BEHOLD - THE POLESTAR PRECEPT

more like this - link

ROTTERDAM TO STUDY H2 IMPORTING

The Port of Rotterdam is working with a tank farm operator and two Japanese conglomerates to study the possibility of importing hydrogen in the form of methylcyclohexane, an industrial chemical that releases H2 when converted to toluene. 

This reaction is well-known and used on a wide scale to manufacture gasoline, and Chiyoda has successfully tested it for the alternative purpose of binding and transporting hydrogen. 

In 2020, Chiyoda, Mitsubishi, Mitsui and NYK completed a demonstration project for long distance transportation and storage of hydrogen using Chiyoda's "SPERA Hydrogen" technology. 

They built a plant to turn toluene into methylcyclohexane (MCH) in Brunei, shipped it to Japan, converted the MCH to toluene and hydrogen, kept the hydrogen and shipped the toluene back to Brunei for reuse. According to Chiyoda, this was the world’s very first global hydrogen supply chain project proving technical readiness for commercial use - link

TIPPING POINT - FLASH FLOODS

Londoners like to remind visitors that, despite their city’s reputation for dreary weather, rain is in fact less common than in some sunnier climes. 

Rome gets more total precipitation each year; New York City gets almost twice as much, and has far more rainy days. In general, Britain’s capital is grey but fairly dry, with predictable and moderate weather.

That may be changing:-

On July 25th parts of the city saw over 5cm of rain in just a few hours, an amount that would normally take an entire month to fall. The result was flash flooding.

In east London two hospitals told patients to stay away; one, Whipps Cross, had to evacuate around 100 patients after a power cut.

Hundreds of cars were stranded on roads that suddenly became rivers, while a dozen Tube stations were forced to close. Pudding Mill Lane station, on the Docklands Light Railway, looked like a swimming pool, with several feet of water washing around the ticket barriers.

Even in areas far from rivers and flood plains, such as Hampstead, a pretty suburb of north London, shopkeepers had to bail out rain water into the streets - The Economist - link

MOORABOOL - TESLA BATTERY FIRE

A toxic smoke warning has been issued near Geelong as fire crews tackle a blaze at the site of Australia's largest Tesla battery project.

Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) said a 13-tonne lithium battery on the Geelong-Ballan Road and Atkinsons Road in Moorabool had been fully engulfed by flames.

"Crews are working to contain the fire and stop it spreading to nearby batteries," FRV said in a statement.

No-one was injured and the site has been evacuated.

Fire crews are wearing breathing equipment and the CFA has sent 12 tankers to help tackle the blaze.

The fire broke out during testing of what is expected to become the largest battery in the southern hemisphere as part of a Victorian Government push to transition to renewable energy.

Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said the battery had been isolated and disconnected from the main electricity grid and “there are no implications” for supply - ABC News - link

PIVOT 2021

The Super Pink Moon rises as a strong wind blows steam escaping the Leathers Geothermal Facility, a power plant that taps into deep underground heat near the Salton Sea at the southern tip of the San Andreas Fault, on April 26, 2021 near Calipatria, California. Credit: David McNew/Getty Images

A conference last week got into a subject that is deep and superhot.

Some of the leaders in geothermal energy and energy policy gathered virtually to talk about a form of clean energy that they said is getting close to a technological leap forward.

Geothermal energy comes from harnessing heat from beneath the Earth’s surface, which can be used to run power plants, heat buildings and provide heat for industry. Some form of geothermal has been used for decades, with power plants in the West and Mountain West, and even older geothermal heating systems in cities like Boise, Idaho.

The opportunity ahead is for researchers and entrepreneurs to develop ways to affordably use geothermal energy at a larger scale and in many more places.

“One of the things that really excites me about geothermal is that every building is already sitting on this vast reservoir of renewable energy right there for the taking,” said Kathy Hannun, president and co-founder of Dandelion Energy, a company developing affordable geothermal heating and cooling systems for houses.

Her comments were part of Pivot 2021, a conference organized by the Geothermal Entrepreneurship Organization at the University of Texas at Austin, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) - link - Dan Gearino

SILICON CHIP SHORTAGE

Necessity being the mother of invention, automotive manufacturers can soon move on from worrying about the silicon chip shortage to getting excited about how much better the replacement technology is, while the rest of us is find out just what gallium nitride (GaN) is.

And by mid-decade, GaN technology my provide a spark to electric car sales by advancing range and the charging experience and making the concept more viable for the average motorist.

Navitas Semiconductor, which along with others including GaN Systems, Power Integrations, Texas Instruments TXN +0.4%, Infineon and STMocroelectronics, says GaN will provide the basis for the next generation of semiconductors, and will help to speed the adoption of electric cars, e-scooters and e-bikes. And it’s not just for the automotive industry - link - Neil Winton - picture link

DOWN TO EARTH - RECYCLING KATRANS

JAPAN'S OLYMPIC EV DREAM

Do you remember this CNET Road Show headline from 2019? “Toyota will use Tokyo Olympics to debut solid state battery electric vehicle.” 

The 2020 Olympics were supposed to showcase the zero emissions talents of the Japanese auto industry, with crowds of people moving seamlessly from place to place using self-driving electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Covid-19 devastated the auto industry, of course, but it also meant companies had an extra year to perfect their zero emissions vehicles.

In March 2020, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the world, “During the Olympics and Paralympics, cars and buses will run through the city powered by hydrogen, and the athletes’ village will run on electricity made from hydrogen.” 

A bold promise that was built on a lie. There is nothing “green” about those fuel cell powered buses. Then, as now, the supposedly “clean” hydrogen available in Japan is made primarily from natural gas at existing chemical plants using a process that emits copious amounts of carbon dioxide.

Things aren’t going to improve for Japan’s vaunted hydrogen economy any time soon. The country’s plans for a future supply of hydrogen amounts to importing large amounts of it from Australia, where it will be made from coal using carbon capture technology that does not exist.

Even if there was a supply of green hydrogen, the fuel cell buses Toyota has been selling since 2018 have failed to live up to their promise. According to the Financial Times, the economics just don’t pencil out for them. To begin with, they cost $900,000 for a 6 year lease compared to $220,000 for a diesel-powered bus with a useful life of 15 years - link - author link - Steve Hanley

SSE & SIEMENS GAMESA TO EXPLORE GREEN H2 TOGETHER

SSE Renewables and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy are to explore the opportunity to produce green hydrogen using energy from two onshore windfarms in Ireland and Scotland.

The companies said on Monday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding on the matter.

The partnership aims to encompass the full green hydrogen value chain, including construction, supply chain management, customer offtake and storage, end user requirements, reliability and operation and maintenance.

The two companies will also aim to work with green hydrogen customers across a range of industries including transportation, major distilleries and gas network operators.

Hydrogen is fast being recognised as having a potentially major role to play in decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors, including heavy industry and transportation.

The partnership will help power commitments by both companies to support the Irish and UK governments in reaching their individual net zero targets, including in the UK hitting 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production by 2030 - link - Colin Gleeson - more like this - link

PORSCHE VISION RENNDIENST

In November 2020, Porsche showcased 15 never-before-seen concept vehicles built between 2005 and 2019, and the Vision Renndienst was probably the most atypical member of the “Porsche Unseen” collection.

At the time, the automaker said the electric minivan was nothing but a 1:1 hard model study its designers completed in 2018 as a “free interpretation of a family-friendly space concept for up to six persons.” 

The photos released back then did not offer a glimpse at the interior, but fortunately, that changes today as Porsche has released the first photos of the Renndienst’s “modular travel cabin.”

What strikes you first is the central driving position, something the Vision Renndienst owes to the fact that it’s thought out as an autonomous vehicle. As Porsche’s head of design Michael Mauer explains,

“When I want to drive, I have more cockpit feeling than in any other car. And when I don’t, the driver’s seat can be rotated 180 degrees—with 

one swivel, it turns to face the other passengers.

 We worked on materializing these basic ideas for about a year.”

Equally striking are the Vision Renndienst's asymmetrical side windows, which create two distinct areas inside. Passengers can retreat to the side that is closed if they want to take a nap, for example, while the other side's large window bank offers an unobstructed view outside - link - Dan Mihalascu - link - more like this - link

ECOTRICITY - M4 - JUNCTION 11

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VATTENFALL - SYMBIZON PROJECT

Swedish energy firm Vattenfall has received a permit to run a four-year Dutch solar panels and strip farming pilot in Almere, east of Amsterdam. The Symbizon project will receive funding from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Annemarie Schouten, head of Solar Development Netherlands, explains: "In the solar farm we alternate rows of panels with strips where various crops are grown for organic farming. This means that far fewer solar panels are being installed per hectare than is usual.

To ensure sufficient light yield, we use double-sided solar panels. They catch the reflected light from the soil, the crops, and the adjacent rows and use it to produce solar energy. The panels also rotate with the sun to maximize yield".

Vattenfall will now decide whether to proceed on Symbizon by the end of 2021. If it does, construction will start in 2022. It would have a capacity of 0.7 MWp - link

TIPPING POINT - TYPHOONS

Many residents of Shanghai stayed home last Monday as Typhoon In-fa continued to lash the city after making landfall at the nearby island-city of Zhoushan on Sunday morning.

Over the next 24 hours, the storm moved north before it hit the mainland city of Pinghu, which is quite close to Shanghai, on Monday morning, according to China’s National Meteorological Centre.

The meteorological authority said the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu, as well as Shanghai municipality, all in eastern China, will be continually affected by heavy winds and torrential rains over the next couple of days - link

“The Greatest Threat to Our Planet Is the Belief That Someone Else Will Save It” - link

ENERGY CHARTER TREATY

In June, French senators adopted an amendment giving municipalities the right to veto a wind turbine project as part of the currently debated Climate and Resilience Law. EURACTIV France reports 

How will this sit with the ECT? - link - the state of Ohio in America has just done similar - link

GUA - ISDS - FOSSIL FUEL LOVING LEGISLATION

Members of the European parliament demonstrate their disapproval of a mechanism under which fossil fuel companies can sue governments for passing laws that could affect their future earnings. Photograph: Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty

Italy could be forced to pay millions of pounds in damages to a UK oil company after banning new drilling near its coast.

The case has sparked outrage at the secretive international tribunals at which fossil fuel companies can sue governments for passing laws to protect the environment – amid fears that such cases are slowing down action on the climate crisis. 

It is also fuelling concern that the UK is particularly exposed to the risk of oil firms suing to prevent green policies, potentially hampering climate action.

Rockhopper Exploration, based in Salisbury, Wiltshire, bought a licence to drill for oil off Italy’s Adriatic coast in 2014. There had already been a wave of opposition to the project, with protests that drew tens of thousands of people. Within two years, the campaign won over the Italian parliament, which imposed a ban on oil and gas projects within 12 nautical miles of the Italian coast.

Rockhopper fought back using a relatively obscure legal mechanism known as investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), which allows companies to sue governments for introducing policies that could affect their future earnings. Reports suggest Rockhopper has spent $29m (£21m) on the offshore project to date and is claiming damages of $275m based on expected future profits from the oilfield.

The company said it has been advised that it has “strong prospects of recovering very significant monetary damages” as a result of Italy’s actions.

Devised in the 1950s by a banker and the chief counsel for oil company Royal Dutch Shell, ISDS was designed to protect companies’ investments in newly independent countries, where it was feared that governments might try to wrest back control of their natural resources. The concept gradually took hold and it is now written into thousands of investment treaties worldwide.

Decades later, fossil fuel companies are using it to protect their assets, this time in the face of an oncoming wave of climate legislation.

That is because ISDS is part of the energy charter treaty (ECT), meaning energy companies can sue any of the 53 signatory countries – including the UK – if they take action that could dent those companies’ future earnings, such as banning the exploitation of coal, oil and gas reserves.

The German energy company RWE, for instance, is suing the Netherlands for €1.4bn (£1.2bn) over its plans to phase out coal - Josephine Moulds (The Guardian) - link

SUZUKI DAIHATSU TOYOTA HINO IZUZU JOINT VENTURE

Suzuki and Daihatsu are joining a joint venture led by Toyota to bring electrification and autonomous driving to commercial vehicles.

The move will help the Japanese alliance to expand its focus from trucks to smaller vehicles.

Suzuki and Daihatsu will each acquire a 10 percent stake in the joint venture, on par with Isuzu Motors and Hino Motors, while Toyota will hold a 60 percent stake, the companies said in a statement on Wednesday.

"With Suzuki and Daihatsu joining the project and working together, we will be able to expand our circle of cooperation to not only cover commercial vehicles but also mini vehicles," said Toyota President Akio Toyoda.

Suzuki and Daihatsu bring to the table deep experience in smaller automobiles used by consumers and businesses, which they said account for about 31 million of the 78 million vehicles owned in Japan and "serve as an essential lifeline in the daily lives of people, especially in rural areas."

A key challenge of bringing electrification and autonomous technology to smaller cars is keeping costs under control so they remain affordable.

"There are many issues that mini-vehicle manufacturers are unable to solve on their own," Suzuki and Daihatsu said in the statement - link - picture link - more like this - link

BEHOLD - THE BRILLIANT CITROEN AMI

Gersende Gloanec, 15, drives to school in the neighboring town of Fouesnant every day with her little sister. 

What emerges from the garage is a small gray two-seater blob that automaker Citroën doesn’t even call a car but a “mobility object.” With a maximum speed 28 mph, the Ami or “friend” is actually classed as a quadricycle. Think four-wheel moped. No driver’s license required.

“I’m too young to have a driving license, but you can drive an Ami from the age of 14,” she said.

“At the beginning it was strange to be out on the roads like this because I’d only ridden a bike before but it gives me more independence,” Gloanec said.

As the Ami’s publicity puts it: “Yes, it looks like a toaster. Which is why you can buy it at the electrical goods store.” Citroën is not selling it in the usual dealerships at all, in fact, only in electrical goods stores and online.

The cost: just over $8,000 minus a thousand-buck government eco-bonus — cheaper than a normal car - link - picture link - (€6000) - John Laurenson - link - more like this - link

BRITTANY RENEWABLE ENERGY HUB

Swedish wave energy company Seabased has unveiled plans to build a 10MW wave power park at Audierne Bay, located in the French region of Brittany.

In the race to commercialize wave energy, the Brittany region in France may plant a flag as home to Europe’s first utility scale commercial wave energy park.

Namely, with the support of the region, Seabased plans to build a utility-scale wave energy park that will be connected to the French grid, starting with a 2MW pilot that will later be scaled up to 10MW.

Loïg Chesnais-Girard, president of the Regional Council of Brittany, said: “The Region of Brittany is pleased to support this particularly innovative commercial project which will contribute to the production of competitive renewable energy along the coast of Brittany”.

For Seabased, the opportunity to install its soon-to-be-unveiled commercial system in Audierne bay is said to be ideal. Seabased is already working with Brittany-based ENAG, a company that specializes in energy conversion, which has built the electrical system for Seabased’s technology - link

SAVING THE PLANET?

The precious cargo on the ship docked in San Diego Bay was strikingly small for a vessel built to drag oil rigs out to sea. Machines tethered to this hulking ship had plucked rocks the size of a child’s fist from the ocean floor thousands of miles into the Pacific.

The mission was delicate and controversial — with broad implications for the planet.

Investors are betting tens of millions of dollars that these black nodules packed with metals used in electric car batteries are the ticket for the United States to recapture supremacy over the green economy — and to keep up with a global transportation revolution started by California.

Alongside his docked ship, Gerard Barron, chief executive of the Metals Co., held in his hand one of the nodules he argues can help save the planet. “We have to be bold and we have to be prepared to look at new frontiers,” he said. “Climate change isn’t something that’s waiting around for us to figure it out.”

The urgency with which his company and a few others are moving to start scraping the seabed for these materials alarms oceanographers and advocates, who warn they are literally in uncharted waters. Much is unknown about life on the deep sea floor, and vacuuming swaths of it clean threatens to have unintended and far-reaching consequences.

The drama playing out in the deep sea is just one act in a fast unfolding, ethically challenging and economically complex debate that stretches around the world, from the cobalt mines of Congo to the corridors of the Biden White House to fragile desert habitats throughout the West where vast deposits of lithium lay beneath the ground.

The state of California is inexorably intertwined in this drama. Not just because extraction companies are aggressively surveying the state’s landscapes for opportunities to mine and process the materials. But because California is leading the drive toward electric cars. - link - Evan Halper - link

BATTERY STORAGE - NOT AS WE KNOW IT

On the journey to greater adoption of renewables, it’s not enough to make the energy...you’ve got to hold the energy. But how to do so cheaply and at scale remains one of the biggest challenges facing the industry.

Form Energy, a startup backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, might have cracked the code: batteries made from iron that can hold electricity for days or even weeks. Form’s batteries may be key to achieving President Biden’s goal of a carbon-free power grid in the US by 2035.

Big picture: Many utilities use lithium-ion batteries, similar to those in Teslas, to ensure a steady power supply. But they typically store electricity for just four-to-six hours at a time and cost an eye-watering $50–$80 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of storage.

Where Form Energy comes in: Just like your middle school science fair’s potato battery, Form Energy’s iron-air batteries only use the simplest materials: iron, air and a water-based electrolyte. It claims the cost will run lower than $20/kWh, a price point at which experts think renewables could viably replace fossil fuel plants.

Looking ahead…Form Energy announced it would partner with a Minnesota utility to test its battery, which the company says can deliver continuous power for 150 hours - link

TIPPING POINT - MEGAFIRE

California's huge Dixie Fire exploded to "megafire" status late Thursday, forcing more mandatory evacuations in nearby communities, fire officials said Friday. 

At more than 221 square miles in size, it's now the largest wildfire in California.

"The Dixie Fire is burning in a remote area with limited access, and extended travel times in steep terrain are hampering control efforts," Cal Fire said in a statement. The "fire will continue to rapidly expand, causing a need for the critical resources to control and manage the incident."

Shannon Prather, the incident commander for the Dixie Fire, said Thursday evening that "this fire is outpacing us at moments."

It is the second megafire in the state this year. A blaze becomes a megafire when it surpasses 100,000 acres, which is about 156 square miles. Days ago, the 105,000-acre Sugar Fire in Butte County garnered the designation, KTLA-TV said.

Another California fire, the Tamarack Fire near Lake Tahoe, had burned more than 78 square miles of national forest as of early Friday. The fire has destroyed at least 10 buildings - link

“The Greatest Threat to Our Planet Is the Belief That Someone Else Will Save It” - link

THE WIND IS ALWAYS BLOWING SOMEWHERE

The Australian government is keen on an economic recovery from covid that is led by gas — used domestically and also sold to Asian trading partners. 

Gas, they say, is the bridge to a cleaner future. They promote and fund gas over any form of renewable energy.

Australian conservative politicians at the federal level are keen to point out that the problem with renewable energy is that “the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow.” 

Because the first half of this statement is obviously true, we are led to believe that the second half is also. Are renewable energy sources “lazy,” only showing up for work when they feel like it? Quite a contrast to hard-working coal and gas, eh?

Whereas the sun goes down and the solar panels stop working every night, the wind doesn’t stop blowing in the areas where it is most likely that wind turbines are situated. In fact, when you consider that the eastern states of Australia are all interconnected and cover an area of over 4 million square kilometres, it is highly likely that the wind is blowing and power is flowing into the grid somewhere - link

JBS TO STOP DEFORESTATION IN 14 YEARS TIME

JBS, a giant company implicated in multiple cases of large-scale forest clearing in Brazil, recently made a commitment to achieve zero deforestation across its global supply chain by 2035. Environmentalists argue this pledge is grossly insufficient.

In a new Soy and Cattle Deforestation Tracker, JBS scores just a single point out of 100. Its nearest competitors, Minerva and Marfrig, have scores of 46/100 and 40/100 respectively.

Tagging and tracking systems to ensure transparency along the entire beef supply have long been proposed, but JBS has resisted disclosing its full list of suppliers.

Under present conditions, Brazil is losing forest cover at the fastest rate in more than a decade, and this deforestation is driven largely by the meatpacking industry - link - more like this - link

WORTH THINKING ABOUT: -

More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest.

More than half of the world's estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests.

One-fifth of the world's fresh water is in the Amazon Basin - link

ALL ELECTRIC MERCEDES - STARTING IN 2025

Mercedes-Benz is going all-electric starting in 2025, with plans to launch three electric-only architectures that year and install over 200 Gigawatt hours of battery cell capacity across eight factories.

Earlier today, Mercedes-Benz, the German automaker based in Stuttgart, announced its plan to be fully electric by the end of the decade. However, any newly launched architectures will be electric-only starting in 2025, the company said.

“Mercedes-Benz is getting ready to go all-electric by the end of the decade, where market conditions allow. Shifting from electric-first to electric-only, the world’s preeminent luxury car company is accelerating toward an emissions-free and software-driven future,” the company stated in a press release.

Mercedes-Benz is just one of the many automakers that are now choosing to transition to fully electric lineups. As the dynamic of the automotive industry continues to work toward a transition to electric powertrains, more companies are announcing their plans to ditch combustion engines in favor of battery-powered cars. Lamborghini is one of the more notable car companies that has announced this strategy - link - Joey Klender - link

FRESH CALLS FOR TESCO TO DITCH JBS

Tesco is facing fresh calls to cut ties with its meat suppliers over their alleged links to Amazon deforestation.

In an open letter, Greenpeace urged the UK’s largest supermarket to distance itself from the Brazilian meat giant JBS over its approach to tackling Amazon deforestation.

The supermarket does not buy directly from JBS, but does purchase meat from two of its UK subsidiary companies, Moy Park and Pilgrim’s Pride.

Greenpeace accused JBS of “actively supporting producers that are deforesting and using fire to clear the Amazon” in the letter to Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy.

The call comes after The Independent reported that JBS and other large meat companies have been accused of using “tobacco company tactics” to downplay their role in driving the climate crisis - link - picture link

6'000 SQUARE MILE ENERGY HUB

Australia is blessed with certain natural advantages over the UK when it comes to generating clean energy.

It’s a little easier to cover vast tracts of the outback with solar panels and wind farms than England’s green, rolling fields.

This is one reason why our Antipodean cousins are jostling for pole position in the global race to generate hydrogen in industrial quantities.

Countries around the world are investing in hydrogen power as they scramble to cut carbon emissions. But they are also anxious not to miss out on what experts believe is destined to become a multi-trillion-dollar industry.

Still hugely reliant on coal and natural gas, Australia has been widely condemned for refusing to commit to becoming ‘carbon neutral’ by 2050.

But the country’s ambitions to produce clean-burning hydrogen – the most abundant molecule on earth – are on a truly epic scale.

Plans have been tabled to build the world’s biggest renewable energy hub in the Western Australian outback covering an area ten times the size of Greater London.

Costing up to £54billion and spanning nearly 6,000 square miles, it would produce up to 50 gigawatts of wind and solar power – doubling the entire country’s generation capacity.

But this energy would solely be used to power machines called electrolysers, which run electrical currents through water to split each H20 molecule into two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen. The bonus of this energy intensive process, of course, is no carbon emissions are produced.

It is hoped vast quantities of hydrogen can be sold around Australia and overseas to help power a new generation of green buses, cars and ships – and to heat homes - link - picture link - more like this - link

ABINGDON 002

I took this in the grounds of The Cosener's House, believed to be an ice house - soon to be a unique outside dining spot - link - more like this - link

ABINGDON 001

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VOLVO LOOKING TO TAKE BACK CONTROL

Volvo Cars, a sister company of Chinese car maker Geely Holding, to take full ownership of its car manufacturing plants and sales operations in China by acquiring Geely Holding's stake, in order to maintain its influence in its largest market, the company told Global Times on Wednesday. 

The acquisition of an additional 50 percent of the shares in Daqing Volvo Car Manufacturing Co and Shanghai Volvo Car Research and Development Co will strengthen Volvo Cars position in China, said the company.

Following the transactions, Volvo Cars will receive full ownership of its manufacturing plants in Chengdu of Southwest China's Sichuan Province and Daqing in Northeast Heilongjiang Province, its R&D facility in Shanghai and its national sales company in Chinese market.

"The acquisition will create a clearer ownership structure within both Volvo Cars and Geely Holding," said Daniel Donghui Li, Geely Holding chief executive officer. Håkan Samuelsson, chief executive of Volvo Cars also said Volvo Cars will become the first major oversea automaker with full ownership over its Chinese operations after the acquisition.

The transactions will be started in 2022 and be completed in 2023. The transactions are pending regulatory approvals - link

BEHOLD - THE HOPIUM MACHINA

French company Hopium has designed a sleek hydrogen-fuelled sports car that it hopes could take on Tesla in the zero-emissions vehicle race.

Led by French racing driver Olivier Lombard, Hopium unveiled a prototype for its luxury car, the Machina, in June. The 100 per cent hydrogen-powered sedan has 500 horsepower and a range of 1,000 kilometers, the company claims.

But prospective customers face a wait, as the car won't be available before 2025 at the earliest.

“It’s true that we are compared a lot with Tesla and our ambition is to have a higher-end car and to try to have a big experience for the driver using hydrogen,” Lombard told Euronews Next at the VivaTech 2021 conference in Paris.

“But I don’t know if we can be compared to Tesla. I think each company has its history, however, I think it can be some inspiration,” the 30-year-old said.

Hopium has so far produced a single prototype of the Machina, the Alpha 0. Deliveries of the production version of the Machina are estimated to begin in 2025, with the company currently accepting deposits for the first 1,000 cars - link

US DOE PROVIDES $27 MILLION FOR WAVE ENERGY

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced that as much as $27 million in federal funding will be provided for research and development projects focused on wave energy.

In the latest attempt to encourage innovation within a sector that has a very small footprint compared to other types of renewable energy, the DOE said Tuesday the funding would aim to “advance wave energy technologies toward commercial viability.”

Selected projects will undertake their research at the PacWave South facility, which is located off the coast of Oregon.

Construction of PacWave South — which has received grants from the DOE and the State of Oregon, among others — began last month and it’s hoped the site will be operational in 2023 - link

OPIBUS MINING EV UNVEILED

Opibus, a Kenyan electric vehicle designer and manufacturer focused on creating products tailored for the region with quality, price and local production in mind, has just unveiled one of Africa’s first fully electric vehicles for the mining sector.

The vehicle system is based on a modular electric powertrain which makes it easy for mining operators to convert their current fleet of vehicles to electric without having to invest in new vehicles.

This reduces cost as well as resource usage even though new vehicles can also be made completely electric. The first step in the conversion process is to service the vehicle to ensure that the body and chassis is in prime condition if it’s a used vehicle. Secondly, the fuel tank and engine are removed to leave space for the new electric powertrain - link - more like this (Africa) - link

QUEENSLAND - ZERO EMISSIONS TARGET

Queensland’s electricity grid will need to double in size to meet the growing need for zero emissions energy, according to the head of the state government’s leading clean energy utility.

Speaking at the online Queensland Smart Energy Summit on Tuesday, CleanCo chief executive Maia Schweitzer said the state has an ’embarrassment of riches’ that would allow it to take advantage of global commitments to reach zero net emissions.

“We see that on a global context, really gargantuan commitments that are being made by governments around the world, including the US government, the EU, countries in Asia,” Schweitzer said.

“If you think about that global context, Queensland really has a pretty unique, almost embarrassment of riches to make us successful in that global context.” - link

UNIVERSAL HYDROGEN CONVERTS DHC8-Q300S

Universal Hydrogen has signed letters of intent with three airlines to convert more than 15 regional airliners to run on green hydrogen. 

The company is developing conversion kits that accept interchangeable hydrogen modules that work like recyclable coffee pods.

The aircraft in question will be De Havilland Canada DHC8-Q300, or Dash-8. Universal Hydrogen has been working on a Dash-8 kit for some time now, replacing the standard plane's Pratt & Whitney turboprops and jet fuel tanks with a pair of two-megawatt Magnix electric motors, a hefty fuel cell and a modular hydrogen fuel system whose tanks pop in and out like great big seven-foot (2 m) long Nespresso pods. 

That's a comparison the company seems keep to push, as evidenced by this recent Reuters interview - link - more like this - link

BEHOLD - THE XPENG P5

GUANGZHOU, China — Chinese electric carmaker Xpeng Inc. has priced its new P5 sedan as low as 160,000 yuan ($24,694) days after Tesla launched a cheaper version of its Model Y sports utility vehicle.

The aggressive pricing from Xpeng comes as China’s electric vehicle market continues to heat up with an increasing number of players.

The P5 — Xpeng’s third production model and second sedan after the P7 — was launched earlier this year. There are six different versions of the car with different features, and prices range from 160,000 yuan to 230,000 yuan - link

BP ABERDEEN - OFFSHORE WIND GLOBAL HQ

Energy giant BP has pledged to make Aberdeen the centre of its global offshore wind business as part of a £10billion bid to win a lease to install and manage turbines in the North Sea.

The company’s global offshore wind centre of excellence would be the centrepiece of an massive investment across Scotland if it succeeds in its bid for acreage in ScotWind, the first offshore wind leasing round in Scottish waters for more than a decade.

BP and its partner in the bid, German energy company EnBW, have joined a contest of several companies that have submitted proposals to the Crown Estate Scotland to develop offshore wind farms in a tender process that ended last week.

There are more than a dozen plots of seabed off Scotland’s shores available to commercial wind developers in through ScotWind, which is expected to be decided next year - link

ROLLS-ROYCE - SPIRIT OF INNOVATION

Rolls-Royce has been one of the familiar names in the very early electric aircraft market. Its fully electric aircraft “Spirit of Innovation” is on the verge of attempting a new top speed record for an electric aircraft. It is aiming to fly 300+ mph (480+ km/h).

In the … spirit of electric innovation, Rolls-Royce is using Jaguar I-PACE electric cars to tow the plane and as support vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover is loaning Rolls-Royce the vehicles. Naturally, this is good marketing for the brand.

There’s a bit of irony or humorous coincidence as well. The Spirit of Innovation’s battery pack provides enough energy to fly from London to Paris on a single charge, while the I-PACE has 292 miles of range, which is enough to drive from London to Paris. 

Highlighting yet again the energy inefficiency of flying, though, if the energy in the Spirit of Innovation was used on the ground instead, it could power 250 homes, according to the companies - link - more like this - link

RACISTS - BRING ON ECHELON

Lewis Hamilton was subjected to racist abuse following his victory in Sunday's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The Mercedes driver claimed his eight victory at the track to close to within eight points of championship rival Max Verstappen.

However racist messages including monkey emojis and other slurs were sent as replies to a post by the Mercedes team on Instagram celebrating Hamilton's win.

The seven-time world champion has been particularly out spoken about racism - both in his sport and society.

Hamilton has previously questioned the lack of diversity within the paddock and said recently: "It's all been about understanding. So I was asking a lot of questions for a long, long time, for years.

Track these people down with whatever surveillance/tracking software is available at whatever cost and expose them - show their faces, tell the world where they work and publish their email addresses - link - join the ENAR - link - ECHELON - link

BEHOLD - THE BMW CE 04

It’s finally here: BMW has brought its futuristic concept electric scooter to life as the BMW CE 04. 

No longer just a lofty design study, the new electric scooter is prepared for production as the first in a new succession of electric urban mobility solutions from BMW Motorrad.

The BMW CE 04 follows very closely with the original concept bike unveiled last year, while offering minor concessions to ease production of the new electric two-wheeler.

But the inclusion of realistic fenders and practical mirrors hasn’t dulled the sharp, progressive design. It features no shortage of bright colors, floating panels, storage compartments, and angular edges. Even that single-sided rear swingarm puts a new twist on classic engineering.

The electric scooter includes a peak-rated 31 kW (42 hp) frame-mounted electric motor designed to offer zippy urban acceleration. BMW claims it can reach a speed of 50 km/h (31 mph) in 2.6 seconds, meaning riders should have no problem pulling away quickly from traffic lights - link - more like this - link

LANDFILL METHANE EMISSIONS

Remote sensing of methane from high altitude aircraft reveals plumes of the gas coming from the open face, on the left, and from a vent, on the right, at the River Birch landfill outside New Orleans in April 2021. Researchers from the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Carbon Mapper calculate the rate of methane venting at approximately 2,000 kilograms per hour, which would be 48 metric tons per day. Credit: University of Arizona, Arizona State University, NASA JPL and Carbon Mapper.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, landfills such as this one on the edge of Orlando are among the nation’s largest sources of methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide and a major contributor to global warming. 

A seminal U.N. report published in May found that immediate reductions in methane emissions are the best, swiftest chance the planet has at slowing climate change. Landfills emit methane when organic wastes such as food scraps, wood and paper decompose.

But the challenges to reining in methane are big, beginning with even quantifying how much leaves landfills. Industry operators insist the EPA overestimates emissions. Yet independent research looking at emissions from landfills in California and a top EPA methane expert say that the agency significantly underestimates landfill methane.

The EPA has “been understating methane emissions from landfills by a factor of two,” said Susan Thorneloe, a senior chemical engineer at the EPA who has worked on the agency’s methane estimation methods since the 1980s - link

ALMOST 10% OF GLOBAL ELECTRICITY FROM WIND & SOLAR

Ember’s recent Global Electricity Review revealed that wind and solar produced 2,435 TWh of electricity in 2020, providing almost a tenth of the world’s electricity. 

Wind and solar have doubled since 2015, when they generated 5% (1083 TWh) of the world’s electricity.

Some countries are generating significantly more electricity from wind and solar. The global leaders are Denmark and Uruguay, which generated 61% and 44% of their electricity from wind and solar in 2020.

Many countries across Europe generate around a third to a quarter of their electricity from wind and solar: Ireland (35%), Germany (33%), United Kingdom (29%), Spain (29%), Greece (27%) and Portugal (26%).

The majority of the top 15 wind and solar countries are in Europe, but the list also features Australia and South American countries Uruguay and Chile - link - more like this - link

BEHOLD - THE R5 ALPINE

The forthcoming all-electric hot hatchback from Alpine will be a beefed-up version of the reborn Renault 5 featuring the more potent electric motor from the new Megane EV crossover, the company’s engineering boss has confirmed.

The French sports brand is due to switch to pure-electric vehicles by the middle of this decade and it has already issued teasers for its ‘dream garage’ – a large SUV with a coupe roofline, a sports car that it will develop with Lotus, and a muscular-looking hot hatch with a large spoiler. Our exclusive images show how the cars could look.

The company’s executive vice-president for engineering, Gilles le Borgne, has confirmed to Auto Express that not only will the Alpine be a warmed-up version of the R5, but also that it will use a front-mounted motor producing 215bhp. Depending on weight and gearing, it could deliver a 0-62mph time of around six seconds - link

OMAN FLOODING

Authorities issued warnings for heavy rain and potential flash floods on 14 July 2021. Oman’s Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority (CDAA) urged people to take caution and not to risk crossing overflowing valleys (wadis).

In 48 hours to 17 July, the city port of Sur in Ash Sharqiyah South Governorate recorded 204.4 mm of rain. At least 30 families were evacuated from flooded homes in Sur on 17 July where power supply has been interrupted.

Heavy rain and floods also affected other areas of the country. Evacuations were also carried out in Falaj Al Qabail in North Al Batinah Governorate after homes were flooded.

CDAA reported two young children died in separate flood incidents in Jalan Bani Bu Hasan in South Al Sharqiyah and Awqad in Salalah in Dhofar Governorate on 17 July 2021. The previous day a construction worker died in Wadi Lizagh in Samail, Ad Dakhiliyah Governorate.

The heavy rain has continued today (18 July 2021) and more is expected over the coming days - link

GERMANY FLOODING

“It looks like a bomb went off. Everything’s destroyed. There’s nothing left of the city centre,” said Michaela Wolff, a winemaker from one of the German towns worst hit by last week’s catastrophic flooding.

Her family vineyard and guesthouse, the Weingut Sonnenberg, would normally be filled with tourists descending the red wine trail. This weekend it was filled with desperate refugees from homes destroyed when the Ahr burst its banks on Wednesday after days of heavy rain.

“We have water and we have electricity. The gas has been shut off, but we have more than most,” she said. “It’s chaotic, absolutely chaotic.”

Floods across western Germany and Belgium have killed at least 160 people, and the worst-hit area is the Ahrweiler district, which includes Wolf’s town of Bad Neuenahr.

Ninety-eight deaths have so far been confirmed there, among them 12 in a home for disabled people. Many more people are missing and the toll is expected to rise.

Thousands have also been made homeless, and the economic fallout from lost homes and businesses and the cost of repairing infrastructure is likely to run to billions - link

TIPPING POINT - FLOODS

Scientists have long predicted climate disruption will lead to more extreme weather, such as heatwaves, droughts and floods. 

Human emissions from engine exhaust fumes, forest burning and other activities are heating the planet. As the atmosphere gets warmer it holds more moisture which brings more rain.

All the places that recently experienced flooding – Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, London, Edinburgh, Tokyo and elsewhere – might have had heavy summer rain even without the climate crisis, but the deluges were unlikely to have been as intense.

But there have always been floods and heatwaves. What is the evidence that humans are making them worse?

First, more records are being broken more often; the world’s seven hottest years in recorded history have all come since 2014. Second, scientists can now use statistical analysis and computer models to calculate how much more likely particular weather events have become as a result of the extra stress that humans have put on the climate system. 

For example, human emissions made the deadly “heat dome” in Canada and North America last month at least 150 times more likely and the prolonged heatwave in Siberia last year more than 600 times more probable - link

“The Greatest Threat to Our Planet Is the Belief That Someone Else Will Save It” - link