Policies like the “green” labelling of EV batteries would give a significant advantage to European manufacturers, as well as accelerate the cleaning up of the supply chain. EU firms are better than most foreign battery manufacturers at monitoring and reducing emissions, writes Carole Mathieu at the IFRI Centre for Energy & Climate, referencing her report “Green Batteries: A Competitive Advantage for Europe’s Electric Vehicle Value Chain?” The … [Read more...]
Outlook USA: even with battery costs, Wind and Solar can undercut Coal and Gas by 2023-24
IEEFA has published its U.S. Power Sector Outlook 2021. Its authors, Dennis Wamsted, Seth Feaster and David Schlissel summarise and explain the projections. They say that coal and gas are set to become the biggest losers as renewable generation climbs quickly. The future for wind and solar – coupled with storage to address intermittency - is looking very good. They present estimates from NextEra (the largest renewable energy developer in the … [Read more...]
Understanding battery costs better: Li-ion costs have dropped 97% in 30 years
There are two revelations here. First, quite how dramatically lithium-ion battery costs have dropped since 1991 – by 97%. Second, that nobody could agree on how big that drop has been. Agreement on that number – and an established procedure to therefore make good forecasts - is vital for policy makers and related clean energy players. They need to know how much of a role batteries can play in the electrification of transport as well as storage … [Read more...]
For energy security and waste reduction, EV battery manufacture in Europe is on the horizon
Europe should have sufficient battery manufacture capacity for all its EV needs, explains Sam Hargreaves at T&E. Their report shows that Europe will not only achieve that capacity target this year itself, but has the ability to keep it up as EV sales continue to grow (460 GWh in 2025 and 700 GWh in 2030 of battery production in Europe). The report also stresses the major benefit of reduced waste. If manufacturers hit EU recycling targets, EV … [Read more...]
Denmark approves artificial island to site 10GW Offshore Wind hub
Denmark has approved a plan to build an artificial island in the North Sea that will be a hub to hundreds of offshore wind turbines, 260m tall, that will generate 10GW, enough energy for 10 million households. The first stage will be the size of 18 soccer pitches, for 3GW, costing €29bn ($34bn), and should be operational by around 2033. Writing for the World Economic Forum, Douglas Broom says that the ultimate goal of 10GW should be more than … [Read more...]
Clean Trucks are coming: a review of battery, hydrogen, synthetic fuels and more
New EU fuel efficiency rules are forcing truck makers into a race to get their low emission vehicles onto the roads. From 2025, newly registered trucks must have 15% lower emissions, and from 2030 it’s 30%. Battery-electric drivetrains are most likely to dominate, assisted in their evolution by the assured progress and charging infrastructure of EVs. Hydrogen fuel cells and synthetic fuels are also in the game, though hindered by the inevitable … [Read more...]
Create new laws to help bring Battery manufacturing to Europe
Europe should start leading battery manufacturing instead of leaving it to China, argue Alex Keynes and Cecilia Mattea at Transport & Environment. With laws spreading across the continent to make electric vehicles compulsory for new car purchases, this is a growing and strategic market. But a firm grip on battery manufacture emissions, as well as ethical sourcing and recycling, has to be part of the plan. The authors give a template of what … [Read more...]
A pathway for profitable CCS in California
A study from the energy departments of Stanford University, from where Kara Glenwright writes, lays out a pathway for California to capture and store up to 60 Mt (million tonnes) of CO2 a year. 76 site locations have been identified where work could start immediately to store 20 Mt/yr profitably under the existing low carbon rules. But first a raft of clarifications on the laws is needed, showing that the success of CCS doesn’t just depend on the … [Read more...]
Solar is displacing Coal in India’s electricity market
India is the world’s third largest electricity market and as a fast-growing economy can, according to the IEA, lead the recovery of global energy demand out of the pandemic for the coming decade. Kashish Shah at IEEFA runs through solar’s prospects in India, which hopes to build 450GW of renewable energy by 2030. Solar is getting cheaper. A 2GW auction in June delivered India’s lowest-yet renewable energy tariff at US$31/MWh. That figure could … [Read more...]
Battery innovation must drive the 50-fold increase in storage capacity needed by 2040
The IEA has set the storage sector a challenge. It says the world will need 10,000 GW-hours of batteries and other forms of energy storage by 2040, a 50-fold increase on today. The good news is that a joint study by the European Patent Office and the IEA reveals electricity storage patenting activity has grown 14% a year over the past decade. Here the IEA summarises the findings of its comprehensive report. It explains that Japan and Korea lead, … [Read more...]
Research into solid electrolytes to improve performance of lithium-ion batteries
If the limits of lithium-ion battery performance are indeed being reached, one way forward is to extend those limits with new materials. Mark Shwartz at Stanford University describes their research into solid electrolytes, which promise to be more energy dense than the standard liquid form. To identify the best compounds, artificial intelligence and machine learning were used rather than the usual and much lengthier trial-and-error experimental … [Read more...]
MGA blocks can substitute for coal, preserving plants, grid connectivity and jobs
Rather than dismantle coal plants, why not create a clean fuel that can be used in the same plants, utilising the steam turbines, existing connections to the grid, and preserve jobs at the plant. MGA (miscibility gap alloy) is that fuel, say Erich Kisi and Alexander Post at the University of Newcastle, Australia who are behind the development of these blocks of material, 20cm x 20cm x 16cm, made of blended metals. They are heated up – using … [Read more...]
No more “offsetting”: Google commits to 24/7 locally sourced carbon-free electricity by 2030
By “offsetting” fossil electricity consumed at one data centre through buying green power from somewhere else, Google has been 100% renewable since 2017. But offsetting always has its flaws. In this case, 40% of Google’s actual power still comes from fossil fuels. Google’s new plan, to be 100% green 24/7 straight off the local grid, is designed to solve that. It will also send market signals to increase clean capacity locally, not just where you … [Read more...]
Grid scale Battery costs are declining faster than Wind and Solar
Gas as a transition fuel for grids may be around for a lot less time than we thought. We already know that large batteries, if they are cheap enough, can replace gas plants to provide peaking power to grids reliant on intermittent wind and solar. Bruce Robertson at IEEFA says the numbers are showing battery costs declining even more rapidly than wind and solar. Precisely because of that increased competitiveness Australia’s AGL Energy is starting … [Read more...]
E-Trucks need infrastructure, not just cheaper batteries
The electrification of road freight has great potential, but there are some big gaps that first have to be bridged. Writing for IRENA, Dolf Gielen, Francisco Boshell, Guy Lentz and Sita Holtslag explain what needs to be done to ensure that the technological advances and cost reductions happening at the forefront of e-mobility are quickly delivered onto our roads. To illustrate the problem: in Europe over half of road freight is transported less … [Read more...]
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