Renewable transport fuel use in Sweden

A Taxi Stockholm cab (source: TripAdvisor)

The Taxi Stockholm company is striving to be Sweden’s most environmentally taxi company. Out of their 1600 cars 95% are green vehicles, and majority of them run on biofuel. In fact, around 20% of total fuel use in Sweden comes from renewable biofuels.

The motor fuels developed by the company Swedish Biofuels AB are produced from grain crops or cellulosic raw material, including wood, and are completely identical to petroleum derived motor fuels. These motor fuels are suitable for operation in conventional, standard engines, including jet engines.

Using biofuels made from crops could be detrimental to the environment but Sweden pledges to used crops grown by sustainable methods. A scientific report argued that Swedish biofuels do have major benefits for the environment. “The results show that they produce between 65 and 140 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than petrol and diesel, even when direct and indirect land use changes are taken into account."

Sweden’s goals are to reduce GHG emissions compared with 1990 by 40 per cent by the year 2020 and to have a vehicle fleet completely rid of fossil fuels by 2030. These are stepping stones to the major goal of a society with no net GHG emissions by the year 2050.

To reduce our use of fossil fuels, there can be a range of different approaches. As for transport, we will gradually improve vehicles powered by renewable electricity, biofuels, hydrogen and other developing technologies.

All electric ute planned for Australia??

EV ute could be similar size to this Musso (source: RenewEconomy)

Ssangyong has hinted that it may bring an electric ute to Australia in the future, at a presentation to Australian journalists in South Korea. Dubbed the H100, the EV ute would be a four-wheel drive dual-cab about the size of the Musso, it was revealed.

Executive director Daniel Rim confirmed that while they believe Australia might not be ready for an all-electric dual cab, the company was already working on the concept and when it gets released depends on a number of different factors.

“We’re still developing this concept [but] I think we’re launching around 2023, it’s changing but it depends on the different country’s regulations,” said Dan Rim, explaining that emissions laws in Europe and the US were one factor.

Read More: Ssangyong hints at all-electric ute for Australia. RenewEconomy, August 2, 2018.

Port Fairy, Victoria, plans "smart energy precinct" to half industry power costs

Port Fairy (source: One Step off the Grid) 

A group of local businesses, organisations and community outfits in the coastal town of Port Fairy, Victoria, Australia, is laying the groundwork to develop a multi-million dollar smart energy precinct, to slash community energy costs, cut its carbon footprint, and boost security of supply.

Energy generation technology options being considered include wind, solar, biogas, geothermal and wave energy generation. The team is also weighing up smart energy contracts, microgrids and energy storage options.

Ultimately, the hope is that they can reduce energy costs by up to 50 per cent for local businesses and industries, ensuring that they remain competitive, and support jobs in the region.

Port Fairy is no stranger to renewable energy innovation. In 2015 it became host to the state’s first wave energy project. See in this blog: Wave energy to the electricity grid: new Australian renewable energy projects.

Read More: Victorian town plans "smart energy precinct" to half industry power costs. One Step off the Grid, August 1, 2018.

Solar sharing within an apartment estate via Peer to Peer (P2P) trading

Source: One Step off the Grid.

The Australian-made solar energy sharing platform first rolled out at the White Gum Valley housing project in Fremantle, Western Australia, has been extended to a new apartment complex at a residential estate.

Power Ledger is the Perth-based company behind the peer-to-peer (P2P) trading platform and will work with Yolk Property Group to apply the blockchain technology for solar energy trading between residents across Yolk’s Evermore apartment development. The company’s platform seeks to allow rooftop solar energy producers and consumers to trade their electricity directly, saving money, hassle and maximising the use of rooftop solar.

The technology works, like bitcoin, to identify the ownership of energy as it is generated and then to manage multiple trading agreements between consumers who buy excess solar direct from the original owner/producer, without the addition of market costs and commercial margins.

The application of the technology at Evermore, a complex of 24 “highly sustainable” apartments, fitted not only with solar but with battery storage, is a new frontier – although with the same goal, of providing “a transactive layer” for residents to trade the solar energy between each other.

Read more: Power Ledger extends P2P solar sharing to WA apartment complex. One Step off the Grid, July 27, 2018.

See also in this blog: Solar power for ‘all’ with Peer to Peer (P2P) trading. September 28, 2017.