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Energy Transition Group |
Dear Energy Transition Group Subscriber,
Welcome To The Energy Transition Group Newsletter
Upcoming Energy Transition Group Sessions
Green Day at University of Northern BC (UNBC)
Webinar On How Strata’s Can Get Low Carbon Credits For EV Charging
Other Upcoming Events
Recent BC Hydro Presentation
BC Hydro 10 Year Plan
EVs Result In Improved Health
Letter From The Canadian Association Of Physicians For The Environment
Vehicle To Grid (V2G)
Transitioning To Electric Airplanes
Corn Based Ethanol As Fuel
Recent Hydrogen Agreement In Prince George - Chemtrade - Canfor - Teralta Announcement
Improving Battery Recycling
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Welcome To The Energy Transition Group Newsletter
The topics presented and discussed at our monthly meetings are guided by your input.
Please provide information for sharing in future Energy Transition Group newsletters. |
Upcoming Energy Transition Group Sessions
Presentations and discussions are free to everybody to attend.
Meet in UNBC Building 5 Room 158.
March 12th 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm:
April 9th 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm:
Amy Myers Jaffe, a leading expert on global energy policy, energy and sustainability, and geopolitical risk will provide a presentation. Amy is Director of the Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab at New York University’s School of Professional Studies and research professor who teaches graduate level courses examining global climate finance, energy and climate justice, and energy and climate policy. https://amymyersjaffe.com/about.html
May 14th 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm:
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Green Day at University of Northern BC (UNBC)
UNBC Sustainability has organized a series of month-long events called "Leading a Sustainable Future: Countdown to Green Day". There are many educational events happening through March.
Bring your family, kids,friends, and colleagues and learn something new or make new connections. From conversations on waste, food security, renewable energy, to documentary screenings and art activities there's something for everyone. Check out the program:
Calendar of events https://www2.unbc.ca/sites/default/files/sections/green/leadingasustainablefutureevents_9.pdf
Newsletter listing of events https://sway.cloud.microsoft/QbVoNEhgychNE4Qv?ref=Link
March 12th from 6:30 to 8:00 pm The Energy Transition Group presentation by Gott Energy is part of this month long UNBC Green Day. |
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March 26th from 5:30 pm to 7:30 Doug Beckett is one of 5 panellists at UNBC for the topic The Transition to a Sustainable Energy Future. Doug is participating as part of the Energy Transition Group and the Prince George Electric Vehicle Association.
Other panellist are:
Sahil Dino, UNBC Energy Manager David Claus, Director of UNBC Facilities Rob Van Adrichem, Community Energy Association Stefan Muller, Arbios BioTech
UNBC Building 7 Room 150
Or attend via Zoom https://unbc.zoom.us/j/61713930763?pwd=cUlRb3JyZXR2RjR1b0ViTUVrdFlIZz09 Meeting ID: 617 1393 0763 Passcode: 008339 |
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Webinar On How Strata’s Can Get Low Carbon Credits For EV Charging
From the Victoria EV Club Newsletter. |
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Saturday, March 16th at 9:00 am, the VANCOUVER ISLAND STRATA OWNERS ASSOCIATION (VISPA) is hosting a webinar on “How Stratas Can Get Low Carbon Fuel Credits for EV Charging”
If your strata (condos, townhouses) has EV charging stations or is interested in installing them, this webinar is for you!
Strata owners, council members, and strata managers are invited to learn how strata corporations can get low carbon fuel credits for EV charging and sell them to help pay the strata's expenses.
* What are low carbon fuel credits?
* The Low Carbon Fuels Act and Regulations
* Which stratas are eligible?
* How credits benefit strata corporations
* Reporting and receiving credits
* Selling credits with or without a third party
* What can stratas do with the money?
Register for the webinar here: https://www.visoa.bc.ca/?visoa_events=webinar-how-stratas-can-get-low-carbon-fuel-credits-for-ev-charging |
Other Upcoming Events
EV Event in Vanderhoof 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Vanderhoof Tourism and Cultural Centre and Community Museum.
While RSVP is not mandatory – it is appreciated. Email Doug ldb@pgbeckett.ca with EV make, model, year, # of motors, battery size, range and other details
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Recent BC Hydro Presentation
Last months presentation with BC Hydro Janna Gamache, Alex Tu and Chad France was excellent. The presentation contained succinct pertinent information largely extracted from these 2 reports:
While there was a lot of interesting information, this slide showing a range of possible futures tells a lot! |
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The following is provided as a follow up to the presentation:
BC Hydro Residential Time of Day Pricing: https://www.bchydro.com/toolbar/about/strategies-plans-regulatory/rate-design/current-activities/residential-rate-design.html
CleanBC Residential rebates ‘search tool’ for energy efficiency & electrification: https://www.betterhomesbc.ca/rebate-search-tool/
CleanBC ‘search tool’ for finding contractors: https://www.betterhomesbc.ca/find-a-contractor/
An online attendee asked about the GHG emissions of heating with 850 litres of heating oil plus some wood as compared to using an air-to-air heat pump:
Belinda, an in person attendee, calculates the energy equivalence and cost (ignoring the cost and emissions of the wood). I attempt to calculate the emissions (I am not an expert with these equations – thus, please do not quote the following). Corrections are welcome:
Volume of heating oil: 850 L. At $1.65 per L it would cost $1,400 to heat with heating oil. At 2,753 g GHG/L, it would release 2,340,050 grams of GHG.
Energy equivalence in order to compare to other forms of heating. Energy density of heating oil: 37.3 MJ/L Energy in 850 L oil = 850 L*37.3 MJ/L = 31,705 MJ Conversion: 1 MJ = 0.277778 kWh Convert to kWh: 31,705 MJ * 0.277778 kWh/MJ = 8,807 kWh
The 850 L of heating oil is equivalent to using 8,807 kWh if heating with an electric baseboard heater. At $0.14/kWh it would cost ~$1,230 for heating. At 15 g CO2e/kWh it would release 132,105 g GHG.
The 850 L of heating oil is equivalent to using 2,936 kWh if heating with a heat pump with a seasonal average COP of 3. The heat pump would use about 1/3rd the electricity of the electric base board heater (8,807/3 = 2,936 kWh). At $0.14/kWh it would cost ~$410 for heating. At 15 g CO2e/kWh it would release 44,040 g GHG.
Carbon emission by fuel type, appears to be 15 g CO2e/kWh of electricity and 2,753 g GHG/L for heating oil https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/pricing-pollution-how-it-will-work/output-based-pricing-system/federal-greenhouse-gas-offset-system/emission-factors-reference-values.html. Please note, some contest the emissions for BC electricity is actually closer to 120 g CO2e/kWh. Even at 120 g CO2e/kWh of emissions, the emissions are significantly less when heating with a heat pump as compared to heating with heating oil.
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BC Hydro 10 Year Plan
Electricity accounts for only 20% of the energy used in British Columbia. The amount of electricity BC Hydro needs to provide will increase significantly as more residents and businesses transition from using carbon based fuels to using cleaner electricity.
From heating and cooling homes, to powering personal and public transportation, the role of electricity will continue to grow.
https://www.bchydro.com/toolbar/about/strategies-plans-regulatory/supply-operations/capital-plan.html?utm_source=connected&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=24-02&utm_content=plan
https://www.bchydro.com/content/dam/BCHydro/customer-portal/documents/corporate/capital-plan/capital-plan-2024.pdf
The 10-Year BC Hydro Capital Plan outlines $36 billion of anticipated infrastructure investments over the next decade.
$5 billion to support new customer connections, particularly in high growth areas of the province. These investments will support residential housing growth, residential electrification, electrification of transit and industrial electrification.
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EVs Result In Improved Health
Another report indicating EVs improve peoples health – this time, specifically with respect to improving the health of children in the United States.
While the results of this American Lung Association study are for the United States, the beneficial heath results are applicable everywhere transportation transitions to using clean renewable electricity on the assumed timeline.
The assumptions:
all new passenger vehicles sold in the United States will be zero-emission vehicles by 2035;
all new trucks sold in the United States will be zero-emission by 2040; and
all electricity in the United States will be generated by clean and renewable methods by 2035.
These assumptions were fed into US Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy modeling tools to project health outcomes of children. With this, they determine for children there are:
2.79 million asthma attacks avoided;
147,000 acute bronchitis cases avoided;
2.67 million upper respiratory symptoms avoided;
1.87 million lower respiratory symptoms avoided; and
508 infant mortality cases avoided.
Along with these improved health results will be massive health care savings.
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/21/electric-cars-children-health
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Letter From The Canadian Association Of Physicians For The Environment
This letter from CAPE provides a very good summary of the current understanding of methane, climate change and air pollution, with emphasis on the Canadian context. |
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For the full letter: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tSD24f2MpDEJgHo9ycHfZmTmHUa2Pinv_fVunf9D0hE/edit
Our family began driving EVs in 2009 to reduce our contribution to air pollution – knowing air pollution results in negative health implications. Keep in mind the air pollution from vehicles is made worse as the pollution is emitted at face level.
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Vehicle To Grid (V2G)
. . . . the batteries in all the electric cars in the world could act as a giant, distributed virtual power plant that would store electricity from renewables when it is abundant and supply it back to the grid when demand exceeds supply. The batteries could also perform grid stabilization chores.
V2G is already possible using the ISO 15118-20 standard to manage vehicle-to-grid communications and operations with DC fast chargers (Level 3).
In January the SAE International formally adopted the SAE J3068 V2G capabilities for Level 1 and Level 2 Charging. All EVs conforming to the SAE J3068 will be a roaming grid battery able to earn the EV owner extra money and save the electrical utilities a lot of money. This also means all customers who purchase electricity from the utility will save!
University of Delaware professor Willett Kempton and his team of EV researchers first started using electric vehicles as grid batteries in 2007. Their first of its kind experiment has since been replicated in V2G projects around the world.
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/02/22/sae-adopts-new-standards-for-vehicle-to-grid/?mc_cid=f3bfcb9d67&mc_eid=974f9ac839
There are several types of bidirectional charging, which are the same in principle but also different in terms of functionality and usefulness.
This article describes the various bidirectional functions, including V2G, V2H, V2L, V2V and V2X. Who wouldn’t want an EV in order to access this sort of functionality. https://www.msn.com/en-ca/autos/research/bidirectional-charging-evs-v2g-v2h-and-v2l-explained/ar-BB1iAITM?mc_cid=bb6db77980&mc_eid=974f9ac839
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Transitioning To Electric Airplanes
This tiny electric airplane has been in service training new pilots around the world for a few years already https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/products/velis-electro/. |
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Sealand Flight Ltd., of Campbell River on Vancouver Island, may have the first electric airplane for training pilots in Canada. |
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https://globalnews.ca/news/10312195/bc-company-provinces-first-electric-plane-training/?mc_cid=f3bfcb9d67&mc_eid=974f9ac839
As best as I know, it is the second electric air plane in Canada, with the Harbour Air Electric De Havilland Beaver – which has done over 70 test flights over the past couple of years as it seeks to obtain Canadian Aviation authorization for doing commercial flights https://harbourair.com/upcoming-eplane-events/. |
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Corn Based Ethanol As Fuel
An interesting 13 minute explainer video using corn based ethanol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-yDKeya4SU.
. . . the carbon intensity of corn ethanol produced under the RFS [Renewable Fuel Standard] is no less than gasoline and likely at least 24% higher.
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Recent Hydrogen Agreement In Prince George - Chemtrade - Canfor - Teralta Announcement
Teralta Hydrogen Solutions, Chemtrade and Canfor intend on investing in a hydrogen project that will use waste hydrogen in one of Canfor’s pulp mills. This project, if successful, should reduce the amount of natural gas used at a Canfor pulp mill by 25 percent.
Canfor Pulp is continuously looking for new ways to apply sustainability innovation for low-carbon energy solutions. We’re excited to explore the opportunities with clean hydrogen, which could substantially reduce natural gas use and drive us toward a more economically and environmentally sound future,” said Kevin Edgson, president and CEO of Canfor Pulp.
https://www.woodbusiness.ca/teralta-chemtrade-canfor-to-invest-in-clean-economy-project/
https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/local-news/clean-energy-hydrogen-project-announced-in-prince-george-8119968
A CleanTechnica article https://cleantechnica.com/2024/01/17/prince-george-teralta-hydrogen-for-energy-initiative-actually-makes-sense/ has this to say about this unique opportunity/project:
This actually sensible hydrogen for energy use case depends on an industrial process that creates a bit of hydrogen as a byproduct of its main production efforts and a really close by burner of natural gas. It required an entire new, if small, chemical processing plant be established between the two facilities to cleanse the hydrogen. It required adjustments in the burners on a boiler set aside for it as well.
The Chemtrade plant currently produces 12 tons of hydrogen a day as a byproduct as they make sodium chlorate. This project means that instead of going up into the air, this hydrogen byproduct can be used to offset the burning of natural gas at the Canfor pulp mill.
Currently, that byproduct hydrogen is being released into the air. When released, hydrogen interferes with the decomposition of methane in the atmosphere, thus extending its persistence period. This means every ton of hydrogen released into the air is equivalent to about 12 tons of carbon dioxide. That release of 12 tons a day of hydrogen from the Chemtrade plant works out to 144 tons of CO2 a day or about 53,000 tons a year.
This project will reduce the hydrogen being released into the air, and substitute a large amount of natural gas currently being used in the Canfor pulp mill.
I wonder how much hydrogen is already being produced and wasted in other industrial processes?
Another thing to keep in mind - remember that promise of hydrogen as a new energy fuel for the world. Well, hydrogen molecules are so small they escape through the containers storing the hydrogen. How much hydrogen will escape from each of these facilities and cause the above noted climate change impact? I hope government is factoring this into their assessment prior to investing in hydrogen. |
Improving Battery Recycling
While lots of research is going into developing batteries which use less amounts of problematic elements such as cobalt, there is also a lot of research going in to improving battery recycling. This article discusses a new method for extracting cobalt from lithium-ion batteries.
https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/03/piss-and-vinegar-the-two-ingredients-for-ecofriendly-battery-recycling/?mkt_tok=MTg4LVZEVS0zNjAAAAGRlc1AZX3VvAuDF-iow0TdFITkkoEDtcB3T-uhxR-OVEq-O6OfojF2Hj2l4PLdREtiXenFY_y4QyGJvkEX35HzQAq28PqbmSKCJkusGE9o099Y
Recycling metals in batteries today involves pulverizing them and then either heating them at temperatures over 500°C using lots of energy, or dissolving them in harsh chemicals such as acids, which creates harmful byproducts.
The new more environmentally friendly method developed by a team from Linnaeus University in Sweden and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in India uses a liquid solvent made of readily available substances derived from urine and acetic acid. The liquid solvent dissolves the lithium cobalt oxide at a relatively mild 180°C. After two days in the heated solvent the researchers are able to recover more than 97 percent of the cobalt.
https://lnu.se/en/meet-linnaeus-university/current/news/2023/new-method-for-recycling-lithium-ion-batteries/ |
Email Doug Beckett (ldb@pgbeckett.ca or doug.beckett@ev.princegeorge.tech) to subscribe or unsubscribe from The Energy Group Newsletter. |
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