DESNZ Launches Call For Evidence For Solar Carports In The UK
The title of this post is the same as this article on Solar Power Portal.
These three paragraphs introduce the article.
The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has launched a call for evidence to help increase the number of solar-powered carports in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The likely result of this will be a mandate that car parks have a solar PV installation, as has been the case in France for some time.
Mandating solar on car parks has multiple benefits, which DESNZ is keen to emphasise. It says that a mandate would be a “better deal for motorists and businesses”
I may not be a fan of electric cars, but I’m certainly no fan of spreading solar panels over large areas of quality farmland.
There are some interesting statements.
Take this one.
DESNZ cites estimates that supermarkets, retail parks and offices could save up to £28,000 annually by installing solar carports (this figure calculated for an 80-space car park—the size that France mandates must be covered by solar PV) if all of the electricity generated by the solar array was used onsite.
£28,000 a year is not to be sneezed at!
And this one.
Earlier this year, Norwich-based RenEnergy, a solar carport provider, revealed that installing solar carports in more than half a million suitable parking spaces owned by UK businesses could generate 1.57GW of solar energy.
They do suggest that this figure only scratches the surface.
And then there’s this story from Bentley.
In 2019, Bentley Motors installed a solar car park at its headquarters in Crewe. The site’s 10,000 solar PV modules have a capacity of 2.7MW and cover an area of 16,426m². Along with other installed solar arrays and 6.6MW of battery energy storage, the car park enables all of Bentley’s manufacturing operations to be powered by solar or certified green energy.
How many other businesses could do that?
This Google Map shows the Bentley Motors site at Crewe.
Note.
- It appears to be a large site.
- Bentley employs over 4,000 employees at Crewe.
- In 2023, Bentley delivered 13, 560 cars.
- The solar car ports appear to be at the Western end of the site.
- There would appear to be a lot of scope to add more solar car ports at the Eastern end of the site.
Running along the Southern edge of the site is the North Wales Coast Line, which runs between Crewe and Chester and then on to North Wales.
I would have thought, that a case could be made out to have a station at the Bentley site for employees and visitors.
There also doesn’t seem to be the infrastructure, so that cars to some destinations can be delivered by train, like these from Toyota, which I photographed at Denmark Hill station, which were on the way to Europe, through the Channel Tunnel.
Perhaps sending luxury cars to their future owners by train is the wrong image.
Honda’s NSX Factory Is Shifting To Plug-In Hydrogen CR-V Production
The title of this post, is the same as that, of this article on Road and Track.
Hyperion XP-1 Hydrogen Car Unveiled With 1,000-mile Range
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
This is the specification of the hydrogen-powered Hyperion XP-1.
- 1,000 mile range.
- No batteries as it uses supercapacitors.
- Five minute refuelling time
- All-wheel drive
- 221 mph top speed
- 0-to-60 mph in 2.2 seconds
- Weighs just over a tonne
- Carbon-titanium monocoque
- Outrageous styling
Unbelievable!
Why BMW Chair Oliver Zipse Says Hydrogen Cars Will Be The “Hippest Thing” On The Road
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
This is the introductory paragraph.
BMW Chair Oliver Zipse recently spoke at an interview in Goodwood, England, underscoring that hydrogen cars will soon be the most desirable zero-emission passenger vehicles to drive, not battery electrics.
He made these points and predictions.
- Electric vehicles will hit their peak in about ten years, then H2 will take over.
- After the electric car, which has been going on for about 10 years and scaling up rapidly, the next trend will be hydrogen.
- When it’s more scalable, hydrogen will be the hippest thing to drive.
I agree with him, but I do find anybody called Zipse to take seriously, because of the character in the Tom Sharpe novel; Porterhouse Blue.
AA Unveils Hydrogen Fuel Cell Patrol Vehicle
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on FleetNews.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The AA has revealed a hydrogen fuel cell roadside breakdown vehicle – the Hyundai NEXO – to target breakdown jobs in ultra-low emission zones.
Could we see other service companies switching to the Hyundai NEXO.
Volkswagen Transformation Boosts Spending On Electric Vehicles
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the first paragraph.
Volkswagen plans to increase its spending for battery-powered electric vehicles by about 50 per cent to €52 billion by 2026 as part of the carmaker’s far-reaching transformation.
That is a lot of euros.
This is a statement from their Chief Executive; Herbert Diess
We are becoming a battery manufacturer, a charging infrastructure manager, software is playing a more dominant role . . . We are developing new business activities with an unbelievable dimension for us.
Vehicle manufacturers must either change or die.
Jaguar Car Brand To Be All-Electric By 2025
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
It would appear, that some of the larger vehicles will be powered by hydrogen.
But it is an interesting, even if it is an inevitable move.
I find these two paragraphs interesting.
But it has dropped plans to build an electric version of its XJ saloon at the Castle Bromwich plant, meaning the site will eventually stop making cars.
Chief executive Thierry Bolloré said the plant would focus instead on “non-production” activities in the long term, without giving details.
Note.
- Castle Bromwich is a large site.
- It’s probably not in the best place to build thousands of cars.
- Would turning it into a giant battery-pack factory be classed as non-production?
It sounds like there’s a cunning plan.
- As an engineer, I believe, there’s only one way to build an electric car and that is as light in weight as possible to make sure the car goes as far as possible on each charge of the battery.
- So this will mean the sort of construction methods used for Formula One cars and aircraft.
- Will this in turn mean a brand new factory, that makes cars in radically different ways?
I think there’s a lot more to be disclosed.
Dangerous Innovation
I had to put a link to this article on the Romford Recorder, which is entitled Heritage: Sootigine, Dagfert and Baxtrol.
It is a tale of dangerous products mainly developed in East London.
It has to be read, as no precis of mine can do it justice.
I will add a story, that was told by the guy whose bottom fell out in this post.
The guy in the story had at one time been the Complaints Manger for Ford in Dagenham.
This was one of his tales.
Ford received a complaint via the main dealer in East London.
- The engine had failed in a car about six months old.
- So he arranged a time to meet the owner at the garage.
- When they arrived, he asked, the garage manager to start the car.
- He said that he’d never heard such a noise. All big-ends and the small-ends were making a lot of noise and it was the worst engine he’d ever heard.
- So he asked the manager to put the car on a lift and drop the sump to have a look.
- When the sump was dropped, the manager showed him the sump, which looked like it was full with a waxy solid.
So they asked the owner, who was of Mediterranean origin, what oil he was using in his car.
They got the immortal reply!
“Good enough for my fried fish! Good enough for my car!”
Liquid Hydrogen Tested As An Auto Fuel
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the Lethbridge Herald.
I find it strange that I have only picked up this story from a local newspaper in Alberta.
Lethbridge is a city, with a population of a bit over 100,000. It doesn’t seem to have much to do with Alberta’s oil industry, which might see hydrogen as a threat.
This is the introductory paragraph.
A recent demonstration project was evaluated for a hydrogen-fuelled vehicle by the U.S. Department of Energy Division. This demonstration will be applicable to other means of transportation such as trucks and trains.
This paragraph describes the conversion.
They used a 1979 Buick Century four-door sedan with 3.8-litre displacement, turbocharged V-6 engine. This vehicle provided a good compromise on trunk space for installation of the DFVLR tank, passenger accessibility for demonstration, engine compartment space for versatility in selection of substitute engines, available engine sizes, efficiency and suitability for modification of hydrogen operation.
I am left with the impression, after reading the article, that it might be possible for large American style cars to be converted to hydrogen.
Blues On The Right, Whites On The Left
I just thought, that this arrangement of Minis in Winchester, needed to be snapped.
Why the formation?
The Anonymous Widower 