Advanced batteries could âtip the oil market from growth to contraction earlier than anticipated,â concludes credit rating agency Fitch in a new study. Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) has already told investors to expect the âbig crashâ in oil by 2028âââand as early as 2023. Joseph Romm  Joseph Romm, founding editor of the influential weblog Climate Progress, warns of the âinvestor death spiralâ that may await the oil industry. Article … [Read more...]
Using clean cars as power plants: it can be done in the UAE
The combined engine capacity of the new cars we build in just one year is more than the entire electricity generation capacity in the world. If we power our cars with fuel cells, we can use them as clean power plants the 96% of the time we are not driving in them, generating all the electricity we need, at competitive costs, with zero emissions. Frank Wouters, Director of the EU-GCC Clean Energy Network, and Ad van Wijk, Professor Future Energy … [Read more...]
Tesla Gigafactory 1 – will it succeed or fail?
The success or failure of the Tesla Gigafactory, which opened in July in Nevada could have far-reaching consequences for the transition to renewables and electric cars. Stephen J. Veneruso attended the opening and took a good hard look at the people involved in this huge project. He concludes that they donât regard it as an ordinary job. Article courtesy of Cleantechnica.com. … [Read more...]
Natural gas vehicle sales in US sag but prospects still good
The market for natural gas vehicles in the US took a small hit last year, as a result of low oil prices. Nevertheless, sales of CNG and LNG powered vehicles continue to be significant and the number of filling stations continues to grow, writes Frank Swigonski, Associate at Advanced Energy Economy, a US business assocation that promotes clean energy. Courtesy Advanced Energy Perspectives. … [Read more...]
Mind the gap: how fuel economy standards will drive uptake of electric vehicles
Electric vehicles represent one of the most promising technologies for reducing oil use and cutting emissions. A new study on e-mobility from the World Energy Council looks at fuel economy targets in the worldâs biggest car markets â the EU, US and China â and identifies ways for increasing the numbers of electric vehicles in order to close the emissions gap and meet fuel economy standards. Policymakers, utilities, consumers and vehicle … [Read more...]
How fast could the market for electric vehicles grow?
Various policy driven scenarios show electric vehicles (EVs) gaining market share over the next few decades but the question is by how much. According to Adam Whitmore, independent energy advisor, there are reasons to assume that annual sales of EVs will account for 7-22% of the vehicle stock by 2030. By 2050 they will account for a majority of light vehicles on the road. … [Read more...]
Why hydrogen fuel cell cars are not competitive â from a hydrogen fuel cell expert
The widespread introduction of hydrogen fuel cell cars is a bad idea, writes Zachary Shahan, editor of Cleantechnica.com. According to Shahan, hydrogen fuel cell cars will never be able to compete with battery-electric cars. Policymakers should focus on stimulating electric transportation. Courtesy Cleantechnica.com. … [Read more...]
Can battery electrics disrupt the internal combustion engine? Part 2: âkind-ofâ
Battery electric cars do not meet the basic criteria for disruptive innovation, Schalk Cloete argued in part 1 of this two-part series. Small electric vehicles (SEVs), on the other hand, do have disruptive potential, he writes. Our urbanizing world with its rapidly expanding middle class and increasing resource constraints will reinforce this trend. Thus, he concludes, internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles may lose substantial market share to … [Read more...]
Can battery electrics disrupt the internal combustion engine? Part 1: âNoâ
Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) will do well to take more than 10% of global light duty vehicle market share by mid-century, writes research scientist Schalk Cloete. This is because BEVs with the large battery pack needed for broad consumer acceptance will remain more expensive than internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. According to Cloete, this price premium is unlikely to be accepted by the mass market even under optimistic future BEV … [Read more...]
BPâs view of electric cars looks unrealistic
BPâs latest long term outlook for the energy sector looks particularly unrealistic in its projection of a âmost likelyâ case of almost no uptake of electric vehicles by 2035, writes independent energy expert Adam Whitmore. According to Whitmore, even very moderate assumptions lead to substantially higher growth rates for EVs. … [Read more...]
Biofuels are back on the EU agenda
Biofuels are returning to the political agenda in Europe as EU policymakers start to shape a strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport after 2020. Biofuels producers continue to argue that they are an essential part of the solution, even as the low oil price puts an end to several cutting-edge projects, the European Commission prepares to publish a new report about indirect land-use change (ILUC) and some stakeholders urge a … [Read more...]
The Autowende has begun
In the next 60 months the automotive industry will see more change than in the last 60 years, writes entrepreneur Michiel Langezaal. He notes that Asian and US manufacturers are putting massive resources into developing batteries, electric drive trains and solar cells. Nothing like this is happening on a similar scale in Europe. European car and energy companies need to go all-out for the Autowende or Europe will miss out on the next trillion … [Read more...]
The great oil shake-out: how far will it go?
Low oil prices are shaking up the global oil industry. Will they stay low? For how long? And how low is low anyway? These are some of the crucial questions hanging over the global energy sector. We spoke to three experts and the IEAâs Executive Director Fatih Birol, who put the current market in perspective â and offer a view of the future. Some say we are in a fairly normal cycle. Others see fundamental changes coming.This article was first … [Read more...]
Anil Srivastava, CEO LeclanchĂ©, Europe’s battery leader: âPublic transport should take the lead in electrificationâ
LeclanchĂ©, the oldest battery company in the world and the largest lithium battery manufacturer in Europe, has embarked on a special strategy to drive the electrification of transport forward. âWe are giving priority to the electrification of buses, ferries, and other mass transport systemsâ, says CEO Anil Srivastava. âElectrification is much easier to manage for buses that follow regular routes than for passenger cars. And once a standardised … [Read more...]
Power-to-gas: how carmakers can go green (without cheating)
European carmakers are required to reduce their CO2-emissions, but the Volkswagen affair has shown they find it increasingly difficult to do so. There is a way out, however, writes energy consultant Mike Parr: they could follow the example of Audi and invest in power-to-gas systems. This would kill two birds with one stone, argues Parr: it would help decarbonise the transport sector and could enormously help the integration of variable renewables … [Read more...]
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