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Norway has taken a number one function in no less than two high-visibility components of the vitality transition, together with its offshore wind trade in addition to the speedy tempo of EV gross sales within the nation. Nevertheless, wind generators and electrical vehicles are simply a part of the image. Exercise is stirring in different areas as properly.
Behind The Scenes At The Power Transition
I’ll be connecting with a few of these backstage innovators later this week on a visit to Norway, all however considered one of which have slipped beneath the CleanTechnica radar up to now (please be aware, this journey was made potential by the media agency Arc Press).
The provision of EV charging is likely one of the important programs that may impression a rustic’s EV gross sales profile. Norway apparently has loads of charging stations to go round, however EV charging stakeholders should not leaving the long run as much as likelihood.
This week I’ll be assembly with representatives from the Norwegian startup Elywhere. They’ve developed a charger-plus-storage resolution for areas the place the grid is just too weak to assist quick charging stations. With an built-in battery, the charging station can recharge itself at its leisure, at any time when the grid is as much as snuff.
Along with the charging idea itself, Elywhere is of curiosity within the broader context of the vitality transition. They launched in March of 2021 and had their preliminary ES300/300 charging station on show on the Nordic EV Summit in November of 2022, a nifty demonstration of the depth and maturity of the charging station and vitality storage provide chains. The show mannequin was additionally a working product, put in at its everlasting location quickly after the summit ended.
One other vitality transition agency on my checklist is the Norwegian battery innovator Morrow Batteries, which is specializing in lithium-iron-phosphate batteries for heavy-duty functions. The LFP provide chain is taken into account extra eco-friendly than the acquainted lithium-ion batteries and it’s cheaper, offering the vitality storage subject with further choices.
Maintain on to your hats. Morrow additionally runs an vitality storage analysis middle in Norway, the place work is continuing on a lithium-manganese-nickel-oxide (LMNO) cathode materials with the intention of chopping cobalt out of battery provide chain. Morrow additionally anticipates that the R&D effort will cut back the quantity of nickel and lithium wanted.
Transmission Strains And The Power Transition
Neither Morrow nor its LMNO EV battery analysis undertaking have surfaced on the pages of CleanTechnica till this week. One other new face is the startup Heimdall Energy. The corporate focuses on grid optimization, tweaking present property to enhance reliability and add transmission capability with out including the price of new infrastructure.
CleanTechnica has noticed a few different corporations deploying new sensing applied sciences and software program to squeeze extra capability out of present transmission traces with out sacrificing reliability. Heimdall expects to realize an edge partly by deploying drones to put in its sensors in hard-to-reach areas. The corporate additionally notes that its digital system helps easy the way in which so as to add extra renewable vitality to grids.
Discovering The Proper Utility For Wave Power
Wave vitality is one other important piece of the vitality transition puzzle that has lengthy been buried beneath an avalanche of stories about electrical vehicles, vans, vehicles, scooters, bikes, autocycles, trains, plane, and autonomous autos of all types. However, all that electrical energy for all these EV batteries has to come back from someplace, and it may come from harvesting the infinite kinetic vitality of wave movement. Within the US, for instance, waves may present for about one-third of the nation’s electrical energy consumption (see tons extra wave vitality background right here).
After years of R&D work to beat some sticky know-how obstacles, wave vitality harvesting units are starting to edge into the market. CleanTechnica has been monitoring the exercise however we haven’t noticed the Norwegian wave vitality startup Ocean Oasis but, so I’m trying ahead to the possibility to catch up.
Ocean Oasis is among the many wave vitality stakeholders to identify a aggressive alternative amongst island communities and coastal areas the place the price of fossil vitality is excessive however there’s little out there area for onshore wind generators and photo voltaic panels.
The corporate additionally goals to result in an vitality transition twofer by offering island communities with a wave vitality resolution for his or her desalination programs.
Cleansing Up Delivery Emissions
The local weather tech agency ClimatePoint can be on faucet this week. It really works with firms to cut back Scope 4 emissions, that means emissions that rise from the usage of a services or products by purchasers and clients. The corporate’s Inexperienced River Funding Administration department allows ClimatePoint to zero in on high-impact alternatives for enterprise capital within the Scope 4 space.
One other newcomer to CleanTechnica is Strawberry, the second-largest resort chain within the area, overlaying Scandinavia, Finland, the Faroe Islands, and the Baltics. It at present has greater than 240 resorts beneath its wing, which actually complicates the sustainability image. However, Strawberry states that it’s on a mission to “paved the way and present that impression on the local weather will be decreased even inside giant resort operations.”
Rounding out the week is the one acquainted identify on the checklist, the main Norwegian know-how group Wärtsilä. CleanTechnica retains up with information from the agency regularly, notably relating to its vitality storage enterprise. The corporate’s Wärtsilä Marine department additionally gives programs for electrical ships, along with hybrids and different applied sciences.
In its newest information, the corporate has additionally been leveraging its expertise in maritime exhaust scrubbing to develop a seagoing carbon seize system. Final week, the agency introduced that its new “Wärtsilä Carbon seize resolution” reduces CO2 emissions from ships by as much as 70 p.c.
Whereas that falls wanting a deep, long-term vitality transition state of affairs, Wärtsilä factors out that carbon seize may also help shippers meet the Worldwide Maritime Group’s 2050 discount goal.
Within the meantime, Wärtsilä can be leveraging its market place to inspire its suppliers to cut back their carbon emissions. In February, the corporate reset its “Set for 30” decarbonization targets with a brand new give attention to emissions from its Tier 1 direct suppliers, enabling the corporate to make headway on its Scope 3 emissions.
Picture (cropped): There may be extra to the vitality transition in Norway than wind generators and electrical autos, with startups and legacy corporations alike pushing the decarbonization envelope (courtesy of Ocean Oasis).
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