From the driver’s seat of the Toyota Mirai, the world’s first mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell car could be a plusher and more powerful version of the Prius – if it wasn’t for the H20 button on the dash which releases a trickle of water. Until now, car companies have been slow to bring hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to market. But
Progress is being made in the rechargeability and reaction kinetics of sodium-air batteries by researchers from the Canadian Light Source and Western University. The understanding of sodium-air battery systems and their chemical composition and charging behaviour will play a role designing more road-worthy batteries for EVs. The limited mileage of today’s EVs because of the low energy storage of current
A Power-to-Liquids (PtL) demonstration rig which is the first of its kind in the world was officially inaugurated on 14 November by Dresden-based sunfire GmbH. The ceremony was attended by German Federal Minister of Education and Research Johanna Wanka, Board Member Pieter Koolen of venture capitalist Bilfinger (in which Total and EDF participate) as well as a number of other
Although the growth in renewables has led to the shutdown of many gas- and coal-fired power plants, power producers believe their plants will still be needed to provide backup capacity. But grid storage batteries are becoming increasingly competitive with ‘peaker plants’, says Paul Siblerud of US storage company ViZn Energy Systems in an interview with Roy L. Hales of The
The head of one of the world’s leading solar PV manufacturers and developers, SunPower’s Tom Werner, predicts that solar will be a $US5 trillion industry within 20 years, and represents one of the greatest ever opportunities in the history of markets. Giles Parkinson of Reneweconomy.com reports on a recent investment briefing given by Werner. “We’ve just scratched the surface of
The US-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change made on 11 November, has been hailed by many as a historic breakthrough in the fight against climate change, but it has also met with quite a bit of scepticism. Robert Wilson, who publishes the blog The Energy Transition on the website of The Energy Collective, argues that the agreement between the two largest economies
One of the more successful investors/hedge fund managers of recent years, Ron Baron, recently made comments about Tesla Motors blowing up over the next few years, and that “all of us will likely be Tesla customers in 25 years.” While the words that come out of the mouths of those involved in the financial industry should always be taken with a
While we have reported recently that India has hiked its solar power capacity target by five times and seeks to install 100 GW capacity by 2022, we’ll now consider some of the aspects of this enormous target. India’s recently announced target to install 100 GW solar power capacity by 2022 could make it one of the largest solar power markets in the
State governments across India are implementing highly ambitious plans to rapidly expand solar power generation capacity. While a few are roping in private sector companies, most are opting for large government-owned companies with proven track records in the power sector. Odisha, a southeastern state in India, has asked the country’s largest power producer, NTPC Limited, to set up an ultra mega
Private sector power companies in India seem to have realised the business case behind the fuel cost advantage of renewable energy projects over conventional power projects and are now looking to expand their renewable energy portfolios. The second-largest private sector power generating company in India, Tata Power, is planning to expand its renewable energy portfolio through its subsidiary Tata Power Renewable