Articles by
External Source
Wind turbine accidents with planes rare
By
External Source
Accidents involving wind turbines and airplanes are few and far between, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s online database.
The crash of a small Piper aircraft destroyed in an April 27 accident when it crossed paths with the blade of a wind turbine near Highmore is only the second of its kind reported in the database. Last month’s accident is under investigation by the NTSB, a federal group that investigates all aircraft incidents.
Rivian R1T gets dragged 100 feet after Hurricane Helene and still runs
By
External Source
When Rivian said its electric pickup was built to “handle it all,” it wasn’t bluffing. A Rivian R1T owner in Asheville, North Carolina, had his vehicle dragged 100 to 150 feet after Hurricane Helene swept through the area. To even his surprise, Rivian’s electric pickup was still ready to run.
North Carolina’s Coming Run on Electric Cars
By
External Source
When Hurricane Helene knocked out the power in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday, Dustin Baker, like many other people across the Southeast, turned to a backup power source. His just happened to be an electric pickup truck. Over the weekend, Baker ran extension cords from the back of his Ford F-150 Lightning, using the truck’s battery to keep his refrigerator and freezer running. It worked so well that Baker became an energy Good Samaritan. “I ran another extension cord to my neighbor so they could run two refrigerators they have,” he told me.
I surrendered charging decisions to my EV, and then worried about something else
By
External Source
Instead of mapping out my own charging strategy using various apps on my smartphone, and factoring in a significant buffer in my EV’s state of charge, I let the machine do the planning.
Initially, I feared pulling into an empty lot in my Hyundai Ioniq 5 somewhere just off a lonely stretch of highway, no charger to be seen and no one to blame.
But the route planning software was a terrific co-pilot for me and my family. It directed us to fast-chargers over the 3,400-kilometre journey from Toronto to Nova Scotia and back that required fewer stops than last year. Whereas I might have grown nervous when my battery’s state of charge dipped below 30 per cent, the car’s software was confident with a far slimmer 10 per cent safety buffer.
Wind farm site supervisor released on bail for CO2 leak incident
By
External Source
The supervisor of an onshore wind farm construction site in Changhua County has been released on bail of NT$200,000 (US$6,260) following the death of a worker on Monday due to a CO2 leak incident, according to the Changhua District Prosecutors Office. The incident occurred on Aug. 20 at the Hai Long construction site for an offshore wind farm, resulting in one death, with two workers still in critical condition, and 14 others injured.
The UK coal-fired power station that became a giant battery
By
External Source
With the closure of the last coal-fired power station in the UK, it raises questions about how old fossil fuel infrastructure can be repurposed. One option is to use them to store energy from renewables.
It's an unassuming place for a major era of British history to come to an end. Surrounded by farmland drenched by recent rains and trees with leaves starting to turn ahead of the autumn – all within earshot of the thundering traffic from the M1 motorway – the UK's last coal-fired power station is shutting down for good. As of 30 September 2024 the turbines at the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power plant in Nottinghamshire will fall silent while smoke and steam will cease to belch from the chimney and cooling towers that dominate this part of the landscape.
The power station, which has been operating since 1967, is to undergo a two-year decommissioning and demolition process.
Mahle CEO Arnd Franz says hydrogen will fail without fossil fuels
By
External Source
Earlier this year, MAN trucks’ CEO Alexander Vlaskamp told reporters that it was, “impossible for hydrogen to effectively compete with battery electric trucks.”
He was right then, and he’s still right now. “It’s one thing to have the technology and another thing for the technology to be viable,” Vlaskamp told the magazine Expansión (translated from Spanish). “Green hydrogen is not available for transportation and there is no point in switching from diesel to hydrogen if the energy source is not sustainable.”
Yes, EVs Really Do Make The Air Cleaner
By
External Source
The California Air Resources Board (CARB), the government agency responsible for promoting and approving clean energy programs in the state, released a report recently stating that electric cars helped cut the state's greenhouse gas emissions by 9.3 million metric tons in 2022 compared to the year before, or by about 2.4%. From 2000 to 2022, the state’s emissions across sectors fell by 20% while its gross domestic product increased by 78%.
Energy analyst Michael Liebreich: ‘Politicians love talking about hydrogen, it’s modern and cool; it sounds like you’re doing something’
By
External Source
Towering ambitions predominate European hydrogen policy. Politicians believe this energy carrier can help greenify the industry, heat houses, and make air and road transport climate-neutral. But these goals are unrealistic, and politicians are being fooled by the fossil fuel industry, says energy analyst Michael Liebreich. ‘The political body has no antibodies. There is no scepticism at all.’
Hydrogen hype’s origin story
By
External Source
For anyone curious about the origins of all the hydrogen hype that has recently made its way to Canada — including Nova Scotia as the Halifax Examiner has reported extensively — the European investigative publication, “Follow The Money” has a fascinating article called “How one professor made the EU fall in love with hydrogen.”
RFK Jr.’s ‘Sad’ Slide From Environmental Hero to Outcast
By
External Source
Opposition to offshore wind by the third-party presidential candidate turned Trump supporter began decades ago in the waters off Cape Cod. Project proponents say the fierce opposition by Kennedy, a presidential candidate who recently suspended his campaign but remains on the ballot in nearly three dozen states, had a long-lasting impact on the U.S. offshore wind industry and laid the seeds for opposition that continues today.
“It set back offshore wind over 20 years in the United States,” said Jim Gordon, the former CEO of Cape Wind, the company that tried to build the Nantucket Sound project. Gordon said Kennedy was often the loudest, most combative voice of the well-funded opposition. “You have to understand that they created such a brouhaha and so much fear over the technology and the impacts, which have proven to be unfounded.”
High Mileage, Low Stress: Most EVs Retain Over 85% of Original Range after 175K Miles
By
External Source
People who know about electric vehicles know that aging is different with electrons. Fewer moving parts mean fewer odometer-related mechanical failures. EV drivers also know that battery degradation tends to be slower and gentler than people fear.
So far, the news about high mileage EVs - those with more than 175,000 miles - is pretty good. But, because the majority of EVs on the road are newer, and have far fewer miles, the story is still developing.
We took a look at the top 100 odometer vehicles in our community. Excluding cars that have reported battery replacements (or those we suspect did), the average range score of these vehicles is 86.6.
This means that, on average, these cars still get 86-87% of their range when new.
