EV
- VW supremo Herbert Diess announces that all cars will support V2G this year (some by software update). Stay tuned for an expert Smart Energy People podcast guest next month who will explain all about this.
- I’m surprised we haven’t heard more about wireless charging for EVs - seems like an obvious step to take. I gained a few scars working in wireless power for portable devices 20 years ago (Splashpower) but this is the kind of application where it makes sense - and it’s been trialled in buses since the 1990’s.
- Instavolt sells to EQT private equity
- Uber’s EV share tripled last year.
- Vodafone launches its Digital Asset Broker to enable IoT devices to buy and sell from each other - with EV charging as its first use-case.
- Nice overview from myEnergi on required changes to UK domestic EV chargers.
- The UK’s motor manufacturers’ association (SMMT) is calling for an official govt regulator for EV charging.
Smart Energy
- Since the Russian war on Ukraine began BP has written-off its $25bn stake in Rosneft, Shell has pledged to buy no more Russian oil or gas… but Europe has still imported more than €10bn of Russian oil and gas.
- Looking to play your part in reducing Russian gas exports, while saving money and reducing your carbon footprint? Turning down your boiler flow temperature is super-easy and doesn't affect comfort - do it now!
- A further way to reduce consumption by 10-12%, also without impacting comfort, is to update your thermostat
- It’s claimed that implementing the 649 onshore wind and solar farms already approved would more than counteract the small amount of Russian gas that the UK imports (4% of our supply).
- UK annual household energy bills have historically stayed at around £1,200 for a long time. That’s all changing.
- A massive rise in the UK energy price cap comes into effect in April: 59% = £643 increase.
- A further rise in October will likely raise the average energy bill to £3,000 pushing millions more into fuel poverty.
- Meanwhile France has limited its rises to 4%.
- The UK government bails out a “too big to fail” utility Bulb with taxpayer money, leading some to claim "privatised profits, socialised losses"
- April’s UK price rises will make a heat pump with a COP of >3 cheaper to run than a gas boiler (and COPs can be as high as 5).
- See this fascinating discussion about the feasibility of Octopus Energy’s stated goal of achieving £5k heat pump installation. Dare I say it, there’s something quite “Muskian” about CEO Greg's clarity of vision.
- Love this analysis by Rich Lowes showing how PV return on investment, even in rainy UK, can become 6y or less, as PV costs fall, electricity prices rise and opportunities for using excess electricity increase.
- Some enterprising Germans have built a site to track progress to Net Zero in the various dimensions on which their politicians have made commitments.
- China is planning 450GW of solar and wind in the Gobi desert.
- Following our panel’s recent review of Smart Meters, I was interviewed by Pocket Lint on the future of Smart Meters. And I shared some thoughts on innovation with Utility Week.
IoT
Our second Smart Energy People podcast this month is with Ying Zhang, Senior Market Development Manager of disruptive German cellular providers 1nce. Ying shares the evolution of their novel pricing model for IoT cellular connectivity, some interesting Smart Energy use-cases, and the challenges ahead.
- Cisco launches a “Mass IoT Control Centre” offering spanning devices on 4G, 5G & LPWAN.
- We identify with the IoT journey described by Dr Tim Moore at SharkNinja - how the early “hero developer” approach runs out of steam as the company grows.
- It sucks when the company behind an IoT gadget folds and it stops working. Now imagine if that gadget is your vision implant.
Until next month,
-Pilgrim
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