“Solar Roadways could be the most game-changing ideasince Gutenberg’s printing press and the internet. Is this the silver bullet solution to climate change and the economic crisis?”In the US, the economic stimulus package has passed and CleanTech businesses are cropping up everywhere. Federally in Canada, little has happened to green infrastructure and provide stimulus for innovation and CleanTech industry. This is a call to action for all Canadians!There’s a project being developed in the US that could modernize transportation infrastructure in a way that will allow it to pay for itself, while enhancing environmental initiatives and solving economic problems. It can create an intelligent, decentralized, self-healing power grid.What is needed is a ground surge of support to encourage governments that solar roadways and investments in such GreenTech infrastructure research and development is desperately needed.
Forward this story to your MP asking them to invest Federal tax dollars in photovoltaic solar highway project research. To find your Federal Member of Parliament click on the link below.
Investment in Electric Vehicle IT Systems to Total $5.1 Billion by 2015
September 28, 2010
With more than 3 million electric vehicles (EVs) expected to be driving the world’s roads by 2015, utilities will face a host of new infrastructure requirements to support the increased power demand that will result from customers plugging in to recharge. The majority of EV service equipment (EVSE) will be networked and managed via information technology (IT) and communications systems that will aggregate power demand and enable a coordinated response to changing grid conditions. According to a new report from Pike Research, these needs will drive significant investment in electric vehicle IT systems, which will reach a cumulative total of $5.1 billion during the period from 2010 to 2015.
EV Charging Sector to Top $3bn by 2017
September 22, 2010
The North American Electric Vehicle (EV) charging sector is predicted to grow rapidly during the next five to seven years, reaching US$3.09 billion by 2017, according to a new report by Verify Markets.
The market is expected to reach unit shipments of 2.8 million by 2017, with over 85% of unit sales comprised of residential and multi-unit housing chargers. The level three charging industry, which will follow right behind the level two infrastructure, is expected to have over 10,000 unit shipments by 2017 and revenues of over $250 million on unit installations alone.
In related news, Pike Research predicts that the United States will be led by residential charging units, which will represent 64% of the country’s 974,000 charge points to be installed by 2015.
Pike forecasts that a total of 4.7 million charge points will be installed globally during the period from 2010 to 2015...
[source: Verify Markets, Pike Research]
Much to think about as we prepare for EV explosion
October 15, 2010
None of the forecasts predict trouble in 2015...the number of EVs in Toronto [is] 27,000, out of 1.35 million cars.
This proposed planning and high-powered co-ordination leads to a startling conclusion:
“Perhaps the most profound opportunity for EVs to contribute to a sustainable transportation system lies in the fact that widespread use of the technology requires an integrated approach to electricity system planning, and to community planning and redevelopment efforts.
“... EVs may become the pivot point for a transformation in the way we build communities — not unlike the way the automobile became a focal point of social change and planned development at the midpoint of the 20th century.”
And you thought battery power was just a new way to run a car.
EV Charging Stations at Select U.S. Best Buy Stores
"As the private sector will ultimately drive consumer electric vehicle adoption, our goal has been to establish a charging network that is conveniently placed in familiar places to meet consumers' needs. Aligning ourselves with major retailers is a key part of achieving that goal," said Jonathan Read.
Best Buy has shown true leadership as becoming a launch partner for The EV Project and exemplifies how corporate responsibility initiatives can directly benefit the customer experience, environment and society."
The Best Buy EV Project, and will oversee the installation of 15,000 commercial and residential charging stations in 16 cities and major metropolitan areas in six states. The project will provide an EV infrastructure to support the deployment of 8,300 EVs. The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through a federal stimulus grant of $114.8 million, made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The grants are matched by private investment, bringing the total value of the project to approximately $230 million.
Secret to Turning Consumers Green
October 15, 2010
...One card was headlined "Help Save the Environment" and urged visitors to "show your respect for nature" by reusing towels. The second read, "Join Your Fellow Guests in Helping to Save the Environment" and noted that 75% of guests participated in the towel-reuse program. The guests who were exposed to the peer pressure—the fact that so many of their fellow travelers were doing it—were 25% more likely to reuse towels.
A follow-up study found that tweaking the wording on the placard so it was specific to the guest's room (as in: nearly 75% of guests who stayed here in Room 331 reused their towels) yielded even better compliance.
...And a fourth group was informed that 77% of their neighbors already used fans instead of air conditioning, a decision described as "your community's popular choice!"
Meter readings found that those presented with the "everyone's doing it" argument reduced their energy consumption by 10% compared with a control group. No other group reduced energy use by more than 3% compared with the control group. All four of the non-control groups slipped in the long run, conserving less as time went on, but those exposed to peer pressure continued to record the lowest average daily energy use.
And a recent study in India found that publishing a ranked list of the worst-polluting paper factories prodded the biggest offenders to make dramatic improvements.
Promoting a particular behavior as the social norm proves "equally influential across cultures," says Wesley Schultz, a professor of psychology at California State University at San Marcos.
Peer Pressure
Denver Airport To Offer Free EV Charging
by Susan DeFreitas, October 27th, 2010
Those of you who’ve been following Colorado’s bid to boast the world’s greenest parking facility at the Denver International Airport will be pleased to know that the project is coming along ahead of schedule, and is now slated to be open sometime in the middle of next month.
The project, formerly known as Green Park–and now, perhaps less memorably, as Canopy Airport Parking–is located at 8100 Tower Road and will showcase a virtual smorgasbord of renewable energy technologies, including solar, geothermal, and wind energy. Shuttles fueled by natural gas, biodiesel and hybrid electric/gas will service the facility.
In another plus for green-minded travelers, Greenscape Capital Group (the builders behind the project) recently announced that the Canopy Airport Parking Facility will also feature a “Garage Juice Bar”– a.k.a., charging stations for electric vehicles. This high-power Level-2 EV charging station with the SAE-approved J-1772 charge point (compatible with all makes of electric cars) was created in conjunction with BMW Group DesignworksUSA and will offer charging services for free.
Source: EVWorldwire, Nov 23, 2010
Dutch McDonald’s franchisee Panky Nefkens, who runs McDrives in Lelystad and Almere, is an innovative entrepreneur. Recently he became the first McDonald’s franchise in The Netherlands with its own EV Charging Stations for electric cars and scooters. On Thursday 11 November – the Dutch ‘National Sustainability Day’ – two EV-Box Charging Stations were put into service. Customers of both McDonald’s restaurants are now offered to charge their Electric Vehicles for free...
MICHAEL BETTENCOURT
Globe and Mail Update
Dec. 08, 2010 4:16PM EST
Sheraton hotels in Toronto and Montreal will provide public electric vehicle charging stations, the hotel chain announced this week.
The two chargers at each hotel are equipped with connectors for electric cars such as the Smart, as well as buses, Segway scooters and electric bikes. The ChargePoint units are networked and GPS enabled, allowing EV drivers to automatically find them on their navi systems, or from their iPhone or Blackberry...
Hamilton Spectator - Jan, 8, 2011
Steve Arnold
FORD MOTOR CO. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally kisses the hood of the new Ford Focus Electric upon its introduction at the International Consumer Electronics Show Friday.
Julie Jacobson/The Associated Press
Electric cars are coming to Canada and the country isn’t ready for them, an industry group warns.
Electric Mobility Canada warns in a position paper Canada needs a relatively modest $79 million over the next two years to start setting the technical standards and building the infrastructure needed for that revolution.
Electric car advocates say without that kind of action, Canada will lose its chance to cash in on an environmental revolution.
“This is a huge opportunity for us,” said Stoney Creek-based consultant Stephen Bieda. “This kind of clean technology is huge in its potential for jobs.”
Bieda, a former board member of Electric Mobility, met Friday with Hamilton East-Stoney Creek MP Wayne Marston in an effort to line up support from Opposition MPs to nudge the Harper government into making the right decisions....
