Norway to have commercial electric planes by 2030

'Alice' Israel's e-plane. (Source: Financial Times 17.06.19)

Norway’s northern most region is well suited for short-haul electric planes as there are 16 airports within a radius of 350 kilometres. A report launched by Avinor and the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority says that battery operated planes will be available before 2030 and well suited to this network of airports within the Arctic Circle. 

The world is facing a climate crisis and Norway has been a leader in reducing fossil fuel transport emissions by encouraging the uptake of electric cars. Now it is focusing on air transport and plans to be the driving force and arena for the development, testing and early implementation of electrified aircraft. Norway has an abundance of renewable electricity to charge the planes' batteries.

The goals are to have a commercial fleet of domestic electric planes operating by 2030 and to have all domestic civil aircraft electrified by 2040. 

Read more: 

- Electric aviation ready for take-off in Norway by 2030, report says. The Independent Barents Observer, March 8, 2020. 

- Norwegian authorities aim for electric aircraft debut by 2030. Flight Global News, March 9, 2020, 

- Commercial electric planes set to take-off in Norway by 2030. The Driven, March 13, 2020.

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.

Caterpillar produces a 26 ton all-electric excavator with a giant battery.

Source: Electrek

“Caterpillar, along with Pon Equipment, has unveiled an all-electric 26-ton excavator with a giant 300 kWh battery pack in an effort to electrify construction equipment. They built a prototype in Gjelleråsen, Norway for construction company Veidekke who plan to use 8 of them. The company expects that the machine will result in a better experience for its employee by reducing air and noise pollution at construction sites”...........

“It is equipped with a giant 300 kWh battery pack, which they design to withstand a lot of rough movements. The result is a fairly heavy pack at 3.4 tons. They believe that the battery capacity can enable between five and seven hours of use before needing to charge, which can be done overnight.” (Electrek)

Continue reading at: Caterpillar unveils an all-electric 26-ton excavator with a giant 300 kWh battery pack. Electrek, January 29, 2019.

China and the USA lead the world with electric car numbers

Source: The Driven

The top 10 countries for electric car numbers to date are as follows: 1- China (1.28 million), 2- USA (762,000), 3- Japan (205,000), 4- Norway, 5- U.K., 6- The Netherlands, 7- France, 8- Germany, 9- Sweden, 10- Belgium.

The numbers of electric cars per capita are different: 1- Norway 3.3%, 2- The Netherlands 0.7%, 3- Sweden 0.4%, 4- Belgium 0.3%. 5- USA 0.3%, 6- U.K., 7- France, 8- Japan, 9- Germany. 10- China <0.1%.

The figures are again different for electric car percentage of total car numbers: 1- Norway 6.5%, 2- The Netherlands 1.46%, 3- Sweden 0.9%, 4 & 5- Belgium & China 0.5%, 6 & 7- France & U.K. 0.4%, 8 & 9- USA & Japan 0.3%, 10- Germany 0.2%.

For more information see US has the world’s second highest electric-car population. Green Car Reports, January 29 2019.

Electric barges in UK and EU, and electric car ferry in Norway

London electric barge (source The Electric Barge) 

We’ve all heard of electric cars and light trucks, but when it comes to reducing greenhouse emissions from the transportation sector, now having electric vehicles to move tourists and heavy freight could make a big difference, especially if they are powered by renewable energy.
The London electric barge offers eco tours and classes as well as barge hire. (The Electric Barge)

Artist's impression of Dutch Loadster (CleanTechnica)

The proposed Dutch company freight barges will initially have five autonomous barges operating between the De Kempen intermodal terminal and Antwerp in The Netherlands. Clean Technica, January 13, 2018.

Norway's fully electric ferry (One Step off the Grid)

Norway’s first all-electric ferry has reduced CO2 emissions by 95% and operating costs by 80%, resulting in a further 53 orders for shipbuilder Fjellstrand. One Step off the Grid, February 6, 2018.

Half of all new cars sold in Norway in 2017 were electric or hybrid

Electric car rally, Geiranger Norway (Image: Norsk elbilforening via Flickr)

Norway was one of the earliest nations to set a coherent and broad-based national plan to cut its carbon emissions, and then stick to it.

For road transport, it plans to phase out sales of cars with internal-combustion engines by 2025 using a variety of carrots (financial incentives and special privileges) and sticks (very high taxes on conventional vehicles) to get there.

In 2016, 40% of new car sales were electrified in some way. Now the Norwegian Road Federation reports that more than half of new vehicles sold in 2017 were electric or hybrid. Battery-electric cars now constitute almost 150,000 of the country's 2.7 million on-road vehicles, or roughly 5 percent.

The power to drive these vehicles comes from an electricity grid made up of 98% renewable energy. This renewable energy is mostly flexible hydropower plus wind and thermal energy.

Read further at: Half of all new cars sold in Norway last year are electric or hybrid, as diesel ebbs fast. Green Car Reports, Jan 8, 2018.