Electric Vehicle Buses
- Recently there were two spontaneous ignitions of commercial electric buses in Paris (1) and Hamburg (2). In July an electric school bus spontaneously ignited in Connecticut (3). The fires grounded all of the affected electric bus fleets
- In June, the NJ Senate and Assembly passed a bill, which Governor Murphy signed, to spend $45 million (4) over three years to buy electric school buses to start replacing diesel school buses.
- Electric buses and diesel buses have some advantages and some disadvantages which should be identified. The electric buses cost about $400,000 each while diesel buses cost $150,000. Diesel buses have fume issues. A cost benefit analysis should have been performed and publicly released.
- The State bill does not require any electric bus manufacturer or operating company to provide and document any special actions, inspections or design features to prevent or minimize lithium fires.
Electric Vehicle Cars
- On July 26 Murphy gave the electric vehicle buyers an additional $60 million (5) in subsidies to buy an EV, install chargers in their homes, install public charging stations etc. This appears to be for one year.
Electric Vehicles Trucks
- The state is expanding an incentive program, by $45 million, for businesses that purchase new electric vehicles for their operations. It’s expected the additional funding will allow 200 to 400 more vehicle vouchers to be distributed.
- On August 9 Murphy added another $10 million (6) for trucks, buses and charging stations.
Offshore Wind
- In June the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a preliminary environmental report for the Orsted/ PSEG Ocean Winds 1 complex (1100 MW) and asked for comments. (7)
- On July 15 a conservation Group, Clean Ocean Action, blasted the Environmental Report demanding the project be scaled back. Their complaint is the Ocean Wind 1 was industrializing the ocean. (8)
- This is a case of environmental groups fighting with each other about green industrialization. Who knows how this will progress?
Grid storage
- The state’s solar power industry group is demanding support for senate bill 1258. (9) This bill would authorize the installation and grid testing of storage batteries to support intermittent wind and solar energy. The cost would be $180 million for three years of testing plus 40% of the capital cost of the storage batteries.
- Obtaining bids, building and testing various storage configurations will take 5-7 years and will be completed in the 2028-2030 timeframe. (10) However, by 2030 the Murphy Energy Plan requires that 50% of the electricity in the state be renewable. This requires a fully installed, tested and operational Storage battery backup system to be completed just as the initial testing is finished. How this conflict will be resolved is unknown.
References
(1) https://www.thelocal.fr/20220429/paris-suspends-electric-bus-fleet-after-fires/
(3) https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2022-7-26-connecticut-sets-out-to-save-the-planet
(4) https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2022/08/nj-ups-funding-school-bus-electrification-switch-from-dirty-diesel-45-million-three-year-program/
(5) https://www.njspotlightnews.org/video/nj-to-offer-up-to-4000-cash-incentive-for-purchase-or-lease-of-electric-vehicles/
(6) https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2022/08/medical-professionals-urge-murphy-administration-speed-up-nj-switch-clean-energy-emissions-fossil-fuels-public-health-threat/
(7) https://patch.com/new-jersey/oceancity/public-comment-opens-ocean-city-windfarm-project
(8) https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2022/07/offshore-wind-offshore-wind-1-clean-ocean-action-opposition-adverse-impacts-commercial-fisheries-marine-mammals-navigation-vessel-traffic-scenery-bureau-of-ocean-energy-management/
(9) https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2022/05/nj-energy-environment-storage-technology-senate-bill-2185-clean-energy-future-wind-solar/
(10) S2185
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