[GWSG] Electric busses, semis; US & Syria alone; fouled story; Russia adapting; US solar tarriffs?; solar emergency power

[Tilley, Al]

1. Proterra has set a range record for an electric bus of 1100 miles on a single charge. Their current standard electric busses get 350 miles. Tesla plans to unveil an electric semi next month. https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/proterras-electric-bus-breaks-a-world-record-for-range



2. Tesla has applied for a patent on a battery which could be used in their new semi.  A driver toward the end of the semi's 200-300 mile range could stop and swap for a fresh battery.  Nikola Motors is proposing a fuel cell semi with a 1200 mile range. The necessary hydrogen refueling infrastructure would be expensive, though, and natural gas would be used to produce the hydrogen, at least in current practice. The Nikola semi's carbon footprint is not clear to me.  https://cleantechnica.com/2017/09/21/bosch-nikola-motors-fuel-cell-electric-truck-partnership-followup-context-discussion/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29



3. Nicaragua, which had not signed the Paris Agreement because it wanted a more ambitious program, has decided to sign, leaving Trump alone with Syria's Bashar al-Assad in non-agreement.  https://www.ecowatch.com/nicaragua-paris-agreement-2487905844.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=bb1a5c2164-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-bb1a5c2164-85965093



4. In the last newsletter I noted that a reevaluation of past carbon emissions showed that we have more of a budget before 1.5C of warming than we had supposed.  A British critique of how that story was covered illuminates how hostile media misread the study to conclude that climate models were at fault.  It is an instructive example of how the scientific conversation is distorted to serve fossil fuel interests.  https://climatefeedback.org/evaluation/daily-wire-article-misunderstands-study-carbon-budget-along-fox-news-telegraph-daily-mail-breitbart-james-barrett/



5. Russia is taking steps to deal with the effects of climate change, but not with the causes. Russia is heavily dependent on fossil fuel revenues.  http://www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagazine/22_september_2017?sub_id=KOh704Udnq9u&u1=20117138&folio=1221&pg=17#pg17



6.  Chinese and German firms manufacturing in Georgia have brought a suit before the US International Trade Commission charging that cheap solar panels manufactured abroad have hurt their ability to compete.  In the coming months that could lead to higher tariffs on imports, and hamper the adoption of solar power in the US.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/09/22/solar-industry-roiled-by-trade-ruling-that-some-fear-could-lead-to-tariffs/?utm_source=rss_energy-environment&utm_term=.886422556d89

While the price of commercial solar power might double, the cost of a rooftop system would increase by about 15% under the proposed tariff. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22092017/solar-tariff-threat-looming-questions-homeowners-buying-itc-ruling-trump   An upside might be to promote the implementation of new panel technology, which could become more competitive if allowed to develop. It seems possible to me that a temporary lull in US adoption of solar power could be worthwhile if it led to significantly higher panel efficiency, lower space needs, and lower costs of power production.



7.  If you want your solar array to provide power in emergencies such as Hurricane Irma, you need battery storage and a property connected inverter. https://cleantechnica.com/2017/09/22/question-can-people-use-rooftop-solar-power-emergency-answer-depends/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29 ?

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