electric vehicles – Enviro Updates

SuzanneJune 7, 2023June 10, 2023Climate Change & Energyelectric vehicles, heat pumps

US residential heat pump sales pass gas furnaces for first time as interest in efficiency tech surges

Robert Walton, UTILITY DIVE

Global energy demand rose 1% in 2022 but the rate of energy efficiency improvements was double the average of the past five years boosted by “surging” sales in more efficient technologies like heat pumps and electric vehicles, the International Energy Agency said in a report Wednesday.
In the United States last year, residential heat pump sales exceeded gas furnaces for the first time, making up 53% of heating system sales.
Sales of electric vehicles grew 55% last year in the United States, and in the first quarter of this year made up more than 7% of new car sales. Globally, EVs made up 14% of new car sales in 2022 and could reach 18% this year, IEA said.

SuzanneSeptember 29, 2022October 5, 2022Climate Change & Energy, Transportationelectric vehicles, ghg emissions, ghg reduction, public transit

Santa Rosa acquires new electric transit buses, readying first two for service in late 2022

Alana Minkler & Colin Atagi, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Two electric buses arrived in Santa Rosa on Wednesday morning and two more are on the way as the city is poised to put them into service later this year — the start of a bigger shift to eliminate carbon emissions tied to the CityBus fleet.

The switch to electrical buses is part of the city’s initiative to make public transportation fully zero-emission by 2030 and drastically lower carbon emissions in the transportation sector, which accounts for 60% of climate warming gases in the county.

The city’s all-electric buses, which cost $1.2 million each, join three currently in the county fleet, and are part of the broader plan by transit and fleet managers eyeing a transition away from fossil fuel vehicles over the coming years.

Sonoma County Transit introduced its first electric bus in 2018 and plans to add three more by the end of this year, with up to 19 in service by mid-2024, said Sonoma County Transit Systems Manager Bryan Albee said.

SuzanneAugust 25, 2022August 26, 2022Climate Change & Energy, Transportationelectric vehicles, fossil fuel infrastructure, gas station ban

Santa Rosa, largest US city to ban new gas stations

Paulina Pineda, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Santa Rosa became the largest city in the nation to ban new gas stations on Tuesday, joining other cities in Sonoma County that have led a coordinated effort to combat climate impacts of fossil fuel.

In the latest volley of a locally grown movement that supporters hope will catch on across the nation, the City Council voted 6-0 to ban construction of gas stations and expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure at existing gas stations within city limits.

The new rules will not close gas stations though it will put some limits on current operators.

Santa Rosa has 44 operating gas stations and there are two proposed stations under review at Rincon Road and North Wright Road. Gas stations that submit completed applications before the ban goes into effect in October will be considered by staff.

With Tuesday’s vote, more than half of Sonoma County residents will live in a jurisdiction that has banned gas stations. Supporters point to elected officials in Los Angeles and mid-state New York who are looking at similar ordinances.

SuzanneJanuary 11, 2022August 3, 2022Climate Change & Energy, Transportationelectric vehicles

Is Norway the future of cars?

Shira Ovide, NEW YORK TIMES

Last year, Norway reached a milestone. Only about 8 percent of new cars sold in the country ran purely on conventional gasoline or diesel fuel. Two-thirds of new cars sold were electric, and most of the rest were electric-and-gasoline hybrids.

For years, Norway has been the world leader in shifting away from traditional cars, thanks to government benefits that made electric vehicles far more affordable and offered extras like letting electric car owners skip some fees for parking and toll roads.

Still, electric car enthusiasts are stunned by the speed at which the internal combustion engine has become an endangered species in Norway.

“It has surprised most people how quickly things have changed,” Christina Bu, the secretary general of the Norwegian EV Association, told me. In 2015, electric cars were about 20 percent of new car sales, and now they are “the new normal,” Bu said. (Her organization is like AAA for electric vehicle drivers.)

Americans might view Norwegians as environmental die-hards who were eager to ditch gas cars. But Bu and other transportation experts told me that Norwegians started with much of the same electric vehicle skepticism as Americans.

SuzanneNovember 8, 2021November 16, 2021Climate Change & Energy, Transportationelectric vehicles, energy transmission, EV charging stations, power grid, safe streets

The climate bill inside the infrastructure bill

Dan Farber, LEGAL PLANET

The US takes a major step forward on the path to carbon neutrality.

Late Friday, the House passed Biden’s infrastructure bill, the Build Back Better law. As the Washington Post aptly observed, the bill is the biggest climate legislation to ever move through Congress. It also attracted key support from some Republicans, which was essential to passing it in both houses of Congress. Biden is pushing for an even bigger companion bill, but the infrastructure bill is a huge victory in its own right.

One major area of spending is transportation. Some of that goes for roads and bridges. But as the Washington Post reports, there’s a lot of money for rail and mass transit:

“Another $66 billion will go to passenger and freight rail, including enough money to eliminate Amtrak’s maintenance backlog. Yet another $39 billion will modernize public transit, and $11 billion more will be set aside for transportation safety, including programs to reduce fatalities among pedestrians and cyclists.”

There’s also $7.5 billion in funding for zero and low-emission buses and ferries. There’s another $7.5 billion to build out charging capacity for electric vehicles, and $6 billion for energy storage.

The law also addresses a big bottleneck in the energy system: lack of adequate long-distance transmission capacity. We will need much more robust transmission to achieve a carbon neutral grid. For instance, Iowa can generate more wind power than it can get to markets in Chicago and further east. Transmission also helps to deal with weather issues: even if it’s too cloudy for solar in one state, the sun may be shining a state or two over. The effort to build new transmission has been stymied, however, by resistance from utilities and state governments.

SuzanneMarch 30, 2021April 8, 2021Climate Change & Energy, Transportationbatteries, electric vehicles

Sonoma County startup Solectrac builds electric tractors for vineyard managers, hobbyists

Susan Wood, NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL

Steve Heckeroth is a natural for running a novel electric tractor business — which is believed to have environmentally created a line in the “soil” to get generations of farmers to know the dirt on noisy, unhealthy diesel engines.

The 72-year-old businessman, who moved his Solectrac operation from Mendocino County to Santa Rosa near the Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport a few weeks ago, has dedicated his life to finding alternatives to burning fossil fuels.

Through the years, he has dug deep into his imagination and will to reduce humankind’s carbon footprint by coming up with farm equipment that’s designed to heal the Earth and help the land’s stewards — known in industry circles as the ultimate environmentalists — operate more efficiently and with their own health in mind.

SuzanneFebruary 25, 2021October 29, 2021Climate Change & Energy, Transportationelectric vehicles

Chinese £3,200 budget electric car takes on Tesla

Justin Harper, BBC NEWS

A budget electric vehicle (EV) selling in China for $4,500 (£3,200) is now outselling Tesla’s more upmarket cars.

The compact car is proving a big hit for state-owned SAIC Motor, China’s top automaker.

The Hong Guang Mini EV is being built as part of a joint venture with US car giant General Motors (GM).

Last month sales of the budget electric car in China were around double those of Tesla, which was questioned this month over safety issues there.

While the $4,500 Hong Guang Mini is the most popular model, there is an upgraded one with air conditioning for just over $5,000. The cars are being marketed as “the people’s commuting tool”.

SuzanneNovember 11, 2020Climate Change & Energycarbon bank, carbon sequestration, climate action plans, electric vehicles, ghg emissions, ghg reduction

How Biden aims to amp up the government’s fight against climate change

Juliet Eilperin and Annie Linskey, THE WASHINGTON POST

A new administration would enlist departments like Transportation, Agriculture and Treasury to advance its climate goals

President-elect Joe Biden is poised to embed action on climate change across the breadth of the federal government, from the departments of Agriculture to Treasury to State — expanding it beyond environmental agencies to speed U.S. efforts to mitigate global warming and to acknowledge that the problem touches many aspects of American life.

The far-reaching strategy is aimed at making significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions even without congressional action, by maximizing executive authority.

“From the very beginning of the campaign, when President-elect Biden rolled out his climate plan, he made it clear he sees this as an all-of-government agenda, domestic, economic, foreign policy,” said Stef Feldman, campaign policy director for Biden, a Democrat. “From the very beginning, when he talked about infrastructure, he talked about making sure that it built in climate change, that we are making our communities more resilient to the effects of climate change.”

The vast majority of scientists agree that carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases released when humans burn fossil fuels is helping warm Earth. On the campaign trail, Biden proposed the most aggressive plan of any major party nominee to try to slow that warming.

In a sign of how Biden has already elevated the issue, he discussed the topic with every European head of state with whom he spoke on Tuesday, including the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Ireland. Biden has started frequently referring to the climate “crisis,” suggesting a heightened level of urgency.

SuzanneJuly 15, 2020August 2, 2020Climate Change & Energyall-electric, electric vehicles, fossil fuels, walkable community, zero emissions

Historic moment for climate! Menlo Park is going for zero carbon by 2030!

Diane Bailey, INMENLO

On Tuesday, July 14, Menlo Park became the first city in the U.S. to commit to becoming zero carbon by 2030! The newly adopted climate action plan (CAP) includes groundbreaking measures phasing out fossil fuel use throughout the city – and prioritizing racial justice.

Background: Last year, the City declared a climate emergency and committed to addressing climate change by adopting a new CAP that aspires to carbon neutrality. In a recent Black Lives Matter resolution (No. 6563), the City also prioritized climate action and empowered the City’s environmental leadership, recognizing that the most vulnerable residents are the most affected by this global issue.

Menlo Park has adopted one of the strongest climate targets of any city, the closest being Palo Alto’s 80% GHG reduction target by 2030. We know of no other city in the U.S. going for zero carbon by 2030. Menlo Park plans to accomplish this through 90% greenhouse gas reductions and 10% carbon removal.

Although we are in the midst of a global pandemic and resulting economic turmoil, the impacts of climate change have not slowed. The climate crisis continues, and Menlo Park is uniquely vulnerable with residents in Belle Haven disproportionately impacted by significant flooding from sea level rise expected to worsen in the next few decades. There is scientific consensus that if we want to avoid the very worst and irreversible impacts of climate change, we must dramatically reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 through rapid, far-reaching, and un-precedented measures.

The City of Menlo Park has truly stepped up as a climate leader. The Climate Action Plan adopted yesterday includes four core strategies to dramatically reduce carbon pollution:
– Phase out Fossil Gas use in homes & buildings (through clean, zero emission heaters, water heaters and appliances as they are replaced), with a target of a 95% transition by 2030;
– Support and advance a transition to electric vehicles (EVs) with reduced gasoline sales, expanded EV charging, and City Fleet leadership;
– Reduce traffic through measures making the City easier to navigate without a car, and increasing housing downtown; and
– Eliminate the use of fossil fuels from municipal operations.

Source: https://inmenlo.com/2020/07/15/historic-moment-for-climate-menlo-park-is-going-for-zero-carbon-by-2030/

SuzanneJune 26, 2020July 15, 2020Climate Change & Energy, Transportationair pollution, black carbon, diesel, electric vehicles, ghg emissions, trucks

California makes zero-emission trucks and vans mandatory by 2045

Sean O’Kane, THE VERGE

California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) has passed a new rule that says all commercial trucks and vans sold in the state in 2045 must be zero-emission, in a bid to move the industry away from the dirty and harmful diesel engines that currently power most of these vehicles.

It’s the first rule of its kind in the United States, and it follows California’s 2018 decision to mandate that transit agencies purchase all-electric buses starting in 2029, as well as its long-standing Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program for passenger cars and trucks.

Other milestones will need to be hit in the years leading up to that date, too. California regulators are mandating that half of all trucks sold in the state must be zero-emission by 2035. All short-haul drayage vehicles in ports and rail yards must be zero-emission by 2035 as well, and all last-mile delivery trucks and vans must be switched over by 2040. Smaller sales requirements go into effect as early as 2024.

It’s a bold move that should help curb one of the worst-polluting sectors of the transportation industry. Despite only making up 7 percent of vehicles on the road in California, diesel trucks account for 70 percent of the state’s smog-causing pollution and 80 percent of diesel soot emitted, according to CARB.

Environmental Center of Sonoma County

Tag: electric vehicles