Tag "Consumer"
Tesla’s Giant Australian Battery Saved Consumers $35 Million in Four Months
Since switching on in December, Tesla’s massive battery in South Australia has already drastically lowered prices in the region’s frequency and ancillary services market (FCAS) and has taken a major share of that market, Renew Economy reported.
During Australian Energy Week, McKinsey and Co. partner Godart van Gendt boasted about the stunning efficiency of the 100-megawatt Powerpack system, which is connected to Neoen’s Hornsdale wind farm. “In the first four months of operations of the Hornsdale Power Reserve, the frequency ancillary services prices went down by 90 percent, so that’s 9-0 per cent,” van Gendt said Thursday, as quoted by Renew Economy. “And the 100 megawatt battery has achieved over 55 percent of the FCAS revenues in South Australia.
So it’s 2 percent of the capacity in South Australia achieving 55 percent of the revenues in South Australia.”
This service has typically relied upon costly gas generators and steam turbines, with electricity rates up to $14,000 per megawatt during these outages.
But Tesla’s big battery, which was designed to feed South Australia’s unstable power grid, has changed the game.
As Renew Economy noted, “various estimates have put the cost savings to consumers from the FCAS market alone at around $35 million, just in the first four months of its operation.”
What’s more, the Powerpack system has responded much quicker to power outages (within milliseconds), with the benefit of no greenhouse gas emissions.
Battery Storage Revolution Could ‘Sound the Death Knell for Fossil Fuels’ https://t.co/HXbegsfUqn @Tesla @elonmusk… https://t.co/7d7APPuBUd — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) 1516303748.0
Oh No – Repealing Fuel Economy Standards Might Liberate Consumer Choice
Guest essay by Eric Worrall The LA Times is worried that rolling back fuel economy standards might allow drivers to choose the solidly built gas guzzling cars they want instead of being forced to buy climate friendly plastic boxes on wheels.
Rolling back fuel economy standards could mean bigger cars — and less progress on climate change By Tony Barboza Gas prices have been so low in recent years that more Americans are choosing to buy bigger vehicles, a trend that has stymied efforts to cut auto emissions.
One thing reining in consumer appetite for trucks and SUVs has been tough fuel economy standards adopted several years ago by California and the Obama administration.
Those rules are forcing automakers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and put cleaner, more efficient gas, hybrid and electric vehicles in showrooms, whether customers want them or not.
But this week, the Trump administration declared that those standards are too onerous for the auto industry and should be weakened — a move that would undermine the single biggest action the federal government has taken to slow climate change while threatening California’s ability to adopt its own, stricter rules for tailpipe emissions.
… Those strict standards were necessary, experts in environmental regulation say, to push against the influence of low gas prices.
“For many, many years until these standards were issued we saw no increase in average fuel economy,” said Ann Carlson, an environmental law professor at UCLA.
“Now we’re seeing many more models that are either zero-emission or very high-economy hybrids.
I don’t think that happens without government regulations.” … “The focus in the past has been on making manufacturers in Detroit, making manufacturers in various parts of the country make cars that people aren’t going to buy,” Pruitt said.
“Our focus should be on making cars that people purchase actually more efficient.” … Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-fuel-economy-impacts-20180406-story,amp.html I love articles like this, because they draw back the veil on the intense frustration greens seem to feel about ordinary people having the liberty to make choices which greens don’t approve.
Strong Fuel Economy Standards Protect the Climate and Consumer Pocketbooks
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent decision to roll back fuel economy standards for new cars and light trucks could slam the brakes on our nation’s most successful climate initiative to date.
The next phase of the standards calls for improving the average fuel efficiency of new cars and trucks in the U.S. to about 50 miles per gallon in lab tests by 2025, which corresponds to a real-world performance of about 36 mpg.
By 2030, that would avoid nearly 4 billion tons of global warming emissions, akin to shutting down 140 coal-fired power plants over that time frame.
To justify the agency’s decision, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a document parroting baseless claims by the main auto industry trade groups, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of Global Automakers.
In fact, the industry’s own analysis concluded automakers can meet the 2025 standards without relying heavily on hybrids and plug-ins.
Indeed, new car prices have remained essentially flat when factoring in inflation, despite the fact that fuel economy has steadily improved.
That ensures that automakers improve the efficiency of all models, including trucks and SUVs, while giving manufacturers flexibility in hitting their targets based on the vehicles they actually sell.
No one model has to be in compliance—it’s an average.
In fact, the standards have already saved American car buyers more than $57 billion at the pump and would continue to save new car buyers thousands of dollars in fuel costs over the life of their vehicles.
Finally, the EPA document fails to even mention climate change, the main reason for the standards in the first place.
Reuters: Blame Consumers, Not China for Global Warming
Guest essay by Eric Worrall According to Clinton Climate Initiative backed green group C40, heavy emitters like China are not responsible for climate change; consumers in big cities who provide the demand for China’s products, especially rich consumers, are responsible for the CO2 emissions China produces fulfilling their needs.
Using consumption-based calculations, emissions in 15 affluent cities were three times more than they were with traditional figuring, the researchers said.
Using consumption-based emissions is “revolutionary” although still “on the periphery,” said Debra Roberts, a co-chairwoman on the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
WUWT readers may remember this story from last year, where Chris Turney, leader of the ill fated “ship of fools” Spirit of Mawson expedition that go stuck in Antarctic sea ice said: “Penguins Don’t Migrate, they’re dying!” and of course blamed the dreaded “climate change” as the reason.
Of course three days later, Discover Magazine ran… Global climate trend since Nov. 16, 1978: +0.13 C per decade February temperatures (preliminary) Global composite temp.
: +0.20 C (about 0.36 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year average for February.
Northern Hemisphere: +0.24 C (about 0.43 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year average for February.
Southern Hemisphere: +0.15 C (about 0.27 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year average for February.
Poorest households hit hardest by UK climate change levy despite using least energy March 2, 2018 10.58pm AEDT John Barrett Professor of Energy and Climate Policy, University of Leeds Anne Owen Research Fellow in… From the Journal of International Climatology and the “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” department.
To me, this feels like vindication.
Maryland Will Be The First U.S. State To Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides For Consumer Use
Maryland Will Be The First U.S. State To Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides For Consumer Use.
Global bee populations are declining rapidly as a result of human impact on the environment, and there’s been a lot of buzz about it (pardon the pun).
What many people don’t know is that bees pollinate 71 of the 100 crops that represent 90% of global food supply.
However, it’s important to note that other pesticides affect bees too, and we will have to do much more than simply banning this class to fully give the environment the respect it deserves in order to restore the health of this planet.
Maryland Will Be the First State to Ban This Bee-Killing Pesticide It’s official: Maryland will be the first U.S. state to ban neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides that have been linked to bee population decline.
The state ban on consumer usage of it will come into effect on January 1, 2018.
When it comes to neonicotinoids?
The team, the Task Force on Systemic Pesticides, titled the review “Worldwide Integrated Assessment of the Impacts of Systemic Pesticides on Biodiversity and Ecosystems,” and you can read the full report here.
You can read more about that study and the negative effects neonics have on bees in our CE article here.
Get your free numerology reading and learn more about how you can use numerology in your life to find out more about your path and journey.
GMO-free top labeling issue for 13% of consumers
GMO-free top labeling issue for 13% of consumers.
In recent years, public awareness campaigns have aimed to inform consumers of the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), but stopped short (so far) of eliminating them.
According to Mintel Reports, consumers do not avoid GMOs on quite the same level as artificial preservatives, flavors and sweeteners.
That said, sizable portions of Baby Boomers (34%) and Millennials (29%) are actively avoiding genetically modified foods.
According to Mintel’s Free From Food Trends, GMO-free is the top issue for 13% of consumers who purchase any free-from food.
By contrast, 27% rank “trans fat-free” as the most important issue when buying food.
But, tallying the top two rankings, GMO-free claims are cited by a quarter of respondents, the same percentage who are looking for preservative-free claims.
However, Mintel’s Global New Products database actually shows a 5% decline between January 2012 and December 2016 in the percentage of new food introductions in North America with GMO-free on-pack claims.
[C]onsumer perception of qualities for the 10 GMO-free food and drink products with the highest purchase intent significantly outranked food and drink products without a GMO-free claim in nearly every attribute, including such attributes as taste, quality, whether the brand was trustworthy, and if the product appeared premium, natural, organic, or even unique, among other attributes.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis.
New Claims Against Monsanto In Consumer Lawsuit Over Roundup Herbicide
New Claims Against Monsanto In Consumer Lawsuit Over Roundup Herbicide.
Another day, another lawsuit against global seed and chemical giant Monsanto Co.
In a complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Wisconsin, six consumers alleged that the company’s top-selling Roundup herbicide has been falsely promoted as uniquely safe when it actually can have profound harmful impacts on human gut bacteria critical to good health.
Plaintiffs include residents of Wisconsin, Illinois, California, New York, New Jersey and Florida.
The lawsuit claims that assertion is false, however, and argues that research shows glyphosate can target an enzyme found in gut bacteria in people and animals, disrupting the immune system, digestion, and “even brain function.” The Morning Email Wake up to the day’s most important news.
“Defendants repeat these false and misleading representations throughout their marketing, including in video advertisements produced for their websites and YouTube Channel,” states the lawsuit, which is filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.
Monsanto did not respond to a request for comment and neither did Scotts.
More than 1,100 plaintiffs have lawsuits pending in state and federal courts with many of the lawsuits combined in multidistrict litigation in federal court in San Francisco.
IARC said research showed an association between NHL and glyphosate, with limited evidence from epidemiology data collected on humans and stronger evidence seen in laboratory animals exposed to glyphosate.
Plaintiffs do not claim physical injury; rather they claim violations of trade and business practices laws, and allege Monsanto and Scotts were “unjustly enriched” as plaintiffs purchased and paid for more Roundup products than they would have in absence of the alleged false promotions.
Haugh: Energy Lags Other Industries on Employee Consumer Health Education
Haugh: Energy Lags Other Industries on Employee Consumer Health Education.
U.S. energy employers should focus more resources toward educating its employees about how to be better healthcare consumers.
“I was surprised to see that 36 percent of all medical plans are now CDHPs (Consumer Directed Healthcare Plans) and 24 percent of all employees who are enrolled in medical plans in the energy industry are participating in CDHPs in 2017,” Haugh told Rigzone.
“In 2014, we only had 9 percent of employees participating in these types of healthcare plans.” CDHPs have higher deductibles and higher out-of-pocket maximums than PPOs (Preferred Provider Organization plans).
It allows employees to have “more skin in the game,” says Haugh.
“So based on the movement toward CDHPs, I’m a little surprised that there’s not a greater commitment by employers in the energy industry to educate employees more on how to be consumers,” he said.
“If workers were given the tools and resources to determine the course of action they need to take for their illnesses, they could save themselves some money as well as the company,” he said.
Compared to other industries in the U.S., the energy industry is behind when it comes to engaging, educating and providing services to employees on how to be better consumers, said Haugh.
“It’s a dynamic cultural shift that needs to take place where wellness is a part of safety,” said Haugh.
“It should support senior management who has that as a part of its company culture.”
This Startup Uses Social Gaming To Help Utilities Build A Clean Energy Future
What were some of the notable challenges you faced when building your business and presenting the company?
Yoav Lurie: We use energy and premise data, user action data, and energy impact data.
More importantly, we also let them know exactly how that product is going to impact their home.
The second huge opportunity is solar.
Simple Energy works as a third-party liaison with utilities companies — Describe your business model and how companies benefit from your partnership?
Simple Energy is both a B2B and B2C company: we work with utilities and then deliver beautifully designed solutions to their customers to get them to take energy-wise actions.
For most utilities, that’s a great thing because they have a requirement from their state to save energy, so they certainly want to develop new approaches and models to energy in the ever-changing landscape, and build brand value with their customers.
If we want to create a clean energy future through millions of people, we need them to trust their utility more than they do today.
Yoav Lurie: Simple Energy is going to stick to its niche, which is compelling customers to take energy-wise actions while enabling utilities to be part of the clean energy future.
The demand for our products is higher than it’s ever been, and I expect it’s only going to continue going up for utilities who want to get their customers to become new energy consumers, and who themselves want to become new energy companies.
PerformFISH project promotes consumer-driven development in Mediterranean aquaculture
PerformFISH will focus on developing consumer driven aquaculture production by integrating innovative approaches that can help ensure European sea bream and sea bass aquaculture businesses are sustainable and competitive.
However, in recent years, there has been growing concern regarding the lack of growth and improvement in Mediterranean marine fish farming.
PerformFISH has the direct support and endorsement of the industry, with producers’ associations from Greece, Spain, Italy, France and Croatia directly involved as partners in the project, focused on ensuring that the research addresses the needs of the sector and knowledge is transferred effectively to their members.
Dr Katerina Moutou, PerformFISH Coordinator, of the University of Thessaly, Greece, said: “PerformFISH is an important and timely project for the sector as solutions are needed to tackle some of the underlying causes behind the current stagnation of the Mediterranean marine fish farming sector.
We have brought together leading researchers and industry across Europe to co-design this innovative project to directly address the needs of the sector.
This research-industry collaboration is truly unique and it is very exciting to see what we can achieve working together.” Over the next five years, PerformFISH will work to ensure sustainable growth of the Mediterranean aquaculture industry, based on consumer perceptions and real market requirements.
It aims to support fish farms to operate not only in ideal economic and environmental conditions, but also in a socially and culturally responsible manner.
The efforts of PerformFISH will be complemented by those of its sister project MedAID.
Together, the two projects represent a €14 million investment by the EC in Mediterranean aquaculture research, further emphasising Europe’s commitment to support the sustainable development of this important food sector.
In Europe, aquaculture accounts for about 20% of fish production and directly employs some 85,000 people.
