World’s first all-electric commercial aircraft takes flight in Canada

Source: MIT Technology Review

The world’s first electric commercial aircraft, a seaplane, flew for a 15 minute test flight in Vancouver, Canada recently. It is owned by Harbour Air which ferries half a million passengers a year between Vancouver, Whistler ski resort and nearby islands and coastal resorts.

Harbour Air worked alongside the Australian engineering firm MagniX (which makes high-power-density electric motors for aircraft) to retrofit the seaplane with a 750 hp electric motor. The CEO of Harbour Air, Greg McDougall, says they hope to electrify their entire fleet of more than 40 seaplanes. Mr McDougall predicts the company will save millions in maintenance costs because electric motors require “drastically” less in upkeep.

Read more:
- World’s first fully electric commercial aircraft takes flight in Canada. The Guardian, December 11, 2019.
- A fully electric aircraft has just made its first commercial flight. MIT Technology Review, December 11, 2019.

Australia's main grid 50% clean for first time and supplies 30% renewable energy for a week

Source: RenewEconomy

The growth in wind, solar and battery additions to the main grid, called the National Energy Market (NEM), in eastern Australia has grown rapidly this year, particularly rooftop and large scale solar. So much so that on November 6, 2019, in one trading period, the grid had just over 50 percent of demand as renewable electricity for the first time. This was mostly solar and wind power.

Then just a few days later from November 11-17 this large NEM, ranging from Queensland to Tasmania and South Australia, produced at least 30 percent renewable energy for the entire week. This included mostly solar, wind and hydro power.

I am assuming wind and hydro supplied 30% of the demand at night as it was a windy week and hydro is big in some states. Tasmania and South Australia reach at least 30% renewables most of the time and did export to the other states during this period and on November 6.

Read More:
- Australia’s main grid reaches 50 per cent renewables for the first time. RenewEconomy, November 6, 2019.
- Renewable energy supplies more than half of Australia’s national energy market for first time. ABC News, November 8, 2019.
- Renewables supply 30% of NEM demand over an entire week for first time. Renew Economy, November 20, 2019.

UNSW student-designed solar freezer installed on a Fiji island

Source: One Step off the Grid

Engineering students from the University of New South Wales, Australia, were given a task to come up with a solution that will both empower the Fiji community and allow them to be self-sufficient. After much community consultation, they designed and installed a solar powered freezer in a remote village on Viwa Island.

“The Najia village on Viwa Island, on the outermost of the Yasawa Island group, is renowned for its fishing culture. So the students focused on creating a sustainable way for the villagers to freeze their daily catch and sell it on the mainland for more money.”

The other challenge for the students was to make sure that the project was easily maintained by the locals. Therefore the locals were trained to do the maintenance so that the freezer did not fall into disuse. Altogether the whole task was a valuable learning experience for the students and of great self-sufficient benefit to the community.

Read More:
- UNSW student-designed solar freezer installed on remote Fiji island. One Step off the Grid, November 28, 2019.
- A solar-powered freezer for today's catch: UNSW Engineering makes an impact in Fiji. UNSW Newsroom, November 27, 2019.

UK solar farm's inverter provides an overnight reactive power service

Source: NS Energy

Lightsource BP in the UK has been trialling the first night-time reactive power from a solar farm. This was achieved by using: “Specially modified electrical inverters installed at the solar facility [which] were able to transform power taken from the grid overnight – while not in use for their usual purpose of generating power from sunlight – and then feeding back optimised voltage to the grid.”

It is a way of providing a network service and in this case it is network voltage. It is also a way of adapting to a fast changing electricity network that now has a lot of solar power in the daytime. It is calculated that such an innovation will contribute to significant cost savings and additional grid capacity. Infact, Lightsource BP says reactive power could lead to £400m in customer savings by 2050.

Read more: Lightsource BP trials UK’s first night-time reactive power from a solar farm. NS Energy, November 27, 2019.

Solar energy produced “water battery” wins global award and saves 40% of university’s energy use

"Water Battery" and solar panels at the USC (USC website)

The University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), Queensland, Australia, wins an award at the 6th Global District Energy Climate Awards which was presented in Iceland in September 2019. The award was for their “water battery”, featuring 6,000+ solar panels and a thermal energy storage tank, that is cutting grid energy use at the Sunshine Coast campus by 40 percent.

The USC has a goal to become carbon neutral by 2025 and to operate sustainably. The Sunshine Coast campus uses a lot of electricity, so in order to achieve that goal they had to come up with a way to store energy without using chemical batteries which have a waste problem.

In collaboration with Veolia, the USC installed a massive rooftop solar system and built a thermal energy storage battery with a thermal chiller. When the sunshines (which is often in this location), solar energy powers the thermal chiller to cool water which is stored in a massive tank. The chilled water is used to air condition the entire campus.

Read more:
- Sunny approach to cooling campus wins global award. University of the Sunshine Coast, October 28, 2019.
- Clean Energy (How it Works): Sustainable USC, University of the Sunshine Coast.
- Sustainable USC, University of the Sunshine Coast.

A new, efficient way to capture CO₂ from the air

Diagram of the new system (MIT News)

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers have developed a new way to remove carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the air without large heat losses. The method can use any concentration of CO₂ in a stream of gas: from that of the atmosphere/air to high concentrations emitted from power plants.

The method passes gas through a stack of electrochemical plates (like a battery). The plates alternate between being charged and discharged. When air (or other gas stream) pass over the plates they are charged up and remove CO₂ from the gas stream. When the discharging cycle begins a pure stream of CO₂ is then released. Also during the discharge power is provided to drive the whole system. The cycle operates at room temperature and normal air pressure.

The air leaving the device has much less of the greenhouse gas. The resulting pure stream of CO₂ captured can be used productively to make fizzy drinks or assist with plant growth in greenhouses. Both these two industries currently use fossil fuels to make the CO₂ they need. The gas could also be compressed and injected underground for long-term disposal or, alternatively, it could be used to make fuels through a series of chemical and electrochemical processes.

Further information:
- MIT engineers develop a new way to remove carbon dioxide from the air (includes video). MIT News, October 24, 2019.
- A new paper in the journal Energy and Environmental Science by Sahag Voskian and T. Alan Hatton entitled “Faradaic electro-swing reactive adsorption for CO₂ capture.”

Renewable microgrid saves lives and helps folk in the Californian wild-fires

Blue Lake Rancheria Microgrid, CA (One Step off the Grid)

The Blue Lake Rancheria microgrid saved lives when its owner welcomed in the broader community during the recent sweep of wild-fire related power shut offs in northwest Humboldt County, California. The Rancheria and its estate are owned by three Indian tribes.

The microgrid kept the tribes’ casino, hotel and offices powered up and enabled the tribes to set aside some of its hotel rooms for medical patients who needed electric power for their medical devices. This assistance saved at least four lives.

The microgrid also provided a safe, warm environment for local families to charge mobile phones and access the internet; power to charge electric vehicles; and it was also able to provide a mobile office for Humboldt’s daily newspaper. The tribes served about 10,000 people during the electricity outages which were enacted to lower the fire risk.

The Rancheria has a 430kW solar photovoltaic array with a 500kW, 2kWh Tesla battery storage system complemented by two legacy diesel generators with a combined capacity of 1.8MW. There are plans to upgrade the microgrid next year.

Read more: How a renewable microgrid saved lives in the California wild-fires. One Step off the Grid, November 14, 2019.

ACT’s first electric bus starts service - the aim is zero transport emissions

The ACT government's first electric bus (Source Twitter)

On its way to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, Canberra’s local government purchased its first electric bus which started operation this week. CanberraTransport runs the bus fleet and it plans to have 100% zero emission vehicles (including light rail) by 2040.

In October 2019, the ACT achieved its goal of 100% renewable electricity target by 2020 (three months early) with the start of deliveries of power from the Hornsdale Stage 3 109MW wind farm in South Australia. So with the grid having 100% renewable electricity, the bus is greenhouse gas emissions free.

It is now looking to reduce the next largest source of carbon emissions, transport, which now makes up 60% of the ACT’s emissions thanks to the decarbonisation of the ACT grid, as part of a wider plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2045. Therefore many more electric buses will joint the fleet.

The bus is a Yutong Electric E12, which is a more modern electric bus than those previously trialled in 2017 and has already proved successful in other jurisdictions. It has an approximate 400km driving range before needing to recharge at the Tuggeranong Depot.

Read more:
- ACT introduces first electric bus on path to zero transport emissions. The Driven, November 12, 2019.
See also:
- NSW unveils plan to switch Sydney’s 8,000 buses to all electric. The Driven, October 28, 2019.
- Victorian-made electric buses ready to run. Manufacturers’ Monthly, October 30, 2019.

“30 of the world’s largest & most influential cities have peaked greenhouse gas emissions”

London (eBay, UK)

Two thirds of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050 according to the UN. So it could be cities that can drive climate change mitigation. Many C40 mayors get it and are doing just that. “C40 is a network of the world’s megacities committed to addressing climate change. C40 supports cities to collaborate effectively, share knowledge and drive meaningful, measurable and sustainable action on climate change.” (C40: About).

“Austin, Athens, Lisbon, and Venice are the latest C40 major cities to have peaked their greenhouse gas emissions. The world’s leading scientists have calculated that global greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2020 in order to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.” (C40)

The 30 C40 large and influential cities that have peaked greenhouse gas emissions include: Athens, Austin, Barcelona, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Copenhagen, Heidelberg, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Melbourne, Milan, Montréal, New Orleans, New York City, Oslo, Paris, Philadelphia, Portland, Rome, San Francisco, Stockholm, Sydney, Toronto, Vancouver, Venice, Warsaw, and Washington, D.C. (C40)

“C40 analysis shows that, since reaching peak emissions levels, these 30 cities have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 22 percent. Copenhagen, the host city for this year’s C40 World Mayors Summit, has reduced emissions by up to 61 percent.” (C40). Cities will shape our future because not only do they need to reduce emissions, they need to address air pollution and find sustainable ways of existing.

Further reading:
- 30 of the world’s largest & most influential cities have peaked greenhouse gas emissions. C40, October 8, 2019.
See also:
- Amsterdam joins a list of 20 cities/territories and 10 countries planning to ban fossil fuel vehicles. Using Renewables, May 7, 2019.
- The city of the future will depend on reimagining our lifestyles. CleanTechnica, November 11, 2019.

“Hyundai unveils hydrogen-powered Neptune heavy duty truck”

Hyundai hydrogen FCEV truck + HT Nitro ThermoTech trailer. (The Driven)

It is thought that hydrogen-powered vehicles could be an optional extra of an electric vehicle for heavy work such as towing but where they really come into force is as a heavy duty electric vehicle. Using an electric motor driven by a fuel cell powered by renewable hydrogen will be greenhouse emissions free. Refuelling is quick, the range is large but most importantly hydrogen provides a powerful fuel for heavy duty trucks, trains, planes, ships and rockets (where it is already used).

At the North American Commercial Vehicle (NACV) Show, Hyundai unveiled two concepts, including the HDC-6 NEPTUNE Concept, a hydrogen-powered Class 8 heavy duty truck, and the Hyundai Translead (HT) – a leading trailer manufacturer – also announced the launch of its new clean energy refrigerated concept trailer, the HT Nitro ThermoTech.

Billed as “optimal” for transporting cold chain products, the HT Nitro ThermoTech is able to reduce temperatures faster than traditional refrigeration units and maintain precise temperature without being affected by outside temperatures. It reduces pollutants and emissions while providing reliable and effective cold chain food transportation without affecting the truck’s power supply.

Hyundai is hoping that the dual announcements of truck and trailer in the US provide a glimpse into the future of transportation in the United States, and around the world.

Read more:
- Hyundai unveils hydrogen-powered Neptune heavy duty truck. The Driven, November 1, 2019.
- Hyundai Media Centre: https://www.hyundainews.com/en-us/releases/2889

Victoria, Australia, aims at 50% renewable electricity by 2030

Ararat wind farm in western Victoria (Renew Economy)

The Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET) of 50 per cent by 2030 was written into law by the state parliament in late October, 2019. It is an initiative of the Andrew’s Labor government. They plan to have 25% renewable energy by 2020 and 40% by 2025 as interim steps.

It is a clear signal to industry to keep investing in renewables; particularly in rural districts. It is expected that the VRET will create around 24,000 jobs by 2030 and provide certainty and investor confidence in the renewable energy industry, which itself is expected to drive an additional $5.8 billion in economic activity for the state.

Read more: Victoria 50% by 2030 renewable energy target voted into law. Renew Economy, October 30, 2019.

SEA Electric predicts all Australian delivery vans will be electric in 5-10 years

Source: RenewEconomy

SEA Electric based in Dandenong, (Melbourne) Victoria, can adapt the chassis of most small-medium commercial delivery trucks and vans to electric drive. They use an electric power system called SEA-Drive[R] which can be tailor-made to a fleet of commercial trucks or vans. They remove the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) engine and gearbox and associated hardware and replace that with battery powered motor and other components.

SEA Electric has contracts to convert fleets in Australian and overseas with the likes of Ford, Detroit, in the US and with other businesses in California, New Zealand, Thailand, South Africa, Israel, Vietnam and Austria.

The vehicles look the same as the ICE version but most companies label them as electric. The payback time for their investment is approximately 5 years. As with all electric vehicles, the cost per km in electric driving is about a third of that in petrol or diesel; there are far fewer moving parts in ICE vehicles so maintenance is minimal and with regenerative braking there is less stress on the brake pads so they last a lot longer than those in ICE vehicles.

In the podcast, listed below, the founder of SEA Electric predicts that the Australian van and medium truck delivery fleets could all be electric in 5-10 years.

Further information:
- SEA Electric: www.sea-electric.com
- The Driven Podcast: Why all delivery vans are going electric. October 23, 2019.
- First electric Ford F-59 van now in production by Australia’s SEA Electric. The Driven, September 10, 2019.
- SEA reveals its first all-electric cherry picker. The Driven, October 11, 2019.
- First electric waste trucks go into service in Victoria. The Driven, October 4, 2018.
- Melbourne council dumps fossil fuels with first electric tipper truck. The Driven, September 27, 2019.
- SEA Electric unveils new images of electric truck with 350km range. The Driven, August 29, 2019.
- Australia’s first fully electric rubbish trucks clean up in Casey. The Driven, May 24, 2019.
- Transition: “Massive” new EV factory announced for Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. The Driven, October 30, 2018.

Australia's greenhouse gas emissions are set to fall

One of ACT's solar farms - Majura Solar Farm (photo Julie May)

“For the past few years, Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions have headed in the wrong direction. The upward trajectory has come amid overwhelming evidence that the world must bring carbon dioxide emissions down. But the trend is set to change.”

“In a policy brief released today, we predict that Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions will peak during 2019-20 at the equivalent of about 540 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.”

“After a brief plateau, we expect they will decline by 3-4% over 2020-22, and perhaps much more in the following years - if backed by government policy.”

Currently Australia has a renewable energy percentage that is around 25%.

Read more: Some good news for a change: Australia's greenhouse gas emissions are set to fall. The Conversation, October 24, 2019.

100s of NSW and ACT pubs save on energy through a PPA on solar

Source: RenewEconomy

A large Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between over 300 pubs/hotels/breweries in NSW and the ACT and the energy giant Engie will enable the building of a large scale solar farm at Narrabri; reduce the participants’ carbon footprints and their energy costs.

The partnership is between Lion Breweries, the Australian Hotels Association, Tourism Accommodation Australia and Engie’s retailer subsidiary Simply Energy. These hotels, pubs and breweries will secure a supply of renewable energy at a much lower price than current wholesale electricity spot prices.

The deal will lock in wholesale electricity prices for the venues at $69/MW for 10 years, compared to the current prices which are around $85/MW. For example, for a typical hotel its energy prices will drop from 11.5c/kWh to 6.9c/kWh. This is 40% less which means a saving of $18,000 per year.

It is part of a wider trend which allows Australian corporations to reduce their energy costs by forming these PPAs and enabling the construction of new renewable energy sources.

Read more: XXXX! Hundreds of pubs slash energy costs through Lion deal on solar. Renew Economy, October 4, 2019.
Post Script: How to benefit from renewable energy power purchase agreements - an explainer. The Green List, August 22, 2019.

Canberra (ACT) reaches its 100% renewable electricity target

Wind farm near Lake George, NSW, part owned by ACT (photo: Julie May)

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government in Canberra reached its 100 percent renewable electricity target on October 1, 2019, when it started purchasing the electricity produced by the Hornsdale Stage 3 wind farm in South Australia.

Canberra has a range of renewable energy sources which it obtained through reverse auction processes. It includes wind farms in NSW, Victoria and South Australia as well as four solar farms within and near the Territory.

The ACT has become the first Australian state or territory – with the exception of hydro-rich Tasmania – to receive all its electricity from renewable sources. This means it has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by around 40 per cent and given a boost to its economy.

Being a leader in the transition to renewables and a university city, Canberra has attracted many renewable and software technology businesses such as the leading French renewable energy producer Neoen which has established a number of power plants in Australia including the Hornsdale wind farm with the Tesla big battery.

The ACT government now has a goal of reaching zero net emissions by 2045. So it is turning its attention to other emission sources: it plans to go electric on transport and on buildings, which means a proposal to shift homes and businesses away from gas towards electricity. With more electricity required, and to service a growing population, the ACT is about to tender for another 250MW of wind and solar, including battery storage.

Read more: Canberra’s green machines: ACT reaches 100% renewable electricity target. RenewEconomy, October 1, 2019.

West Australian utility pulls down power lines and installs cleaner micro-grids

Likely uptake of Distribution Network Service Provider Stand Alone Power Systems (Source AMEC via RenewEconomy)

“​Horizon Power is to become the first utility in Australia to remove parts of its overhead network and replace it with an off-grid renewable energy power solution.”

“The West Australia government announced on Thursday [October 3] that the state-owned Horizon, which serves the vast regional areas of the state, will now install 17 standalone power systems on fringe-of-grid properties east of Esperance, and cut down 64kms of network wiring that was prone to outages.”

…..”Other networks in W.A. and the eastern states are expected to follow suit, once a long awaited rule change is finalised by the Australian Energy Market Commission [AMEC] that will clear the regulatory hurdles that prevented networks from making what is an increasingly obvious decision on the basis of economics, reliability, and emissions.”

Continue reading at:
- Horizon first utility to pull down power lines and replace with renewable micro-grids. RenewEconomy October 3, 2019.
- See also in this blog: Off-grid trial gives West Australian farming community cheaper, more reliable power. October 9, 2017.

2414+ Tesla Model 3 EVs in Australia with many more to come

Tesla Model 3 (Source: The Driven)

So far three cargo ships have docked in Australia and unloaded 2414 Tesla Model 3 electric cars. Most of these will be delivered in September and the sales will beat those of the nearest fossil fuel competitor.

Plus there are more on the way. Another three cargo ships have arrived late September, adding to the first 2,414 vehicles indicating that orders for the Model 3 in Australia are even higher than previously thought. In addition, more cargo ships have left Pier 80 at the Port of San Francisco and they too could be carrying Tesla Model 3s for New Zealand and Australia.

Read more: New data shows surge in right hand drive Model 3s, including Australia. The Driven, September 25, 2019.

Australian billionaire to support world’s largest solar farm for export and local use

Source:RenewEconomy

Billionaire, Mike Cannon-Brookes, and other Australian entrepreneurs have confirmed financial support of a $25 billion dollar plan to build a 3,000km undersea cable to export solar energy to Singapore and to supply Darwin. The power will come from a massive 10GW solar farm and a potential 20-30GWh storage facility at Tennant Creek, Northern Territory, Australia.

Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) outlined the project last month which quickly attracted the attention of investment heavyweights including Cannon-Brookes. An earlier BZE report, “10 Gigawatt Vision for the Northern Territory” also recommended the production of renewable hydrogen (along with solar electricity) for export with the potential of creating many jobs and earning the Northern Territory $2 billion in renewables export revenue by 2030.

Read More:
- Cannon-Brookes confirms investment in world’s biggest solar project. RenewEconomy, September 25, 2019.
- The 10GW solar vision that could turn Northern Territory into economic powerhouse. RenewEconomy, June 20, 2019.

Some countries have a date to phase out coal and a few already have high percentages of renewables

The Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Plant in Þingvellir, Iceland (Wikipedia Commons)

“In order to limit warming to 1.5°C, coal needs to go from the world's electricity generation by 2050 and in OECD countries by 2030. With an average lifetime of 40 years, any new coal plant coming online is at risk of becoming a stranded asset, as the world implements the Paris Agreement.” (The Lowdown)

The following countries have made a commitment to phase out coal power by a certain date and take up more renewable energy for electricity: - Austria by 2020 - Chile by 2040 - Finland by 2029 - France by 2021 - Germany by 2038 - Italy by 2025 - Netherlands by 2029 - Portugal by 2030 - Slovakia by 2023 - Sweden by 2022 - United Kingdom by 2025. (The Lowdown interactive tool)

Many countries have not made a date for the phase out coal, some are increasing its use and others use different fossil fuels such as oil and gas for electricity.

However, a small number of countries already have high percentages of renewable energy. They include: Iceland 100%, Paraguay 100%, Costa Rica 99%, Norway 98.5%, New Zealand ~85%, Austria 80%, Brazil 75% and Denmark 69.4%. The main renewables in these countries are hydropower, wind, geothermal and solar.

References:

- The Lowdown v1.0, Climate Analytics: http://tools.climateanalytics.org/lowdown/ , accessed September 17, 2019.

- A 100% renewable grid isn’t just feasible, it’s already happening, RenewEconomy, May 23, 2018.

- Renewable energy New Zealand Environment Guide, accessed September 17, 2019.

Food waste eaten by fly larvae is making compost and then stock feed

Black Soldier Fly maggots – the key to solving food waste. CSIRO

It is well known that the life cycle of insects is from eggs to larvae to pupae to adults. It is the Black Soldier Fly larvae (maggots) that are of special interest as they consume food scraps. They are eating machines, turning scraps into compost at a very fast rate.

The start-up company Gottera, based in Canberra, Australia is processing five tonnes of food waste a day with these larvae. Goterra not only manages waste to compost it also sells the mature larvae, a rich source of protein, as stock feed. So far the maggots can be used by chicken and pork producers, zoos, fish bait suppliers and as an ingredient in aquaculture pellets but have much more potential.

Goterra is all about driving Australia towards a circular economy for food production. And breeding insects is critical to their vision. The original breeding research was done in partnership with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Canberra. CSIRO’s research helped Gottera breed the flies for effective results.

References:
- Sex lives of flies could be key to tackling food waste. CSIROscope, August 14, 2019.
- Waste-not the mantra of emerging maggot industry as larvae convert to protein. The Land, January 9, 2019.
- Gottera: https://www.goterra.com.au/.
- CSIRO Insect research: https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Collections/ANIC/Insect-research

Wind and solar energy topped 41% on Australia’s main grid

 Sept 7 2019 NEM Generation, (OpenNEM resource, Climate and Energy College) 

On Saturday, September 7, 2019 wind and solar energy in Australia’s National Energy Market (NEM), covering the eastern states, reached a record level of 40.9% between 11 and 12 pm. A new record was also obtained for all renewables including hydro.

The renewable energy from the different states at this time were as follows:
- South Australia 111%, with excess being exported to Victoria
- Victoria 34%
- Queensland 43% solar, 1% wind
- Tasmania 100% with solar and wind 12.7%, the rest hydro
- New South Wales 34.8% (from OpenNEM-NSW)

References:
- Australia’s main grid hits new peak of 41 percent wind and solar. RenewEconomy, September 9, 2019.
- OpenNEM resource, Climate and Energy College.