The RECHARGE Report is meant to be a reference and overview document for the interested reader. It includes number of information related the batteries markets and technology developments, covering the whole life cycle from production to recycling, the legislation impacting batteries in Europe, and a transport and safety overview.
report:RECHARGE – The Batteries Report 2018 – April ’18
A promising initiative from the Commission
RECHARGE welcomes the communication published yesterday by the European Commission “Europe on the move- Sustainable Mobility for Europe: safe, connected and clean”, and particularly its Annex II addressing the Strategic Action Plan on Batteries. The development of “an innovative, integrated, sustainable and competitive battery value chain in Europe” is recognized as a key objective for the future European economy and the transition to clean energy.
The underlined Commission actions are of high relevance for the industry:
The Battery Industry Commitment
The Battery Industry is supporting the development of a sustainable Battery cell manufacturing sector in Europe, including the associated highly skilled workforce. RECHARGE represents its members in the Battery Alliance meetings and actively promotes the formulation of a comprehensive plan supporting the industry development. This Commission initiative creates a unique opportunity to tackle the issue of the European Battery manufacturing competitiveness. With the active engagement of its members, RECHARGE will actively contribute to the successful roll-out of this initiative.
May 18 , 2018
RECHARGE
The Battery Show Europe
The Battery Show, co-located with Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology Expo, is Europe’s largest trade fair for advanced battery and H/EV technology, taking place 15 – 17 May 2018, in Hannover, Germany.
More than 300 manufacturers and service providers from across the supply chain, including Tesla, Panasonic, Akasol, Bosch Rexroth, Siemens, Valeo and Continental, will display thousands of design, production and manufacturing solutions, such as battery systems, materials, components, testing and recycling, for automotive, utilities, renewable energy, grid, power tools and electronics industries. This free trade fair is an opportunity to source the latest energy storage solutions, helping to reduce costs and improve the performance of applications. Find out more here.
Running parallel to the exhibition, the three-track conference delves into the most prominent industry talking points – from the next frontier in vehicle electrification to optimising battery efficiency and performance through energy recovery and electric turbocharging. Speaking organizations include Volkswagen, Porsche, Toyota, Samsung and LG Chem. Find out more here.
The past few months have seen the announcement of a number of new projects to develop large passenger-carrying all-electric or hybrid electric aircraft. There have been a recent flurry of announcements of new projects to develop ‘green’ passenger-carrying hybrid or all-electric aircraft technology demonstrators. BILL READ FRAeS asks battery manufacturers whether the current state of battery technology is equal to the task of powering these new larger aircraft and will they be as environmentally-friendly as hoped for?RECHARGE interview for aircraft power sources
Top US and EU officials traded intelligence Wednesday (17 May) on what they called “serious evolving threats” to airline security as Washington mulls banning carry-on computers on flights from Europe.Both sides said they intended to hold more talks next week in Washington on a possible ban of such equipment.“Both sides exchanged information on the serious evolving threats to aviation security and approaches to confronting such threats,” a joint statement said.They discussed “existing aviation security standards and detection capabilities” as well as security improvements “related to large electronic devices placed in checked baggage,” it added.
The US Department of Homeland Security sparked deep concern in Europe last week when it said it would soon decide on extending to European airlines a carry-on computer ban on flights from eight mostly Muslim countries.EU Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc took part in what US officials said were four hours of “robust” talks with a US delegation led by Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke.
But a senior US government official told reporters on a conference call that there were points of agreement and points they were continuing to discuss.Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly was mulling “next steps” and would make any decision based on an evaluation of threats, the official said on condition of anonymity. “Secretary Kelly has made no decision on expanding the restriction on large electronic devices in aircraft cabins, but the decision is currently under consideration,” the senior official said.
A US ban on now ubiquitous laptops could cause havoc, with more than 3,250 flights a week scheduled to leave EU airports for the US this summer, according to industry data.Some experts also say there is a security risk in putting them with checked luggage given the danger of their batteries catching fire.
The Battery Show Europe | 4-6 APRIL 2017, Europe’s exhibition & conference for advanced battery manufacturing and technology, in Sindelfingen, Germany
Find hundreds of advanced battery manufacturing solutions at The Battery Show Europe.
If you are involved in the design, production or manufacture of batteries, systems, materials or components, you cannot afford to miss The Battery Show Europe 2017 (4-6 April, Sindelfingen, Germany). You can access the exhibition, networking events and live product showcase completely free of charge, or you can upgrade to a conference pass and hear from 70 speakers from €595.
The Battery Show Europe offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to:
View the sessions agenda online or book a pass. http://www.thebatteryshow.eu/conference/conference-agenda?dm_i=3NN8,69ZO,2QH5SK,LONP,1
By EurActiv.com with Reuters
The EZ10 bus, pictured here on the streets of Stockholm, is now being rolled out in Paris.
Paris yesterday (23 January) launched its first driverless electric shuttle bus service, aiming to curb congestion and pollution that many Parisians blame for a whole raft of health complaints.
The French capital has a serious pollution problem and numerous schemes have already been tried to try and cut down smog levels, including shutting the Champs-Élysées thoroughfare once a month to traffic.
Now Paris is taking it to the next level and has launched a driverless electric shuttle bus service, which the capital’s authorities also hope will help ease congestion that clogs the city’s streets every day.
Sensors and cameras tell the EZ10 bus when to stop and start, how fast to go and in which direction.
The 130-metre (142-yard) test route links the Gare de Lyon and Austerlitz train stations, two of the city’s busy transport hubs on either side of the Seine river. Other routes will be introduced this year, the city’s authority said in a statement. And it isn’t just Paris that is getting in on the act. Lyon in central France has also been testing a driverless bus service.
Driverless cars are appearing more and more in EU policy plans, as European lawmakers advocate allocating time and money in order to prevent the United States or China getting a head start.
But the technology faces obstacles, as some critics complain that EU countries won’t manage to get driverless cars out before the US because 21 out of 28 EU countries signed onto the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, a UN treaty that requires a driver to be able to take control of a vehicle at any point. The Convention allows for testing of driverless cars, but it doesn’t allow them to run on public roads without a driver in control. Even though France is a signatory to that Convention, a precedent has already been set. In the Helsinki neighbourhood of Hernessari, one driverless bus made by French manufacturer Easymile transported commuters at a maximum speed of 40 kilometres per hour during a trial period. Finland is also a signatory to the Vienna Convention.
Eetu Pilli-Sihvola, a special adviser at the Finnish Transport Safety Agency, says that was possible because of how Finnish regulators interpret the treaty’s requirement of a driver who can take control of the vehicle.
Background
Connected cars use internet connectivity to perform various functions, including measuring location, road conditions and car performance.
Fully autonomous or driverless cars do not need driver intervention to function. Car companies have been calling for laws that would allow autonomous cars to drive more freely in Europe.
The EU has been organising initiatives to promote road safety and traffic management by pooling information provided by cars that are hooked up to the digital network infrastructure, as early back as 2010. In particular, the EU executive wants wants the industry to convert their efforts into “a global market success” via enhanced co-operation and standarisation of ICT-aided cars. Car manufacturers have also invested heavily in these.
December 16th, 2016 by Steve Hanley
Originally published on Gas2
Psst! Got $10 million burning a hole in your pocket and an itch for space travel? Are you a firm believer in climate change who wants to limit your carbon footprint while you pursue you dreams? If your answers to those questions are yes, SolarStratos, a Swiss start-up, may have just the answer for you wanderlust — an airplane that uses solar power to lift people to the edge of space and return them gently to earth.
Space tourism is expected to become big business in the future. Spurred on by Elon Musk’s dream of establishing a colony on Mars within the next decade and SpaceX’s innovative reusuable rockets. experts predict the cost of space travel will fall precipitously in coming years. Musk thinks eventually a seat on a Mars bound transport could cost as little as $100,000.
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg told Bloomberg earlier this year he sees the space tourism industry “blossoming over the next couple of decades into a viable commercial market. He thinks the International Space Station could be joined in low earth orbit by dozens of hotels and companies pursuing micro-gravity manufacturing and research. “I think it’s a fascinating area for us,” he said.
But you might not have to wait that long. Last week, Swiss company SolarStratos revealed its “solar plane,” a 28 foot-long aircraft that will be the first manned aircraft entirely powered by solar energy to rise above the stratosphere and bring passengers close to the stars. The solar power airplane has a wingspan of 81.3 feet and weighs 992 pounds.
Its wings are covered by 72 square feet of solar panels which provide energy to its 32 kilowatt electric engine and 20 kWh lithium ion battery. SolarStratos claims the airplane has approximately the same carbon footprint as an electric car . To reduce total weight of the aircraft, the cockpit will not be heated or pressurized. Those on board will wear pressurized space suits to protect them from the minus 70 degree F temperatures outside.
It will take two hours to ascend to the edge of space some 15 miles above the earth. SolarStratos will stay there for 15 minutes before beginning a 3 hour descent back to earth. The company says it expects to launch its first flights for commercial passengers in two to three years, but at a pretty steep price. Each mission will cost $10 million. “This opens the door to the possibility of electric and solar commercial aviation, close to space,” says project lead Raphael Domjan, who designed and built the first solar powered boat to circumnavigate the globe four years ago.
Bertrand Piccard, one of the two pilots who recently circumnavigated the earth in Solar Impulse II, a solar powered aircraft, told members of the International Air Transport Association recently, “In nine years and eight months, you’ll have 50 people traveling short haul on electric planes. Then he asked, “Why nine years and eight months? Because for the past four months I’ve been saying it will be within ten years. It will happen.”
Piccard may be too pessimistic in his predictions. NASA is pursuing research into passenger airplanes powered by electric motors and independent inventors are imagining ways to make larger battery powered airplanes. The age of electric transportation is clearly upon us, even if some don’t realize it yet.
The landmark climate agreement that more than 190 countries struck over the weekend ushers in a broad, new international effort to wind down the fossil-fuel era. But as two weeks of tumultuous negotiations made clear, the pact’s success hinges on individual countries making painful choices—especially in how they produce and consume energy—that could profoundly shape corporate behavior, financial markets and the global economic landscape. Paul Polman, chief executive of European-based consumer-goods giant Unilever PLC and an outspoken environmental advocate, said the deal sent an “unequivocal signal to the business and financial communities, one that will drive real change in the real economy.”
The European Commission will transform a €24bn tranche of its Horizon2020 research budget into a financing vehicle for innovation in the circular economy on Thursday 10 December. The agreement will be finalised at a conference in Luxembourg on financing the circular economy strategy published by the Commission last week. The amendment will be signed by Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella, transforming the InnovFin loan programme, previously dedicated to just technology companies, into a fund for innovation in recycling and waste management. The €24bn is available for debt and equity financing over 2015-20. Additional circular economy funding will be available from the Juncker investment fund, a Commission official told an event in the European Parliament on Wednesday.
Recharge aisbl
The European Association of Advanced Rechargeable and Lithium Batteries
168 av. De Tervueren, box 3
B-1150 Brussels, Belgium
Tel. + 32 2 777 05 60
Fax + 32 2 777 05 65
recharge@rechargebatteries.org
www.rechargebatteries.org
