Emma Pinchbeck executive director at RenewableUK: There will be challenges ahead. If EVs are to become the dominant mode of transport then a significant amount of extra power and smarter management of electricity will be needed. As RenewableUK has noted, this increase in demand must be met by renewables if we are to capture the full benefits of a low-carbon energy grid. And it’s easy to see how the advent of these technologies can play into this wider shift in our energy system.An ideal future will see more consumers playing a pro-active role in the running of a clean, flexible and smart energy grid: solar panels linked to a home storage unit, an electric vehicle on charge in the garage, and smart meters helping to soften demand. A fully integrated system such as this transforms your home into a power station where demands for your heat, power and transport fuel aren’t so clearly demarcated. In the immediate term, these technologies have a bright future. It’s not fanciful to imagine how EVs and batteries can help to transform our future when you consider how rapidly renewables have grown and matured in recent years. There is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to apply the same level of innovation and ingenuity to the challenges ahead as we have already applied to growing our clean technologies up to now.
Business Green 10th Aug 2017 read more »
The drive to replace polluting petrol and diesel cars with a new breed of electric vehicles has gathered momentum in recent weeks. But there is an unanswered environmental question at the heart of the electric car movement: what on earth to do with their half-tonne lithium-ion batteries when they wear out? British and French governments last month committed to outlaw the sale of petrol- and diesel-powered cars by 2040, and carmaker Volvo pledged to only sell electric or hybrid vehicles from 2019. The number of electric cars in the world passed the 2m mark last year and the International Energy Agency estimates there will be 140m electric cars globally by 2030 if countries meet Paris climate agreement targets. This electric vehicle boom could leave 11m tonnes of spent lithium-ion batteries in need of recycling between now and 2030, according to Ajay Kochhar, CEO of Canadian battery recycling startup Li-Cycle. However, in the EU as few as 5% (pdf) of lithium-ion batteries are recycled. This has an environmental cost. Not only do the batteries carry a risk of giving off toxic gases if damaged, but core ingredients such as lithium and cobalt are finite and extraction can lead to water pollution and depletion among other environmental consequences. There are, however, grounds for optimism. Thus far, the poor rates of lithium-ion battery recycling can be explained by the fact that most are contained within consumer electronics, which commonly end up neglected in a drawer or chucked into landfill. This won’t happen with electric vehicles, predicts Marc Grynberg, chief executive of Belgian battery and recycling giant Umicore. “Car producers will be accountable for the collection and recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries,” he says. “Given their sheer size, batteries cannot be stored at home and landfilling is not an option.”
Guardian 10th Aug 2017 read more »
How will we power the electric car revolution? FoE Briefing.
FoE (accessed) 10th Aug 2017 read more »
