Wärtsilä Report Urges 100% Renewables Sooner, Uruguay Proves It Can Happen Now
With the COP26 conference in Glasgow coming up soon, many climate and environmental groups are urging nations to accelerate the transition to renewable energy. A new report from Wärtsilä entitled Front Loading New Zero argues that nations can adopt 100% renewable systems faster than currently planned.
It says significant cost reductions can be achieved by front loading the deployment of renewables — mostly wind and solar — and by utilizing the technologies needed to balance their inherent intermittency with energy storage and thermal generating stations. The report reveals that by accelerating 100% renewable power systems, substantial benefits are unlocked:
- Accelerating renewables so they become the main source of electricity drives down fossil fuel usage significantly reduces the levelized cost of electricity by 50% in India by 2050, while California and Germany can cut costs by 17% and 8% by 2040 respectively.
- Coal-fired power — currently 70% of generation in India and 33% in Germany — can be securely replaced by renewables coupled with energy storage and thermal power as early as 2040.
- Colossal carbon savings can be made in the short term, enabling national climate targets to be achieved. Germany can avoid 422 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2040 by accelerating its coal phase-out, helping it achieve a 65% reduction target compared to 1990 levels by 2030. In addition, renewables would allow Germany to avoid the need to import 550 TWh of power by accelerating the phase-out of coal.
Wärtsilä CEO Håkan Agnevall explains, “As we approach COP26, our Front-Loading Net Zero report should act as a wake-up call for leaders, as this is our last and best chance to get countries on pathways to carbon neutrality. Our modelling shows that it is viable for energy systems to be fully decarbonized before 2050 and that accelerating the shift to renewable power coupled with flexibility will help economies to thrive.
“We have all the technologies that we need to rapidly shift to net zero energy. The benefits of renewable-led systems are cumulative and self-reinforcing — the more we have, the greater the benefits — so it is vital that leaders and power producers come together now to front load net zero this decade.”
Sushil Purohit, president of Wärtsilä Energy adds, “There is no single solution that fits all markets, and this report highlights the different paths and technologies that can be utilized. The ultimate aim, however, is common to all and that is to decarbonize energy production and take the fullest advantage of our natural energy sources.”
Uruguay Shows The Way
In 2007, Uruguay had to rely on electricity imported from neighbors like Brazil and Argentina. That’s when it decided to invest heavily in wind turbines. Within 10 years, it had 4,000 MW of installed capacity. Today, 98% of the electricity for its 3.4 million inhabitants comes from renewables, including hydro. This is a nation that a recent former president of the United States liked to referred to as a “shithole country.”
Since the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997, Uruguay has surprised its South American neighbors with its growing list of environmental successes, including conserving native forests, protecting bio-diverse areas, and showing remarkable progress toward a promise to be carbon neutral by 2030.
To transform its energy landscape, the Frente Amplio, or FA, Uruguay’s governing party from 2005 to 2020, recognized the reality of a country dependent on importing fossil fuels while living in an ideal location for solar, wind, and hydraulic power generation. To date, the FA’s vision for an inclusive, people-oriented strategy for energy transformation has shown not only remarkable promise, but results. Throughout Uruguay, there is a strong emphasis on local energy production, particularly solar energy in rural areas that focuses on rural schools and churches far from the grid, as well as hospitals, hotels, sports clubs, and new public buildings.
With its gently rolling landscape, higher than average year-round sunshine, and hundreds of miles of ocean and river coastline, Uruguay has prime space for deploying energy alternatives. In addition, the country has identified significant opportunities for generating energy from biomass produced by the agriculture industry.
Other progressive energy projects include the country’s push toward a network of “electric highways” beginning with the coastal highway that links Colonia and Punta Este, two popular tourist cities. A network of EV charges will eventually be available throughout the entire country. While these projects are impressive, it is the country’s creation of larger energy infrastructure changes that have made the most impact.
According to Earth Island Journal, in the decade leading up to 2017, forward-looking policies and projects made Uruguay a world leader in wind power — along with Denmark, Ireland, and Germany — with more than a third of its electricity coming from wind farms. Adding hydropower generation to the mix, emissions levels in the country have fallen roughly 20 percent from their peak in 2012.
How this happened is worth noting. The country’s determination to use solar as an alternative is reflected in the country’s solar thermal mandate established in 2009 by the Solar Thermal Law, with additional provisions enacted in 2011. The law states that after 2014, all new construction and refurbishments of public buildings, hotels, health, and sports facilities in which hot water is expected to account for over 20 percent of the building’s energy consumption must obtain at least 50 percent of water heating energy from solar thermal energy. After 2012, heated pools had to use solar heating unless they used a different renewable energy source.
“The energy policy of Uruguay has focused highly on renewable energies, with the ambitious goal of incorporating them in the short term and providing attractive tax benefits for that purpose,” says Fernanda Panizza, Biz Latin Hub’s country coordinator and corporate lawyer, who counsels both foreign and national business stakeholders in the country. “Uruguay offers not only an advantageous business environment,” she notes, “but also great social stability, and considerable fiscal incentives for investments.”
A New Political Order
While Uruguay has made remarkable progress in expanding its renewable energy infrastructure, the country’s groundbreaking energy initiatives now face a new challenge from a governing party with more conservative views and a new president, Luis Lacalle Pou.
World affairs analyst Frida Ghitis, who has covered political and social issues in the region for over a decade, believes that there is good reason to look for the continuing positive trajectory of Uruguay’s progressive energy policies. “My sense is that Uruguay’s commitment to renewable energy is so deep that it transcends the left/right divide,” she says. “I don’t foresee that the center-right administration in Uruguay will backtrack on progress toward green energy.”
For more perspective on how renewable energy has become embedded in the culture of Uruguay, please take the time to review the DW video below, particularly with regard to concerns that wind turbines would disturb cows and interfere with their milk production. The result? The cows paid no attention to the turbines at all. It would be wonderful if more humans could do the same.
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MINI has partnered with lifestyle brand, Deus Ex Machina, to develop this. It’s called the Skeg, and it’s a high-performance, racing-inspired electric concept car that’s sure to lighten the mood – by shedding fully 15% of its mass in the quest for speed.
One of a pair of exclusive, one-off concepts based on MINI’s John Cooper Works cars. The Deus Ex Machina Skeg celebrates MINI’s storied racing history with what the company calls, “a clean, minimal, and quiet rebellion,” that draws on materials, technologies, and philosophies from the world of surfing.
The electric MINI JCW Skeg is stripped to its essentials, with much of the steel and aluminum bits replaced with lightweight fiberglass to maximize acceleration while driving the minimalist aesthetic home. The end result weighs 15% less than the standard car – but makes the same stout 190 kW (258 hp) as the production car.
Surf’s up
The interior is stripped back to the barest essentials, reflecting BMW’s vision of a surf culture that prioritizes function over form. MINI claims the end result resembles a mobile surf shop, with fiberglass trays for wetsuits, specially shaped bins, neoprene seats, and other touches that “bring the surf culture into the interior.”
For their part, the BMW and MINI styling team seems pretty proud of its minimalistic electric endeavor. “In this extraordinary collaboration … every single detail has been crafted with artisanal precision and expertise,” says Holger Hampf, Head of MINI Design. “This has resulted in unique characters that are clearly perceived as belonging together through their distinctive design language and use of graphics.”
The concept retains the production version’s 54.2 kWh li-ion battery pack, up to 250 of WLTP range with the production aero kit, sprints from 0-100 km (62 mph) in just 5.9 seconds. With 15% less mass, though, that should jump to more than 255 miles, with 0-60 times dropping below 5.5 seconds.
I dig it – but I’d skip the surf bits and just appreciate the raw composite, minimalist interior look for what it is. Take a look at the image gallery, below, then let us know what you think of MINI’s Skeg concept in the comments.
MINI Skeg concept | gallery
SOURCE | IMAGES: BMW MINI.
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Environment
Volvo Penta teams up with e-power to equip Boels with next-gen Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)
Veteran marine and industrial power solutions company Volvo Penta has joined forces with energy solutions provider e-power to build battery energy storage systems (BESS). Volvo Penta’s battery systems for energy storage will power BESS units built by e-power that can be catered to a range of applications, most notably construction rental clients like Boels Rentals in Europe.
Volvo Penta is a provider of sustainable power solutions that currently serves land and sea applications under the Volvo Group umbrella. As more and more of the world goes all-electric, the global manufacturer has also adapted, sharing cultural values with Volvo Group to engineer new and innovative sustainable power solutions.
Nearly 100 years later, Volvo Penta remains an industry leader in marine propulsion systems and industrial engines. As more and more of the world goes all-electric, the Swedish manufacturer has also adapted, sharing cultural values with Volvo Group to engineer new and innovative sustainable power solutions.
For example, all Volvo Penta diesel engines now run on hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO), reducing well-to-wheel emissions by up to 90% across the marine and industrial power industries. On the zero-emissions side, Volvo Penta has expressed its dedication to fossil-free power solutions, including battery electric components to serve heavy-duty applications such as terminal tractors, forklifts, drill rigs, and feed mixers, to name a few.
To leverage its battery electric value chain, Volvo Penta has also ventured into battery systems for energy storage (or BESS subsystems). These energy-dense, purpose-built BESS subsystems can provide portable, sustainable energy for all-electric charging and reduce grid dependency.
Volvo Penta to deploy battery systems for energy storage
Volvo Penta recently announced a strategic partnership with e-power, a Belgian power solutions provider. Together, Volvo Penta and e-power will develop a scalable Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) for Boels Rental.
The collaboration continues a long-standing partnership between all three companies. Boels – one of the largest construction rental companies is a long-time customer of e-power generators that utilize Volvo Penta engines. As the company shifts toward electrification and sustainability, it will again turn to those companies to deliver reliable performance.
Volvo Penta’s BESS subsystem comprises battery packs, a Battery Management System (BMS), DC/DC converters, and thermal management, combining to offer a compact, high-density, and transport-friendly solution optimized for rental operations. The company shared that this BESS design is integration-ready, enabling other OEMs like e-power to adapt and scale systems to customer-specific needs. Per e-power business support director, Jens Fets:
We’ve built our reputation on reliability and efficient power systems. Working again with Volvo Penta, this time on battery energy storage, allows us to meet the growing demand for energy in a silent, low-emissions, compact and mobile design—especially in rental applications.
The deployment of these new battery energy storage systems will help Boels cater to its customers’ growing demand for clean, silent, and mobile energy solutions in construction and other industrial applications.
Aside from being more quickly adaptable to customer needs, Volvo Penta says its BESS architecture marks an overall shift in rental power systems. This is welcome news for all who support a cleaner, more sustainable future across all industries.
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That didn’t take long! Just a few hours after Mercedes revealed the screen-heavy interior of its upcoming 2026 GLC EV, photos of the new crossover’s exterior – and that controversial grille! – leaked on Instagram and Reddit. We’ve got them here.
Two days ahead of the GLC EV’s officially schedule global debut, images that reportedly show the new 2026 Mercedes undisguised have leaked on Instagram and Reddit. They show the blocky new light-up grille on the nose of a very smooth, jellybean-like crossover shape that, despite Mercedes’ insistence that it’s moving away from the EQ series’ design language, looks an awful lot like an EQ Mercedes.
Check out the leaked images from kindleauto’s Instagram account, below, and see if you agree with that assessment.
If you need to see more before you feel comfortable commenting on the new SUV’s looks, there’s a few more angles over on the r/mercedes_benz subreddit.
Leaked exterior pictures of the upcoming GLC EV
byu/Quick_Coyote_7649 inmercedes_benz
As with everything else on the internet, take those unofficial images with a grain of salt and maybe wait until the GLC EV’s official reveal in a few days’ time before casting your final vote on the new look – but there’s very little reason to believe the new Mercedes will look terribly different from what you see here.
Will the new grille and tech-forward interior with its massive, 39″ screen and MB.OS software be enough to turn the tide for Mercedes-Benz, enabling it to finally gain some traction in the electric crossover market? That remains to be seen, but the recently updated Tesla Model Y and crisply-styled new BMW iX3 with its 500 miles of range will make it an uphill battle, for sure.
We got a sneak peek at the new GLC back in July, when Mercedes-Benz Group CEO, Ola Källenius said that, “We’re not just introducing a new model – we’re electrifying our top seller.” Back then, we learned that the new GLC EV would have a wheelbase 3.1″ longer than the current ICE-powered model, as well as more head- and leg-room for its occupants and an extra 4.5 cubic feet (for 61.4 total) of cargo space.
Källenius also promised an innovative new 800V electric architecture and the latest battery tech, which will enable the electric GLC to add around 260 km (~160 miles) of WLTP range in just ten minutes thanks to more than 300 kW of charging capability.
SOURCES | IMAGES: kindleauto; Quick_Coyote_7649.
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Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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