By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Thu, 2009-12-10 13:20
The success of the electric vehicle will depend on a number of factors that need to be tackled within the near future. Incentives by governments and the premise of environmental concerns will probably not balance the limited range or the grid integration issues.
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Thu, 2009-12-10 13:14
Electric vehicles may be going mainstream very soon! Whether it is just trendy to have one or not, governments and industries across the world are getting to grips with them. All it takes is to have the vehicles on the market, because the grounds for buying one are there. The reduction in emissions and energy savings convince many customers, but to counter the price premium, governments across Europe (and the world) are bringing up a number of incentives.
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Thu, 2009-12-10 12:56
The recently established Electrification Coalition, a group of business leaders committed to promoting the deployment of electric vehicles though a variety of policies and actions, has published its Electrification Roadmap: a sweeping report outlining a vision for the deployment of a fully-integrated electric drive network.
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Thu, 2009-12-10 12:47
Transport & Environment, a Brussels-based organisation whose mission is to promote transport policy that is based on the principles of sustainable development, has recently published a report analysing what role electric cars could play in the decarbonisation of transport.
Visitors to the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show may have been left with only one impression: the future is electric. Virtually every manufacturer exhibited a car powered by batteries. Electric cars are the talk of the town.
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Thu, 2009-12-10 12:36
In 2008, WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) published Plugged-in: The end of the oil age making the case for electric vehicles.
This book aims to demonstrate how automotive electrification can ease the necessary transition towards a transport paradigm which is both highly efficient and compatible with a sustainable renewable energy future.
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By HDK / Published on Mon, 2009-09-21 14:04
This paper extends a broad functional category approach for the study of technological capability progress recently developed and applied to information technology to a second key case—that of energy based technologies. The approach is applied to the same three functional operations—storage, transportation and transformation—that were used for information technology by first building a 100 plus year database for each of the three energy-based functional categories.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2009-09-15 05:30
Integrating road networks and power networks
The US Department of Transportation has awarded funding for building a 'solar highway' prototype. A solar highway contains photovoltaic (PV) modules covered with bulletproof glass as a road surface. The surface also contains a grid of LEDs that can light the roadway, draw lines, and flash warnings that react to traffic sensors. Apart from supplying power for the LEDs and sensors, the energy generated by the PV modules will also be used to heat the highway when required. The remaining energy can be used for houses and businesses alongside the road. If this systems works as projected, it could well make power stations and power lines superfluous. According to an article on Matter Network, covering all American roads with this system would produce an annual yield of energy three times as large as the entire U.S. energy consumption in 2006.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Mon, 2009-05-11 05:30
Improving operational, environmental, and financial performance
In discussions regarding electric vehicles, the argument is often heard that electric drives have to surrender to internal combustion drives when it comes to output power. That is a myth, as is proved by giant electrically driven mining trucks of 3,000 hp.
These trucks are used in mines throughout the world. They convert power from a diesel engine into electricity, which is then used in an electric drive system. The main reason for this energetic detour is to ease braking and speed regulation. Using an internal combustion engine for such a powerful truck would require an enormous gearbox and a complex braking system, involving a considerable amount of maintenance.
Siemens recently developed a new technology for improving the performance of this kind of electric vehicle: trolley trucks.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Mon, 2009-05-04 12:37
Electrical energy is the cornerstone of this UNEP policy brief
The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) has published a policy brief prepared for the G20 meeting of world leaders in April 2009. The report introduces the idea of a 'Global Green New Deal'. Such a worldwide integrated and coordinated programme could revive the global economy and job market today while building a new post-recession economy that is sustainable on both the medium and long term.
The report proposes development of stimulus packages in five action areas:
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Mon, 2009-04-06 09:56
The International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition (EVS) series, organized by the World Electric Vehicle Association (WEVA), is recognized as the premier event for academic, government and industry professionals involved in electric drive technologies.
The World Electric Vehicle Association unites the European Association for Battery, Hybrid and Fuelcell Electric Vehicles (AVERE), the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA) and the Electric Vehicle Association of Asia Pacific (EVAAP).
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Thu, 2009-02-05 06:30
Cheaper or more expensive than conventional cars?
When the cost of a plug-in vehicle is mentioned, it mostly refers to the purchasing and maintenance expenses. Sometimes, tax reductions given to electric vehicles (EVs) are taken into account, but the insurance cost is rarely discussed. This is somewhat strange, since the insurance on a conventionally fuelled car accounts for roughly one quarter of its fixed cost of ownership. So, what happens to this cost when switching from a conventional car to an EV?
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Wed, 2009-01-07 19:27
'An Alternative Transport Future' will examine the political, policy and practical challenges of integrating transport and climate change priorities.
Balancing transport, environment and society's needs
Given attempts to reach a balance between the soaring demand for transport, the environment and the needs of society, the demand for sustainable transport is becoming increasingly pressing. This conference will seek to identify the steps which need to be taken by policymakers, the transport industry and the investment community to resolve these conflicts.
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By Angelo Baggini / Published on Sat, 2008-06-07 09:00
Year: 2006
Policy Status: In force
On July 26 2006, the transport ministries of France and Spain launched an intergovernmental commission to organize combined road and maritime transport routes between the northern French coast and Spain's principal Atlantic ports. The "modal shift" project aimed to reduce road traffic and related GHG emissions by moving freight from trucks to cargo ships between French and Spanish ports.
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By Hans Nilsson / Published on Tue, 2008-04-01 11:48
Having travelled in Northwestern India for two weeks in a climate that is blisteringly hot for a person from northern Europe, there are many thoughts that become disturbingly pressing and are related to climate (change). Some of them have to do with lifestyle. Just seeing the TV commercials for SUVs, then comparing them with a look at the streets shows a wide gap between what we have, and what we want.
The TV ads show a man driving an SUV through the terrain in a water landscape, chased by two beautiful women on Jet-skis! The message is about affluence beyond imagination. The reality on the streets is different. Frequent black-outs every evening from a grid where you cannot really tell if the poles support the lines or just hang in them. Overcrowded buses and motor-rickshaws held together with tape and wire.
The TV ad inspired from the life in industrialised countries does not match with a sustainable future, neither for India, nor for us.
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By Hans Nilsson / Published on Mon, 2008-03-03 08:00
With some noise, Virgin Air and Boeing announced that they were doing a commercial flight on biofuel. Well, it was only a short-haul, London-Amsterdam, and it was only one of four tanks that had the new fuel, and it was only 20% of the blend in that one tank that came from bio, but we could assume that the passengers preferred safety to pioneering.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Thu, 2008-02-14 09:00
Based on a Discussion Webinar, Friday 26 January 2008
In the industrialized countries, the transport sector is responsible for about one quarter of all energy consumption, so a low carbon solution is imperative.
Biofuel has been promoted as being green, but lately it received more opposition from green NGOs than any other transport fuel.
Is biofuel the long-awaited sustainable solution for the transport sector? Or are the drawbacks bigger than the advantages and should we put our efforts in other solutions?
Leonardo Energy addressed this subject on a Discussion Webinar on 26 January 2008. The following are a few of the major points arising from that discussion.
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By Hans Nilsson / Published on Mon, 2008-01-21 08:00
The EU package on renewable fuels and climate is advertised for Wednesday January 23rd. The winning Number 20 seems to be secured for energy efficiency improvements, the fraction from renewables and the reductions of GHG. All should be 20% and achieved by the year 2020, but what about Number 10? 10% has been suggested as a target for biofuels in transport, but has been heavily criticised by one of the EU research institutes JRC only recently, as reported in The Financial Times. The critique is broad and deals with price, GHG-emissions, cost over benefit , energy security and employment. All factors said to have either too small positive effects to be significant or, flat out, large negative effects.
Different but expected views
As can be expected, these views are not shared by all. The division in responses largely follows expected lines. Producers of biofuels are sceptical over the criticism while several environmental NGOs find the critique justified.
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