Green Energy

The US-based electric vehicle and solar firm announced in January plans to install 70MW of solar panels on to the rooftop of its battery cells, which it develops with Panasonic, and energy storage plant.

If the firm complete their goal, the roof will be the largest solar roof installation in the world.

“GF1 is an all-electric factory with no fossil fuels (natural gas or petroleum) directly consumed. We will be using 100% sustainable energy through a combination of a 70 MW solar rooftop array and solar ground installations,” Tesla commented in January.

“The solar rooftop array is ~7x larger than the largest rooftop solar system installed today.”

According to data tracked by Timetric’s Construction Intelligence Centre (CIC), the global market for power generation construction projects is worth $4.78tn.

The report forecasts that these new power generation projects, $1.94tn of which are currently in the planning stage, will add a global energy capacity of up to 2,944GW.

By region, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) accounts for the significant majority of these projects, with a total valuation of $2.11tn, followed by the Middle East and Africa (MEA) with $906.2bn and the Americas with $890.2bn.

Broken down further by country, China leads the way with over $541bn of investment into power generation projects, followed by India with $470.5bn.

Nuclear power is the sector that accounts for the highest proportion at $1tn, with the second largest project that is currently in the pipeline being the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant in Egypt, only behind the UK’s $35bn East Anglia Offshore Windfarm Development.

Construction has begun on Enel’s latest wind project in the state of Kansas, US.

The 300MW wind farm will sit in both Marion and Dickinson counties and will bring the Italian energy firm’s wind capacity in the state to 1.4GW, when operational.

It is anticipated the wind farm, developed by Enel’s subsidiary Enel Green Power North America, will be complete by the end of 2018.

When fully operational, the power plant will annually generate 1,300 GWh of power.

The firm has invested $400mn into the wind farm, sourcing the funds from its own financial resources.

“The start of construction of Diamond Vista, which follows a record year of growth in 2017 for Enel Green Power in the US, sends a strong message about our ability to deliver on the company’s commitment to further strengthen its renewable leadership,” stated Antonio Cammisecra, Head of Global Renewable Energies at Enel, and CEO of Enel Green Power.

“Furthermore, this project confirms us as a partner of choice for offtake customers who, like Enel, are committed to advancing a sustainable energy future. We are proud to be able to support their renewable goals through a cost-effective energy supply.”

As fossil fuels fade, electricity looks to be the way ahead for the motoring industry, writes Martin Brennan

Judging by the EVs, hybrids and futuristic concept models at the Geneva Motor Show last week, fossil-fuel motoring is on the way out.

The trend towards electric power is gathering pace, even if VW bosses see a future for cleaner diesel technology, while still planning to set aside €84bn for electric and futuristic means of propulsion. Toyota, the long-time believer in hybrid technology, has decided there will be no sale of new diesel passenger cars from next year.

Ireland has a target to end the sale of fossil fuel cars by 2030: diesel and petrol-only cars will be off the shopping list, with hybrid technology likely to be exempt in the short term. EV sales are expected to double this year on the 3,200 sold in 2017 and the forecast is for sales to reach 14,000 a year by 2020.

Tesla believes electric-only is the way forward. The Model S is pricey at €70,000 to €80,000 and upwards, and has understandably small sales. But the Model 3, expected here by 2020, will be the big seller for the company. Several hundred thousand orders have been placed worldwide but production has been slow. Prices in the UK are expected to be in the region of £40,000, so that’s €50,000-plus here.

The big buzz about the junior model is the powerful motor and battery pack that gives a range of 310 miles (498km), lowest rate of road tax and virtually no servicing charges. An owner of a Model S told an information day at the Tesla Irish HQ in Sandyford that having clocked up a mileage of more than 60,000km, the only expense he incurred was the replacement of two front tyres. Another selling point for Tesla is that models are future-proofed, as the latest technology and upgrades can be downloaded into the vehicle. AutoPilot brings the car a step closer to autonomous driving.

The Nissan Leaf is the best-selling electric car in the world with 283,000 models sold and the new, more powerful battery and motor can give a range of 235 miles (378km), Nissan claims. This is an increase of 50pc, with the possibility of filling the battery pack to 80pc capacity in 40 minutes on a fast charger.

Nissan now has ProPilot, a suite of autonomous driving aids which can take control of accelerator, brakes and steering on the motorway. An e-Pedal uses regenerative coasting and braking to slow the car down as soon as the driver lifts off the accelerator while still topping up the battery.

The Government has given tax incentives for sole traders who can save €12,000 under an EV Accelerated Capital Allowance deal by front loading the depreciation in the first year. This is on top of the purchase price tax incentives and there is also a zero benefit in kind for those who drive an electric company car.

At a time when air pollution has become a leading environmental threat to public health, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) chief Ajay Mathur said India’s dependence on thermal power would end by 2050. Mathur in an inteview with Samreen Ahmad said solar batteries would become cheaper than coal by the mid 2020s and nuclear power is not economically viable for the country now.

What is TERI doing to promote renewable energy?

The key challenge today is producing electricity when the sun is not shining. We have made a huge economic transition, as the cost of solar power produced during the day has become much lower that of thermal electricity. But the peak power demand in India occurs at around 11 pm, when we go to bed and switch on air-conditioners. And only 6 per cent of the population have ACs. Consequently, we are looking at integration of solar energy into the grid on the one hand and adequate availability of storage options on the other hand.

In six or seven years, we hope the price of solar batteries will be such that it will start costing less than thermal power. Solar-plus batteries in the Philippines have already touched about 6 cents per kWh. We are looking at a goal of Rs 5 per kWh five years from now. We are working with utilities and manufacturers of solar cells and batteries to test these out.

But solar panels are mostly imported.

Until a few years ago, the vast amount of solar panels that were being used in India were being imported because they were cheaper. Now, as the demand in India is growing, domestic manufacturers are expanding their production. Adani Solar and Tata Power Solar are enhancing their capacities. BHEL has also expanded its current solar module and cell manufacturing facilities. As demand increases, the manufacturing capacity will also rise.

What is being done to reduce the dependence on thermal power plants?

Coal is the only 24×7 source of power in India. In a country where the willingness and ability to pay for power is limited, cheap electricity is important. Yes, coal power needs to be cleaner. Which is why, two years ago, the government brought out new environmental norms for coal-based power stations. This effectively adds 70 paise to Rs 1 to the cost of each unit of thermal electricity produced. Power producers have also invested huge money in coal-based plants. If they are not able to sell electricity, they won’t be able to repay their loans to banks. Hence, banks will suffer and consequently others who need loans. So it is in the economic interest of the country that these coal plants continue to function till their capacities have been utilised. We believe that given the natural growth of electricity demand, current thermal power stations will be fully utilised by 2025-26. It is possible by the mid-2020s, solar batteries will become cheaper than coal. So people will put their money in solar rather than thermal. TERI believes no new coal power plants will ever be approved in this country now. Coal-based power stations will live out their economic lives and will be slowly replaced by solar-plus batteries. There will be no coal power dependence by 2050.

What is the government doing to check transmission and distribution losses?

The government is running the restructured accelerated power development and reforms programme to improve the quality and reliability of power supply. Under this, distribution companies are given loans by the government to upgrade their structure. These companies then replace old wires and bring transformers closer to houses for efficient metering to check electricity theft. In case the distribution companies are able to bring down their losses to less than 15 per cent, half of their loan becomes a grant.

Is nuclear energy viable in India?

The question is more of economics. Nuclear stations produce relatively expensive power than coal and solar. So no distribution company will be willing to buy it. This economic issue needs to be addressed if nuclear power has to take off.

The merchants of doubt paid for by the Koch brothers and the fossil fuel industry are out in full force, incorrectly publishing article after article about how electric cars are just as bad for the environment as gas and diesel ones, or possibly even worse than cars powered by gasoline or diesel engines.

We recently heard from CleanTechnica reader Martin Hemdricks, who told us about a scurrilous indictment of electric cars that recently showed up in his email inbox. It charged that electric cars put all their carbon emissions into the atmosphere before they drive a single mile. It went on to say an electric car needs to drive 15 miles or more 365 days a year for 10 years before making any positive contribution to the environment. Not true.

electric car

These sorts of bizarre statements are routine. One way you can tell they are all coming from the same source is they all make the same absurd claims — electric cars are only for wealthy people, electric cars waste taxpayer dollars on giveaways to the rich, electric cars create just as many fine particulates as a modern diesel car because of brake and tire wear.

One of the other common assertions we hear all the time from the anti-EV crowd is that electric cars are no more efficient than cars powered by internal combustion engines. Let’s take a closer look at that claim. According to the US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, “EVs convert about 59%–62% of the electrical energy from the grid to power at the wheels. Conventional gasoline vehicles only convert about 17%–21% of the energy stored in gasoline to power at the wheels.”

An electric motor typically is between 85% and 90% efficient. That means it converts that percentage of the electricity provided to it into useful work. The difference between the efficiency of the motor and the overall efficiency of an electric car is accounted for losses attributed to charging and discharging the battery and, for some charging (for some cars), converting AC to DC current and back again.

In a recent post for Quora, Brian Feldman, a robotics expert and entrepreneur, offered this explanation: “Consider the Tesla Model S, which has an available 85 kWh battery and a 265 mile range. Consider a similar gas-powered car, which gets 35 mpg. Gasoline contains about 33 kWh of energy per gallon. The Tesla uses 320 Wh/mile of energy (85 kWh/265 miles). The gas powered car uses 940 Wh/mile of energy (33 kWh/35 miles). Once the energy is on board (not counting the efficiency of the power generation, oil refining, or charging), the Tesla is using only about a third as much energy as the comparable gasoline-powered car.”

Electric car opponents like to point out that the source of the electricity has to be considered when determining overall efficiency, and of course they are right. Figures lie and liars figure, as we all know. And it is true that charging and EV with electricity made from burning coal is not as environmentally friendly as powering it with electricity made from wind turbines or solar panels. But that argument sets up a false premise — that we shouldn’t drive electric cars because they could use electricity from coal-powered generating plants.

The real point, however, is that electric car drivers tend to be more environmentally aware than drivers of Super Stupid Duty pickup trucks powered by enormous diesel engines. They are also more likely to demand their local utility company incorporate more renewable energy in their energy mix. The result is that electric cars are pushing the transition to a more sustainable energy grid forward.

And notice that fossil fuel advocates never include the emissions associated with exploring for oil and gas, getting it out of the ground, transporting it to refineries, converting it into gasoline or diesel fuel, transporting it to local distributors, and then trucking it to neighborhood gas stations. It’s easy to criticize the other guys when you ignore your own liabilities.

Lastly, EV bashers warn that charging an electric car will cause your electric bill to skyrocket. Well, yeah. Using more electricity will cost you more money than using less electricity. D’uh. But here’s the thing. In terms of how far you can drive on electricity versus on gasoline, electricity wins hands down. Here’s how the Sierra Club explains it:

“While you’ll spend more on electricity, the savings on gas will more than cover it. If you drive a pure battery electric vehicle 15,000 miles a year at current electricity rates (assuming $.12 per kilowatt hour though rates vary throughout the country), you’ll pay about $500 per year for the electricity to charge your battery, but you’ll save about $1900 in gas (assuming $3.54 per gallon, a 28 miles per gallon vehicle, and 15,000 miles driven). So $1900 minus $500 equals $1400 in savings — a 74% reduction in fueling costs. Some utilities are offering EV owners lower off-peak/nighttime rates. The more we successfully advocate for these off-peak incentives, the lower your electricity payments will go.”

Of course, everyone has to put in their own numbers for gas price, electricity price, previous-vehicle efficiency, electric-car efficiency, miles driven, etc.

The disinformation war being waged by enemies of electric vehicles is going on all around the world as fossil fuel companies fight to keep profits coming in the door, even as evidence mounts that their products and business practices are causing global warming and making people sick. They will stop at nothing to keep their revenue stream intact, even if it means poisoning you and your family. Are those really the kind of people you trust to give you accurate information?