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Air pollution kills more people in the UK than in Sweden, US and Mexico

June 16, 2017UncategorizedJo

WHO figures show people in Britain are more likely to die from dirty air than those living in some other comparable countries

People in the UK are 64 times as likely to die of air pollution as those in Sweden and twice as likely as those in the US, figures from the World Health Organisation reveal.

Car exhaust pollution (Image: Wikipedia)

Britain, which has a mortality rate for air pollution of 25.7 for every 100,000 people, was also beaten by Brazil and Mexico – and it trailed far behind Sweden, the cleanest nation in the EU, with a rate of 0.4.

The US rate was 12.1 for every 100,000, Brazil’s was 15.8 and Mexico’s was 23.5, while Argentina was at 24.6.

The figures are revealed in the WHO World Health Statistics 2017 report, published on Wednesday, which says substantially reducing the number of deaths globally from air pollution is a key target.

The report reveals outdoor air pollution caused an estimated 3 million deaths worldwide, most of these in low- and middle-income countries.

Wealthy European nations had high levels of air pollution from fine particulate matter. The UK had an average of 12.4 micrograms of fine particulate pollutants (PM 2.5) for each cubic metre of air, which includes pollution from traffic, industry, oil and wood burning and power plants in urban areas. This is higher than the pollutant levels of 5.9 in Sweden, 9.9 in Spain and 12.6 in France. Germany had higher levels of particulate pollution than the UK at 14.4 and Poland’s was 25.4.

Dr Penny Woods, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said the report confirmed that deaths from air pollution were higher in the UK than many other comparable countries.

She said:

“It is deeply tragic that around 3 million lives are cut short worldwide because the air we breathe is dirty and polluted. In the UK, air pollution is a public health crisis hitting our most vulnerable the hardest – our children, people with a lung condition and the elderly.

“Yet, we are in the fortunate position of having the technology and resources to fix this problem. It’s time to use what we have to sort this problem out as a matter of urgency and clean up our filthy, poisonous air. The next government needs to bring in a new Clean Air Act to protect the nation’s lung health.”

Lasting legacy of VW diesel scandal: EU gets serious about testing

June 15, 2017Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, PollutionJo

The Volkswagen diesel scandal left lasting imprints on the entire automotive industry, and may have changed the way regulators look at vehicles using the fuel forever.

That’s true not just in the United States, but elsewhere as well. The European Union is now increasing its efforts to make sure a scandal like Volkswagen’s can never happen again.

EU ministers have agreed to a new draft of rules and regulations for approving cars in the countries that make up the trade bloc; they give the European Commission more power in such circumstances.

Under the current system, national agencies such as Germany’s KBA have the authority to give new cars a pass for the entire European Union, according to Reuters.National bodies also have the power to revoke the rights to sell a vehicle should a controversy arise.

However, the newly drafted rules hand additional power to Brussels—a move Germany itself and its powerful car industry aren’t keen about.

Volkswagen TDI Desiel Cars, Stored at Pontiac Silverdome

German junior economic minister Matthias Machnig told his national counterparts Germany is in favor of increased oversight. But, he said, the country remained wary over conflict of interest.

The changes to testing and approving new vehicles for sale in the EU come in response to Volkswagen’s deceit in the United States.

The German automaker used “defeat devices” in order to pass federal emission tests, and carried out a multi-year cover-up of that fact to continue selling its diesel-powered cars and SUVs.

The devices were programmed to comply with regulations for 23 minutes—exactly how long the EPA regulatory test takes. At minute 24, the NOx levels emitted by Volkswagen and Audi TDI vehicles rose considerably.

Daimler unveils its own new battery Gigafactory for electric vehicles

June 15, 2017Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentJo

Daimler is among one of the few major automakers with aggressive all-electric vehicle plans.

The German automaker recently announced acceleration of electric car plans by 3 years and that they will spend $11 billion on 10 models by 2022.

They are backing this up with a new battery factory, which they officially unveiled today.

The German automaker produces its own battery packs through its ACCUmotive subsidiary and last year, they announced an important €500 million investment in a new battery factory in Kamenz, Germany.

The inauguration was a big deal attended by Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel and Stanislaw Tillich (Minister President of Saxony), who, together with Dieter Zetsche (Chairman of the Board of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars), Markus Schäfer (Member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain), Frank Deiss (Head of Powertrain Production and Site Manager Mercedes-Benz Plant Untertürkheim) and Frank Blome (Managing Director Deutsche Accumotive GmbH & Co. KG), laid the casing of a vehicle battery as the foundation stone.

They didn’t confirm the capacity of the plant, but it is expected to be in the gigawatt-hour range and it will employ over 1,000 workers.

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said about the new factory:

“The automotive industry is facing a fundamental transformation and we see ourselves as the driving force behind this change. The battery factory in Kamenz is an important component in the implementation of our electric offensive. By 2022, we will have more than ten purely electric passenger cars in series. We also continue to drive forward the hybridization of our fleet. Under the EQ brand, we are creating a holistic ecosystem for e-mobility.”

Financial Times declares a winner in the war for energy’s future, and Big Oil won’t be happy

June 15, 2017Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and CommentJo

‘Fossil fuels have lost. The rest of the world just doesn’t know it yet.’

Traditional energy companies and mainstream financial publications are finally waking up to the new reality: The shift to renewable energy, electric cars, and a low-carbon economy is now unstoppable.
The details of this transition are spelled out in a new, must-read, 4000-word article in the Financial Times,

“The Big Green Bang: how renewable energy became unstoppable.”

What is most remarkable about the article is that it appears in the Financial Times. The free-market oriented paper is the “most important business read” for the world’s top financial decision makers and

“the most credible publication in reporting financial and economic issues”

for global professional investors, according to surveys.

We simply don’t see articles like this in Rupert Murdoch-run Wall Street Journal or even the New York Times, which continues to misreport the clean energy revolution and just hired a columnist who spreads misinformation on climate solutions.

The business community, though, is starting to see the writing on the wall, especially in Europe. The CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s largest company, declared in a recent speech that the transition to a low-carbon economy is not just “unstoppable.” It is a necessity that “must be embraced” if an oil company like Shell is to survive and thrive. The low-carbon future, he explained, will be built around renewable electricity and electric cars.

The Financial Times article, in fact, begins with an anecdote of a company that developed a better turbocharger for gas-powered cars. After getting some interest from big car companies last year, in January,

“Suddenly, none wanted new products for cars running on fossil fuels.”

Instead, car companies were putting their limited R&D budgets into electric cars, a seismic shift at an unprecedented speed.

2017 Volkswagen e-Golf: first drive of updated 125-mile electric car

June 14, 2017e-Golf, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, VolkswagenJo

The 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf, the only battery-electric car sold by VW in the U.S., got a large range boost for its third year on the market.

While the current model year is winding to a close, 2017 e-Golfs are just now reaching dealers in the handful of states where the compact electric car is offered for sale.

But with an EPA-rated range of 125 miles combined, the 2017 VW e-Golf now offers more range than any all-electric car that’s not a Tesla or a Chevy Bolt EV.

That’s a 50-percent increase over the previous model’s 83 miles, and significantly increases the practicality of the e-Golf for drivers with longer commutes—or those who live in areas with winter weather.

Two weeks ago, we spent a brief time behind the wheel of a 2017 e-Golf, though New York City traffic prevented any meaningful test of the car’s expanded range.

For that we’ll wait to get the electric Golf for a longer test.

Meanwhile, what we can tell you is that the latest e-Golf is exactly what it was before: a Volkswagen Golf that happens to run on battery power.

What’s under the hood (and under the floor, rear seat, and cargo bay) may differ completely, but you’d never know it.

It’s so similar to conventional gasoline-powered Golfs that uninformed passengers might never catch on that it wasn’t simply the latest version of the 40-year-old hatchback classic.

As a result, our impressions of the longer-range VW e-Golf are essentially the same as those we had three years ago in testing its earlier iteration.

The 2017 e-Golf received a boost in its motor output, from 86 kilowatts (115 horsepower) to 100 kw (134 hp). Torque increased as well, from 199 to 214 lb-ft.

VW claims the acceleration from 0 to 60 mph is faster, at 9.6 seconds, which is a reduction of more than 1 second. To be honest, we couldn’t sense any difference, but it’s been three years.

Reversing the car into parking spaces was as smooth as forward acceleration.

We noted no whine from either motor or power electronics under any circumstances, an impressive feat.

We smiled at the translation from German in the digital gauge clusters; in an e-Golf, it’s not “regeneration” but “recuperation.”

Otherwise, at the risk of disappointing those seeking decisive first-drive impressions … yep, it’s an electric Golf. Just as we expected, frankly.

Electric vehicles to cost the same as conventional cars by 2018

June 14, 2017Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentJo

The cost of owning an electric car will fall to the same level as petrol-powered vehicles next year, according to bold new analysis from UBS which will send shockwaves through the automobile industry.

Experts from the investment bank’s “evidence lab” made the prediction after tearing apart one of the current generation of electric cars to examine the economics of electric vehicles (EVs).

They found that costs of producing EVs were far lower than previously thought but there is still great potential to make further savings, driving down the price of electric cars.

As a result, UBS forecasts that the

“total cost of consumer ownership can reach parity with combustion engines from 2018”,

with this likely to happen in Europe first.

“This will create an inflexion point for demand,”

the analysts said.

“We raise our 2025 forecast for EV sales by ~50pc to 14.2m – 14pc of global car sales.”

If the prediction comes to pass, traditional car industry giants could face ruin. Germany’s Volkswagen Group – the world’s biggest car company – is racing to catch up with rivals’ investment levels in electric drivetrains, the components which deliver the power into the wheels, having largely ignored the technology in the past.

UBS’s research was to help understand what it called the

“most disruptive car category since the Model T Ford”.

The findings are based on its deconstruction of a Chevy Bolt, which it considered to be “the world’s first mass-market EV, with a range of more than 200 miles”.

UBS’s analysts deconstructed the Chevy Bolt (Image: UBS)

The 2017 car – which cost $37,000 – was taken apart piece by piece and the parts analysed. UBS said that the Bolt’s electric drive was $4,600 cheaper to produce than thought,

“with much cost reduction potential left”.

“We estimate that GM (which produces the Bolt) loses $7,400 in earnings before interest, and tax on every Bolt sold today, mainly due to a lack of scale.”

Charging ahead: Welsh battery scheme may aid growth of green energy

June 13, 2017Energy and Climate Change, Energy Storage, News, Reviews and CommentJo

One of the UK’s largest battery storage schemes, built next to a windfarm, will offer vital services to the National Grid.

Nestling alongside rows of conifers and wind turbines in a Welsh valley, a pioneering project will materialise this summer that could prove a blueprint for unlocking Britain’s renewable energy potential.

The Upper Afan Valley near Swansea is already home to the biggest windfarm in England and Wales, but in July work will begin there on one of the UK’s largest battery storage schemes.

The Pen y Cymoedd wind energy project near Swansea. Photograph: Vattenfall

Built by Swedish energy company Vattenfall, the facility will involve six shipping containers stuffed with lithium-ion batteries made by BMW’s electric car division.

The project is seen as a crucial part of the jigsaw for helping wind, solar and other renewable sources go from the 25% of UK power they provide today, to the much greater share the government needs to hit its climate change targets.

The batteries will not store the electricity generated by the Pen y Cymoedd windfarm with which they share a site, but will offer vital services to the National Grid to cope with the fluctuations that come from renewable power.

Colocating the plant with the windfarm was key to making the economics of the scheme work. Vattenfall said that the site’s existing infrastructure, such as connections to the grid’s transmission network to take power around the UK, meant it was about £5m cheaper than building it on a standalone site.

“To connect a battery project to the transmission network would be prohibitively expensive, but because we have the windfarm already in place, we can share the assets. It’s a huge cost-saving,”

said Frank Elsworth, who is managing construction of the 22MW plant, the battery equivalent of 450 BMW i3 electric cars.

How Much Does Solar Panel Battery Storage Cost?

June 13, 2017Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, Solar PowerJo

Your solar panels are converting light into electricity. This means that they are generating electricity during the day, when the house is often empty. Most commonly, this electricity is fed back to the grid.

Light, efficient, eco-friendly battery technology is advancing very fast in response to market demand. It is not by any means cheap yet, but prices are falling as the technology improves and battery storage is beginning to offer a genuine option for increasing savings, reducing your dependence on the grid and further reducing your carbon footprint.

Once you are sure that you are a good candidate to benefit from adding battery storage to your solar panels, the key factor in calculating the cost and potential return lies in the size of battery you will need and the amount of surplus electricity you generate.

What is your load profile?

Homes with 2.5kW to 4kW solar panel systems are generating somewhere between 1,700kwh and 3,400kWh per year. Suitability to benefit from adding or including battery storage will depend on what is called your Load Profile. Put simply this is the way in which you consume your electricity. If you are already using all or most of the electricity you generate then battery storage will bring you little value. If, however, you are generating a significant amount of your electricity when you are not in your house to use it then battery storage becomes a better option.

A qualified solar engineer will help you [choose] the size of battery you require to store your excess solar electricity. Installation costs tend to remain similar no matter the size of the battery. The size of the battery will, of course, affect the cost.

Tesla Powerwall 14kW

The new Tesla 14kW Powerwall battery will cost you approximately £6,500 including installation.

Sonnen

The German company Sonnen, offer a modular system starting at 2kW with additional 2kW batteries available up to a total of 16kW. Approximately £3,200 will install the basic 2kW system including inverter and controls which can take you up to the full 16kW. Each 2kW add-on will then cost a further £850.

LG Chem

The LG Chem range includes 3.3kW, 4.2kW and 9.8kW options for which you can expect to pay £2,200, £3,300 and £5,500 respectively. You should add approximately £1,000 to these prices for installation.

Calculating the savings you can expect from adding battery storage is complicated and requires both the expertise of a qualified installer and knowledge of your own particular system and load profile. If you think that battery storage would be a viable option then your next step should be to book a visit from a solar specialist who will be happy to do the calculations with you and advise you on your best options.

BMW i3 – Any journey is possible

See how Christopher powers through his busy life with the BMW i3.

Watch Renault Zoe E-Sport Concept, Formula E Racer Cruise Paris

The Renault eDams team currently leads the Formula E standings and its racers Sebastien Buemi and Nicolas Prost currently sit in first and third in the Driver’s Championship, respectively.

Since the next race of the season is in Paris on May 20, the crew is celebrating the strong performance in its home country by holding a parade of electric vehicles through the City of Light. The Renault eDams R.S. 16 race car and Zoe e-Sport Concept lead the procession in this video.