GM says it’s ready to power all its US facilities with renewable energy by 2025

General Motors is on track to secure 100 percent of the electricity it needs to power all of its US facilities with renewable energy by 2025. On Wednesday, the automaker announced it recently finalized the sourcing agreements it needs to make that feat…

Hitting the Books: The early EVs that paved the way for GM’s Ultium success

General Motors has been in business for more than a century, but in its 112 years, the company has never faced such challenges as it does in today’s rapidly electrifying and automating industry. The assembly line jobs from Detroit’s heyday have been re…

智利政府與民間組織在海中放置「AI 浮標」來保護鯨魚

為了降低鯨魚因為船隻的撞擊而喪命的事件，智利政府與 MERI 基金會合作，推動一個名為「Blue Boat Initiative」的計畫在該國南部科爾科瓦多灣外海設置了「AI 浮標」，來警告附近船隻有鯨魚的存在。…

Smart buoy ‘hears’ the sea to protect whales against ship collisions

Whales face numerous threats from humans, not the least of which are ship collisions — the World Sustainability Organization estimates 18,000 to 25,000 animals die each year. There may be a technological way to minimize those deaths, however. Reutersreports Chile’s government and the MERI Foundation have deployed the first smart buoy from the Blue Boat Initiative, an effort to both safeguard whales and track undersea ecosystems. The device, floating in the Gulf of Corcovado 684 miles away from Chile, alerts ships to nearby blue, humpback, right and sei whales to help avoid incidents. 

The technology uses oceanographic sensors and AI-powered Listening to the Deep Ocean Environment (LIDO) software to determine a waterborne mammal’s type and location. It also checks the ocean’s health by monitoring oxygen levels, temperature and other criteria. That extra data could help study climate change and its impact on sea life.

The Blue Boat Initiative currently aims to install six or more buoys to protect whales across the gulf. In the long term, though, project members hope to blanket the whales’ complete migratory route between Antarctica and the equator. This could reduce collisions across the creatures’ entire habitat, not to mention better inform government decisions about conservation and the environment.

The technology may be as important for humans as for the whales. On top of their roles in delicately balanced ecosystems, whales both help capture CO2 and redistribute heat through ocean currents. The more these animals are allowed to flourish, the better the ocean is at limiting global warming and its harmful effects.

GM is using its Ultium battery tech for a lot more than EVs

I wasn’t kidding when I told you that GM is going all-in on Ultium, the battery technology behind the company’s electrification efforts, not to mention an entire generation of Chevy and GMC EVs. On Tuesday, the automaker announced that it is expanding its portfolio into energy management services — think big stationary batteries to store rooftop-generated solar power on a home or business — with its new spin-off business, GM Energy.

The new venture will be comprised of three smaller ones: Ultium Home, Ultium Commercial and Ultium Charge 360, offering “solutions ranging from bi-directional charging, vehicle-to home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) applications, to stationary storage, solar products, software applications, cloud management tools, microgrid solutions, hydrogen fuel cells and more,” according to GM’s announcement on Tuesday. 

The new company will be partnering with a number of established firms and utilities in the energy industry. For example, GM will be working with SunPower to develop and market a integrated home energy storage system that incorporates an electric vehicle with solar panels and battery banks to enable easy Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) power transfers. GM plans to have that home energy system ready for sale alongside the release of the EV Silverado next fall, 2023. 

Additionally, GM Energy has partnered with California’s Pacific Gas and Electric utility for another V2H pilot program that will let you run your household appliances off of your EV’s battery during blackouts. Eventually, the company plans to add V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) capabilities, which will allow you to sell excess energy produced by the solar panels back to your local utility. 

For businesses, Ultium Commercial may help ease the transition to an electrified fleet. Many such existing GM customers, “have fleets of vehicles are looking to electrify their fleets, but aren’t really aware of how to set up the charging infrastructure, how to manage their energy,” Mark Bole, vice president and Head of V2X Battery Solutions at GM said during an embargoed press briefing last week. “And so, not only do we come in as a hardware and software provider, but in a sense, really, as a strategic advisor for these commercial customers.”

“There are more power failures in the US than any other country in the industrialized world,” Travis Hester, vice president of GM EV Growth Operations, added. “There were 25,000 blackouts in California alone last year, over 15 and a half billion dollars of lost commerce, just in California. So when you look at the numbers, there is a desire — and we’re seeing it very clearly from commercial customers reaching out to us and asking us for assistance to deal with some of these problems.”

GM is also transferring its public charging station network, Ultium Charge 360, over to GM Energy. Charge 360 launched in 2021 in Washington, Florida and California. GM partnered with Blink Charging, ChargePoint, EV Connect, EVgo, FLO, Greenlots and SemaConnect to streamline their collective 60,000-plug network of 350 kW Level 3 DC fast chargers and provide “more seamless access” to drivers. The automaker built upon that network this past July, announcing a 500-station “coast-to-coast” expansion in partnership with EVGo. In all, GM hopes to have 2,700 such EV fast charging stations across the US and Canada under its Ultium Charge 360 banner by 2025. 

Google’s Nest Renew program can now help US customers prioritize clean energy use

Google introduced an initiative called Nest Renew last year to help you use more clean energy for your home if you have one of the brand’s thermostats. Back then, only those who got an invite to preview the solution could join the program. Starting today, however, you can join Nest Renew for free, so long as you’re in the continental US and have a third-gen Nest Learning Thermostat, the latest base Nest Thermostat model or a low-cost Nest Thermostat E. 

The program comes with a feature called Energy Shift that can automatically activate cooling or heating when there’s a higher concentration of electricity from clean sources by adjusting your thermostat accordingly. Power grids typically obtain energy from both fossil fuel and renewable sources, and the mixture isn’t always 50:50. Energy Shift works by gathering power grid forecasts from across the US every five minutes and then using its algorithms to determine the best times for when to run cooling and heating for your home. For instance, it can run cooling earlier in the day when the grid is getting power from more renewable sources and before emissions from electricity use are expected to rise.

Google said the feature was designed to make changes so subtle that you won’t even notice them. When the program launched, Nest product manager Jeff Gleeson told Engadget that “customers are always in control.” You can manually adjust your thermostat even after Energy Shift kicks in. The tech giant also said in its announcement that Energy Shift helped users prioritize cleaner energy usage for over 20,000,000 hours in all during the preview period.

While you can join the program for free, you can also choose to pay $10 a month for Nest Renew Premium if you want to match the fossil fuel electricity used in your home with renewable energy credits generated clean energy project from Google’s portfolio.

New York joins California in aiming to make all auto sales hybrid or EV by 2035

New York is following California’s lead by mandating that all new cars, pickups and SUVs sold in the state must be either EVs or plug-in hybrids, Governor Kathy Hochul announced. To reach that goal, 35 percent of new cars must be zero-emission by 2026 and 60 percent by 2030. New school buses must also be zero emissions by 2035. A public hearing will be held before the rules are put into place.

Hochul ordered the state’s environmental agency to create similar standards to those adopted by California that phases out all fossil-fuel-only car sales by 2035. Those rules went into last month and were designed to reduce passenger vehicle pollution 25 percent by 2037, with 9.5 fewer internal-combustion engine (ICE) only vehicles sold by 2035.

“We had to wait for California to take a step because there’s some federal requirements that California had to go first — that’s the only time we’re letting them go first,” the governor said in a press conference yesterday.

The state is following California’s actions for a reason. The Clean Air Act permits California to set its own pollution rules, but other states aren’t allowed to do that. However, they can follow California once it acts — so California must pave the way for any emissions rules implemented by individual states.

The governor also unveiled a $10 million Drive Clean Rebate Program. That gives residents a $2,000 rebate toward the purchase of over 60 EVs and plug-in hybrids that’s on top of the $7,500 federal tax rebate. The state has spent $92 million on the program to date. The state also announced the installation of its 100th fast charger as part of the EVolve charging network. 

“With sustained state and federal investments, our actions are incentivizing New Yorkers, local governments, and businesses to make the transition to electric vehicles,” Hochul said.

EPA opens new office dedicated to environmental justice and civil rights

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has formed a new office designed to help marginalized communities deal with the extra burdens of pollution and climate change, Reuters has reported. The Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights will be staffed by 200 EPA employees located in the agency’s Washington head office and 10 regional bureaus. 

“The establishment of a new office dedicated to advancing environmental justice and civil rights at EPA will ensure the lived experiences of underserved communities are central to our decision-making while supporting community-driven solutions,” said US Vice President Kamala Harris.

One of the primary jobs of the new office will be to oversea the distribution of $3 billion in environmental justice grants created by the passage the of Inflation Reduction Act, as part of a $60 billion investment in environmental justice. It’ll also check that other EPA programs hew to President Biden’s Justice40 initiative designed to ensure that 40 percent of certain government investments flow to disadvantaged communities. Finally, it’ll help communities access grants, enforce civil rights laws and resolve environmental conflicts.

The new office was launched at an event in Warren County, North Carolina, the site of 1982 protests over toxic waste dumping in the region. The resulting civil disobedience actions and arrests failed to stop the 22-acre dump, but gave birth to the modern environmental justice movement. The 40th anniversary of the protests was commemorated by participants last week.