In the race to slow climate chaos from carbon dioxide, there’s no bigger target than shifting hundreds of millions of U.S. vehicles from fossil fuels to electric power. That’s because cars and trucks spew nearly 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. So the Biden Administration rolled out new goals to slash automotive CO2 that could result in more than 56% of new passenger vehicle sales being electric by 2032 — seven times their current market share. While the revised rules, criticized by some environmentalists as not stringent enough, are below an initial target of having EVs account for two-thirds of new vehicle sales in the same timeframe automakers are on board with rules that look like a roadmap for a clean transportation revolution.
U.S. EV sales surged in 2023 to a record 1.2 million, just under 8% of new vehicles sold, though the pace has cooled so far in 2024 due to higher prices than for gasoline models, high interest rates and too little public charging infrastructure. Still, analysts expect that increased domestic sourcing of battery materials like lithium and graphite and a much broader range of models, including more affordable ones, throughout this decade will make both battery-only and plug-hybrids — vehicles that use smaller, cheaper battery packs — increasingly attractive to consumers.
But there are potential monkey wrenches. Republicans are generally opposed to efforts to transition away from gasoline-powered autos. And a second presidential term for Donald Trump, who’s also no EV fan and who previously rolled back Obama-era auto pollution rules, could scuttle the new rules. But manufacturers like that the new rules provide leeway to meet annual targets with whatever combination of technology they prefer, including selling hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery-only models. More importantly, as tens of billions of dollars flow into new battery and materials plants located mainly in conservative states that will employ tens of thousands, there may not be much support to stick with dirty gas guzzlers.
The Big Read
HEIMDALL POWER
Can ‘Magic Ball’ Sensors And Software Boost The Electric Grid’s Capacity By 40%?
U.S. utilities are scrambling to meet rising electricity demand, driven by booming domestic manufacturing, sales of electric vehicles and the rapid increase of power-hungry data centers for online shopping, streaming, cryptocurrency mining and, increasingly, new uses of artificial intelligence. But Norwegian tech startup Heimdall Power says its sensors and software can help boost existing transmission line capacity by up to 40%. To prove it can deliver on that, the Oslo-based company just lined up its biggest U.S. deal to date. It’s supplying dozens of its bowling ball-size Neuron sensors, which it also calls “magic balls,” to Minnesota’s Great River Energy, a cooperative of 27 power companies that provide electricity to 1.7 million people and businesses in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. A recently completed pilot project using Heimdall’s tech on a handful of Great River’s lines resulted in a 43% increase in capacity, the companies said. “The limiting factor of a powerline is the temperature of the line. Think about that as the speed limit,” Heimdall CEO Jørgen Festervoll told Forbes. “There’s a speed limit to how fast you can drive the power grid. Without the software and sensors, you’re basically driving without a speedometer.”
Hot Topic
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Jenn Engstrom, state director of CalPIRG, on the problems with recycling Amazon’s
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plastic mailers
Your report tracked 93 bundles of Amazon plastic waste dropped off at store bins in 10 states, and found that only four of those made it to recycling centers. Were you surprised?
It’s what I was expecting to find. Plastic is hard to recycle, and plastic film, like what’s used for bubble wrap, is nearly impossible to recycle. It is not a very effective system.
How did you decide to do the report?
We saw how many Amazon shipments people were getting, and that meant you were left with a pile of packaging, plastic mailers and bags and air pillows. We were curious what happens to all of it. The cardboard boxes you can recycle curbside. The plastic blue-and-white envelopes have the recycling logo on them, but you are supposed to find this location to drop them off. We decided to put Apple
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air tags inside the Amazon packaging and drop them off at store drop-ins around the country.
I’m guessing most people don’t even realize you’re supposed to drop off the plastic?
It’s not intuitive. My husband is always trying to put it in our recycling at home, and I say, ‘Take it out.’ When you see the recycling symbol, you think you can put it in your recycling, but you are supposed to bring it to these stores. It ends up as contamination in your local recycling center.
What would be a better system?
Amazon should just stop using plastic for packaging. In Europe, they have committed to using paper packaging and boxes made of cardboard. [Amazon said late last year that it had replaced single-use plastic bags and air pillows in Europe.] We want them to do that here too.
My understanding is that Amazon is switching one of its U.S. distribution centers from plastic to paper.
They are headed in the right direction but we want them to do it faster. We want them to verbally say that they are committed to getting rid of plastic by a specific date so we can hold them accountable.
What about all the other non-Amazon packages we receive?
The how-to-recycle labels are something that a lot of companies use with the store-drop system. Paper packaging works just fine. You don’t need plastic when there are clear alternatives.
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