September 12, 2023

Solaris: Biggest order for hydrogen buses in Europe -127 for Bologna

Solaris to carry out the biggest order for hydrogen buses in Europe

SolarisBus.com | 9-11-23

The municipal public transport operator TPER in the city of Bologna is going to purchase as much as 130 hydrogen buses. These zero-emission vehicles will be supplied by Solaris. The delivery will encompass 127 units of 12-metre Urbino 12 hydrogen buses for TPER Bologna and 3 units for TPER Ferrara. The carrier shall also have the right to extend the order by an additional 140 vehicles as an option.

The Italian cities of Bologna and Ferrara have just started one of the largest projects encompassing hydrogen fuel cell buses in Europe. Undoubtedly, this impressive order of 130 hydrogen-powered vehicles will bring the city closer to achieving its ambitious goal of transforming urban public transport to entirely zero-emission one by 2030. Bologna and Ferrara have opted for Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen buses, which, today, are one of the most popular hydrogen-powered buses Europe-wide. The contract allows for extending the order by an additional 140 vehicles.

Each bus will feature an innovative hydrogen system that fulfils the highest safety standards. The 70 kW fuel cell will derive hydrogen from five composite tanks placed on the bus roof. With the full tanks that can hold 37.5 kg of hydrogen, the bus will be able to cover about 350 km.

The inhabitants of Bologna and Ferrara will see for themselves the benefits of the Urbino 12 hydrogen buses as early as in 2024 when the first batch of 37 hydrogen units will be delivered to the city. The rest of the vehicles will arrive in 2025-2026...more
https://www.solarisbus.com/en/press/solaris-to-carry-out-the-biggest-order-for-hydrogen-buses-in-europe-2025

RELATED:



Venice bets on Solaris hydrogen buses!

SolarisBus.com | 9-11-23

In recent days, the Solaris company has secured several significant orders in the Italian market. One of them is a major contract to supply hydrogen buses to Venice. The transport company Azienda Veneziana della Mobilita has ordered a total of 90 hydrogen Solaris buses, with 75 of them being the 12-meter version and 15 being articulated buses. The contract also includes an option to increase the order quantity.

Venice is another Italian city that is committed to developing emission-free mobility, not only through the purchase of battery buses but also hydrogen-powered ones. AVM has just placed an order for 75 units of the 12-meter Urbino hydrogen and 15 articulated Urbino 18 hydrogen buses by Solaris. According to the agreement, these vehicles will be delivered to Venice gradually, starting from November 2025, and the deliveries will be completed in the first weeks of 2026.

It's worth noting that 30 battery-powered Solaris Urbino 12 electric buses and 4 hydrogen-powered Urbino 12 are already running in and around Venice.

Solaris Urbino hydrogen buses are entirely emission-free vehicles that use hydrogen converted into electrical energy as their power source. One of the advantages of hydrogen buses, besides their emission-free and quiet operation, is their long range on a single refueling. With approximately 35 kg of hydrogen for a 12-meter bus and 50 kg for an articulated vehicle, these buses can travel a minimum of 350 km.

A new feature in the hydrogen buses for AVM will be the hydrogen refueling valves located on both sides of the buses above the front wheel arch.

According to the contract, the order of 90 hydrogen buses can be extended with an option, which could mean an additional order of 13 twelve-meter buses and 5 articulated versions...more
https://www.solarisbus.com/en/press/venice-bets-on-solaris-hydrogen-buses-2028



September 2023: Italy drives the global hydrogen revolution forward in a big way

September 10, 2023

How long do residential solar panels last? - PV Magazine

Multiple factors affect the productive lifespan of a residential solar panel. In the first part of this series, we look at the solar panels themselves.

PV-magazine-usa.com | September 8, 2023 Ryan Kennedy

Residential solar panels are often sold with long-term loans or leases, with homeowners entering contracts of 20 years or more. But how long do panels last, and how resilient are they?

Panel life depends on several factors, including climate, module type, and the racking system used, among others. While there isn’t a specific “end date” for a panel per se, loss of production over time often forces equipment retirements.

When deciding whether to keep your panel running 20-30 years in the future, or to look for an upgrade at that time, monitoring output levels is the best way to make an informed decision.

Degradation

The loss of output over time, called degradation, typically lands at about 0.5% each year, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)...more
https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2023/09/08/how-long-do-residential-solar-panels-last/



Probably won't make any difference to some, they will continue to say "solar panels are junk after 20 years!" LOL Over and Over and Over again. They must think that a lie repeated enough times = truth.

September 8, 2023

World's first liquid hydrogen-powered plane unveiled

Reuters | September 7, 2023

H2FLY, a Germany-based developer of hydrogen-focused aviation solutions, achieved a milestone on Thursday (September 7) by completing the first public flight of an electric aircraft powered by liquid hydrogen. Kristy Kilburn reports...https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/idRW014107092023RP1

The H2FLY team say they have carried out four flights from Maribor, Slovenia, powered by liquid hydrogen as part of its flight test campaign, including one flight that lasted for over three hours.

They believe the flights lay the foundation for long-range, emissions-free flight, with liquid hydrogen doubling the range of the HY4 aircraft to 1,500km, compared to using gaseous hydrogen.

H2FLY.de

Why hydrogen is the best solution to decarbonize aviation!
https://www.h2fly.de/

September 7, 2023

WSJ: America's Wind-Farm Revolution Is Broken

America’s Wind-Farm Revolution Is Broken

Even with generous green subsidies, offshore wind projects are being called off as developers struggle to make a profit

Wall Street Journal | Carol Ryan | Sept. 7, 2023

Offshore wind farms should be one of the best solutions to the climate crisis but are turning out to be a lousy business. Getting the struggling industry back on its feet will require a new approach from companies and politicians alike.

The public face of the crisis is Ørsted, a former oil and gas producer that became the world’s largest offshore wind-farm developer. The Danish company’s stock has lost more than $10 billion, or a third of its market value, since warning last week that it may take impairments of up to $2.3 billion on its U.S. projects. On Tuesday, ratings provider Moody’s downgraded the stock, a further challenge for a company that, like a property developer, needs debt to fund its plans.



Ørsted won contracts to develop wind farms off the coasts of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey in late 2018 and 2019. Since committing to sell the power from these projects at a fixed price, permitting delays, rising costs and higher interest rates have torched the returns it expected to make.

The Biden administration wants to have 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030, from less than 50 megawatts today. Generous subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act are meant to turbocharge investment. Ørsted hoped bonus tax credits in the climate bill for using locally produced components would paper over financial cracks, but now says its wind farms may not qualify...more
https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/americas-wind-farm-revolution-is-broken-fa82d64e
archive: https://archive.ph/uqciT

This will no doubt make some here happy.

For the love of money people will do absolutely anything. Including f'ing their future. But meanwhile there is >$120 + BILLION to throw at war. Congrats USA USA USA

September 6, 2023

NASA: Circular Depressions in Australia Seep Hydrogen Gas

NASA Image of the Day for September 5, 2023

Circular Depressions Seep Hydrogen Gas

NASA | September 5, 2023

Pockmarked landscapes in Australia may be a treasure map of sorts for a natural source of clean energy. Clusters of so-called “fairy circles” in the North Perth Basin of Western Australia have been found to seep hydrogen gas from their perimeters. Natural sources of hydrogen such as these, which have been found on multiple continents, are receiving more and more attention in the quest for fossil fuel alternatives.

This image shows groups of fairy circles near the town of Moora, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Perth. It was acquired by the Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) on Landsat 9 on June 27, 2023. In this area, groups of round depressions are found along the north-south-trending Darling Fault. Sometimes called salt lakes, the features seen here are several hundred meters in diameter, and the amount of vegetation and water contained in their interiors changes over time.

In 2021, scientists took soil-gas measurements in and around some of these circles. They found that hydrogen was present in the soil, with elevated concentrations in soil around the circles’ edges. The study, led by Emanuelle Frery of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), was the first to confirm natural hydrogen seeps in Australia and link them to the region’s geology. However, the relationships between the presence of hydrogen, circular features, and vegetation patterns are not well understood, Frery said.

Hydrogen can be produced naturally in the Earth’s subsurface by a number of processes, including certain water-rock reactions and radiation-driven breakdown of water molecules (radiolysis). The North Perth Basin has some of the conditions conducive to hydrogen production. The study’s authors hypothesized that the hydrogen forms when water reacts with the area’s iron-rich rocks. After looking at geophysical data, they think that the fault zone may offer vertical pathways for the gas to migrate up to the surface...more:
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/151764/circular-depressions-seep-hydrogen-gas

See it now on Google Earth

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Moora+WA+6510,+Australia/@-30.5797178,115.9909768,5920m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x2bcdbc2d8e33ce01:0x400f6382479de60!8m2!3d-30.6410361!4d116.008009!16zL20vMDdqMm5u

And we were all told repeatedly that "There's no such thing as Natural Hydrogen!"

Helpful to remember that Humans have barely begun to understand....ANYTHING! A few hundred years of science - in a universe at least as old as 12B years is a tiny flash in time.

September 5, 2023

Teslas are bursting into flames in Florida after being flooded during Hurricane Idalia

Tesla car fire in Pinellas Park, Florida

Teslas are bursting into flames in Florida after being flooded during Hurricane Idalia

Saltwater and lithium-ion batteries are a bad combination

Techspot.com | Kishalaya Kundu | September 5, 2023

In context: Hurricane Idalia tore through Florida last week, leaving a trail of destruction that included destroyed homes, uprooted trees, and flooded neighborhoods. While most of the damage has already been widely reported, a peculiar new consequence of the hurricane is only now emerging. According to reports, the flooding has not only damaged many cars but is also causing some of them to catch fire spontaneously.

As reported by CBS News, at least two Teslas caught fire in Florida after being submerged in saltwater during the flooding that accompanied Hurricane Idalia. One of the two cars caught fire while it was being towed by fire crews after being flooded in Pinellas County. These incidents prompted the Palm Harbor Fire Department to issue an advisory to all EV owners, requesting that they remove their electric vehicles (EVs) from their garages if they came into contact with saltwater.

According to the department, lithium-ion batteries in EVs could ignite if they have been exposed to saltwater. Therefore, individuals with water-damaged electric vehicles should relocate them to higher ground for their own safety. This warning applies not only to electric sedans, trucks, and SUVs but also to smaller and lighter electric vehicles like golf carts, scooters, and bicycles that also have rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

The department also advised people not to drive EVs through saltwater because salt residues in batteries could act as a conductor between the battery's cells, potentially igniting a fire. While salt increases the fire risk for all types of EVs, larger vehicles are more susceptible than e-bikes because they have many more cells in their batteries. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) are also at risk as they also contain lithium-ion batteries...more
https://www.techspot.com/news/100032-teslas-bursting-flames-florida-after-flooded-during-hurricane.html

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1575508498430820352
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/744551674082136066

September 4, 2023

Public Charging Issues May Short-Circuit EV Growth, J.D. Power Finds

Public Charging Issues May Short-Circuit EV Growth, J.D. Power Finds

J.D. Power | 16 August 2023

TROY, Mich.: 16 Aug. 2023 — While automakers continue to introduce new electric vehicles (EVs) and experience growth in market share, the beleaguered public vehicle charging infrastructure has not kept pace. If anything, it is falling further behind. The recent move to open Tesla Superchargers to non-Tesla owners could improve the situation, but such effort might not be the answer that some suggest, as overall satisfaction continues to decline, according to the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Public Charging Study,SM released today.

Despite the increase in public charging stations across the United States, customer satisfaction with public Level 2 charging has declined to 617 (on a 1,000-point scale), 16 points lower than a year ago and the lowest level since the study began in 2021. Though purported to be the wave of the future, satisfaction with DC (direct current) fast chargers has declined even further, dropping 20 points to 654. More troubling is that satisfaction in both charging station segments has declined in nearly every attribute measured in the study. Since consumer skepticism regarding public charging availability is the primary reason vehicle shoppers reject EVs, this performance could prove to be a further hindrance to EV acceptance.

"The declining customer satisfaction scores for public charging should be concerning to automakers and, more broadly, to public charging stakeholders," said Brent Gruber, executive director of the EV practice at J.D. Power. "The availability of public charging stations is still a critical obstacle, but it isn't the only one. EV owners continue to have issues with many aspects of public charging, as the cost and speed of charging and the availability of things to do while waiting for their vehicle to charge are the least satisfying aspects. At the same time, the reliability of public chargers continues to be a problem. The situation is stuck at a level where one of every five visits ends without charging, the majority of which are due to station outages."

Tesla owners are relatively satisfied with the Tesla Supercharger network (745), but when they go outside the network to use other public charging options, satisfaction declines by nearly 200 points (550). “With greater adoption of the North American Charging Standard (NACS) pioneered by Tesla, it may provide a boost in fast-charging satisfaction among owners of EVs from other brands as they begin to use Tesla’s Supercharger stations,” Gruber said. “We’re monitoring whether the use of Tesla Superchargers by non-Tesla owners will affect satisfaction, but the move does help address charger scarcity and offer access to industry-leading reliable chargers. It’s just too early to tell if it can reach the satisfaction levels of Tesla owners who are already part of that fully integrated Tesla ecosystem.”

Following are key findings of the 2023 study: more
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2023-us-electric-vehicle-experience-evx-public-charging-study



Batteries and only batteries are not going to suit everyone. That is simply a fact.

September 4, 2023

Banks pouring trillions to fossil fuel expansion in global south, report finds - The Guardian

Climate activist Greta Thunberg protests against fossil fuels during the New Global Financial Pact Summit, in Paris, on 23 June. Photograph: Thomas Samson/AFP/Getty Images

Banks pouring trillions to fossil fuel expansion in global south, report finds

The Guardian | Dharna Noor | 4 Sep 2023

Banks are pouring trillions of dollars into the expansion of the world’s most emitting industries in the global south, according to a new report.

A TRILLION here and a TRILLION there and pretty soon you're talking real money...

Developing countries are often on the frontlines of the climate crisis yet lack the resources to enact climate action plans. As such, they require trillions of dollars in aid to decarbonize their economies and adapt to a warming world.

But financial firms are helping to push such countries in the opposite direction, the Monday analysis from international non-governmental organization ActionAid argues.

...The leading fossil fuel financiers include Chinese banks funding coal, oil and gas buildout within the nation. Top US banks like Citigroup, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase have also offered trillions to Saudi Aramco, Exxon and other fossil fuel companies for fossil fuel activity in developing countries in regions such as South America and Africa...more
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/04/banks-pour-trillions-fossil-fuel-expansion-global-south-report-says



It's a real shame that much of the world in 2023 is nothing but a global clown show.

September 2, 2023

Why investing in new nuclear plants is bad for the climate -ScienceDirect

Why investing in new nuclear plants is bad for the climate -ScienceDirect

ScienceDirect | Luke Haywood, Marion Leroutier, Robert Pietzcker | 16 August 2023

There has been a strong push to promote increased investments in new nuclear power as a strategy to decarbonize economies, especially in the European Union (EU) and the United States (US). The evidence base for these initiatives is poor. Investments in new nuclear power plants are bad for the climate due to high costs and long construction times. Given the urgency of climate change mitigation, which requires reducing emissions from the EU electricity grid to almost zero in the 2030s (Pietzcker et al.1), preference should be given to the cheapest technology that can be deployed fastest. On both costs and speed, renewable energy sources beat nuclear. Every euro invested in new nuclear plants thus delays decarbonization compared to investments in renewable power. In a decarbonizing world, delays increase CO2 emissions.

Our thoughts focus on new nuclear power plants (not phasing out existing plants) in the US and Europe. In Europe, new nuclear power plants are planned or seriously discussed in France, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. We do not focus on China, where government-set electricity prices and subsidized capital costs make it more difficult to contrast the profitability of different types of energy sources.

Nuclear energy is expensive

The cost overruns on recent nuclear projects are dramatic. In an international comparative assessment of construction cost overruns for electricity infrastructure, Sovacool et al.2 find that nuclear reactors are the investment type with the most frequent and largest cost overruns, alongside hydroelectric dams. 97% of the 180 nuclear reactor investment projects included in their analysis suffered cost overruns, with an average cost increase of 117% per project. More recently, the current estimate of the construction costs of the French Flamanville project stands at €13.2 billion up from an initial €3.3 billion (figures that do not even include financing costs, which the French audit office estimated at €4.2 billion up from an initial €1.2 billion) and those of the recently opened Finish Olkiluoto at €11 billion instead of €3 billion. “Construction costs are high enough that it becomes difficult to make an economic argument for nuclear,” Davis3 finds. Similarly, Wealer et al.4 conclude that “investing into a Gen III/III+ nuclear power plant ... would very likely generate significant losses.”

Beyond construction costs, the cost of capital is a critical parameter for evaluating the viability of nuclear power. First, the very long construction times and delays generate particularly large financing costs for a given interest rate. Portugal-Pereira et al.6 report an escalation of capital costs worldwide due to increasing construction delays for the last generation of nuclear reactors constructed since the 2010s. The French court of auditors estimates that the cost of the French nuclear power plant Flamanville will increase from €13.2 billion to €20 billion once financing costs and delays are taken into account. Second, the historically high risk of default translates into higher interest rates. These two factors make the profitability of nuclear projects very dependent on financing conditions...more
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542435123002817


RELATED:



Atomic age is over in Germany, Chancellor Scholz insists

GABRIEL GAVIN | SEPTEMBER 2, 2023

Germany will not leave the door open for a possible return to using nuclear power now or in the future, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday.

Responding to a suggestion from members of his own governing coalition that the country should not rule out restarting its shuttered reactors, Scholz told radio station Deutschlandfunk that "nuclear energy is over" and the issue is "a dead horse" in Germany.

"The fact is that with the end of the use of nuclear power, dismantling has also begun” at the power stations that have been closed down, he said. "Any talk of resuming the use of atomic energy would imply building new power stations," Scholz argued.

"Anyone who wanted to build new nuclear power plants would need 15 years and would have to spend €15-€20 billion each," he went on...more
https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-nuclear-energy-climate-change-olaf-scholz-atomic-age-is-over/

Talk about a boondoggle!

September 2, 2023

Sailing Green With Sunreef's Zero-Emission Hydrogen Superyacht

Sailing Green With Sunreef’s Zero-Emission Hydrogen Superyacht

CarbonCredits.com | Jennifer L | September 1, 2023

Sunreef Yachts gave seafarers a better look at its revolutionary Zero Cat concept, a catamaran that sails on hydrogen and produces its own power.

Sunreef Yachts is leading the market for semi-custom luxury catamarans while establishing itself as a key player in eco-friendly and sustainable yachting. The Polish yard first teased sailors with its hydrogen and solar powered catamaran last July.

Carbon-Free Luxury Sailing

Yachts have long been the symbols of the luxurious lifestyle of the rich and wealthy. But as concerns about climate change continue to intensify, questions arise on how yachts impact the environment...

...According to industry data, a superyacht emits more than 7,000 tonnes of CO2 a year – considering it has a helicopter pad, pools, and submarines. To put that in perspective, the emission is over 1,500x more than how much a family car emits...more
https://carboncredits.com/sailing-into-the-future-with-sunreefs-hydrogen-powered-superyacht-fhyd/