Renewables

Oxford Direct Services (ODS) has played a role as Principal Contractor for the residential trial of ‘pop up’ on-street electric vehicle charging points. The ‘OxPops’ trial comprises six ‘UEone’ retractable (‘pop up’) pavement bollards installed on the north eastern end of Lonsdale Road in North Oxford.

  BlackBerry and electric vehicle company, Arrival announced that Arrival’s intelligent, autonomous-ready commercial vehicles will be powered by BlackBerry QNX technology. 

Alexander Sims and Tonik Energy continue their brand partnership for the 2019/20 ABB FIA Formula E season. The renewable energy supplier, and the race-winning BMW i Andretti Motorsport driver, began working together last year and resume their partnership for a second Formula E season, as they continue to raise awareness and educate people on clean energy technologies for both homes and businesses.

Next generation solar cells are conquering the building industry. In the future, not only roofs but also facades are to convert sunlight into electricity. LOPEC, the International Exhibition and Conference for the Printed Electronics Industry taking place in Munich, Germany, from March 24th to 26th, 2020, will provide information about the current state of the art, practical examples and promising applications.

Transport currently accounts for almost a third (30%) of the world’s total energy use and around a quarter of the global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. With climate change high on the news agenda and more consumers than ever making a conscious effort to reduce their carbon footprint, there is no bigger industry that is impacted by this than the travel and motor sector.

Winter has very much arrived, so Brits will be looking at ways to save on their heating costs as they prepare to keep out the bitter cold. According to the National Grid’s annual winter outlook, energy bill payers could expect price hikes as the UK is weaned off using imports from Europe.

Only a 100 kilowatt-hour battery pack is in the luxury Vision EQS concept car of Mercedes yet it will deliver increased 700km range, partly because low drag factor is now going to be taken seriously, learning from Tesla. Range sells electric cars. Long range ones sell in 100 times the numbers and have three times the resale value.  By IDTechEx Chairman, Dr Peter Harrop

Midsummer has developed its solar cells by increasing the radius of the rounded cell from 90 to 100mm. This reduces the unused area of the module from eight to just two percent, thus increasing the power (W) by six percent per area without increasing production costs.

Volvo Buses has received what is believed to be the largest single order for electric buses in Europe. Volvo Buses will deliver 157 electric articulated buses to Transdev starting in 2020. The buses will operate on a number of routes in Gothenburg. With their introduction, emissions and noise will be significantly reduced, and the electric buses will be able to operate in sensitive areas or zones with special restrictions. 

Volvo Trucks has announced the start of sales of its Volvo FL and Volvo FE electric trucks in selected markets within Europe, meeting the increasing demand for sustainable transport solutions in city environments.