Author: David Odejide

Wind turbines are environmentally friendly in power production. They do not produce any harmful emissions, but have you ever wondered what happens to the enormous blades when decommissioned?

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has been working to make the blades recyclable.

Because of their sizes and unique requirements, the blades are difficult to repurpose, recycle, or dispose of when they reach end-of-life.

The blades made of fibreglass are an anomaly in wind power generation because about 85 percent of an installation’s parts are recyclable, including copper wires, electronics, and steel.

Siemens has now achieved a breakthrough with their 81 m long turbine blades that will easily break into the component materials. The components used as binders resin that dissolves in a mild acid solution. This material choice dramatically simplifies and reduces the time taken for the recycling process.

The common practice in wind turbine production is to join the turbine materials in a method challenging to reverse. Profitability has been due to the low cost of materials, but with these new materials, the manufacturing costs should even be lower.

Apart from Siemens, companies that recycle turbine blades include Veolia North America, which signed an agreement with GE Renewable Energy to shred old blades in Missouri. The resulting product will be used to replace coal, sand, and clay in cement production.

Orsted, Banish wind farm developer, has also committed to reusing, recycling, and recovering all their blades when decommissioned. If it can’t find a good recycling solution, Orsted promised to store the blades.

It is encouraging to see companies engaged in renewable energy production going the extra mile by making provisions for safely handling their equipment post decommissioning.

Public buses are known to be a more efficient form of public transport. They also help reduce carbon emission because they take lots of privately owned cars off the road. However, when the public buses are electric, they further reduce the negative impact of transportation on the environment.

It is therefore exciting when a city opts for electric buses, just Barcelona has done. The Spanish city, home to one of the most famous soccer clubs, has ordered 24 electric Solaris-made buses. The Urbino 12 buses will land in the capital city in 2022, at the cost of €12m.

The Urbino 12 buses are quiet, emission-free, and attract low maintenance costs, as electric buses go. They are also able to operate for 24 hours a day with the proper battery configuration.

Electric buses are not new in Barcelona as the city authority had earlier deployed 19 articulated Urbino 18 electric buses. The first set of battery-powered public buses arrived in Barcelona in 2015.

The Urbino 12 buses are powered by Solaris High Energy batteries with 400 kWh capacity and will charge with pantograph and plug-in tech. A single centrally placed electric motor provides the automotive force.

While the buses will work noiselessly, they are also safe to drive. They include driver-assist techs like MMobileeye Shield+ for reducing blind spot risks and MirrorEye systems that replace the side-view mirrors with a system of cameras. Without the side mirrors, the Urbino buses can navigate narrower and crowded streets.

Other features of these zero-emission buses include a passenger counter for tracking the flow of passengers.

Solaris is a top player in Europe when it comes to the production and sales of low- and zero-emission buses. The company has deployed about 3000 zero-emission Solaris vehicles, including over 1000 electric buses, in many European cities.

What happens to all the fuel stations around as electric vehicles become more integrated into our lifestyle? While it is an interesting question, the answer is already playing out in Norway, where the share of BEVs in the sales of new cars has reached 70 percent.

As reported by Bjorn Nyland, the Shell Nebbenes Vest fuel station is gradually shedding its hydrocarbon image. Previously known for dispensing fuel, Shell has been transforming the station progressively to electric.
 The Dutch energy giant has been installing Kempower S-Series fast chargers in the station, with the Recharge charging network contracted to manage them.

Some fuel pumps have given way to the chargers right under the roof, something that would have been unthinkable. However, it demonstrates how seriously Shell is taking the electric vehicle revolution. The company also added multiple charging stalls on the side of the station.

The state-of-the-art charging stalls have a 7-inch touchscreen that displays statistics like the state of charge and power output. It also shows a QR code that you scan to download all the charging information onto a smartphone, including a chart of the charging session. The Kempower chargers also have long cables, making them easier to handle by customers.

With the transformation at the Shell Nebbenes Vest fuel station, it is clear that infrastructure meant for refueling ICE vehicles does not need to die off but can adapt to servicing electric vehicles.

The state of Illinois in the US will soon pass a comprehensive clean energy bill that will make it one of the leading states in clean energy in the country.

Named the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, the bill enjoys bipartisan support in the House.

It will outlaw fossil fuel power plants in the state by 2045. However, before the deadline, Illinois is mandating such plants to meet its aggressive environmental targets.

Illinois is going to spend $580 million a year to move its clean energy share of its energy mix from 9% to 50% by 2040. In addition to making its energy supply cleaner, the fund will create thousands of new jobs.

Solar energy will get a boost, from spending $20 million on community projects to $50 million. The bill also includes moves to revive the solar industry after the downturn caused by the pandemic.

In the same bill, Illinois wants to increase energy efficiency for low-income communities and save millions of dollars a year. It will also solidify labor standards in clean energy projects.

$78 million will go to expanding electric transportation, with 45% going to low-income communities.

The state of New York recently banned the sales of new ICE vehicles from 2035.

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According to a legislation that ministers want to introduce this year, electric chargers will soon welcome buyers of new homes in the UK. The laws will cover new offices too.

Transport minister Rachael Maclean revealed the proposed laws, a first worldwide, will mandate installing electric vehicle charging points in all new development properties in England. This move is coming on the heels of the 2030 ban of new light-duty ICE vehicles sales in the country. It will accelerate the development of charging infrastructure to match demand as more citizens switch to electric cars.

The current rate of charging point installation is far below what is needed, at only 500 per month. Experts say the country needs to see a rate of about 700 per day to be adequately prepared for the expected boom in electric vehicle sales. The latest figures show there are 24,374 public chargers in the UK.

Meanwhile, the government is ready to spend £1.3 billion on charging points in homes, streets, and motorways all over the UK. Street installations will take care of households that do not have parking spaces on their properties. They will also benefit from chargers at offices.

Outlining the timeline for the legislation, Maclean said, “We will publish our consultation response on requiring all new residential and non-residential buildings to have a charge point and we intend to lay legislation later this year. We also confirmed our intention to mandate that home and workplace electric vehicle chargers must be capable of smart charging.”

The smart charging requirement is to prevent overloading the grid when drivers plugin at the same time. This will be achieved by communicating to the car the best time to connect to the grid.

The UK is aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050. A net-zero emissions policy means any emission produced will be canceled out by a system to remove an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

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The state of New York is emerging as a big supporter of environmental sustainability. This new status as the governor has assented to a bill banning the sale of new internal combustion engine cars and trucks by 2035.

Governor Kathy Hochul put her signature on bill S.2758/A.4302, introduced in October 2020. The legislation aims to eliminate new ICEs in two stages. Passenger cars and trucks, off-road vehicles, and equipment will go first by 2035. Medium and heavy-duty vehicles follow by 2045.

As part of the legislation, the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation will develop a regulation for trucks that mandates manufacturers to make a certain percentage of their annual sales of zero-emission vehicles. The framework will be based on California’s Advanced Clean Trucks Rule and will start from 2025 models.

New York’s goal is to have at least 55 percent of new Class 2b-3 pickup trucks and vans, 75 percent of Class 4–8 trucks, and 40 percent of new Class 7–8 tractors sold in New York be pollution-free.

In addition, the state agencies and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority will create a market development strategy for zero-emission vehicles by the end of January 2023.

According to Governor Hochul, “New York is implementing the nation’s most aggressive plan to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions affecting our climate and to reach our ambitious goals, we must reduce emissions from the transportation sector, currently the largest source of the state’s climate pollution. The new law and regulation mark a critical milestone in our efforts and will further advance the transition to clean electric vehicles while helping to reduce emissions in communities that have been overburdened by pollution from cars and trucks for decades.”

In California which is a pioneer state in environmental conservation policies, Governor Gavin Newsom made a similar executive order that banned sales of new ICE passenger vehicles by 2035. More state-wide bans may be coming as 12 states urged the president to implement a similar ban nationwide.

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If you are a NatWest customer and own an electric vehicle in the UK, you just got another reason to go to the bank. NatWest will install 600 public chargers at its branches across the UK, giving you the opportunity to top-up your battery while you complete a transaction inside.

EQUANS will supply the chargers. The company will also commission and maintain the Alfen Pro-Line 7.4 kW dual chargers by folding them into its GeniePoint network of public chargers for five years.

NatWest is magnanimously allowing staff, visitors, and customers to use the chargers. They will be used by the bank’s vehicles as it transitions to an electric fleet.

On why NatWest is installing the chargers, NatWest Climate Solutions Lead Michael Lynch said “We are helping our staff decarbonise transport and achieve net-zero commuting. Working in partnership with EQUANS to provide EV charge points at key strategic office locations supports our staff in making the transition to electric vehicles and help reduce our carbon footprint.”

Jerry Moloney, Managing Director of EQUANS, was excited by the partnership: “This partnership demonstrates a clear and strong commitment from NatWest on where they stand on the net-zero transition.
“The only way we will convince a greater proportion of the population to consider electric vehicles is by giving them greater options and better access to chargers. This investment from NatWest does exactly that.
“We’re delighted to be offering NatWest customers, staff, and visitors with access to our fast and reliable GeniePoint Network and look forward to progressing this partnership.”

As more businesses offer destination charging like NatWest, UK’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure will continue to mature.

As electric vehicles are now commonplace, the next frontier to conquer is water transport. This is the thinking of the engineers at Norwegian chemical firm, Yara International, which has developed a battery-powered vessel named Yara Birken.

The ship is autonomous, meaning it will guide itself to its destination without human intervention.

Yara made the electric cargo ship through its subsidiary, Yara Marine Technologies. It aims to combat pollution produced by marine diesel engines. The subsidiary has been working on the ship since 2017.

The electric ship has a 7 MWh battery, with two 900 kW Azipull pods and two 700 kW tunnel thrusters, to power the vessel to a top speed of 13 knots. Total cargo capacity is 120 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEU) or 60 40-foot shipping containers.

Yara Birken will embark on its maiden autonomous voyage later in 2021, from Heroya to Brevik, in Norway. Engineers will monitor its progress from three onshore control centers.

The new ship will eventually be completely autonomous in its operation but will need humans to load and unload. Yara will incorporate autonomous cranes and carriers for moving the containers onto and off the ship.

Using a battery on the Yara Birken will impact the environment positively as it will eliminate pollution that is the equivalent of 40,000 truck trips per year.

While Yara has not revealed such plans, an electric ship the size of Yara Birken is ideal for backing up the grid as it can power many homes using vehicle-to-grid technologies.

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While electric vehicles promise many benefits, running out of battery charge in the middle of the road is one of the fears holding some folks back from switching. Two startups in India, however, are building a business around rescuing you out of precisely that kind of situation.

GoFuel, based in Chennai, India, has introduced its mobile charging services. It will charge dead batteries on the road or even replace them with fresh ones. For larger vehicles, GoFuel will send a van outfitted with energy storage to you anywhere you are and charge your car at a rate of up to 200 kW. Smaller vehicles like three-wheelers and two-wheelers can get a battery swap from GoFuel in minutes.

The startup is already active in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, and Punjab, using a franchising model. It has plans to expand all over India and even set up mobile charging and swapping stations that solar panels will power.

The second startup is Ez4EV, focused on battery storage and charger development. It is also launching on-demand mobile stations called EzUrja. They will function like ATMs, which users can locate quickly and plug into. The rapid chargers can fill a car battery to 80% in under 10 minutes and buses under 30 minutes. They will be internet-connected for remote management.

According to the CEO of Ez4EV, “Ez4EV Private Ltd is all set to launch its innovative mobile charging solution EzUrja (easy oorja) for electric vehicles in next three months to mitigate the range anxiety of EV owners and to instantly up the missing infrastructure for EV charging points in the country.
EV development prerequisite is the charging point availabilities. In our country where customer delight is on a door-step delivery basis, we complement the same by providing India’s first ‘Charging-on-Demand’ to ease the ride of an EV owner.”

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Electric trucks are not a market with many players currently; however, Tesla is working on its own electric pickup truck, the Cybertruck. Tesla is known for making electric vehicles with long driving ranges and outstanding performance.

Despite not being released yet, the Cybertruck commands lots of attention as more than one million pre-orders have been made, according to unofficial estimates.

One of the most striking things about the Cybertruck is its appearance, which looks like it will fit perfectly in a sci-fi flick set in 2050 Mars. The CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, claims he chose the design to make the Cybertruck stand out in a sea of similarly-looking trucks.

Another interesting feature of the Cybertruck is the stainless steel unibody. The material is the same as Tesla’s sister company, SpaceX, is using to build its spacecraft. Apart from the stainless steel preventing rust and dents, Tesla worked on it to protect the riders inside the truck.

Speaking of the interior, the truck has room for six adults, thanks to the wider-than-normal width. There is a 17-inch touchscreen center console from where the driver can access controls. It also has ample room for storage under the backseat, in the truck bed outside, and most likely in the front trunk where the engine would have been.

The Cybertruck will come in three configurations, the single, dual, and tri electric motor. As a company obsessed with high performance, Tesla promises the Cybertruck will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph under 2.9 seconds, something that is unheard of for pickup trucks. The highest trim will tow up to 14,000 pound loads behind it.

Continuing Tesla’s tradition of offering long ranges, the Cybertruck will cover up to 500 miles on a single charge. Thanks to its bi-directional charging ability, you will be able to tap from the truck’s battery to operate power tools or provide power in remote locations like camping grounds.

Pricing of the Cybertruck starts at $39,900, and you can place an order on Tesla’s website with a refundable fee of $100. Production of the pickup truck was slated for late 2021, but it appears that it has been moved to 2023 as the company tries to get the facility where it will be produced ready and secure a steady supply of batteries.

Other companies working on pickup trucks are Rivian with its R1T, Ford with its F-150 Lightning, GM’s Silverado EV, etc.

What do you think of the Cybertruck? Feel free to air your thoughts in the comment section.