Weekly-ish News - Episode 24 (August 15, 2021)

What's the Alternative?

If you have any feedback or suggestions, please feel free to find me on Twitter @archduketyler

Important videos about the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report:

Simon Clark (a proper climate physicist) talks about the IPCC report.

Hank Green talks about possible approaches for governments to tackle climate change.

Hank Green's call to arms for Americans regarding climate change.

• I want to note here that I often disagree with Hank Green on many political topics and this video is deeply political in nature. Despite that fact, I agree that we need to do what we can to show our representatives that we believe in climate change and support action that will get us out of the mess we're in. I think this video is worth watching if you believe climate change is a real problem we need to solve, even if you disagree with Hank politically.

Electric Vehicles:

Tesla is *actually* considering opening up the Supercharger network in the U.S.

• Allegedly happening later this year.
• Adapters from Tesla's plugs to the CCS standard would need to be available
• There may be a different charging rate (price) for non-Teslas
• Tesla may charge more for slower charging EVs
• They may also add dynamic pricing based on how busy chargers are

We now have more info about the Polestar 2.

• Up to 265mi range
• Starts at $47,200
• All-around upgrade from the previous model.
• To be released near the end of 2021.

Rivian is installing its level 2 charging stations in every Tennessee state park (56) as part of its "Waypoint Network".

• Rivian is footing the bill for all of this
• Includes a 10 year maintenance contract
• The chargers will be free to use (at least initially)
• Partnership with the state's Department of Environment and Conservation
• 11.5kW chargers

There's another Chevy Bolt recall for fire risk. Yay.

• Model years 2017-2019
• They suggest you:

Shell is installing charging stations at 100 Waitrose locations across the UK by 2025.

• The first installations will begin at the beginning of 2022.
• Each location will get six 22kW chargers and two 50kW chargers.
• Shell also plans to install a total of 5000 charging ports at gas stations in the UK by 2025.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory published a study looking at whether the electric grid can support full electrification of delivery fleets in the US.

• They found that 80-90% of all substations could support full electrification of delivery fleets, even if they used the fastest charging available.

Indiana is going to pilot an under-road inductive EV charging project for heavy duty trucks.

• The project will include studies, testing, and so on at Purdue, then the installation of a quarter-mile charging strip of interstate.
• The road will charge vehicles up to 200kW

Other fuels:

In California, natural gas trucks were carbon-negative overall due to the use of renewable natural gas (RNG):

• 92% of all natural gas used in vehicles was RNG
• This data comes directly from the California Air Resources Board (CARB)
• In the US overall, 53% of all natural gas in vehicles was RNG

40 ethanol plants pledge to be carbon neutral by 2050.

• They claim ethanol reduces GHG emissions by 52% over gasoline already and they'll bring that number to 70% by 2030.

"Blue Hydrogen" produces more carbon per megajoule than coal, largely due to methane leakage.

• Full study.
• Blue Hydrogen is hydrogen produced through steam methane reforming (SMR) and paired with carbon capture and sequestration.
• The study assumes that the sequestration part of the process is 100% efficient (a bold assumption).
• Crucially, the study compares the carbon emissions on a per-megajoule basis, which doesn't factor in the fact that hydrogen may be used more efficiently than coal.
• They show that simply burning the natural gas instead of producing hydrogen with it is more carbon-efficient (again, they don't consider fuel cells as far as I can tell).
• They showed the carbon capture process results in 12% lower emissions over pure SMR hydrogen production.

Energy:

Oil and Gas accounts for 5.6% of US jobs and 6.8% of labor income.

• This is from a study by the American Petroleum Institute
• It factors in indirect jobs from oil/gas work as well
• Louisiana in particular gets 12.6% of its jobs and 23% of its GDP from oil/gas

The Cricket Valley Energy Center is planning to convert its natural gas power plant in Dover Plains, NY to run on hydrogen.

• They plan to use "green hydrogen", but don't provide details about where/how they'll get that hydrogen

Policy:

Minnesota has adopted California's Zero-Emission Vehicle standards.

Biden is apparently considering mandating that airlines use 100% renewable jet fuel by 2050.

• According to the article, renewable jet fuel currently costs 2-5x the price of petroleum jet fuel