Energy

Volvo on Wednesday called time on the internal combustion engine in a bid to get ahead in the race to sell electric cars to the mass market.

The Chinese-Swedish carmaker has said that, from 2019, all of its models will be powered by electric engines. The Gothenburg-based company will continue to produce pure combustion-engine Volvos from models launched before that date, but said it would introduce cars across its model line-up that ranged from fully electric cars to plug-in hybrids.

The world’s first commercial plant for capturing carbon dioxide directly from the air opened on May 31th, refueling a debate about whether the technology can truly play a significant role in removing greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere. The Climeworks AG facility near Zurich becomes the first ever to capture CO2 at industrial scale from air and sell it directly to a buyer.

Developers say the plant will capture about 900 tons of CO2 annually – or the approximate level released from 200 cars – and pipe the gas to help grow vegetables.

OPEC is meeting in Vienna to discuss rolling over its six-month deal with 11 other exporters to remove 1.8 million barrels a day from the oil market in order to shrink global crude stockpiles. Consensus has formed in recent weeks around a nine-month extension, along the lines of a plan agreed to last week bySaudi Arabia and Russia.

Most analysts expect the cartel to extend production cuts for another six to nine months following recent statements from major oil players.

Between now and 2021, battery production all over the world will more than double, Bloomberg reports. With more companies getting into the game, expansion and competition are up, and prices are down. This will mean more opportunities for energy companies and electric car manufacturers, and better deals for consumers looking to purchase clean powered technology for less money.
The key is an expected increase in the number of battery factories, which will boost production capacity-and thus provide the economies of scale needed to make batteries cheaper.

On Sunday Swiss voted on whether to support the federal government’s plan to overhaul Switzerland’s energy system. The plan was accepted by 58.2% of voters with only four of the country’s 26 cantons voting "no".

The Swiss initiative mirrors efforts elsewhere in Europe to reduce dependence on nuclear power, partly sparked by Japan’s Fukushima disaster in 2011.
Following its approval, the new law is expected to come into force in early 2018. According to the Swiss government website, it is aimed at reducing energy consumption, increasing energy efficiency and promoting renewable energies such as water, solar, wind and geothermal power, as well as biomass fuels.

Electric car maker Tesla has added another product to its lineup: Solar roof tiles. As of Wednesday, customers worldwide could order a solar roof on Tesla’s web site. Installations will begin next month in the U.S., starting with California. Musk took to Twitter to confirm the delivery and installation of the tiles. According to his tweet, the first two styles will be in 2017 in the United States, and in 2018 for overseas orders.

The glass tiles were unveiled by Tesla last fall just before the company merged with solar panel maker SolarCity Corp. They’re designed to look like a traditional roof, with options that replicate slate or terracotta tiles. The solar tiles contain photovoltaic cells that are invisible from the street.

During Obama’s presidency, the US energy industry was hit strongly by environmental protection measures. Now, oil and gas industry is expected to surge forward. Do you share this point of view or not? In your opinion, will Trump’s regulations help the US become more energy independent?

At the moment, it is hard to say whether the energy industry is really going to surge forward thanks to Trump’s regulations. Still, with relatively low oil prices, the industry is not going to receive more money regardless of any regulations the President might implement. What I mean is that the government can still make these rules easier for the companies, but it will not change the investment significantly. Overall, the new regulations implementation might be positive, but it is still not a game changer. Furthermore, I suppose that there is no need for the President to relax the environmental regulations because the industry is already capable of meeting higher environmental standards.

Power production and distribution utility Alpiq has commenced operation of its first power-to-heat system in Niedergösgen, Switzerland, the company announced this week.
The $6m, 22 MW system in the canton of Solothurn, was constructed by Alpiq. While construction commenced in the beginning of October last year, the new Alpiq system was commissioned in the middle of this month. It features two 11 MW electrode boilers which generate process steam.