Batteries

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Carrie Xiao at PV Tech reports that in the first five months of 2023, China has installed 62.1 gigawatts of solar capacity at a cost of $13.6 billion. Year on year, it was a 140% expansion. Just to give you an idea of the magnitude of this advance, a typical […]

Batteries

Wind and Solar are Saving Texas from Brownouts during deadly Heat Dome, but Republicans want to Abolish Them

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Kristoffer Tigue at Inside Climate News reports that climate change made the brutal heat wave assaulting Texas worse, but that the state’s renewable power sources have helped keep the air conditioners running. Temperatures are predicted to stay over 100°F this week, with a slight break owing to a thunderstorm system. […]

Batteries

The Real Project for a New American Century: Ford Receives $9.2 Billion Loan for EV Battery Plants to Counter China

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – David Shepardson at Reuters reports that Ford Motor Co. and its partner SK of South Korea have received a $9.2 billion loan for 3 battery plants in Kentucky and Tennessee from the Department of Energy under the loan program called Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM). It is the biggest single […]

Batteries

Using electric water Heaters to store renewable Energy could do the work of 2 million home Batteries – and save us Billions

The Conversation

By David Roche, University of Technology Sydney | – Australia’s energy transition is well under way. Some 3 million households have rooftop solar and sales of medium-sized electric cars are surging. But as we work towards fully electric households powered by renewable energy, have we overlooked a key enabling technology, the humble electric water heater? […]

Batteries

Tipping Point? Global Investments in Low-Carbon Energy Outstrip Fossil Fuel Commitments by 1.7 to 1 for First Time in World History

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Globally, investors will sink $1.7 trillion into low-carbon energy this year — for the first time more than will be invested in fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency. Fatih Birol, the Executive Director of the IEA, said, “For every dollar invested in fossil fuels, about 1.7 dollars are […]

Batteries

Kerry is Right that US must Cooperate with China to fight Climate Crisis, and CATL’s new Sodium Ion Battery Proves it

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A startling new development in battery technology underscores why John Kerry is right that the US needs to cooperate with China on combating the climate crisis. The Washington Blob, the combination of lobbyists, permanent bureaucrats, national security professionals and think tanks, is always looking for an enemy to demonize. China […]

Batteries

Chinese-made EVs are Conquering the world’s largest Auto Market, as BEV sales Soared 87% in ’22

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – EV sales have taken off in China, the world’s largest auto market, according to Reuters. Moreover, Chinese makers of electric vehicles are outshining most of their rivals. BYD’s sales are up a startling 69% this year even though the overall market is a bit sluggish. Tesla sales are up 27%. […]

Batteries

How Solar Thermal Tech can get us through the Night

The Conversation

By Dominic Zaal, CSIRO | – Australia’s transition to renewables is gathering speed, but there’s a looming problem with storage. We will need much more long-duration storage to get us through the night, once coal and fossil gas exit the system. We also need to find new and better ways to create heat for industrial […]

Batteries

Iran discovered to have 10% of World’s Lithium Deposits, in Good News for China’s EV Industry

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Indian Express reports from Iran’s PressTV that the country has discovered a deposit of 8.5 million tons of lithium in the Qahavand Plain of western Hamedan province. There are only 89 million tons of lithium in the world in known deposits so far, with the bulk of them in […]