER 120
BMW iX With ONE Battery Pack Drives 978 Km on Single Charge, Almost Half of All New Car Registrations in Europe Are EVs as Diesel Dies Out, Coal-State Kentucky Just started Its Largest Solar Farm.
Intro:
Welcome back after the New Year break. I hope everyone managed to take time, visit relatives where appropriate, and gather themselves for the new year.
Let's head straight into things.
This week's podcasts
In Episode 198 Gary looks at the problem of misinformation in the EV and renewables world. Recently it seems that the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) surrounding EVs has stepped up a notch. We talk with Quentin Willson and Claire Cullen from Stop Burning Stuff about this issue.
In episode 199 Gary covers the topic of pavement parking. AC charging for people who really can’t charge their car at home.
Top 5 EV or Renewable Stories
BMW iX With ONE Battery Pack Drives 978 Km on Single Charge
EV Battery technology is improving rapidly. Developers and technicians recognise that people want a battery that will drive farther and charge quicker.
One improvement comes from changes in the chemistry and alterations to the materials used in the anode and the cathode.
ONE - a company developing new battery tech - recently revealed a BMW iX which had driven almost 1000 km (608 miles) on a single charge. The vehicle used a battery tech which consisted of a standard lithium ion battery which had a second battery used as a range extender. This second battery had a completely different battery chemistry with a much higher energy density.
One reason the whole of the battery wasn't made from this chemistry is that the design has limitations on it at the moment which decrease the number of life-cycle charges it can take before it degrades. A normal battery could be 10,000 cycles whereas this range extender could be cycled around 1/3rd of the number of times. Obviously if you don't need the range extender it makes sense to not charge it - which is why it is a separate unit to the main lithium-ion battery.
Would you like a range-extender battery which gives you increased range when you need it but limits the number of times it can be charged
Air France, Lufthansa and Etihad Have False Environmental Ads Banned
I've said many time on the podcast, in this newsletter, and on other articles I've written that the ONLY way an airline can radically reduce it's environmental impact is the stop flying as many planes.
No airline has opted to take this route. Instead they've relied on 'small, incremental changes' to do the heavy lifting for them. This includes things like taxying to the runway on one engine and starting the other(s) just before take off, and relying on better air traffic routing to reduce the distance they travel. The big one is 'Sustainable Aviation Fuel' (SAF) which - of which Michael O'Leary the head of budget airline Ryanair (and the chief architect of the increase in aviation usage over the last few years) has said 'There isn’t enough cooking oil in the world to power more than one day’s aviation.'
So it comes as no surprise to see that some fairly major airlines have been slapped down by the advertising authorities as they have been claiming that there's an environmentally friendly way to fly.
To reiterate, the ONLY climate friendly way to interact with aviation is to not fly.
Almost Half of All New Car Registrations in Europe Are EVs, Diesel Dies Out
Following on from the news that a number of the major European car manufacturers have recorded reasonably high levels of EV sales (between 10% and 20% last quarter), comes the news that almost half of European car sales are vehicles with a plug.
The number is 47.6% and - despite the fact this includes 'Mild Hybrids' - which aren't electric vehicles at all as 100% of their energy comes from fossil fuels - this is definitely a move in the right direction.
Coal-State Kentucky Just Broke Ground on Its Largest Solar Farm
You know that things are starting to look up when coal states such as Kentucky are breaking ground on its largest solar farm (although, as per research from Hannah Ritchie the Republican states tend to install more renewables than Democrat states because it is cheaper and earns them money)
Even Bill Gates Is Investing in Carbon Capture—but Companies Should Drop the ‘Dangerous Delusion’ it Will Let Them Keep Guzzling Gas, Business Group Says
Carbon Capture - a tech which has so far failed to live up to expectations - is still being touted by many as the solution for a lot of the fossil fuel usage. I posited many months back that big oil would try and co-opt CC as a means to continue doing what it has been doing. Indeed this has come to passs as a large number of the carbon capture projects are being financed and implemented by Big Oil.
A Cool Thing
From Episode 198
Scotland’s Orkney Islands will pilot two electric hydrofoil ferries that will commute between its outer islands in a three-year trial.
EF-12 Escape water taxi will carry up to 12 passengers between Kirkwall, Orkney’s main town on the Mainland, and the inner north isles of Shapinsay, Rousay, Egilsay, and Wyre in a year-round daily service
The 12-meter long EF-12 has a 52-nautical-mile range at 24.5 knots and a charge time of one hour. That’s pretty impressive, actually.
The is expected to start in March 2024, and charging infrastructure is expected to be installed winter 2023.
From Episode 199
A little left field, this one. But one of the fastest-growing jobs in the US pays up to $103k per year without a college degree.
If you’ve just left school and don’t fancy waiting tables, delivering amazon parcels or doing any of the myriad other jobs why not try something a little different?
Wind turbine service technician roles.
They’re well paid- minimal education and in demand, with employment in the sector expected to almost double over the next decade.
Of course there’s a downside. Candidates must be willing to endure extreme weather and lug 50 pounds of gear up long ladders to confined spaces
You’ll even get paid to travel across the continent.
Not a job for everyone. But it’s great too see renewable energy jobs on the US list of America’s fastest-growing jobs, ahead of Nurse practitioner, data scientists and statisticians.
Final Thoughts
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The Mystery Box
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