Opinion:
¶ “2020 Set A New Record For Renewable Energy. What’s The Catch?” • More than 80% of all new electricity generating projects built last year were renewable, leading to a 10.3% rise in total installed zero carbon electricity generation globally. But in spite of reduced energy demand in 2020 due to Covid-19, fossil fuels also grew, as did carbon emissions. [Forbes]
Smoke (veeterzy, Unsplash)
World:
¶ “Tesla Model 3 Tops Sweden, Spain, And Denmark In 1st Quarter; Nissan LEAF #1 In Ireland” • Sales numbers are in for electric vehicles in Sweden, Spain, Denmark, and Ireland for the month of March, and so for the first quarter. The takeaway is clear: the Tesla Model 3 won, though the Nissan LEAF did take the top spot in Ireland. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Volta Trucks Is On A Roll” • News that Volta Trucks was rolling its Volta Zero through Spain for show & tell came as a reminder that there have been a number of announcements from the startup lately, so here is a look at recent press releases. There was more there than one might expect, with the news basically falling into a few different buckets. [CleanTechnica]
Volta Trucks delivery vehicle (Volta Trucks courtesy image)
¶ “UK Hits 13.9% Plugin Share In March – Up Almost 2x Year-On-Year” • The UK auto market saw plugin EVs take 13.9% share in March 2021, nearly double the 7.27% share of March 2020. Plugin volumes were up 112% year-on-year, against the backdrop of overall auto volumes growing 11.5%. Non-hybridized diesels continued their decline. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “All Volkswagen MEB-Based Electric Cars Will Be V2G Capable Beginning In 2022” • From January, 2022, every electric car from the Volkswagen Group with the MEB electrical platform, which includes cars from Audi, Skoda, and Seat-Cupra, will be able to not only charge from the grid but also able to return electricity to the grid on demand. [CleanTechnica]
Volkswagen V2G technology (Image courtesy of Volkswagen)
¶ “Thermal Power Slumps As Renewable Energy Soars 180%” • According to Vietnam Electricity, in the first quarter of this year, electricity generated by gas-fired and coal-fired thermal power plants had to be cut by 12% to 21% compared to last year because renewable energy from solar power plants increased rapidly, by nearly 180%. [SGGP English Edition]
¶ “Vattenfall JV Starts Work On Hydrogen Cave Storage” • SSAB, LKAB, and Vattenfall have commenced building a rock cavern storage facility for fossil-free hydrogen gas on a pilot scale. As part a joint initiative, Hybrit Development AB is starting the construction of a hydrogen storage facility in Svartöberget to develop the technology. [reNEWS]
Wind turbines and battery storage (Steve Pope, Vattenfall)
¶ “Great Britain’s Electricity System Has Greenest Day Ever Over Easter” • On Easter Monday, the wind and sun supplied 60% of all the UK’s electricity as households enjoyed a bank holiday lunch. At the same time the UK’s nuclear reactors provided 16% of the electricity mix, meaning almost 80% of the grid was powered from low-carbon sources. [The Guardian]
¶ “Outstanding PPAs Halting India’s Renewable Energy Growth” • Delays in signing power purchase agreements are halting the growth of India’s renewable energy capacity, jeopardizing the government’s renewable energy target of 175 GW by 2022, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis and JMK Research noted. [pv magazine India]
Tata Power Solar plant in Andhra Pradesh (Tata Power Solar image)
¶ “UAE Plugs In First Nuclear Power Plant” • The UAE connected the Barakah nuclear power plant, the first nuclear power plant in the Arab world, to its grid. The plant’s four nuclear reactors are expected to supply up to 25% of the UAE’s electricity needs and save the UAE up to 21 million tonnes of their carbon dioxide emissions every year. [Energy Live News]
US:
¶ “Volkswagen Launches 3 Superb ID.4 Commercials In USA” • Volkswagen’s new EV commercials communicate the benefits of electric vehicles for normal people superbly, wonderfully. The Volkswagen ads dissolve myths, highlight strong points (some being places where gas cars can’t compete), and couch it all in attractive, familiar daily lives. [CleanTechnica]
Image from Volkswagen ad
¶ “Charts And Graphs: US Electric Vehicle Deliveries By Quarter (2018–2021)” • In the comments for a CleanTechnica article, a reader requested a historical US EV sales chart to compare the different models historically. Here is a set of charts that show the story graphically. Flipping through models one by one tells a tale that is clear when we get to Tesla. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Kansas Wind Farms To Power Vaccine Manufacturing” • Animal health business Boehringer Ingelheim has signed power purchase agreements so a wind farm can power its largest US manufacturing site, where nearly 1,000 people make animal vaccines. Enel’s 400-MW Cimarron Bend Wind Farm in Kansas will supply the energy. [reNEWS]
Cimarron Bend Wind Farm (Boehringer Ingelheim image)
¶ “Pueblo Creates Energy Advisory Commission As Region Prepares For Transition Away From Coal” • Pueblo is forming a citizen commission to consider energy-related issues, including the city’s progress in becoming 100% renewably powered by 2035. City Council approved the Energy Advisory Commission, revitalizing an inactive body. [Pueblo Chieftain]
¶ “RWE Renewables Awards Wärtsilä US Storage” • Wärtsilä won a contract to supply a 40-MW, 80-MWh storage system for the Hickory Park solar project in Georgia, being developed by RWE Renewables. Delivery of the storage system is scheduled for September 2021, and the plant is expected to begin commercial operations in November. [reNEWS]
Eat slowly and chew your food well.
geoharvey 