23 June 2011
General Electric and its venture capital partners will invest $63 million across ten home energy companies in areas such as solar and LED lighting, as part of the second phase of the technology giant’s sustainable business strategy.
The investment builds on $71 million of sustainability investments by GE in the past 12 months as part of the its $200 million Ecomagination strategy, bringing the strategy's total funding to $134 million across 22 commercial partnerships.
The Ecomagination strategy uses the environmental agenda to create new business lines. Its second phase is focused on home energy.
Clean-tech firms cash up
GE’s funding partners are: Emerald Technology Ventures, Foundation Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and RockPort Capital.
GE declined to break down the amount invested by the company and its venture capital partners.
The ten companies receiving financing are: communication and software firms Hara, Ember, On-Ramp Wireless, Viridity Energy and Witricity; solar energy companies SunRun and GMZ Energy; and building efficiency firms Nuventix, Project Frog and VPhase.
The corporation also awarded development grants of $100,000 to five “innovation projects” and will next month complete the acquisition of smart grid company FMC-Tech, discovered through its Ecomagination challenge.
GE plans to expand its sustainability strategy into China later this year and will launch a $5 million seed fund with UK-based Carbon Trust to support early-stage innovations.
Mark Vachon, vice president of GE Ecomagination, said the company will “continue to look beyond our four walls” to find innovative solutions to environmental challenges.
Charlotte Dudley
Monday, 27 June 2011
Wealthy US families pool resources in $1.4bn clean-tech fund
23 June 2011
Eleven wealthy US families have formed the Cleantech Syndicate, to invest $1.4 billion in clean technology companies over the next five years.
The families, which have not been named, have collectively invested $1.2 billion in privately-held clean-tech firms already.
The syndicate was founded by McNally Capital and Black Coral Capital, who specialise in investing the fortunes of wealthy families. They said the syndicate is the largest dedicated pool of capital in the clean-tech space.
“Families have been investing in the clean-tech space for many years,” said Christian Zabbal, managing director of family office Black Coral, which specialises in clean-tech and renewables investments.
“The Cleantech Syndicate is a natural evolution for us – a way to pool our experience and networks with those of other like-minded family offices and create partnerships that will support better, stronger clean-tech and green energy companies,” he added.
It will draw on the experiences – and capital – of multiple families for the first time, added Walter McNally, managing partner of McNally Capital, which operates a network of family offices.
The partners plan to launch a European Cleantech Syndicate this year and a US co-investment vehicle to allow other investors to put their money in alongside the syndicate.
More partners are also being sought to support the syndicate, including corporations and sovereign wealth funds.
Jess McCabe
Eleven wealthy US families have formed the Cleantech Syndicate, to invest $1.4 billion in clean technology companies over the next five years.
The families, which have not been named, have collectively invested $1.2 billion in privately-held clean-tech firms already.
The syndicate was founded by McNally Capital and Black Coral Capital, who specialise in investing the fortunes of wealthy families. They said the syndicate is the largest dedicated pool of capital in the clean-tech space.
“Families have been investing in the clean-tech space for many years,” said Christian Zabbal, managing director of family office Black Coral, which specialises in clean-tech and renewables investments.
“The Cleantech Syndicate is a natural evolution for us – a way to pool our experience and networks with those of other like-minded family offices and create partnerships that will support better, stronger clean-tech and green energy companies,” he added.
It will draw on the experiences – and capital – of multiple families for the first time, added Walter McNally, managing partner of McNally Capital, which operates a network of family offices.
The partners plan to launch a European Cleantech Syndicate this year and a US co-investment vehicle to allow other investors to put their money in alongside the syndicate.
More partners are also being sought to support the syndicate, including corporations and sovereign wealth funds.
Jess McCabe
A nuclear-free future for America
The US's ageing stock of nuclear reactors only grows more unsafe as it gets older. Renewables offer clean, green energy
Amy Goodman
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 22 June 2011 14.30 BST
New details are emerging that indicate the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan is far worse than previously known, with three of the four affected reactors experiencing full meltdowns. Meanwhile, in the US, massive flooding along the Missouri River has put Nebraska's two nuclear plants, both near Omaha, on alert.
The Cooper nuclear station declared a low-level emergency and will have to close down if the river rises another 3in. The Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant has been shut down since 9 April, in part due to flooding. At Prairie Island, Minnesota, extreme heat caused the nuclear plant's two emergency diesel generators to fail. Emergency generator failure was one of the key problems that led to the meltdowns at Fukushima.
In May, in reaction to the Fukushima disaster, Nikolaus Berlakovich, Austria's federal minister of agriculture, forestry, environment and water management, convened a meeting of Europe's 11 nuclear-free countries. Those gathered resolved to push for a nuclear-free Europe, even as Germany announced it will phase out nuclear power in 10 years and push ahead on renewable-energy research. Then, in last week's national elections in Italy, more than 90% of voters resoundingly rejected Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's plans to restart the country's nuclear-power-generation plans.
Leaders of national nuclear-energy programs are gathering this week in Vienna for the International Atomic Energy Agency's ministerial conference on nuclear safety. The meeting was called in response to Fukushima. Ironically, the ministers, including US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Gregory Jaczko, held their meeting safely in a country with no nuclear power plants: Austria is at the forefront of Europe's new anti-nuclear alliance.
The IAEA meeting was preceded by the release of an Associated Press report stating that consistently, and for decades, US nuclear regulators lowered the bar on safety regulations in order to allow operators to keep the nuclear plants running. Nuclear power plants were constructed in the US in the decades leading up to the Three Mile Island disaster in 1979. These 104 plants are all getting on in years. The original licences were granted for 40 years. The AP's Jeff Donn wrote:
"When the first ones were being built in the 1960s and 1970s, it was expected that they would be replaced with improved models long before those licenses expired."
Enormous upfront construction costs, safety concerns and the problem of storing radioactive nuclear waste for thousands of years drove away private investors. Instead of developing and building new nuclear plants, the owners – typically for-profit companies like Exelon Corp, a major donor to the Obama campaigns through the years – simply try to run the old reactors longer, applying to the NRC for 20-year extensions.
Europe, already ahead of the US in development and deployment of renewable-energy technology, is now poised to accelerate in the field. In the US, the NRC has provided preliminary approval of the Southern Company's planned expansion of the Vogtle power plant in Georgia, which would allow the first construction of new nuclear power plants in the US since Three Mile Island. The project got a boost from President Barack Obama, who pledged an $8.3bn federal loan guarantee. Southern plans on using Westinghouse's new AP1000 reactor. But a coalition of environmental groups has filed to block the permit, noting that the new reactor design is inherently unsafe.
Obama established what he called his "blue ribbon commission on America's nuclear future". One of its 15 members is John Rowe, the chairman and chief executive officer of Exelon Corp (the same nuclear energy company that has lavished campaign contributions on Obama). The commission made a fact-finding trip to Japan to see how that country was thriving with nuclear power – one month before the Fukushima disaster. In May, the commission reiterated its position, which is the same as Obama's, that nuclear ought to be part of the US energy mix.
The US energy mix, instead, should include a national jobs programme to make existing buildings energy efficient, and to install solar and wind-power technology where appropriate. These jobs could not be outsourced and would immediately reduce our energy use and, thus, our reliance on foreign oil and domestic coal and nuclear. Such a programme could favour US manufacturers, to keep the money in the US economy. That would be a simple, effective and sane reaction to Fukushima.
• Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column
© 2011 Amy Goodman; distributed by King Features Syndicate
Amy Goodman
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 22 June 2011 14.30 BST
New details are emerging that indicate the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan is far worse than previously known, with three of the four affected reactors experiencing full meltdowns. Meanwhile, in the US, massive flooding along the Missouri River has put Nebraska's two nuclear plants, both near Omaha, on alert.
The Cooper nuclear station declared a low-level emergency and will have to close down if the river rises another 3in. The Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant has been shut down since 9 April, in part due to flooding. At Prairie Island, Minnesota, extreme heat caused the nuclear plant's two emergency diesel generators to fail. Emergency generator failure was one of the key problems that led to the meltdowns at Fukushima.
In May, in reaction to the Fukushima disaster, Nikolaus Berlakovich, Austria's federal minister of agriculture, forestry, environment and water management, convened a meeting of Europe's 11 nuclear-free countries. Those gathered resolved to push for a nuclear-free Europe, even as Germany announced it will phase out nuclear power in 10 years and push ahead on renewable-energy research. Then, in last week's national elections in Italy, more than 90% of voters resoundingly rejected Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's plans to restart the country's nuclear-power-generation plans.
Leaders of national nuclear-energy programs are gathering this week in Vienna for the International Atomic Energy Agency's ministerial conference on nuclear safety. The meeting was called in response to Fukushima. Ironically, the ministers, including US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Gregory Jaczko, held their meeting safely in a country with no nuclear power plants: Austria is at the forefront of Europe's new anti-nuclear alliance.
The IAEA meeting was preceded by the release of an Associated Press report stating that consistently, and for decades, US nuclear regulators lowered the bar on safety regulations in order to allow operators to keep the nuclear plants running. Nuclear power plants were constructed in the US in the decades leading up to the Three Mile Island disaster in 1979. These 104 plants are all getting on in years. The original licences were granted for 40 years. The AP's Jeff Donn wrote:
"When the first ones were being built in the 1960s and 1970s, it was expected that they would be replaced with improved models long before those licenses expired."
Enormous upfront construction costs, safety concerns and the problem of storing radioactive nuclear waste for thousands of years drove away private investors. Instead of developing and building new nuclear plants, the owners – typically for-profit companies like Exelon Corp, a major donor to the Obama campaigns through the years – simply try to run the old reactors longer, applying to the NRC for 20-year extensions.
Europe, already ahead of the US in development and deployment of renewable-energy technology, is now poised to accelerate in the field. In the US, the NRC has provided preliminary approval of the Southern Company's planned expansion of the Vogtle power plant in Georgia, which would allow the first construction of new nuclear power plants in the US since Three Mile Island. The project got a boost from President Barack Obama, who pledged an $8.3bn federal loan guarantee. Southern plans on using Westinghouse's new AP1000 reactor. But a coalition of environmental groups has filed to block the permit, noting that the new reactor design is inherently unsafe.
Obama established what he called his "blue ribbon commission on America's nuclear future". One of its 15 members is John Rowe, the chairman and chief executive officer of Exelon Corp (the same nuclear energy company that has lavished campaign contributions on Obama). The commission made a fact-finding trip to Japan to see how that country was thriving with nuclear power – one month before the Fukushima disaster. In May, the commission reiterated its position, which is the same as Obama's, that nuclear ought to be part of the US energy mix.
The US energy mix, instead, should include a national jobs programme to make existing buildings energy efficient, and to install solar and wind-power technology where appropriate. These jobs could not be outsourced and would immediately reduce our energy use and, thus, our reliance on foreign oil and domestic coal and nuclear. Such a programme could favour US manufacturers, to keep the money in the US economy. That would be a simple, effective and sane reaction to Fukushima.
• Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column
© 2011 Amy Goodman; distributed by King Features Syndicate
Electric cars: kiss petrol stations goodbye
EDF, British Gas and npower are vying to offer home charging services for electric cars, while TfL plans to have more charging points than petrol stations in the capital
Miles Brignall
guardian.co.uk, Friday 24 June 2011 23.02 BST
What would make you consider buying an electric car? They offer a green way to get around, with the chance to bypass petrol stations. The AA calculates they can be run for about 2p per mile, against around 14p per mile for a similar-sized petrol or diesel car. And they are exempt from road tax and London's congestion charge.
Energy company npower this week revealed that 33% of UK drivers would think about buying an electric vehicle (EV) in the next five years, rising to 41% when the benefits were explained.
But despite the introduction in January of a generous £5,000 government purchase grant to encourage more people to take the plunge, it's fair to say that sales of electrically powered cars in the UK are yet to really take off. Just over 500 people took the government up on its offer in the first quarter of this year. Their high prices – typically about £25,000 after the grant – plus a lack of models by major carmakers and a shortage of charging points, have held back sales. However, the last two points are about to change.
Potential buyers now have a choice of seven models in the UK, with 13 more on the way, while EDF Energy, British Gas and npower have recently announced plans to start offering to install faster and cheaper charging points in customers' homes, in a move they hope will help kick-start sales.
The companies are banking on the fact that buyers of the latest, more consumer-friendly electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf, are going to boost demand for electricity.
The take-up of EVs – which run entirely on electricity stored in rechargeable batteries – is seen as central to the plan to cut the transport sector's carbon emissions, both here and across the European Union.
It is predicted that we will be running a total of 800,000 EVs in Britain by 2020, and as a result the race to install a recharging infrastructure is well under way.
Transport for London (TfL) recently announced it will have 1,300 EV charging points in London by 2013 – more than the current number of petrol stations in the capital. The London mayor, Boris Johnson, is on the record as saying he wants to make the city the electric car capital of Europe.
Plans are also under way to increase the number of charging points at a variety of locations across the UK – and soon it will be possible for homeowners to upgrade their garages to allow faster, safer home charging. Until recently, most owners of plug-in-to-recharge electric cars have had to rely on the traditional three-point household plug, and wait about eight hours to fully recharge their vehicle at home.
However, the power companies, sensing a good business opportunity, are now vying to sign up electric car-owning households with the offer of cheaper and faster off-peak home charging that will cut the time it takes to recharge the vehicle – freeing it to make more journeys, and making them more attractive to buyers.
So far, EDF, British Gas, and most recently npower have said they will be targeting EV users with special home services as well as cheaper tariffs for recharging vehicles.
Speaking in Berlin last week, npower's head of e-mobility, Phil Evans, told Guardian Money that the company sees EVs as a major opportunity, and as a result it is working on building an "upgradable" charging infrastructure that will develop as the cars' power systems become more sophisticated.
In August, npower will be launching the most sophisticated home-charging product yet: a new "juice-e" tariff specifically aimed at EV users anywhere in the country.
For about £1,000, npower will carry out a survey of the EV buyer's home, upgrade the electrics and provide a proper charging point on the premises that will deliver a faster recharge – bringing the time down from eight to about four hours.
Crucially, the homeowner will be able to take advantage of significantly cheaper off-peak power – similar to the old Economy 7 tariff that would charge up storage heaters at night. The company says it will charge its juice-e customers around 6p/kWh to recharge their vehicles – about half the standard electricity price, typically saving about £150 a year in lower recharge costs. It will also supply 100% green energy on the tariff by matching the electricity used by car owners with that produced by its offshore North Hoyle wind farm.
RWE, npower's parent company, has led the development of charging points in its native Germany, and is about to install 150 of them in Amsterdam, another city about to embrace EVs.
Last month EDF said it would offer a similar service for £799, although it is charging a bit more for the off-peak power. It has a tie-up with Citroën and Peugeot to be the preferred supplier to those buying an EV from either carmaker. Those signing up for its home-charging deal will be put on EDF's eco20:20 energy tariff, which provides 20% cheaper electricity during evenings and weekends.
British Gas has done a similar deal with Nissan and Renault. It is conducting a trial with the first 150 EV buyers to sign up, and says it will have its EV tariff up and running next year.
In the meantime, the race is on to provide charging points at workplaces, supermarkets and so on. In London the 150 charging points recently installed by TfL have been branded under the Source London logo. Users pay £100 a year for free unlimited recharging, and log on to the system by waving an Oyster-style card over the terminal.
It is hoped the Source scheme will be rolled out nationwide, with EV users able to tap into a network of charging points across the country.
In north-east England, npower is about to install 55 charging sites; in Milton Keynes there are plans to install 250 public EV charge points over the next three years; and further schemes are planned at other locations.
In the long run, npower says all electric car owners will be able to pull into a supermarket or town centre, attach their car to the charging point, get an 80% recharge in about half an hour, and pay for it with a credit card or Oyster-style card.
Unbelievably, there is still a VHS/Betamax-style dispute going on among car manufacturers over which charging plug should predominate – although it should be resolved in the next few months, say insiders.
Pros and cons of the electric switch
If you think electric cars are nothing more than updated milkfloats, you should take a spin in the Tesla Roadster. Last week Guardian Money drove the 100% electrically powered sports car that is capable of more than 125mph, and found it to be one of the fastest accelerating cars we have ever been in. RWE, npower's German parent company, uses a Tesla to show just what electric cars are capable of, and we were lucky enough to be let loose on the car at Berlin's famous Tempelhof airport.
The Tesla will to go from 0 to 60mph in around 3.9 seconds, making it faster than many supercars that cost significantly more than its £86,000 price tag. It will cover about 200 miles on a single charge, and the handling was excellent.
Perhaps a little more practical was the Mitsubishi i-MiEV that we also tested. Driving it was very similar to any other automatic city car, except there was no exhaust system and no emissions.
Potential buyers of an electric car have a choice of seven models in the UK, with more on the way. According to those in the know, the Nissan Leaf, launched earlier this year, took EVs to a whole new level. The Leaf has won plaudits for the fact it is very like other conventional cars of a similar size – a far cry from the G-Wiz, the vehicle most people probably think of when electric vehicles come to mind.
Despite what you may have read about electric cars costing pennies to recharge, each recharge will actually set you back £1 to £3, depending on your electricity tariff. Each one should deliver about 90 miles' driving. This means the "typical" driver (9,000 miles a year) will pay £250 to £300 a year in electricity – less if you use a Source London charging point. Compare that to your current petrol bill, and an EV soon starts to look attractive.
Opt for the new Renault Zoe, out next year, and you'll pay about £70 a month or £840 a year to lease the batteries. This might sound like a lot, but if there is a problem with them, the lease firm will have to pick up the tab. On other EVs, you own the batteries as part of the car.
Electric cars enjoy free car tax each year – but so do some low-emission diesel cars and a few petrol models, so you won't save much there unless you are abandoning a gas-guzzler.
Servicing should be a little cheaper for electric – there is no oil or filter to change. However, it looks as though it will cost more to insure. The cost of depreciation – the biggest cost of new car ownership – is, at this point, unknown.
Money has concluded that drivers switching to an EV certainly won't lose money, and you could well make some financial gains.
If you typically drive a series of shorter runs, you can make a strong financial case for going electric. When the asking prices come down – as they surely will – there will be a strong financial incentive for urban dwellers to drive an EV.
Miles Brignall
guardian.co.uk, Friday 24 June 2011 23.02 BST
What would make you consider buying an electric car? They offer a green way to get around, with the chance to bypass petrol stations. The AA calculates they can be run for about 2p per mile, against around 14p per mile for a similar-sized petrol or diesel car. And they are exempt from road tax and London's congestion charge.
Energy company npower this week revealed that 33% of UK drivers would think about buying an electric vehicle (EV) in the next five years, rising to 41% when the benefits were explained.
But despite the introduction in January of a generous £5,000 government purchase grant to encourage more people to take the plunge, it's fair to say that sales of electrically powered cars in the UK are yet to really take off. Just over 500 people took the government up on its offer in the first quarter of this year. Their high prices – typically about £25,000 after the grant – plus a lack of models by major carmakers and a shortage of charging points, have held back sales. However, the last two points are about to change.
Potential buyers now have a choice of seven models in the UK, with 13 more on the way, while EDF Energy, British Gas and npower have recently announced plans to start offering to install faster and cheaper charging points in customers' homes, in a move they hope will help kick-start sales.
The companies are banking on the fact that buyers of the latest, more consumer-friendly electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf, are going to boost demand for electricity.
The take-up of EVs – which run entirely on electricity stored in rechargeable batteries – is seen as central to the plan to cut the transport sector's carbon emissions, both here and across the European Union.
It is predicted that we will be running a total of 800,000 EVs in Britain by 2020, and as a result the race to install a recharging infrastructure is well under way.
Transport for London (TfL) recently announced it will have 1,300 EV charging points in London by 2013 – more than the current number of petrol stations in the capital. The London mayor, Boris Johnson, is on the record as saying he wants to make the city the electric car capital of Europe.
Plans are also under way to increase the number of charging points at a variety of locations across the UK – and soon it will be possible for homeowners to upgrade their garages to allow faster, safer home charging. Until recently, most owners of plug-in-to-recharge electric cars have had to rely on the traditional three-point household plug, and wait about eight hours to fully recharge their vehicle at home.
However, the power companies, sensing a good business opportunity, are now vying to sign up electric car-owning households with the offer of cheaper and faster off-peak home charging that will cut the time it takes to recharge the vehicle – freeing it to make more journeys, and making them more attractive to buyers.
So far, EDF, British Gas, and most recently npower have said they will be targeting EV users with special home services as well as cheaper tariffs for recharging vehicles.
Speaking in Berlin last week, npower's head of e-mobility, Phil Evans, told Guardian Money that the company sees EVs as a major opportunity, and as a result it is working on building an "upgradable" charging infrastructure that will develop as the cars' power systems become more sophisticated.
In August, npower will be launching the most sophisticated home-charging product yet: a new "juice-e" tariff specifically aimed at EV users anywhere in the country.
For about £1,000, npower will carry out a survey of the EV buyer's home, upgrade the electrics and provide a proper charging point on the premises that will deliver a faster recharge – bringing the time down from eight to about four hours.
Crucially, the homeowner will be able to take advantage of significantly cheaper off-peak power – similar to the old Economy 7 tariff that would charge up storage heaters at night. The company says it will charge its juice-e customers around 6p/kWh to recharge their vehicles – about half the standard electricity price, typically saving about £150 a year in lower recharge costs. It will also supply 100% green energy on the tariff by matching the electricity used by car owners with that produced by its offshore North Hoyle wind farm.
RWE, npower's parent company, has led the development of charging points in its native Germany, and is about to install 150 of them in Amsterdam, another city about to embrace EVs.
Last month EDF said it would offer a similar service for £799, although it is charging a bit more for the off-peak power. It has a tie-up with Citroën and Peugeot to be the preferred supplier to those buying an EV from either carmaker. Those signing up for its home-charging deal will be put on EDF's eco20:20 energy tariff, which provides 20% cheaper electricity during evenings and weekends.
British Gas has done a similar deal with Nissan and Renault. It is conducting a trial with the first 150 EV buyers to sign up, and says it will have its EV tariff up and running next year.
In the meantime, the race is on to provide charging points at workplaces, supermarkets and so on. In London the 150 charging points recently installed by TfL have been branded under the Source London logo. Users pay £100 a year for free unlimited recharging, and log on to the system by waving an Oyster-style card over the terminal.
It is hoped the Source scheme will be rolled out nationwide, with EV users able to tap into a network of charging points across the country.
In north-east England, npower is about to install 55 charging sites; in Milton Keynes there are plans to install 250 public EV charge points over the next three years; and further schemes are planned at other locations.
In the long run, npower says all electric car owners will be able to pull into a supermarket or town centre, attach their car to the charging point, get an 80% recharge in about half an hour, and pay for it with a credit card or Oyster-style card.
Unbelievably, there is still a VHS/Betamax-style dispute going on among car manufacturers over which charging plug should predominate – although it should be resolved in the next few months, say insiders.
Pros and cons of the electric switch
If you think electric cars are nothing more than updated milkfloats, you should take a spin in the Tesla Roadster. Last week Guardian Money drove the 100% electrically powered sports car that is capable of more than 125mph, and found it to be one of the fastest accelerating cars we have ever been in. RWE, npower's German parent company, uses a Tesla to show just what electric cars are capable of, and we were lucky enough to be let loose on the car at Berlin's famous Tempelhof airport.
The Tesla will to go from 0 to 60mph in around 3.9 seconds, making it faster than many supercars that cost significantly more than its £86,000 price tag. It will cover about 200 miles on a single charge, and the handling was excellent.
Perhaps a little more practical was the Mitsubishi i-MiEV that we also tested. Driving it was very similar to any other automatic city car, except there was no exhaust system and no emissions.
Potential buyers of an electric car have a choice of seven models in the UK, with more on the way. According to those in the know, the Nissan Leaf, launched earlier this year, took EVs to a whole new level. The Leaf has won plaudits for the fact it is very like other conventional cars of a similar size – a far cry from the G-Wiz, the vehicle most people probably think of when electric vehicles come to mind.
Despite what you may have read about electric cars costing pennies to recharge, each recharge will actually set you back £1 to £3, depending on your electricity tariff. Each one should deliver about 90 miles' driving. This means the "typical" driver (9,000 miles a year) will pay £250 to £300 a year in electricity – less if you use a Source London charging point. Compare that to your current petrol bill, and an EV soon starts to look attractive.
Opt for the new Renault Zoe, out next year, and you'll pay about £70 a month or £840 a year to lease the batteries. This might sound like a lot, but if there is a problem with them, the lease firm will have to pick up the tab. On other EVs, you own the batteries as part of the car.
Electric cars enjoy free car tax each year – but so do some low-emission diesel cars and a few petrol models, so you won't save much there unless you are abandoning a gas-guzzler.
Servicing should be a little cheaper for electric – there is no oil or filter to change. However, it looks as though it will cost more to insure. The cost of depreciation – the biggest cost of new car ownership – is, at this point, unknown.
Money has concluded that drivers switching to an EV certainly won't lose money, and you could well make some financial gains.
If you typically drive a series of shorter runs, you can make a strong financial case for going electric. When the asking prices come down – as they surely will – there will be a strong financial incentive for urban dwellers to drive an EV.
UK's biggest solar energy farm connects to national grid
Solar panels at Howbery business park in Oxfordshire to generate up to 682MWh a year
Alok Jha, science correspondent
The Guardian, Monday 27 June 2011
Britain's biggest array of solar panels has begun generating in Oxfordshire. The first large ground system to feed into the national grid will benefit from the tariff scheme paying a premium for supplying clean electricity.
Howbery business park's companies specialise in engineering, environmental and water research and development and its 3,000-panel array generates up to 682 MWh a year, a quarter of its needs, and thereby save 350 tonnes of CO2 a year.
Derry Newman, chief executive of Solarcentury, the company that supplied the solar photovoltaic modules, said that the UK's famously overcast weather did not make it an unsuitable place for solar power.
"Solar works on daylight, not necessarily [direct] sunlight and it gets light every day in Britain," he said. "Of course it generates more on a very bright day than a dull day. If you average over the year, the amount of cumulative daylight, energy per square metre, is very well known and is very predictable. Over the life of the system, the amount of energy produced is very predictable."
Though the biggest in Britain, Howbery is dwarfed by those in Spain or Italy, up to 10 times bigger. Solarcentury, the panel maker, has similar projects due online next month, but these could be the UK's last big solar farms for some time. In February, the government announced a review of feed-in tariffs for anyone generating more than 50k of power and cut the rates payable for large ground-mounted solar installations by more than 70%.
"This means that virtually all investors have withdrawn from financing such developments," said Newman. "There were probably many hundreds lined up for development across the country. they're pretty much all cancelled now because of the fast track review. This type of installation will be a relative rarity for a few years."
But Newman is optimistic about the solar industry in the UK, however.
"They will come back because tariffs and subsidies for solar are a necessary device to create the industry right now but the rate of change of price of solar is on a strong downward trend," he said.
"Within a few years, the amount of subsidy needed will go down significantly. When that happens, more of these can happen with less cost and become more attractive to investors."
John Ormston, chief executive of HR Wallingford, which is based at the business park, said that Howbery Business Park was proud of its green credentials. "A centre of excellence with two highly sustainable, BREEAM Excellent rated office buildings and an operational Green Travel Plan, we are committed to leading the way in renewable energy and are proud to be showcasing the UK's first solar business park.
Howbery Business Park will be one of only a few business parks in the UK where occupiers are able to secure a direct electrical supply from a solar array."
Alok Jha, science correspondent
The Guardian, Monday 27 June 2011
Britain's biggest array of solar panels has begun generating in Oxfordshire. The first large ground system to feed into the national grid will benefit from the tariff scheme paying a premium for supplying clean electricity.
Howbery business park's companies specialise in engineering, environmental and water research and development and its 3,000-panel array generates up to 682 MWh a year, a quarter of its needs, and thereby save 350 tonnes of CO2 a year.
Derry Newman, chief executive of Solarcentury, the company that supplied the solar photovoltaic modules, said that the UK's famously overcast weather did not make it an unsuitable place for solar power.
"Solar works on daylight, not necessarily [direct] sunlight and it gets light every day in Britain," he said. "Of course it generates more on a very bright day than a dull day. If you average over the year, the amount of cumulative daylight, energy per square metre, is very well known and is very predictable. Over the life of the system, the amount of energy produced is very predictable."
Though the biggest in Britain, Howbery is dwarfed by those in Spain or Italy, up to 10 times bigger. Solarcentury, the panel maker, has similar projects due online next month, but these could be the UK's last big solar farms for some time. In February, the government announced a review of feed-in tariffs for anyone generating more than 50k of power and cut the rates payable for large ground-mounted solar installations by more than 70%.
"This means that virtually all investors have withdrawn from financing such developments," said Newman. "There were probably many hundreds lined up for development across the country. they're pretty much all cancelled now because of the fast track review. This type of installation will be a relative rarity for a few years."
But Newman is optimistic about the solar industry in the UK, however.
"They will come back because tariffs and subsidies for solar are a necessary device to create the industry right now but the rate of change of price of solar is on a strong downward trend," he said.
"Within a few years, the amount of subsidy needed will go down significantly. When that happens, more of these can happen with less cost and become more attractive to investors."
John Ormston, chief executive of HR Wallingford, which is based at the business park, said that Howbery Business Park was proud of its green credentials. "A centre of excellence with two highly sustainable, BREEAM Excellent rated office buildings and an operational Green Travel Plan, we are committed to leading the way in renewable energy and are proud to be showcasing the UK's first solar business park.
Howbery Business Park will be one of only a few business parks in the UK where occupiers are able to secure a direct electrical supply from a solar array."