Daily Archives: April 24, 2015

North West Bicester is a government-designated eco-town being built in the UK

UK’s “first eco-town” built green from the ground up

An eco-town described as the UK’s “most sustainable development” is moving closer to being occupied. The first residents are expected to move into North West Bicester later this year. Planning permission has also just been granted for up to 2,600 homes in the next stage of the project.

North West Bicester (pronounced “Bister”) is one of four designated eco-towns in the UK announced by the government in 2007. The aim is to create a town that is good for the environment, good for the economy and a nice place to live.

It is also one of a handful of One Planet communities around the world. The One Planet scheme was set up by sustainability charity BioRegional. It aims to find ways for people and societies to reduce their level of consumption to an extent that is sustainable based on the amount of resources that the planet can provide.

In addition to homes that are highly sustainable, North West Bicester will offer a mix of affordable housing. Homes will be built to a minimum standard of code level 4 for Sustainable Homes and Sustainable Homes and BREEAM excellence. Residents will be able to access a community hub via mobile devices that will allows them to check car club availability, monitor energy usage and prices, check public transport information and communicate with other residents. Homes will also be future-proofed with climate change adaptation in mind.

Primary schools will be located within 800 m (2,625 ft) of all homes in the town, and jobs will be created within a sustainable travel distance. Non-car use will be encouraged, as will the use of electric vehicles where required. Town residents will benefit from specially-designed cycle and pedestrian routes, a bus service within 400 m (1,312 ft) of every home, charging points for electric vehicles and an electric car club.

A minimum level of 40 percent public and private green space is to be maintained throughout North West Bicester. There will be a focus on local food production and an aim of attaining a net gain in local bio-diversity.

The first phase of the town being constructed is called Exemplar. Once completed, it will have 393 zero carbon homes and, according to project lead A2Dominion, will be the UK’s first true zero carbon community. Among the amenities in Exemplar will be a primary school, community center, eco-pub and an eco-business and retail center.

Each home in Exemplar has been designed to remain warm in winter, but not to overheat in the summer. A combined heat and power plant will provide heat and hot water to the houses, whilst solar arrays averaging 34 sq m (366 sq ft) will be fitted to every property. This is said to be the UK’s largest residential solar array in total, capable of powering 550 homes with excess power fed back into the national grid.

The recent planning approval for new homes is for an area adjoining the Exemplar site, which will be the next major phase of the project. Of the homes built here, 30 percent will be affordable, including extra care apartments for the elderly. A new primary school with playing fields, a nursery and a sports pitch with a pavilion will also be built.

The plan also features space for a network of allotments, a country park, play areas, a community farm and a woodland burial ground. The area will have its own center with a convenience store, cafe, restaurant and shops, a public square and community hall. Other amenities will include an energy center, a GP practice, business and office provision and a place of worship.

Residents are expected to begin moving into Exemplar later this year, with the phase due for completion in 2018. A2Dominion plans to develop North West Bicester over the next 25-30 years. When complete, the town will have up to 6,000 highly energy efficient new homes.

The video below provides an introduction to North West Bicester.

Source: Giz Mag

Eight manufacturers to enter Formula E next season

Eight Manufacturers To Enter Formula E Next Season

As was announced earlier, Formula E is looking to diversify the race cars in season 2. In the first season, the cars were all the same in an effort to make to the series very competitive and the cost of entry cheap.

The move from a common car to a whole set of different cars will be gradual to not exacerbate costs, especially for smaller teams, as the series is still in its infancy.

Eight manufacturers to enter Formula E next season
Eight manufacturers to enter Formula E next season

The official statement from the Federation Internationale de l’Automobil revealed that in the second season there will be eight manufacturers that will supply powertrains to any teams participating in 2015/2016 Formula E season:

  1. ABT Sportsline
  2. Andretti
  3. Mahindra
  4. Motomatica
  5. NEXTEV TCR
  6. Renault Sport
  7. Venturi Automobiles
  8. Virgin Racing Engineering

In the second season, teams will still get the same car chassis (the Spark-Renault SRT_01E) and the same battery packs, but the electric motor, inverter, gearbox and cooling system will be developed individually by each manufacturer and available for any team at fixed maximum cost.

Read more: Inside EVs

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Review, Small Business – Video

Here is a new Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV owner story video.

If you would like to know why people decide to buy a plug-in hybrid and what benefits they get from doing so, then please go ahead and check out this video.

Mark Bowler, using an Outlander PHEV for just about a month, still has more than half tank of gas left since buying it.

“Mark Bowler, Sales Director at The Window Exchange based in Northwich, explains how his customers have already noticed the Outlander PHEV and why they all want to know how it works.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQgn28I-dQQ

Source: Inside EVs

Audi A3 e-tron, Mitsubishi Outlander and BMW i3 plug-ins

Electric vehicles account for over 20% of Norway’s new-car sales

Plug-in electric car sales in Norway continue at just above 20% (21.03%) market share with 2,235 registrations in February 2015. Battery-only electric vehicles now account for 18% of all new-car sales.

The over-all #1 best selling car in Norway for the second month running is the VW e-Golf with 839 units. Sales of the Volkswagen e-Golf in Feb were almost double the top selling fossil fuelled car, the Toyota RAV4 with 450 sales.

The e-Golf accounts for almost 40% of all EV sales in Norway YTD (1,718) selling 3x more than second place Nissan Leaf (556) and 4x more than third placed Tesla Model S (392).

The ICE powered Volkswagen Golf has been one of the best selling cars in Norway for many years but the e-Golf and GTE Plug-in variants now account for 70% of all Volkswagen sales in Norway.

The Norwegian e-Golf sales success sends a clear signal to auto makers that non-quirky, conservative body styling can boost EV market share significantly.

Source: Electric Vehicle News

Plug-in Car Registrations in UK – February 2015 (Image: Inside EVs)

Electric Car Sales In UK Up Almost 500% In February

February was the 36th consecutive month of car sales growth in UK – registrations went up by 12% year-over-year to 76,958.

The numbers themselves are low as February is one of the slowest sales months of the year ahead of a number plate change in March.

Plug-in Car Registrations in UK – February 2015 (Image: Inside EVs)
Plug-in Car Registrations in UK – February 2015 (Image: Inside EVs)

Despite this, electric cars grew like crazy by 497% year-over-year to 728 new registrations. Market share was 0.95%.

There were 216 BEVs (up 167%) and 512 PHEVs (up 1,066.7%).

As previously mentioned, February is a slow month, so now we look forward to what we hope to be a record-setting March. 5,000? Maybe 7,000? We’ll find out soon enough.

Source: Inside EVs

C&C's Nissan e-NV200 Electric Taxi (Image: Nissan)

Greening taxis gets £45m boost

A £20 million fund will be made available to local authorities to support the rollout of ultra-low emission taxis across the UK. The money will be available to reduce the upfront cost of purpose built taxis and to install charging infrastructure for taxi and private hire use.

A further £25 million has been set aside specifically for the Greater London Area to help taxi drivers cover the cost of upgrading to a greener vehicle.

All taxis will also qualify for the government’s plug-in car grant, which currently offers up to £5,000 off the cost of an eligible low emission vehicle.

The news follows Geely’s announcement outlining plans for a new £250 million state of the art facility to produce the next generation of low-emission London Black Taxis.

Geely, who owns the iconic London Taxi Company, was awarded £17 million from the government’s Regional Growth Fund to build this facility, which will create 1,000 local jobs and ensure the London black taxi continues to be designed, developed and made in the UK.

These new taxis will comply with the new regulations being introduced by the Mayor of London that will require all London taxis to be zero-emission capable from January 2018.

Transport Minister Baroness Kramer said:

“The low emission vehicle sector is going from strength to strength with demand in the UK up by over 300% last year, making the UK a leading market for this technology.

“Today’s announcement means ultra low-emission taxis will be the smart choice for more taxi drivers and everyone will benefit from improved air quality and greener travel.”

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said:

“As London strives towards the greenest taxi fleet from 2018, it is essential to support the taxi trade in the transition to cleaner vehicles.

“With the additional funds announced today, more help is on the way for taxi drivers to upgrade to the latest technology in zero-emission capable cabs.

“Alongside the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone from 2020 these measures will boost jobs and growth in the development and manufacturing of ultra low emission technologies, secure the long-term future of the taxi industry, and ensure everyone who lives, works in, or visits our city has the cleanest possible air to breathe.”

Source: Newspress

Go Ultra Low members boast 15 ULEVs across a range of segments (Image: OLEV)

Automakers race to double the driving range of affordable electric cars

Global automakers are readying a new generation of mass-market electric cars with more than double the driving range of today’s Nissan Leaf, betting that technical breakthroughs by big battery suppliers such as LG Chem Ltd will jump-start demand and pull them abreast of Tesla Motors Inc.

At least four major automakers — General Motors, Ford, Nissan and Volkswagen — plan to race Tesla to be first to field affordable electric vehicles that will travel up to 320 km (200 miles) between charges.

That is more than twice as far as current lower-priced models such as the Nissan Leaf, which starts at $29,010. The new generation of electric cars is expected to be on the market within two to three years.

To get a Tesla Model S that delivers 265 miles (427 km) on a charge requires buying a version that starts at $81,000 before tax incentives. Most electric cars offered at more affordable prices can travel only about 75 to 85 miles (121 to 137 km) on a charge – less in cold weather or when drivers have the air conditioning on.

Automakers need to pump up electric vehicle demand significantly by 2018. This is when California and eight other states will begin to require the companies to meet much higher sales targets for so-called zero emission vehicles — in other words, electric cars — and federal rules on reducing fuel consumption and greenhouse gases become much stricter.

BATTERY BREAKTHROUGHS

Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said last week that

“200 miles is the minimum threshold” to alleviate consumer concerns over EV range. There is “a sweet spot around 250-350 miles that’s really ideal,” he said.

Musk has promised a more affordable Tesla, the Model 3, which will sell for around $35,000 and provide a driving range of 200 miles or more. That car is slated to begin production in mid-to-late 2017.

However, GM says it plans to field a 200-mile electric car, the Chevrolet Bolt, by late 2016.

The Bolt will use an advanced lithium-ion battery pack developed by Korea’s LG Chem, which also supplies batteries for the Chevrolet Volt hybrid. The newer batteries are said to have much higher energy density and provide much longer range between charges, thanks to breakthroughs in battery materials, design and chemistry, according to a source familiar with LG Chem’s technology.

“Several factors are at play that are landing at this 200-mile range” for a vehicle priced between $30,000 and $35,000, LG Chem Chief Executive Prabhakar Patil said in an interview. “We’ve been talking to several OEMs (automakers) regarding where our battery technology is and where it’s going.”

LG Chem also supplies standard lithium-ion batteries to the Ford Focus Electric and may supply the longer-range batteries to a new compact EV that Ford is tentatively planning to introduce in late 2018 or early 2019, according to three suppliers familiar with the program.

Compared with the 2015 Focus Electric, which has a range between charges of 76 miles, the new compact electric model would have a range of at least 200 miles, the suppliers said.

Nissan and VW both have battery supply deals with LG Chem, and both are working on longer-range EVs for 2018 and beyond.

Nissan is planning to introduce a successor to the Leaf in early 2018, according to a source familiar with the program, and that model is expected to offer significantly greater range than the current Leaf, the best-selling electric car in the United States, which can go 84 miles (135 km) between charges.

The 2015 Leaf uses batteries made by a joint venture between Nissan and supplier NEC. It is not clear if the future model will shift to LG Chem, although Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has identified LG Chem as a potential battery supplier.

VW plans to expand its current range of electrified vehicles, including a successor to the battery-powered e-Golf in 2018 with much longer range, according to two sources familiar with the program. The current e-Golf uses batteries made by Panasonic and has a range between charges of 83 miles.

Volkswagen plans to decide in the first half of this year whether new battery technology under development at U.S. startup QuantumScape Corp, which may expand an electric vehicle’s driving distance between recharges to as much as 700 kilometers (430 miles), is ready for use in its electric cars.

Source: Electric Vehicle News

Better Place Battery Swapping

Tesla Navigation Update Echoes Better Place System Of 3 Years Ago

It was another typically hyperbolic statement from Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk.

A simple tweet on a Sunday afternoon claimed that Tesla was “About to end range anxiety … via [over-the-air] software update. Affects entire Model S fleet.”

As usual, the media erupted with wild speculation about what Musk could do to “end range anxiety” in cars the company had sold more than two years ago.

But when the actual announcement came, it seemed to disappoint a number of people: route planning and an alerting system didn’t sound so exciting.

So why do I think there is much more to this announcement than do other commentators?

A truth universally acknowledged by electric-car owners is that people who’ve never lived with a plug-in vehicle don’t really understand how they work in real life.

Range anxiety is largely a mythical bogeyman. I view it as something that petrolheads tell other petrolheads to keep the cult of liquid fuel alive.

Electric-car owners know the range capabilities of their cars. They drive on regular routes, day in and day out, using similar amounts of electricity, and they know what their cars can and can’t do.

Planning an out-of-the-ordinary trip, however, requires some help. Especially one that hasn’t been made before and when the overall trip, including return, is close to or beyond the car’s range.

What Musk actually announced on Thursday sounds quite similar to what failed battery-switching startup Better Place delivered several years ago in Israel (and Denmark).

In fact, I predicted as much last week.

Musk spoke about two integrated systems, “Range Assurance” and “Trip Planner,” that would work together.

Back in 2012 when I picked up my Better Place Renault Fluence ZE, I had capabilities remarkably similar to those Tesla announced.

Whenever my battery dropped below 12 percent, I would get a phone call from an actual person. He or she would ask if I knew where I was going – and would, if necessary, remotely re-route me to a charge spot or battery-switching station.

I filmed a video of the trip planning feature, including the system working out a 220-mile route from Tel Aviv to Eilat involving multiple battery switches along the way. Effortlessly.

Both of these features also took into account the real-time status of the infrastructure.

Better Place was aware of the status of everything in their network–switch stations, Level 2 charging stations, and cars–and if a switch station wasn’t working, drivers would be alerted and re-routed.

Read more: Green Car Reports

The Shale Debt Redux

Shale debt, falling prices and slack demand has tight oil producers in trouble. And yet, there is still burgeoning production. Why? Well, we’ve seen this before. It’s the shale debt redux.

Operators did it a few years ago in natural gas and prices have yet to recover. Unfortunately cheap money in the form of debt can mean poor investment choices for businesses and for investors. But it can also lead to an aberrant market because operators deep in debt won’t curtail production even though it is glutted. Debt coupons simply have to be met.

The shale revolution has always been funded by massive debt. Operators who were drilling for gas back in 2009-2011 used debt extensively. And just like now, they overproduced. By 2011, supply exceeded demand by four times. Then prices tanked. It is curious that so few asked the questions: why did they produce so heavily and glut the market; and why did they continue to produce into a glutted market? The answer is really quite simple. Many couldn’t afford to pull back production to help stabilize prices. Had they done so, they would not have been able to meet their debt payments. So they kept pumping…and pumping…and pumping.

And now they’ve done it again.

When interest rates are kept artificially low for extended periods of time, investors and businesses begin to take risks. They invest in stocks and high yield bonds, or they issue debt to get more money. In a normal functioning market such investments might not have been considered because reasonable returns would be available in more conservative areas. Some analysts argue that low interest rates encourage bubbles because investors begin chasing the most hyped sectors thinking they will get a better return. And nothing has been more hyped than shales. Low interest rates did indeed create the perfect environment for taking on heavy debt loads by companies and increasing the appetite on the part of investors for junk debt. Neither scenario, however, is ideal. Both can put you behind the eight ball very quickly.

Much of the debt issued by shale operators has been high yield or what is commonly referred to as junk. According to the Wall Street Journal:

“Junk bonds have financed the U.S. shale boom, and now the sharp drop in oil prices could lead to a massive wave of defaults on that high-yield debt.”

JP Morgan Chase estimates that as much as 40% of this junk debt may be defaulted on by shale companies in the next two years if prices stay below $65/bbl. Yeah, you read that right…40%! Prices are currently trading around $45/bbl and operators are still pumping huge amounts of crude into the market so a $20/bbl price rise would seem unlikely.

This picture is complicated enormously by the overwhelming need for cash by shale operators. Energy was the fastest growing sector of junk debt in 2014 and is the largest chunk of the high yield market. Energy junk debt rose from about 14% at YE 2013 to 19% by YE 2014. Prices began tanking, however, in 2014 driving up the yields on these bonds to nosebleed heights. Some big investors took a risk in early 2015 and started buying up this distressed paper. Unfortunately, the markets turned against them again and losses are mounting. According to Oil Price:

“The high-yield debt market is being overrun by the energy industry. High-yield energy debt has swelled from just $65.6 billion in 2007 up to $201 billion today. That is a result of shaky drillers turning to debt markets more and more to stay afloat, as well as once-stable companies getting downgraded into junk territory. Yields on junk energy debt have hit 7.44 percent over government bonds, more than double the rate from June 2014.”

The shale monster eats cash for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Desperate for cash, operators are now turning to equity issuance in addition to their mountains of shale debt to fund operations. Equity is the most expensive form of cash because it dilutes existing shareholders. Many, however, no longer have access to more debt having maxed out their ratios. So energy equity issuance has exploded in 2015 growing at the fastest clip in a decade. Approximately $8B in new equity was issued in the first quarter 2015 though prices continue to fall and shares are being hammered. Further, large investment banks have been left with rotting shale debt on their books that they can’t unload. A recent transaction saw these loans picked up at 65 cents on the dollar.

The shale debt redux is yet another indication that this business model has problems. The shale game cannot be kept going without continuous and breathtaking amounts of cash. Kepler Chevreux recently stated that US shale and Canadian oil sands account for about 18% of global production. They also account for approximately 50% of global CAPEX. So if shales and oil sands really are our energy panaceas, then hold on because prices are going through the roof for anything using crude or natural gas in the coming decades. Costs have simply gotten too high and there is no reason to think that they will abate.

So those non-OECD countries that are choosing to leapfrog hydrocarbons and spend their money on renewable infrastructure may certainly be on to something. With hydrocarbon costs skyrocketing, can the U.S. really afford to be dependent on oil and gas for decades to come? Because it sure would be nice to have energy without fuel costs.

Source: Energy Policy Forum

Goldilocks zone for oil prices is gone for good

Five years ago, I wrote an article for Reuters titled “Goldilocks and the Three Fuels.” In it, I discussed what I call the Goldilocks price zone for oil, natural gas  and coal, a zone in which prices are “just right” — high enough to reward producers but low enough to entice consumers. Ever since the start of the fossil- fuel era, such a zone has existed. Sometimes price boundaries were transgressed on the upside, sometimes on the downside, but it was always possible to revert to the zone.

But now, the Goldilocks zone for oil has ceased to exist. This will have staggering consequences throughout the economy for the foreseeable future.

During the past decade, the Goldilocks zone for oil steadily migrated higher. As conventional crude reservoirs depleted and production rates leveled off, drillers had to spend proportionally more to develop the capacity to pump the next marginal barrel. Oil prices soared from $30 a barrel in 2005 to nearly $150 a barrel in 2008, collapsed during the economic crisis, then clawed their way back to roughly $100 a barrel, a price that was maintained through mid-2014. But the economy did not do well during this period. Despite massive bailouts, stimulus spending and low interest rates, the recovery following the 2008 crash was anemic.

However, at $100 a barrel, the oil price was high enough to incentivize fracking. Small, risk-friendly companies leased land and used expensive drilling techniques to free oil from rocks that geologists had previously described as too impermeable to bother with. This entailed a tenuous business model that required not only high oil prices but easy money as well, as low interest rates enabled producers to pile on enormous amounts of debt.

Oil production in the United States rose sharply as a result, and this eventually had an impact on prices. Since mid-2014, the oil price has declined by half, settling around the historic, inflation-adjusted mean price of $50 a barrel. Consumers are much happier than they were with oil at $100 a barrel, but producers are wilting. The American petroleum industry has seen more than 75,000 layoffs, the balance sheets of fracking companies are bleeding and drilling rigs are being idled by the score.

For consumers, experience suggests the acceptable oil-price zone is $40 to $60 a barrel in today’s dollars; higher than that, goods and services, particularly transportation, become more expensive than current spending patterns can handle. For producers, the acceptable zone is more like $80 to $120 a barrel; lower than that, upstream investments make little sense, so production will inevitably stall and decline — eventually making consumers even less happy.

You will have noticed that there is no overlap. An oil price of $70 a barrel would not be high enough to give the industry a rebound of confidence sufficient to inspire another massive round of investment. Clearly, consumers would be happier with $70-a-barrel oil than they were with $100-a-barrel oil, but if $70 isn’t a high enough price to incentivize production growth, then it’s not really in the Goldilocks zone.

According to the narrative emanating from most mainstream energy economists, oil production rates will soon slow, prices will rebound and everyone will be happy. That narrative misses the all-important news that Goldilocks is dead. There is no longer a price that everyone can live with. And that’s a recipe for price volatility.

For oil traders, price volatility may offer opportunities for profit. But for everyone else, it is treacherous. Price volatility only hints at the real extent of our peril: We have built an economic system overwhelmingly reliant on a nonrenewable, depleting resource. This is not a sustainable situation. Unless our dependency on oil somehow magically disappears, we are in for a wild ride on an unmapped road.

Source: Reuters